Page 29 of Modern Romance September 2025 5-8

‘Because I’m not just here to issue you an apology. I’m also here to tell you that I love you.’

She blinked. Her pulse spiked. Her breath stuck in her lungs all over again. ‘What?’ she managed as her head began to spin.

‘I love you.’

‘No,’ she said, clinging to her defences with everything she had. ‘You don’t. You made that exceptionally clear the other night.’

‘I didn’t mean a word of it.’

‘You sounded as though you did.’

With a flinch he yanked his hands out of his pockets to shove them through his hair and then scrubbed them over his face.

‘I thought I did at the time,’ he said, beginning to pace around the spot where they’d picnicked.

‘But I was wrong. I’m so in love with you I can’t think straight.

I can’t eat. I can’t sleep. I’m just about holding it together, but it won’t be long before I bring down the monarchy single-handedly. ’

‘I see. You need my help.’

He stopped abruptly gave his head a sharp, decisive shake.

‘No. That’s not it at all. Hear me out. Please.

Even though I know I don’t deserve it.’ His gaze burned into hers, and she couldn’t avert hers, no matter how much she wanted to because it hurt so damn much to look at him.

‘I need you , Sofia. And not because of the kingdom or the constitution or anything else related to my position. But for me. Just me. That’s what I’ve been struggling with.

You turned me inside out. You had me wishing for impossible things and abandoning principles I’ve lived my whole life by.

I was brought up to believe that a royal marriage is not supposed to be that way.

That a dedication to duty necessarily precludes love.

On a personal level I’ve always been convinced that love was for the weak, that it would render me vulnerable and open to exploitation.

My heart isn’t hard. It’s as soft as a marshmallow.

I had to protect it. Telling myself I neither needed nor wanted love became a habit.

But I think, deep down, I’ve yearned for it for years.

You’re not the only one who’s been lonely.

I suspect that’s why I put off finding a wife for so long.

It wasn’t a question of busyness. I was waiting for you.

Realising that was terrifying and, once again, I didn’t handle it well.

You were right to call me out on it. You were right about everything.

Not least my mother’s feelings for my father.

That’s another piece of history I will not allow to be repeated. ’

‘You asked her?’

‘Yes. She confirmed what you’d said and then she pointed out all the other things I haven’t wanted to acknowledge.

For nearly thirty-five years I’ve had a one-track mind.

I’ve been obsessed with the idea that success in the job necessitates selflessness and the sacrificial suppression of feelings.

But not any longer. I love you. I want to share everything with you.

With us both at the helm the country will thrive.

I know it will.’ He drew in a deep, shuddering breath, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he clearly swallowed hard.

‘Without you, though, I won’t. I might not even survive.

I’m sorry it took so long for me to come to my senses.

I’m more sorry than I can say for the cruelty I showed you the other night.

You will never know how much I regret that.

I will spend the rest of my life trying to earn your forgiveness if you’ll let me.

I honestly don’t know what I will do if I’ve blown it for good. Have I?’

He stopped. Sofia reeled, beginning to shake with the force of the emotions she so badly wanted to let loose, yet couldn’t.

She was desperate to believe he meant what he was saying, but something held her back, and she was done with ignoring caution.

‘I don’t know,’ she said, her throat tight with the swirling emotions she was trying so hard to contain.

‘I emptied my soul to you and you crushed it. You broke my heart. What if it happens again?’

‘It won’t.’

‘I wish I could take that risk.’

‘You can,’ he said, buffeting her with conviction that she wished she could embrace. ‘I promise. Take it. Take it with me.’

‘But you’ll never put me first,’ she said wretchedly. ‘And I know I shouldn’t expect you to. I understand that the country has to be your number one priority. But no one ever has ever put me first, and if I let myself care and you aren’t able to do that, it might well destroy me.’

He stilled. He looked her steadily, thoughtfully, for several long thundering seconds, then took a step towards her. She tried to take one back so she could breathe air that wasn’t filled with his scent but somehow the tree was behind her. ‘Do you know where I’m supposed to be right now?’

What? Given her access to his schedule, she probably ought to. But her brain didn’t seem to be working. Nothing seemed to be working. ‘No.’

‘Munich. At a conference on renewable energy, which, as you know, is something I feel really quite strongly about. I’m the keynote speaker.

Or at least I was. The minute I realised how I felt about you I had to come and tell you, so I sent my mother to deliver my speech instead.

You’re more important to me than anything, Sofia.

Even duty. Which is something I’m still trying to get my head around.

But what I do know is that I’ll always put you first. I can no longer imagine doing anything else. It simply won’t be possible.’

Sofia’s head swam and her heart banged against her ribs. ‘Is that true?’ she said, her voice little more than a hoarse, strangled whisper.

‘Have I ever lied to you?’

He hadn’t. Not once. Not even when decimating her heart in his study. ‘No.’

‘And I don’t intend to start now. Or ever.’

Which meant what? That she could believe him? That she was as important to him as he was to her? God, how she wanted that to be the case.

‘So what do you think?’ he asked intensely, as if her answer was the only thing in the world he wanted to hear. ‘Are you really over me? Am I really just a fantasy? Have I killed your feelings for me permanently? Or will you take pity on me and give me a second chance?’

It was his uncertainty and the crack in his voice that blew to bits the last vestiges of her resistance and released the ropes holding her heart.

Here he was, this strong proud man, spilling out his soul, adjusting the principles he’d held for a lifetime for her, prioritising her because he loved her, because she was enough for him, and it was everything she’d ever wanted.

All she had to do was believe him. Trust him.

And in the end, with the proof of how he felt radiating from every pore and in the hoarse sincerity of the words he spoke, it wasn’t even difficult.

‘Of course I’m not really over you,’ she said, her heart overflowing with so much joy that she trembled with the force of it.

‘You’re everything I’ve ever wanted. You always have been.

I thought I wasn’t enough for you, like I wasn’t enough for my parents.

I’ve been so miserable, Ivo. I tried to tell myself that I was tough and I’d get over it, but it would have been so hard. It would have been impossible.’

‘You’ll never be miserable again,’ he said as if it were a vow, pulling her into his arms and kissing her so fiercely she thought she might faint, as much from an overdose of happiness as a lack of air.

‘You are more than enough. You are everything. I’m sorry for letting you think otherwise.

I’m so very sorry for making you cry.’ He leaned back a little, searched her face and frowned.

‘And for that terrible speech. I’m sure I’ve missed something…

Like our child. God. You have no idea how happy I am about that.

I can’t wait to meet them. And add to our family. ’

‘Your speech was perfect.’

‘It could have been better organised. But I didn’t have you to tidy it up for me.’

‘I’ve missed you.’

‘I’ve missed you too. I love you, Sofia. Let me show you how much.’

He kissed her again and they fell to the ground, where they tugged off each other’s clothing until there was nothing between them but heat and desire and love, until it was impossible to know where she ended and he began.

They moved as one, perfectly in sync, and when they hit the dizzying heights of ecstasy together, it was so intense, so beautiful, she could have wept all over again.

‘I nearly forgot,’ Ivo said, glancing at their joined hands as their racing hearts quietened and the sweat cooled on their entwined bodies.

‘You left something behind.’ He shifted off her and reached out to rummage in the pocket of his jacket that lay in a heap by their feet, then took her hand and slid the rings on to her finger. ‘Don’t ever take them off again.’

Sofia looked at the symbols of their unity, their commitment to each other and the crown, watched the diamonds winking in the sun, as if to say Dreams can come true , then kissed him with all the love she felt, the love that she would never have to hide again, and murmured, ‘I won’t.’