“Dear people of Capturia, I have a confession to make. I never was abducted. I ran away from home.”

“Ha!” shouted the brewster.

The hunter and baker opened their coin purses in disappointment.

“It was never my intention to make you worry for my sake. For that, I am deeply sorry. However, the pressure became too much for me. I had to get out. Sort out my thoughts. And I’m not sorry in the slightest for that.”

She turned her gaze to Noah, who remained behind the king and queen. The squire was tense with nerves. After all, she’d never been in front of a crowd like this before. When the princess turned back to the crowd, she saw Eugene and James hanging from their window. She smiled and winked at them.

“Because I’ve met someone. Someone I love very dearly and tenderly. And as you might have guessed, this contradicts my betrothal to Prince Eugene of Supricia. And while she is far from an aristocrat, and a girl just like myself, I don’t love her any less.”

This seemed to disturb the mass of people around the stage. A murmur erupted in the crowd, but what the people said was unintelligible by the time it reached Tiffany. Some words managed to reach the princess, but none were encouraging; ‘girl?’, ‘heir?’, ‘never heard of such a thing before. Her fingers trembled and she bit on her lip. Her head bowed under the pressure of her people. The crowd only grew louder and louder until a shrill voice shouted across the courtyard.

“Let her speak!” yelled Eugene from his window in their tower. James had plugged his ears with his fingers, but his face showed that it didn’t work as well as he’d hoped.

Noah stepped forward and took Tiffany’s hand in hers. “You can do this, Tiffany,” she whispered into her ear.

Slowly, the crowd quieted back down and Tiffany picked up where she left off.

“In light of recent ‘occurrences’, the king and queen have come to the realization that love is more important than power: love for our family, whom we want to make happy, or love for that special someone, with whom we want to share our happily ever after. That’s why, after a lengthy discussion with the king and queen, I present to you my very first royal decree. It goes as follows: ‘Anyone residing in or passing through Capturia and is engaged to be married not out of free will but out of pressure, may nullify this engagement to live the life they want to live and love the one they want to love, effective immediately’.” Tiffany looked up at Eugene, who still watched from his window.

“So without further ado, I hereby nullify my engagement to Prince Eugene and announce my courtship with Noah the squire. Thank you for your time.”

*

“Strong speech, Tiffany,” Eugene said as he came down the grand staircase of the foyer. James followed close behind him.

After the applause that followed Tiffany’s speech, the courtyard quickly emptied, after which Tiffany, Noah, the king and queen went back inside.

“I hope you don’t mind I broke up with you so publicly?”

“Not at all,” Eugene said. He took the news of their breakup much better than Tiffany expected. “At least it sends a strong signal to my parents. And, you know, if I don’t have to marry you…” His gaze fell on his servant and a smile tugged at his lips.

Tiffany laughed. “I hope so for you two.”

“And don’t worry about all that boring diplomacy and negotiation stuff,” the prince said as he extended a hand to Tiffany. “If you ever need anything from Supricia, all you have to do is say the words.”

The princess nodded and shook his hand. “I’m sorry, by the way, about what I said on the night of the ball.”

“And I’m sorry I didn’t take your feelings into consideration. But all’s well ends well.” Eugene turned to Noah. “Oh, and Noelle…”

“Noah,” she corrected.

“Noah. Right. Good luck with Tiffany. She’s a feisty one.”

“I know, your highness. That’s why I love her.”

Through the open doors of the castle, they heard the clippity-clop of the horseshoes of a nearing horse, and the calls of a tired but enthusiastic knight.

“Tiff, I’m home!”

A sound like an excited whistling kettle escaped the princess and she ran back towards the courtyard where Lance arrived. Noah, whose hand the princess still held, laughed and allowed herself to be dragged along by the princess.

“Sir lance, you’re back!” she cried when the knight was within her arm’s reach.

The man took of his helmet, threw his leg over his horse’s behind as he dismounted and immediately embraced them. “I can’t tell you how great it is to see you girls again,” Lance said, pulling back to get a better look at them. “I told you that you were going to be the best of friends, didn’t I? I trust you got on well without me?”

“Quite,” Noah said, smiling sheepishly at the knight.

“It was just like a fairy tale,” Tiffany chortled.”

“That’s good,” Sir Lance smiled. “Because that means you’ll live a happily ever after.”