Rosavia—it was a fact of life—but he knew for certain that no one in the royal family would judge a person’s worth on it. Their abilities, though, were another matter.
“Well,” Jules said, having the good grace to blush a little. “That’s probably true, too. But not instead, Leo. Also. They want you to be happy. We all do.”
Leo refrained from an eye roll of his own. The words were touching—and Leo was touched, hearing them from Jules—but since it was the king and queen themselves who’d given him a list and a deadline when it came to his engagement, he found it doubtful that they’d been more concerned about how compatible he’d be with his future spouse than with how qualified that person was to sit on the throne.
Leo had looked at the list, for the record, and he’d actually known a fair number of the women on it. Or to be more accurate, he’d met a fair number of them over the years, not really “known” them. Not enough for the king and queen to suspect compatibility. And certainly not enough to feel anything like the spark, the connection, the… the lightness that bubbled up inside his chest every time Eddie was near.
But Leo didn’t want to argue about their parents’ motivations. He’d rather, much rather, focus on the sincerity of his brother’s words. Maybe he’d misjudged Jules’s reason for questioning Leo’s choice after all.
“Thank you,” Leo said. “Maybe I can introduce you to him later tonight? I’m bringing him back to the palace to meet with the tailor.”
“The tailor?” Jules asked, looking confused for a moment. Then, “Oh. Because he’s a commoner and won’t have anything or his own suitable to wear to the Royal Ball.”
Leo shook his head, his lips quirking up. “No, it’s because…”
Well, yes, actually, what Jules had said, but not just that. It was also because Leo wanted to spoil Eddie, and be near him, and give him all the luxuries he’d never had. But that felt a little too soul-baring to state quite so baldly, so he cleared his throat and instead went with—
“Something like that, yes.”
“That’s nice of you,” Jules said simply, winning his way back into Leo’s good graces by not harping on the “he’s a commoner” issue. Then he sighed, shifting Treble to his other shoulder, and added, “Look, what I really came to say is that if you go through with this, you’ll be announcing your engagement in less than two weeks.”
“And?” Leo prompted when Jules paused.
Jules looked conflicted for a moment, then went on. “And the thing is, I’m definitely not any kind of relationship guru, but I get why you’d hate being told it’s time to marry if you’re not ready. Just think about whether your Eddie is really—”
“He is,” Leo cut in sharply.
“Something as important as this isn’t the time for one of your rebellions, Leo,” Jules said seriously, holding his gaze. “Your choice is going to have long-term effects.”
“You mean on Rosavia,” Leo said tightly. It was a consideration, and a valid one, but it still rankled that it had to be.
Jules sighed. “Well, honestly, I meant the long-term effect on your life, but yes, you’re the heir, Leo, so on Rosavia, too. That’s inescapable.”
All too true.
Leo pinched the bridge of his nose. “I’ll abdicate,” he half-joked. “None of this would be an issue if Sander was next in line.”
Jules snorted out a laugh, loud enough that Treble yowled and leapt out of his arms. “Uh, no,” he said, brushing cat hair off his chest. “I mean, setting aside those pesky little details like the laws of primogeniture and inheritance that we’d all get tangled up in if you tried it, you can’t get out of it that easily. You are the heir. It’s your responsibility, not his.”
Leo smirked. “But think about it, Jules. Sander likes responsibility, whereas I’m not and never have been a big fan.”
Jules rolled his eyes. “You can’t be that clueless.”
“What? He does like it. He steps in all the time.”
Another eye roll. “He likes to be useful, sure. But you do like responsibility, Leo… you just don’t like being told what to do.” He crossed his arms and arched a brow. “You can be a bit bossy at times, you know.”
Leo opened his mouth to argue, then closed it again. That was… not untrue. Then he started to smile, thinking about just how much his little librarian liked that “bossy” side of him at times.
“Maybe it’s time to quit seeing