Up for Heir - Stella Starling Page 0,44

risk that.

“Thank you,” he said instead as a distinctive meow sounded from the hallway. A moment later, his brother Jules sauntered into the suite with Treble trapped against his chest.

“Lose something?” Jules asked, his grin turning into a wince when the vicious little fluffball dug her talons of death into his shoulder in retaliation for her capture.

“No,” said Leo, crossing his arms as Jules peeled the purring menace off his body and held her out for Leo to take. “She was just on her way to find Ben.”

Jules walked past Leo and deposited Treble on Leo’s bed.

“Ben’s busy. Off earning his commission,” Jules joked, although they both knew that as a member of the royal family, Ben’s Army service mostly consisted of wearing dress blues to important events and otherwise staying out of the line of fire. “Guess you’ll just have to babysit Trouble until he gets back.” Treble pounced on a pillow and did her best to claw it into submission, and Jules smirked, adding a sly, “Or, you know, forever.”

Leo held up his hands to ward off that fate, backing away as the little menace ignored them both and skittered across the duvet after a piece of pillow fluff. “I was just leaving, but I’m sure Hugo can track down Ben and—”

“My apologies, Your Highness,” Hugo cut in, slipping past the two of them with a slim leather attaché in his hands. “But I believe I’ve been assigned some babysitting duties of my own.”

“Don’t let Astrid hear you say that,” Leo called after his valet’s retreating back, finally giving in to the urge to smile despite the fact that he’d once again failed to be rid of the little beast currently trying to shred his bedding.

“Who’s Astrid?” Jules asked, flopping down next to Treble and dragging her off the pillow she was mauling to scratch behind her ears. She immediately started impersonating a puddle of purring adorableness, as if she actually thought she was fooling anyone. Jules gave her a schmoopy look, then glanced over at Leo again. “Is that the commoner Mother and Father are all up in arms about you threatening to marry?”

Leo snorted. “I’m not threatening to marry anyone, Jules. In case you haven’t heard, it’s my duty as heir to announce my engagement at the Royal Ball.”

And a few weeks ago, that statement would have come out bitterly, but now… now Leo had felt his lips curving up into a smile. True, he wasn’t a fan of the ultimatum he’d been given—he never had liked being told what to do, and that wasn’t going to change just because he might like the actual doing of it—but in this case, fulfilling his duty meant he got Eddie, and that was always going to be something to smile about.

At least, until Jules wiped that smile off his face with his next question.

“Of course I know that,” Jules said, waving off a lifetime of living under the weight of being the heir with the ease of a third-born son. “But are you seriously planning on announcing that engagement to a commoner?”

Leo instantly bristled. Jules was worldly and open-minded and one of the brothers that Leo felt closest to, and the idea that he, of all people, would have an issue with Eddie’s common birth felt like a slap in the face. Then again, Jules spent a lot of time on diplomatic relations on behalf of the crown, so Leo could understand if he, just like the king and queen, viewed the marriage of the heir through the lens of Rosavia’s needs before anything else. He could understand it… but he’d be lying if he said he didn’t feel a little betrayed by it. If Jules wanted to talk about Eddie, Leo would rather he ask him as his brother first, not as the heir. But hadn’t that always been the story of Leo’s life? Heir first, everything else second… except for in Eddie’s eyes.

“I’ll choose whomever I want,” Leo said tightly. “And I want Eddie.”

“Eddie?” Jules repeated, his brow scrunching up. “Is that a nickname for… Edwina? Edelweiss? Edele?”

Leo snorted. “No. His name is Edvin Blom.”

Jules’s eyebrows shot up. “His? So you’re planning on announcing your engagement to not just a commoner, but to a man? That’s… surprising.” He leaned forward. “Is your interest in men a new thing?”

“Yes,” Leo said tersely, not quite ready to let go of his irritation.

It was surprising, though… as was Jules’s quite obviously piqued interest upon learning of Eddie’s gender. Or,