Chapter 56: The Issue of the Bouquet

Adolph led Laurel away from the ballroom into a nearby parlor and pulled her close with a sigh, nuzzling her. Her scent was as warm and sweet as ever, soothing in ways he hadn’t ever thought anything could be. The exhaustion that had been dragging him down for years had vanished practically overnight since he’d marked her.
“I’ve missed you,” he whispered.
Laurel laughed a little, “You saw me this morning.”
“It was too long ago,” he said with a little chuckle, before dropping a kiss to her temple. “A gift.”
She frowned as Adolph took her hand a put a chain of gold around her wrist with a few charms. One looked like a blue lake made of sapphires under a mountain. Another was a tree made of gold and tiny emeralds. The next was a rose made of rubies. Another was an azalea made of rubies. The last charm looked like a lunar flower made of diamonds so clear they sparkled in the dim light.
“Y-Your Majesty, I…” He smiled at her and kissed her forehead. “It’s beautiful but…”
“You can’t return a gift, Laurel.”
She pouted, “How… high-handed of you, Your Majesty.”
He threw his head back and laughed, “I promise. Everything will make sense. For now, we have a choice to make.”
He pulled out a few pieces of paper, each lettered with an expert hand, “These are drafts for the announcement. Which do you like best?”
Laurel swallowed and looked up at him before looking down at the options. She winced at the one that seemed the most like the announcement of her and Basil’s wedding and put it at the bottom of the stack.
“Which do you prefer?” Laurel asked, glancing at him.
He looked at the sheets hesitantly, “I… don’t want to influence your choice.”
She frowned, “What do you mean by that—”
A knock sounded on the door and Adolph sighed, “Will we not get a single moment alone until the honeymoon?”
Laurel’s face burned with embarrassment. She wanted to scold him but he turned and opened the door. Laurel turned to look at the collection of ministers outside the door.
She almost groaned. What did they want now?
“What do you want now?” Adolph asked, “We’re trying to make some decisions regarding the wedding.”
“It’s about the wedding,” the minister of finance stated and offered a piece of paper to him. “We’ve come to deliver the drafted budget.”
Laurel held herself back from going to look at it. Instead, she admired the charms with a smile. She’d have to get him to explain some of them when he got a chance.
“Is this a joke?” Adolph asked. “Or do you take me for an idiot?”
“Neither, Your Majesty.”
“Explain then why this budget is barely half of what was spent on my first marriage,” he said, crumpling the page in his hand. “It’s not even the same amount that was spent on either of Basil’s weddings.”
“Well, the timing of the wedding is a factor. Perhaps if you would wait a few more months to replenish the reserves—”
“Don’t give me that crap. I know what the royal ledger looks like.”
“If I may,” the minister of justice cleared his throat. “Prince Basil’s wedding was to his mate, and Luna Olivia was a woman of great importance to the kingdom as a daughter of a minister.”
Adolph let out a dark chuckle as he balled up the budget, “You’re trying my patience ministers… I assure you I’m almost out.”
Laurel glanced at them, unable to help herself as they let out a frightened gasp. The scent of blood grew stronger in the air, twined with cedar and roses. She could only imagine what sort of expression was on Adolph’s face.
“Consider yourself the first one to be replaced, Minister Tarren.” The man gasped, “As for the rest of you, disrespect my future wife again and I’ll kill you… It would make replacing you a great deal easier.”
“Y-Your Majesty—”
“Come back with a better budget and maybe I won’t murder you.” Adolph closed the door in their faces with a little huff of frustration before turning to her.
He was going to apologize for his language, but she seemed to be staring at him in awe. Laurel’s eyes were glossy with tears but her expression was painfully happy. He’d never seen such a complex expression on her face before.
She blinked, seemingly shaking herself free of her shock, before composing herself.
“It’s… okay if the budget is left. I’m sure Basil’s wedding was very expensive.”
“How can a prince’s wedding cost more than a king’s?” Adolph said with a scoff. “They’re upset because I have no interest in their sisters or daughters. They’ll fix it.”
He returned to her side, “Now about the invitations?”
Laurel shook her head, “Why won’t you tell me your preference?”
He tilted his head, “It’s… complicated.”
Laurel turned away from him with a little tilt of her lips.
“Laurel, I—”
Another knock sounded on the door and he groaned. Laurel giggled a little and opened the door.
Sarah and Lily were on the other side of the door carrying baskets of flowers.
He smiled, “Miss Lily, Miss Sarah, a pleasure to see you both. Please come in.”
“Your Majesty,” they greeted and stepped inside.
Laurel turned to look at the collection of flowers.
“We thought we should get an idea about the arrangements and the bouquet…” Sarah said. “These aren’t the freshest clippings. They’ll be used for petal jam, actually, but just to give you a sense of what’s available.”
Laurel smiled looking over the collection, happy that there wasn’t a single rose among them.
“There are no roses,” Adolph said.
“I think it’s good,” Laurel said, “Just… some simple flowers should do for the bouquet.”
He frowned, “No.”
Laurel looked at him, “What do you mean?”
“You can’t have a simple bouquet,” Adolph said with a shake of his head. “There’s a reason why we use roses at weddings and the future wife of a king can’t carry a simple bouquet.”
Laurel gave Sarah and Lily a tight smile, “Let’s… continue this some other day. I think we should consider it a little more.”
Sarah and Lily glanced at each other for a moment before nodding politely and excusing themselves. Adolph looked at Laurel as she clenched her jaw. She seemed troubled, but he couldn’t place the source of her trouble.
“You’re upset,” Adolph drew closer to her. “But I can’t figure out why. Do you not like roses?”
“Just because your late wife had roses, doesn’t mean I need them.”
Adolph clenched his jaw, “Why do you keep bringing her up? She has nothing to do with us.”
Laurel looked up at him, “You haven’t explained anything. You’re avoiding it. You might have said that Tina was lying, but what do you expect me to think if you won’t tell me the truth?”
“Laurel, I don’t want to talk about her.” Adolph sighed. “Isn’t it enough to trust that I’m telling the truth?”
“…I don’t want roses.” She glanced up at him. “And I don’t want to talk about why.”
He flinched at her cold tone and his words thrown back in his face. Adolph wanted to say something more, but he took a deep breath and shook his head. He didn’t want her thinking about Olivia and whatever else Tina told her. There was nothing else he could say about Olivia that would help change her mind short divulging the entire story and he wasn’t in the mood for that conversation. He wasn’t even sure why she didn’t believe him. He didn’t want to argue with her and upset her. He would only make things worse; he was sure.
He wished he had more experience with women. His father had been a charming man who had wooed his mother to the edges of the kingdom and back for her hand. He supposed all the charm in the Raymond line had been consumed by his father’s pursuit leaving him to flounder at pleasing his mate.
This wasn’t a battle he could win right now. In his experience, it was best to retreat and live to fight another day.
“I’m not going to argue with you about roses,” Adolph said and turned towards the door. “I’m not going to argue with you at all. Let me know your thoughts on the invitations.”
Laurel looked at the pages, “Fine.”
Adolph hesitated, but he turned stiffly and headed out of the door. For a moment, he rocked back against the door to sigh before continuing down the hall.
Laurel swallowed as the door closed and wiped her eyes before the tears fell. Her chest felt tight. She knew he wasn’t going to talk about it for whatever reason, but didn’t he see that his unwillingness to talk about it just made it seem like there was at least some truth to the romance that had been spread across the kingdom?
She shook her head. The truth mattered, but she wasn’t going to get it. For as long as he refused to talk about it, she couldn’t give him her heart and that was okay.