111. Public Feelings.

[Luke]
"Father, what are you saying?" I turned to him as asked as the whole conference room erupted into a noise of questions, every one of the reporters wanted answers to their questions and it became rowdy immediately.
Abdicating the throne was not an uncommon thing, after all my grandfather's sister had abdicated the throne to him after their father died but in this situation, it had never been heard of before.
My father had ruled as King over Denmark for over thirty years and the only way I was to ever ascend the throne was after his death but now he was handing the throne over to me when he was still alive.
Even in extreme cases of sickness, the heir to the throne would only act in place of the King without the title as I'd done during the many months of his sickness.
This thing he was doing was totally unheard of.
"You're ready." He told me as he waited for the reporters to calm themselves down.
Everyone had a shocked look on their faces, except Sir Thomas, he was smiling and nodding his head at me.
What was I thinking, of course he knew, he was the King's right hand anyway, I'm sure they had made the decision together.
"Your highness, this has never happened before in the history of the Danish royal family, why are you doing this all of a sudden?" A reporter asked.
"Like I said, the old ways serve us no longer and it's time to do things a different way." He said.
My father was being cryptic, kudos to him for using a catchphrase from the movie 'The Crimes of Grindelwald' I was really proud of him for that.
"Father, please let us talk about this?" I tried again, it was an honor to serve my nation and the people but it was also a very huge responsibility and I wasn't ready for that yet.
No wonder he gave me the family ring and wanted me to make things official with Claire.
Speaking of Claire, she had still not regained her memory but I had a chance to make things right now.
"Your highness, why so sudden?" Another reporter asked.
"Because my son is ready for it and I'd like to retire." He joked. "My health is not good these days, meaning I can't be the King that the nation deserves and who says a King can never witness his son on the throne, I think that's a very bad practice, I'm very proud of my son and I want to see him become King and make me even more prouder."
"Father, I don't know what to say."
"Don't say anything to me son, say something to your people, I'm proud of you son and I know that you're going to be a good King, you have a big heart and you care about the people." He said.
"Thank you very much, father, this is a great honor but I… I need to put my life in order first." I looked up at him on the pedestal.
"Why don't we talk about this later, first you have to talk to your subjects." He said and then turned back to the Press. "Thank you very much, I'd like to invite the man of the hour to give a few words and answer your questions."
The reporters laughed at the King's joke and then they began to clap as the King descended the platform and asked me to climb up.
"Thank you all very much." I smiled at them and waited for their clapping to stop. "First, I'd like to thank my father, the King, even when I am King, he will always be the King to me, I'd like to thank him for his support, his love and his trust and I can only hope to fill the large shoes he is leaving behind for me."
"Prince Luke, how are you feeling about your father's announcements?"
"Honestly, I feel very shocked, as shocked as most of you are, I thought I still had a lot of time to enjoy my freedom." I laughed. "I also feel very overwhelmed because this is such a huge honor and responsibility, words cannot describe how I am feeling today."
"Your royal highness, will you be giving us a queen any time soon?"
"Actually yes, I intend to we'd before I'm crowned or even during the ceremony, I don't know." I joked and then I turned serious. "Pardon me a moment." I said as I brought out my phone from my pocket and sent a message to the doctor in the hospital.
"I'm live, please turn on the tv in Claire's room, I have an important message for her, I'm being interviewed right now." I typed as fast as I could and sent it to the doctor.
"On my way." The doctor replied almost immediately and I smiled and dropped the phone back in my pocket.
"I have something very important to say, a few months ago, I called a press conference like this to address the ongoing scandal between me and the foreigner but I lied to you all during that interview and I'm very sorry for that." They all gasped at my confessions and I turned to my father with fear in my heart.
"You're doing well, son." He whispered to me and I sighed out of relief, if he was behind me, then I could face anything.
"Are you trying to say that the rumors and photos were true?" A reporter asked in surprise.
"Yes and if you'll please not interrupt me, I'd like to explain everything." I said and then looked straight into the camera, imagining that I was looking Claire straight in the eyes.
"I met Claire when I just returned to Denmark from America and I fell for her instantly, though I denied my feelings, they didn't go away and they just kept waxing stronger. As you all know, at that time I was publicly dating Megan, my childhood friend and that made our situation very complicated."
"Megan's and my marriage had been set in stone since we were little and neither the King nor Megan's mother were willing to compromise on that even though we expressed the fact that we weren't in love with one another on multiple occasions, we weren't listened to and we were told to just carry out what was expected of us."
"Love they say happens in the strangest ways, indeed I have felt that sort of love, I fell in love with a foreigner and when we met, she had no idea who I was because my pictures hadn't been published in the news and people couldn't identify me on the street, I felt like I could be myself around her, not a title and so I didn't tell her who I was."
Another round of gasps echoed throughout the room but then there were also sniffles as people were dabbing their wet eyes.
"I so regret denying her that day because I haven't been the same without her, she is the absolute love of my life and if she'll have me, I'd like to spend the rest of my life with her." I said and brought out the family ring from my pocket and dropped it on the pulpit. "I'm sure my mother would tell me to follow my heart if she were here today and my father already gave me his permission, so if she'll have me, I'll make her my queen." I said and they began to clap their hands.
"Your royal highness, aren't you afraid of the public's perception of this?" A reporter asked.
"Is everyone in the royal family in support of this?" Another asked.
"Will the ministry really allow something like this to happen or don't you care about the ministry any more?" Another reporter asked immediately.
More questions started popping from the reporters and I looked at all of them, not knowing whose question to answer or which one to answer first.
.
.
[Claire]
The doctor's hurried footsteps made me sit upright in bed. I originally wanted to lie in bed all day but the way he rushed into the room scared me. I wondered if my condition had worsened or if something was wrong with the baby.
"What's wrong, doctor?" I asked.
"There's something important on tv that I want you to watch." He replied and I frowned.
"What?" I asked but then I turned to the tv and my eyes widened.
The King's voice wafted through the speakers and I found out that he was abdicating the throne to Luke, meaning Luke was going to be King soon.
Luke took the stage almost immediately and my heart began to beat faster. He looked very handsome in his suit and his slicked back hair but I couldn't help but remember what had happened the last time I watched him on tv.
"Can you please turn the TV off?" I asked the doctor as I tried to look away.