Elena was experiencing a wonderful carriage ride. The Petrovas' were obviously rich but Elena had never sat in a carriage with so many amenities.

"Your plans almost didn't work out, your highness." Elena teased, tilting her head to Damon. Damon chuckled and shook his head.

"Lena, dear. Our plans were solid. It doesn't matter what anybody else asks, I am King, and I make the decisions in Pendleton." Elena rolled her eyes. Damon took the opportunity to sit closer to Elena. Lifting his arm around her shoulders, Elena instinctively leaned her head back into his chest. Burying his face into the crook of her neck, he took a deep breath of her scent. Damon instantly lost himself in a moment of euphoria. Wrapping her waist with his other arm now, he had her held in a strong hug that Elena wasn't complaining about.

"I don't think the guards should be seeing us embracing like this," Elena voiced nervously.

"They can't see us beautiful, They're too busy guarding the front and back of the carriage." Elena released a content sigh and lay her head against Damon's.

"What are you going to show me today? I really am excited to see Pendleton." Damon shrugged.

"Well then, Lena. Perhaps I should have signed you up for the Katherine and Caroline tour instead of the Elena tour." Elena looked at him perplexed. "I was planning on showing Katherine and Caroline a tour of famous landmarks, local favorite bistros and other shopping locations like that."

"Isn't that the point of sight-seeing? What's on the Elena tour?" Damon with his arms still wrapped around Elena, looked up from the crook of her neck to stare out the carriage window with her.

"Well, I was going to show you the bookstore that I've gone to since I was a child. It's quite old but it's sentimental to me. I also wanted you to meet Mr. Caplan. He owns a pastry shop in town and when I was a child and still allowed to play outside the castle, Mr. Caplan would give me my favorite pasty for free. I have more places I visited growing up and I thought you may want to know about them." Elena turned around to him in his arms and beamed.

"I would absolutely love to. So where are we going to go first?" As if on cue, the carriage stopped in front of a fountain. Damon escorted Elena out of the carriage and allowed her to take in the town. The town on Pendleton was busier than most, as it was considered the capital. Elena stood next to Damon and a large fountain seemingly very similar to the Trevi Fountain Katherine and she had once visited. The fountain seemed to be the center of the town and all the townsfolk were staring at them with curious and excited faces. There were six cobblestone walkways leading in different directions, all of them bustling with traffic. Damon took her hand in his and led her down the street. Elena was so preoccupied with staring at the countless shops they passed and returning all the gazes of the people staring at her, that she didn't realize how far they had walked until Elena began noticing the walkways were getting narrower and the sudden lack of people.

"This neighborhood isn't exactly the nicest part of town and it could definitely use some fixing up but I loved it here. Mr. Caplan is right around the corner." Damon smiled and tugged on Elena's hand a little harder. Elena couldn't believe the side of Damon that she was seeing. For the first time, Damon seemed like an excited little boy going to an Uncle's house for sweets.

Elena had an amazing time getting to know Damon's childhood. As it turns out, because of Mr. Caplan's pastry gifts to Damon as a child every once in a while he would come by and visit to buy a single pastry for a pound of gold. He had been such a friendly man, showering Elena with pastries it was almost as if he were meeting his daughter in law for the first time. Elena couldn't help but notice the genuine smile Damon kept on his face all day. After visiting Mr. Caplan, Damon stopped in front of Lonely Literature Bookstore.

"Why is it called Lonely Literature? It's quite a depressing name." Elena commented.

"That's actually the point. The shopkeeper, Mr. Ellison figured that if he could get people to feel sorry for books on the shelves, they could swoop in to give the books their forever home. Don't get me started on how many times the name has got me clearing his shelves." Damon held the wooden door open for her and she ducked underneath his arm. The outside of the store fooled Elena, as the interior of the store was much more vast than she imagined what could fit in the building. Shelves upon shelves of books lined the walls with tables filling the center of the store with piles of books higher than Elena's head.

"Damon!" An elderly man with white hair and small circular glasses peered over at Damon and wobbled his way across the store to Damon with his arms outstretched. Damon jogged over and gave Mr. Ellison a hug. Elena was learning fast today that the people she was meeting have been in Damon's life for a long time. None of them bowed or addressed him formally all day, and Damon didn't seem to mind.

"This is Elena. You know who she is, don't you?" Damon gestured for Elena to come closer. Mr. Ellison reached for her hand to place a light kiss.

"Everyone in the Kingdom knows who she is by now, Damon. A new lady has stolen our King's heart." Elena blushed a deep shade of crimson. Her interactions with Damon were always so natural and private that she often forgot just what a big deal is was that she was being courted by a King. Mr. Ellison clearly sensed her embarrassment and discomfort as he quickly turned to Damon and switched the subject. The two chatted on about Damon's extremely large semi-annual order of books from Mr. Ellison to replenish the castle's library. Elena walked off and picked up a leather bound journal with gold lining on the edges of the paper. It had been so long since Elena had written in a journal and seeing such a beautiful one definitely made her want to hop on the bandwagon again.

"Lena, let's head back to the castle for dinner." Elena smiled and placed the journal down to follow Damon. "Sweetheart, I already paid for the journal, don't forget it." Elena smiled in surprise, grabbed the journal, thanked Mr. Ellison and quickly linked her arm with Damon. He was right. The sun was about ready to set for the day and Damon's carriage had been brought to the street next to them.

As soon as Elena got Damon in the privacy of their carriage, she leaned over to kiss him on the cheek.

"I really liked that journal. Thank you." Elena beamed.

"I really like you." Elena giggled and played with her fingers in her lap. She never knew how to handle Damon's flirting. She was slightly uncomfortable with it but knew that she would be much more upset without it. Looking up, she realized that Damon was much closer to her than before. He gazed into her eyes, asking for permission and she instinctively licked her lips giving him a go. He leaned in and pecked her lips softly repeatedly until they both finally gave in. Elena wrapped her hand around in his hair and Damon lifted her up until she sat straddled on his lap. He pulled away and buried his face in her partially exposed chest and sighed.

"Why can't I just marry you without courting Katherine or Caroline?" Elena smiled sadly. She wished that were possible as it would most definitely save her conflict between her sister and her. "Do you feel the same?" Damon asked hesitantly.

"I'm falling for you, Damon." His eyes lit up, finally being able to hear what he had been so desperate to hear since he laid eyes on her for the first time. "I didn't realize until today that you compartmentalize so incredible effectively. I've only been with you in the castle, where you run your Kingdom and all bow before you. During our private moments together I got a glimpse of a caring man, but today after meeting these towns people, I know you to be a sweet caring man who will treat me well if we were to be married, and a strong King for the public."

"When."

"What?" Elena breathed heavily touching her forehead with his.

"WHEN we get married, you are going to be the most loved woman in the Kingdom."

"What about Eliz-"Damon cut her off with more deep kisses. He didn't want this magical moment ruined by the fact that Elena would have to come to terms being the second wife. Although he knew deep down that he would love Elena more than Elizabeth, that wasn't something he was going to admit to Elena or tell anyone else. That would disrespect Elizabeth as well as pit the two women against each other once he and Elena were married. Damon lifted himself off the seat and lay Elena gently down on the seat covering his body with hers intimately. Reaching underneath her dress, he brushed against her thighs while he continued to plant open mouth kisses on her chest. The sound of horns caused them to sit upright and adjust themselves. Damon couldn't take his eyes off her. From her swollen lips, to her still glistening breasts and lifted dress Elena looked his. Both of them adjusted their hair and clothes just as the carriage slowed to a stop in front of the main entrance.

Walking down the main hallway towards the third dining room, Damon held her hand in his while trying to steal quick kisses on the cheek. "Seriously, Damon. Stop it. They can't see us like this. It's inappropriate."

"What's so inappropriate about trying to kiss my soon to be wife?" Elena giggled.

"It's inappropriate when people don't now that I'm your soon to be wife."

"Please, they can see that I love you." Damon said just as he pushed the dining room door open.

"Your Highness?" Caroline squeaked. He loved her? After one day together, and Damon thought that he loved her. Caroline forced a smile in Elena's direction, noticing that they were holding hands. "You must have seen a lot of famous landmarks today, Elena. Enjoyed yourself?" Elena shrugged.

"We only saw the fountain." Elena replied hoping to keep their day private. Elena and Damon took their seats at the table and the waiters started to enter with domed trays.

"My dear, you can show Caroline around the town tomorrow, can't you?" Anne smiled at her son. Although it was no secret that Anne wanted her son to have an heir, she wasn't thrilled with Damon's antics with Elena Petrova. She seemed like a genuine and sweet girl, but she had to intervene and make things a little easier on Elizabeth. "Caroline is the biggest sweetheart, Damon. We all had tea together today." Damon gave Caroline a polite smile. Caroline took that as a sign to ramble on for the rest of the night; essentially giving a pitch about herself. Elena knew more about Caroline than she preferred by the time dinner was over.

"I had an amazing time with you today, Elena Petrova. Won't you marry me now?" Damon escorted her back to her bedroom chambers to the night and paused in the doorway to say goodnight. Elena responded with an incredulous giggle.

"Not yet, I can't let you know that you won me over so quickly." Damon pouted and reached to take her hands in his.

"I promise I won't tell anyone." Elena rolled her eyes.

"Goodnight, your highness." Damon gave up and smiled before leaving in to give her a light but long lasting kiss on the cheek.

"Goodnight, Lena. I promise you have nothing to worry about. I'll be a good for the next two days." Elena sighed contently.

"I know you will." With that Elena shut the door behind her leaving Damon alone in the hallway.

Today had been more amazing than Damon could have imagined. He knew the more time that he spent with her meant the more time he had to fall deeper for her and he wasn't complaining. He brought out the, what he considered, the happier version of himself. Sure, he still visited the town on his own without courtships but he was apathetic, and most definitely kept his true self hidden from the rest of the kingdom. Elizabeth and his relationship had fizzled out much sooner than he had anticipated but of course, nobody could have been expecting the issue with producing the country's heir. Heading to his bedroom chambers, he entered the dark room exhausted but happy. The fire was already slowly dying out and he leaned over to toss in another log feeding the fire.

"I haven't seen you all day." Damon whipped his head around. Katherine Petrova was laying on his bed with a negligee, her bare legs exposed. Damon's mouth dropped open.

"Katherine, what are you doing in here? This is highly inappropriate." Damon ran his hands through his hair. Although he hated to admit it, Katherine was extremely attractive. It wasn't a surprise as Katherine and Elena were sisters and all he could think about was how he got to ravish Elena in the carriage earlier. Katherine giggled and twisted her curled hair.

"I'm just trying to give you what you really want, Damon. Take it." Katherine got off the bed and stopped two feet away from Damon and dropped her only cover up.