Chapter 10 - The Sovereign Grace
Spring returned to Provins once more, bringing with it the bright, cheerful laughter of children playing in the palace gardens.
Princess Victoria—now six years old, with her mother’s dark, luminous eyes and an indomitable spirit of her own—was running across the manicured lawns, chasing a golden butterfly near the grand marble fountain.
Princess Vivian sat on a wrought-iron bench beneath the shade of an ancient weeping willow, reading a book of French poetry.
Arthur approached her quietly, holding a fresh cup of Earl Grey tea on a silver saucer. He set it down beside her on the garden table.
"The delegates from Frankfurt have arrived for the afternoon economic briefing, Your Highness," Arthur reported softly.
"Thank you, Arthur. I will be there shortly," Vivian replied, turning a page of her book.
She looked up across the lawn, watching her daughter laugh as she managed to catch the butterfly in her cupped hands before gently letting it fly away into the clear blue sky.
Vivian touched the blue diamond ring on her left hand—the ring that had been in her family for four centuries, a symbol of duty, heritage, and unshakable strength.
She had once believed that love meant shrinking herself to fit into a smaller man’s fragile ego. She had believed that playing small was the price of keeping a home warm.
Life had taught her otherwise.
True royalty was never about titles, private jets, or palaces of stone. It was about knowing your own worth when the world tried to diminish you, and having the courage to walk away from anything that demanded you dim your light.
May you like
Vivian closed her book, stood up, and smoothed the fabric of her cream-colored summer dress.
With her head held high and her heart completely at peace, she walked across the sunlit grass toward her daughter, ready to greet whatever tomorrow brought—not as a survivor of the past, but as the sovereign author of her own destiny.
