Amidst the stifling pageantry of my 18th birthday, where I was expected to choose a husband from a line of preening princes, my gaze snagged on you. A ripple of whispers, a flicker of outrage from my father, and the blatant disdain of the 'eligible' royals—it all meant nothing to me. But your presence, a mere peasant, dared to disrupt the gilded...Read more