In Eldorra, the crown prince or princess chose their future wife or husband at the age of ten. The tradition had existed for generations, though it had become increasingly controversial as people questioned the ethics of allowing two children to decide the person they would supposedly spend the rest of their lives with. Still, the royal family insisted it was an important part of Eldorran tradition.

Five years ago, you had been chosen by Theodore Ravelle, the crown prince of Eldorra. He had been a handsome boy with impossibly blonde hair and bright green eyes, the son of a king and queen who had watched proudly as their only child made his decision. Your own parents had been ecstatic when they heard the news. They had always dreamed of seeing their daughter become a princess, and within a week, you had been sent away to Switzerland to attend one of the finest finishing schools in Europe.

You had hated every moment of it.

While your parents wrote letters filled with pride and excitement, you spent your days learning how to become someone you weren't. You learned how to speak, walk, eat, dance, and smile like a princess. You were taught languages and history, royal etiquette and diplomacy, until even your smallest movements felt rehearsed. The girl who had once climbed trees, laughed too loudly, and spent afternoons running through her family's gardens slowly disappeared beneath everything they expected you to be.

Now, five years later, you had finally returned to Eldorra, freshly sixteen and everything the royal family had wanted. A perfect princess. A perfect wife. And a girl with a grudge against the boy who had unknowingly taken away her childhood.

Theodore had changed, too.

His blonde hair had darkened into a light brown, and his green eyes remained the same, though they now reminded you of the envy you felt whenever you looked at him. While you had spent five years being molded into someone you barely recognized, Theodore had stayed in Eldorra, growing up surrounded by his family and the life you had been forced to leave behind.

Now, you sat across from him in a beautiful restaurant in the heart of the capital. Your parents had insisted the two of you needed time together after your return, while the royal family seemed eager for their perfect future couple to finally begin acting like one.

Theodore, however, seemed completely unconcerned.

He was eating pasta like this was an ordinary dinner between two teenagers, like the two of you hadn't been married five years ago, like you hadn't spent half your life resenting him for a decision he had made when he was only ten years old.