“Are you allowed to go anywhere on your own?” Edward asked a moment later.From what he knew Sebastian always had someone protecting him, even if it was from a distance for security reasons.“Not normally, I was promised I could have a week to go somewhere on my own with precautions of course, if I got the exam grades the royal advisors wanted,” Sebastian explained.Edward squinted at him. Exam results were announced in late August in Albion so Sebastian couldn’t already know that he could go on a holiday.“Did you get those results?” he asked. “I won’t get my results for another month.”Sebastian winked at him and Edward had a feeling Sebastian was going to one up him.“I took the same exams as you, just in a different setting. As I am a royal, the results were sent through as soon as my papers were marked, which was yesterday. I did get the results, by the skin of my teeth.&

“I think I’m in the right place now,” Sebastian said as he drove up yet another hill. “If we reach a heavily locked gate that’s hard to see, we’re at the house.”Edward kept a careful eye out and saw a gate matching Sebastian’s description appear in his vision. They had been driving around narrow country roads for the past hour and he was keen to finally arrive at the house.“It’s there,” he announced.Sebastian stopped the car outside the gate and produced a set of keys for the multiple locks. The house was well secured which could only be expected as it was a holiday house used by the royal family. It took a few minutes to unlock all the locks and then Sebastian input a number into the coded one.Edward noted the concealed security cameras as they drove up the drive and came to a stop. He was confident that they would be safe from the media and anyone dangerous on their holiday.&l

Edward stared at his boyfriend in surprise. He wasn’t expecting him to say that. They were both dreading the royal wedding for all of the complications that came with it.He squinted at Sebastian to make sure he wasn't trying to lead into a dirty joke. Sebastian’s face was serious so he knew it wasn’t related to anything dirty.“Why?” he questioned.“Because at this moment, I feel like we’re a perfectly ordinary couple who have just started living together and our relationship is very simple. That’s the conditions I would like to marry you in,” Sebastian said wistfully.Edward was in agreement. He wanted to marry Sebastian because he loved him, he didn’t like what came with marrying him. He wanted a normal marriage.“I feel the same way,” he said. “We both know it’s impossible though. When you marry Prince Sebastian Hallowswift, you get the public wedding and a futu

Edward didn’t understand Sebastian’s statement. Their real wedding was going to be the publicly announced royal wedding. There was no other way for them to get married. They weren’t a normal couple. Sebastian was a prince and heir to the throne. “Sebastian, how can we get married for real today? You would need to get permission to override the planned royal wedding,” he pointed out. His boyfriend got up and dug around in his backpack before coming back to him. Edward saw he had an Albion ID card in his hand. Sebastian handed it to him and Edward realised that it was an ID with Sebastian’s photo and first name, but a different surname. “I actually have two identities. I am Prince Sebastian Hallowswift, but I also have a civilian identity called Sebastian Smith. It’s supposed to be used to conceal my royal identity in emergencies. This identity is legal,” he explained. Edward stared at the ID card. It was definitely a proper card. Registering a

Angela came to a stop outside one of the palace meeting rooms. Edward took a deep breath to steady himself whilst she knocked at the door.He heard a reply and Angela pushed open the door.Sitting at the head of the table was the queen of Albion. Edward had seen plenty of photos and videos of her over the years and had heard her voice on broadcast. None of that was good preparation for seeing her in person.Her blue eyes were a little like Sebastian’s, but felt like they were piercing into him. Her sharp cheekbones only added to the impression. Her crown was perfectly placed on her head and her suit was perfectly ironed.“Angela, you can leave us,” she said.Angela bowed her head and left the room.“You can take a seat,” she said to him.The table in the meeting room was long and Edward hesitated on where would be the best place to sit. The queen gestured at a chair a few seats away from her. He sat down