Elena was waiting for Mateo in the royal wizard's workshop. Mateo came to the palace a few times a week to use the workshop and the princess knew that he was coming today. She was sitting on a chair, nervously wringing her hands as she tried to figure out how to break the news of her engagement to her boyfriend: everything she came up with was not good enough. Elena could not find anything that would lessen the pain of the news for Mateo. She was going to have to come out and say it outright.
The princess sighed and looked around the workshop. She had not spoken to anyone in her family apart from Isabel since the meeting: Elena refused to communicate with them or even look at them. Her grandmother had tried to talk to her on several occasions but the princess ignored her. The hurt and betrayal she felt was overwhelming: the last thing she had expected was for her grandparents to agree with Esteban like that. It was going to take a while before Elena could forgive her family for what they had done to her.
The door opened and Elena turned around. Mateo stepped inside the workshop and he looked surprised by the sight of the princess. But the surprise soon turned into a smile as the young wizard approached her.
"Hey, Elena," Mateo said, kissing her cheek. "What are you doing here?"
"Hi, Mateo," Elena said, giving him a weak smile.
Mateo raised his eyebrows and examined her closely. "What's wrong?"
"Oh, Mateo… Something awful has happened."
"What is it? How can I help?"
"There's nothing you or anyone else can do about this."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. You see, I'm… I'm…"
"You're what? Elena, what's going on?"
"I'm engaged to be married!" Elena blurted out.
She had not meant to say the words so abruptly: they came out before she could stop them. A deafening silence followed her words and the princess bit her lip as a look of dismay came across Mateo's face.
"W-What?" he stammered.
"I'm so sorry, Mateo. Esteban called for a Grand Council meeting a few days ago and announced that he made a deal with King Juan Ramón of Cordoba: I'm going to marry his son Prince Alonso after I turn eighteen," Elena said miserably.
"Alonso? But you don't even like him!"
"I know… Esteban made this arrangement because a marriage between me and Alonso would be beneficial for Avalor. So this whole thing is more of a business deal than anything else."
"And what does the rest of the Grand Council say about this?"
"The only one who's against this is Naomi. My grandparents agree with Esteban."
"Okay, I didn't see that one coming…"
"Neither did I. I was completely blindsided by their support of my cousin."
"So… I guess we have to stop seeing each other now?" Mateo whispered.
Elena nodded, tears filling her eyes. "Yes," she murmured. "The ball that we're having to announce the engagement is this weekend and if I get caught with someone other than the guy I'm being forced to marry, a scandal will plague the family."
"I understand. But this isn't fair! You're not turning eighteen until next year; why are you already betrothed?"
"I think I know the answer to that. Remember when Esteban caught us in the hall closet on Christmas Day? I think he's been suspicious of us ever since: he's made it clear that he thinks that I'm doing something I shouldn't be and now he's trying to stop it."
"I should have known he wasn't going to let that go. I'm so sorry, Elena. If I had waited to give your gift on the balcony like we had planned, Esteban would never have seen us."
Elena touched the necklace Mateo had given her, which she had worn every day since receiving it. "It's not your fault, Mateo," she said. "Esteban is always watching me so he was bound to catch us sooner or later."
The royal wizard nodded. "I guess this is it, then?" he asked, a slight tremor to his voice.
"I'm afraid it is," Elena replied, trying with all of her might not to cry.
"Can I kiss you one last time?" Mateo said.
Elena nodded. Mateo took a step closer and kissed her passionately. The princess could no longer hold back her tears and they began to flow down her cheeks as she returned the kiss. They only broke apart for air and Mateo gently wiped away Elena's tears as he gazed at her sadly.
"I love you," he whispered, "and I will always love you no matter what."
"So will I," Elena replied quietly. "I will never stop loving you; my heart will always belong to you."
The young wizard nodded and stroked her cheek. The princess leaned into his touch and gave him a final kiss before walking away. It was not only until she had exited the workshop that she let herself breakdown completely, her sorrow causing her to drop onto her knees. This was what she had wanted to avoid: the pain and the heartache of losing the one she loved. But the princess did not regret revealing her feelings to Mateo, not one bit: the months she had spent as his girlfriend had been wonderful and she was going to treasure those memories forever. What she did regret was how their relationship was being forced to end. Elena knew that there was a great chance it would happen, but she could not help hating that law more than ever. She could still try to change it, but now that would mean to risk creating an irreparable rift between Avalor and Cordoba. Elena could not ruin the relationship between the two kingdoms: that would be disastrous for Avalor on many levels.
The princess wiped her tears away and slowly got on her feet. For the sake of her kingdom, she was going to have to grit her teeth and marry Prince Alonso. It was the last thing she wanted to do, but it what was she needed to do. It was her royal duty to do what was best for the kingdom.