A Royal Pain

Chapter 8 - The Rules

Sophia's POV

I wake up by myself, feeling satisfied and rested. 

Antonio always does that to me. He rarely spends the night, though. We've always functioned that way. We give each other s****l pleasure, but our hangout end swiftly after our orgasms are reached. 

My alarm clock states 6 o'clock.

Another long ass day ahead of me.

After I take a shower and get dressed, I am picked up from my apartment by the royals' chauffeur and driven to Kensington palace, where we will be discussing the details of our arrangement.  

This is my first meeting with the Firm and if I'm being honest, I do feel a little nervous. I need to be very careful about signing any piece of document, as these people are the best connected people in the country, if not the world. Who doesn't want to do favors to the most famous royal family in the world?

My door is opened for me by the guard standing in front of the entrance gate and I get out of the car. 

"Lady Sophia," a man steps forward, "this way, please." He ushers me into the palace and to a room where I assume the meeting will be held.

I am met with four old men seated behind a rectangular table, papers laid in front of them.

"Good morning," I greet them all.

"Lady Sophia," one of them reaches his hand out to me. "Pleasure to meet you," we shake hands. "I'm Jonathan Claire, the president of the Firm."

"Sophia Richards."

"This is Ronald James, my vice-president," he gestures toward another old man with grey hair and round eyewear, "Timothy Micheals, our senior adviser, and Henry Simmons, our chief of staff."

"Pleased to meet you," I nod respectfully and as I do, Christopher joins in on the meeting.

"Hello, beautiful," he teases with a mischievous gleam in his eyes.

"Your Highness, I curtsy.

Jonathan then escorts me to the vacant chair at the desk. "Please do sit down."

I oblige, crossing my legs neatly at the ankles, as I wait to hear what these men have to say.

"First off, let me congratulate you on your recent engagement," Jonathan smiles, "We are pleased our Christopher has finally found the one."

I nod once with a smile.

"That I have," Christopher says playfully and I ignore his snide comment.

"Before we continue our conversation," the meeting quickly takes a serious tone, "we would need to ask of you to sign this NDA."

Of course...

Well, this was to be expected.

"Certainly," I say without hesitation, already grabbing the pen laid on top of the document he slid my way. "I will need to skim through it, first," I add a little smile, swiftly scanning the articles written. 

"Don't worry," Chris addresses the men, "It shouldn't take long," he says, "Sophia here is highly experienced in non-disclosing things."

I again ignore his comment.

"By all means," Jonathan opens his arms, "it is wise never to sign anything before reading it thoroughly beforehand."

Hmm, then you should've sent these documents to me a day in advance, I think to myself.

Finally, I sign the agreement that is only a non-disclosure and Henry takes it from me, storing it safely into a thick black file. 

"I'm glad we can proceed now," he states. "We are informed about the circumstances of this marriage. What is more, we were the ones who chose you as the appropriate future queen consort, given your reputation, charity work, education, and public acceptance."

Oh.

I nod.

"Transparency will make this meeting easier for us all to establish some basic rules and policies."

"I agree," both I and Christopher say at the same time.

"First of, here are two written pieces of the story between you and Prince Christopher - detailing how and when you two met, feel in love, and when he proposed," they hand out a piece to each of us.

I was expecting this, but still feel like laughing. It's one of those awkward situations when you feel like laughing at a funeral, even though nothing about it is ever funny.

"Right," I manage to say stiffly.

"We have tried to keep as many true events as possible to make the stories more memorable for you both. In short, you two have known each other since childhood. You started dating in college and have been on and off ever since, but have rekindled your romance a year ago, having realized you two are a perfect match."

"Huh!" Christopher laughs, "Lucky me," he says ironically and I feel like laughing again. 

"Let's see," he speaks confidently, skimming through our romance story, "I fell in love with her chastise, basically," he jokes, "Yep, sounds very convincing."

"Yes, sir," Ronald confirms. "You both should memorize this and know it in your sleep, then burn the documents."

I open my eyes in horror, slightly looking at Christopher for reassurance.

"Yeah, he never jokes, this one," he points casually at Ronald. It's astounding how he doesn't find anyone intimidating. Then again, he's known them all since he was a baby. And he is, I guess, their boss. Not the other way around. Or is he?

"Your prime concern, or shall I say incentive," Jonathan fixes his glasses, "to join this union was the repayment of your debts," he looks at me without judgment. "As I understand, we are talking about a few thousands above four million pounds. Is that correct?"

"Yes," I confirm, taking bank statements and documents out of my business case, then handing it to him. "These are all the necessary information you require."

"Thank you, ma'am," his voice deepens as he collects the papers. "Our financial experts will go over these and we will get back to you as soon as possible."

I purse my lips. "But it will be handled?" I want to make sure. 

"Certainly, ma'am," he says clearly and shortly. 

I relax a little. 

"Another subject to discuss. We were informed by Prince Christopher that the residence you currently live in is not one corresponding to your status."

I lick my lower lip to contain anger as I eye Christopher, who only stares in front of him, not acknowledging me. 

"We have therefore found a more appropriate accommodation for you to reside in until your wedding takes place and you officially move into the palace."

"Right," I say, "Perfect." I won't complain about that. I bet this will be an upgrade. 

Christopher seems to tense up as they continue.

"You will move into Prince Christopher's apartment that he owns in central London. It is private and hassle-free."

I now eye him with flared nostrils.

"He will not reside with you," they continue, "but you will be closely monitored at all times. Here is a booklet of rules of conduct and etiquette, which you surely know already, given that you are a royal of a lower class."

I lick my lips again, feeling at unease. "What about a private location for... private things?"

I see Christopher's lips curl with my peripheral view.

"I beg your pardon?" Jonathan asks.

Right. The agreement about sleeping around is only between the two of us. They must not find out about it.

"I meant are we allowed to see each other in private? Before the wedding," I correct myself, hoping I didn't reveal too much.

"Certainly," Christopher adds. "I sleep in that apartment most nights anyway, darling. Don't worry about that," he winks charmingly.

Mhm.

"Shall we proceed?"