Chapter 202
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Keira woke to sunlight streaming through the room. She blinked slowly, memories of the night before flooding back from Alexei’s proposal on the terrace, and the multiple times. they’d made love, her body was sore in all the right places.
Stretching, she reached across the bed only to find cool sheets where Alexei should have been. A note rested on his pillow, his handwriting recognizable.
“My Love,
You needed your sleep. Please don’t rush this morning. I have some business to attend to. See you when I return to the palace.
Love you, Lex”
Keira flopped back on the bed, smiling at the simple message. “Love you.” Such small words, but they do so much and meant a lot to her.
She grabbed her phone from the nightstand where it had been charging overnight and checked the time… nearly ten in the morning. She’d slept far later than usual.
Her smile faded as she noticed a flood of notifications. Several messages from Blair and Sutton asking her in so many words if she was ok. Keira frowned, puzzled by their concerned texts. She should have called them after the real engagement, but something about the almost frantic wording of their messages worried her.
It wasn’t until she opened another message from an old school friend that she realized why.
“OMG Keira, are you really engaged to Prince Alexei?! The media is having a field day with this! Not all of it is pretty.”
With growing dread, Keira opened her news app and froze. Her name was splashed across headlines everywhere, accompanied by unflattering photos and speculation about her relationship with Alexei.
The first headline across Keira’s screen made her stomach drop. “ROYAL ROMANCE OR CALCULATED CLIMB? Warner Heiress Snags Second–in–Line Prince!” Another shouted, “FROM ASSISTANT TO PRINCESS: The Warner Girl Who Trapped a Prince.”
She scrolled through more notifications, each worse than the last. One particularly vicious tabloid ran with “KIDNAPPED HIS HEART? Inside Sources Question Convenient Timing” accompanied by an unflattering candid shot of her looking disheveled outside her apartment.
Some comments were particularly nasty: “Another commoner clawing her way into royalty,” wrote one royal watcher. “This one’s not even trying to hide her gold–digging ways.”
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Underneath a photo of her and Alexei at the announcement dinner, someone had written: “Look at her face, she knows she hit the jackpot, From taking dictation to wearing tiaras in one strategic move.”
One headline in particular caught her eye as she reluctantly picked up her phone again: “GOLD–DIGGER OR TRUE LOVE? PALACE INSIDERS EXPRESS DOUBTS.”
The article quoted “sources close to the royal family” questioning her motives and suitability. Keira didn’t need to guess who those “sources” might be. Maria’s fingerprints were all over this.
“Vultures,” Keira muttered, tossing her phone onto the bed.
Keira rubbed her temples, trying to quell the rising panic. She shouldn’t be surprised but seeing her entire life dissected and twisted into tabloid fodder was jarring.
A knock interrupted her spiral.
“Come in,” she called, quickly pulling the sheets higher.
Elena entered with a breakfast tray, her smile fading as she took in Keira’s expression. “Good morning, Miss Warner. Is everything alright?”
“Just discovered what it’s like to be every tabloid’s latest hot topic,” Keira replied, gesturing to her phone.
Elena placed the tray down with sympathy in her eyes. “His Majesty worried you might see the coverage. He asked me to remind you that the palace PR team is preparing a calendar for the next few days. Get you out and about with the people. He already enlisted Amelia’s help with it.”
“Great,” Keira said flatly. “More people managing my life.”
“If I may,” Elena offered, “this initial wave is always the worst. Once the official engagement photos are released and you do some charity work things will change.”
“Is that supposed to make me feel better?”
“No,” Elena admitted. “But Prince Alexei has been in meetings with the communications team all morning. He’s quite… determined about how your story is presented. He doesn’t want this.”
That explained his absence. Keira felt a pang of guilt for her momentary resentment. He was trying to protect her.
“Thank you, Elena,” she said, softening her tone. “For breakfast and the information.” Once Elena left, she slipped out of bed to grab her robe.
She picked at the breakfast Elena had brought, appetite vanished. The pastries that had
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looked delicious sat untouched as she tried to process what was happening. Just when she’d started to feel comfortable.
A soft knock at the door pulled her from her thoughts.
“Come in,” she called, thinking it might be Elena again.
Instead, Amelia entered, looking elegant as always in a simple blue dress. Her expression softened with sympathy when she caught sight of Keira’s face.
“I see you’ve discovered the headlines,” she said, moving to sit on the edge of the bed.
“How did you know?” Keira asked.
“Been there, done that, got the emotional scars to prove it.” Amelia smiled. “When I first got engaged to Niko, they called me a lot of things, but I think I got away with it lightly due to my family’s connections to this country.”
Keira gestured at her phone. “They’re saying I trapped him. That I seduced him during the kidnapping to climb the social ladder. I’m sure that bitch Maria is behind some of it. If I see her, she better run the other way.”
“And they’ll keep saying it,” Amelia replied bluntly. “For weeks. Maybe months. And some will never stop.”
“That’s not helpful.”
“No, but it’s honest.” Amelia reached for Keira’s hand, squeezing. “The truth is nothing you do will ever satisfy everyone. No matter what our PR team says. All you can be is yourself and hope people start to see that and not the headlines.”
“So, what am I supposed to do? Just ignore it?”
“No. You acknowledge it exists, but you don’t give it power over you.” Amelia’s eyes were kind. “And you remember why you’re here.”
“Alexei,” Keira said honestly.
“Exactly. Him.” Amelia stood, smoothing her dress. “Now, the PR team is waiting. We have a schedule to review.”
Keira groaned. “Please tell me I don’t have to kiss babies and pretend to care about ribbon cuttings.”
Amelia laughed. “Nothing so clichéd. But we do need to show Wystovia who you really are. Not the tabloid version, but the woman Alexei fell in love with.”
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Chapter 202
“And how do we do that?”
1:
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“By playing to your strengths.” Amelia moved toward the door. “Get dressed. We have work to
do.”
An hour later, freshly showered and dressed in a simple but elegant dress shorts and blouse, Keira found herself in a conference room with Amelia, the palace communications director, and several staff members. Spread across the table was a calendar and various documents outlining her “public introduction.”
“Miss Warner,” the communications director, a stern–looking woman named Tanya, began. “We’ve prepared a series of appearances designed to introduce you to the Wystovian people in the most favorable light.”
“Favorable light,” Keira repeated. “As opposed to ‘gold–digging American who trapped their prince“?”
Amelia shot her a warning look, but Tanya merely smiled thinly.
“Precisely. Our goal is to counter the narrative being pushed by certain media outlets.” Tanya slid a folder toward her. “We’ve researched your background extensively. Your work with literacy programs during university is particularly promising. Also, your work in soup kitchens every holiday season.”
Keira blinked in surprise. “You know about that?”
“We know everything, Miss Warner. It’s our job.” Tanya tapped the folder. “Your passion for education aligns well with one of our royal foundations. We’ve arranged for you to visit a children’s reading program tomorrow morning.”
“That’s… actually perfect,” Keira admitted, feeling a small spark of hope.
“Additionally,” Tanya continued, “your sister’s fashion company provides an excellent
opportunity to showcase Wystovian design talent. We’ve arranged a meeting with several local designers who would like to collaborate.”
“Blair would love that,” Keira said, warming to the idea.
