No, she thought, why should I feel guilty that I'm happy? We're both single, it's not like we've done anything wrong.

At Theo's estate, things were looking differently. He'd woken to hear his parents once again discussing family matters. He took a deep breath and went down to the kitchen to face the music.

'Mooorrnnning,' he said as he entered the room. His mother was at one end of the table, his father on the other. Both with a cup of herbal tea in hand.

They both looked at him.

'We need to talk,' his mother said, sternly.

Theo knew exactly what this was about, the same thing it was always about, when he was going to be ready to take over the estate.

'We're not getting any younger, Theo. And it's time you started settling,' his father explained, 'it's what's right.'

This was the 5th time this month they'd spoken about this. Theo felt that he was still young, there was not rush to settle, his parents were worried that he'd be left alone to handle things and wanted him to meet someone soon.

'I think Darcey was a good choice, you both have estates to look after, you both understand what it was like, what was wrong with her?' His mother asked.

'You can't make someone like you, mother, and she wasn't interested. Darcey's strong and capable of doing things herself, she has no interest in settling.'

'Still, she's in the same position, Theo. I think it could work.'

'If it's going to work, it will work in its own time.'

'We don't have time, Theo. No one has time to wait for things to work out.'

He'd had enough of this, and if this conversation didn't end soon, they'd start arguing.

'I'm done with this, OK? No one's dying, I'm only in my early 20's, if I want to settle, I will. But there's no rush. That's the end of it, and I'm leaving so that we can all cool off.'

And on that note, Theo took his own cup of herbal tea, and went to sit in the garden.

Gabriel had decided to take his bike out through the forest to clear his head. He still had no idea about his feelings for Esme, but he was riding on a high after the night before, so that must be a good thing?

As he was biking down his usual route past Theo's estate, he came across his friend sitting forlorn on the bench swing out the front. He climbed off his bike and leant on the gate railings.

'You good, man?' He asked.

Theo looked up, and immediately felt relieved to see someone he felt safe with.

'Not really, can we talk?'

He opened the gate for Gabriel to come through and they sat together on the bench swing. He explained the situation and asked for advice.

'Look I'm not rich or have a family line to hold down, I don't know that pressure, but I can give you my best advice to you just as my friend, if you'd like it?'

Theo nodded.

'Don't marry someone unless you want to, it's not fair on either of you and it will probably end badly. If you meet someone and you want to, then that's great, but don't do it for money or pressure, or whatever it is.'

'So how do I make everyone happy?'

Gabriel sighed.

'Theo, you're a great friend, and I've known you a long time, which is why I'm going to tell you this. You are far stronger than you think. You can run this place by yourself with your eyes closed, you can hold everything down by yourself, I know you can. If you really needed to, you would step up to the plate, because that's who you are. You want to put everyone else before yourself, and that's great, but you don't want to settle. I know that and so do you. You can hire help if you need it, but honestly, you can be in charge by yourself.'

Theo felt like a weight was lifted. Someone had heard him, and knew that he was capable of this.

'Thank you, Gabriel.'

'Hey, it's what I'm here for, isn't it?'

He stood up to ride away when Theo stopped him.

'My parents are so upset because Darcey doesn't want to be with me, and I feel so guilty,' he blurted out.

'Why do you feel guilty? You can't make someone like you, you can't make someone want to be with you, and do you really want to be with someone who feels like they're with you out of obligation?'

'No, of course not.'

'I'm sure when it really comes down to it, your parents would rather see you happy than miserable to try to please them. But hey, who am I to talk about this? You want to discuss this with Colin, that guy has the wisdom of a God on this stuff.'

'Thank you, Gabriel. You really don't know how much you helped.'

'No problem.'

And on that note, he rode away.

Meanwhile at the Palace, Darcey was facing a similar conversation with her own Father.

'It was nothing about Theo, I just don't feel ready to settle yet,' she was trying to explain.

'And I understand that, but I'm not living forever, Darcey,' Mayor Atlas said.

'You're not dying anytime soon, father. And when you do go, I promise, I will have the Kingdom in good hands. But right now, I just don't have all that sorted, and that's OK, because there's still time. But I didn't settle with Theo because as lovely as he is, he's a good friend and he'd be a great asset to the Palace, I just don't love him so it just can't work.'

Darcey sighed.

Atlas took her hand.

'I'm not going to make you settle for anyone, Darcey, OK? I promise I'm not that person. It's something that you should start thinking about, but I'm not going to make you do anything.'

Darcey smiled.

'Thank you.'

She stood up and returned to her dressing room.

Esme and Adalia were waiting upon Darcey's return with a jug of water and a bowl ready for her to wash her face with. She entered the room, threw herself on the sofa and started stroking Edgar for comfort.

'Do you think I'm being petty?' She asked them.

'About Theo?' Adalia asked 'No, I don't. You shouldn't do anything until you're ready. I mean he's a great guy and all, but just because someone's great, doesn't mean that you should immediately marry them.'

'I want to be in love, and I'm just not,' Darcey said.

'And there's the problem,' Esme replied. 'Lust is nice, but it doesn't last. Love is different, and we all want that something different. You'll find it, I know you will, maybe with Theo, maybe with someone else.'

As Esme was explaining, she realised that she wasn't in love with Gabriel. It was just lust. She was disappointed, but at the same time, she knew that despite the fact that it wouldn't last and there were no feelings, it still felt worth it in the moment. If it made her happy, there was nothing to feel bad about.

Adalia sat with them on the sofa, and stared down at the ground.

'I think it's going to be OK, you know?' She said.

Darcey looked back at her.

'Thank you, I just needed that little meltdown.'

Theo had decided to follow Colin's advice and went to his cabin to chat to him.

'Hey, come and sit. I'm sorry it's a mess, I don't usually have royalty here,' Colin said.

'Oh please, I'm not royalty,' Theo laughed.

'Gabriel told me about your little debacle, and it's definitely a doosy isn't it?'

'It sure is.'

'Be absolutely honest with me here, Theo. Look me in the eyes. Do you have feelings for Darcey?'

'I don't know, but I don't think so.'

'Then there was no point in trying. with that one, mate.'

Theo paused for a second.

'Have you ever been in love Colin?' He asked.

'Nope, but when I am, I'll just know. My perfect woman is out there somewhere, and when I find her, I'll know. And it'll be worth waiting for. I'd say if you're not feeling that right now towards Darcey, then there was no point settling. You need to stick to your beliefs, because Gabe's right, you are more than good enough to handle things on your own. So ignore your parents, you don't need to do anything.'

He knew Colin was right. There was no point in just settling for someone his parents had chosen. And that was exactly what he told them the next morning. He stood up for his beliefs and knew that when it was right, it was right, and until then, he was able to handle things himself. But he wasn't going to settle if he didn't know it was the right time.