Chapter 12: Happy Ending

Prince Nicholas and Princess Tessa

Request the honor of your presence

At their marriage

On Saturday, the sixteenth of…

The wedding invitation Blair was holding in her hands suddenly got blown away by a cold spring breeze.

That was when she realized she had forgotten to close her window.

"Oh, dear" She rushed to close the window. She felt her heart breaking into pieces as she saw the happy wedding guests on their way to the wedding. The wedding of her prince. Blair quickly closed the curtains to avoid seeing this.

As her room was suddenly filled with darkness, she walked to a corner of the room, where the wind sent her invitation to, and picked it up.

"I'm sorry, Nicholas. I'm a coward. I can't be there to share your joy. I wish you all the best." She ripped the piece of paper, not knowing what she was doing. She walked out of the room as the shreds of paper fell on the floor.

Blair decided to spend the whole day alone, at the fountain in the palace garden. Her best friends, Audrey and Melody, have been trying to comfort her to no avail for the last couple of days. She knew their intentions were good, but she opted to act selfish and ignore them both.

She walked straight to the fountain, ignoring her parents' attempts to cheer her up in the process. No one could make her happy on a day like this. She just wanted to be alone.

Blair sat down next to the fountain and slowly began to play with her own reflection in the water. She sighed as the memories came back to her one after another.

"I guess… My wish upon that star didn't come true, after all…"

"It's showtime!" The best man stormed into Nick's room with a shining smile.

He frowned at the intruder. "I told you to wait. Outside. It's not like I need your help putting my clothes on."

"All right then! I'll be at the altar" Nick's bad mood didn't seem to bother the best man. He happily danced his way out of the room.

Nick sighed. That best man his father assigned to him seemed happy as if he was the one getting married. He would gladly switch places with him if he could.

As he was about to exit the room, he saw the picture of Tessa on his desk. He remembered exactly the day his father told him he was betrothed to this girl and showed him her picture, telling him to always keep it by his side… So much had changed since then.

Was this the girl he was going to spend the rest of his life with? The girl who will lay beside him every night, the girl who will be the mother of his children? Suddenly, he felt like he was trapped in a prison with no escape.

"I'm sorry, Blair" He murmured to himself. "You will always be the one I love. My heart will always belong to you."

"Nick?" Melody appeared at the door. She didn't have to say anything. He knew, their time was up.

Melody was among the people who felt most guilty. She'd been trying to contact Blair, partly to erase the guilt that overwhelmed her conscience. But Blair didn't answer any of her letters, which made her feel even worse. Her father wasn't very happy to see the bridesmaid of honor with an unhappy face.

Victor was laying the table, preparing for the dinner following the wedding ceremony. He was aware that he was about to lose the girl he loved forever, but there was nothing he could do about it. Victor tried to be optimistic and clinged to the hope that the bride might change her mind in the last minute and make the right decision for all of them.

Finally, the wedding everyone had been expecting- but some people- came.

"Ready, Princess?" Melody asked Tessa with an indifferent expression on her face. During the past couple of days, she had learned to hide her real feelings in order to please her father.

"Huh? I mean, yes. Sure." Tessa awakened from her thoughts. "Let's go."

Tessa followed her bridesmaids and walked toward her groom. While she was still unsure of what to do, she saw Nick's face. His face beared multiple emotions: Anguish, regret, disappointment and even disgust. She realized she was making this difficult for them all. For her, for him, for Blair. She made a decision.

"Princess Tessa?" The archdeacon repeated.

"Oh, I'm sorry… Yes?" She shook herself from her dream.

"Princess Tessa, will you take Prince Nicholas as your lawfully wedded husband?" The archdeacon said after a slight sigh.

Silence.

More silence.

Whispers among the wedding guests permeated the room.

"Uhm… Tessa? Answer him. Let's get this disaster over and done with." Nick gently nudged her without even looking at her.

"Princess Tessa?" The archdeacon also seemed tired of repeating the same question thrice.

Unsure, Tessa turned around and looked at Victor, who was standing at the other side of the room. He shrugged and smiled at her.

"No. I can't do this." She said eventually. "Nicky, I can't do this to all of us. It's not fair to you, it's not fair to me, and most importantly, it's not fair to Blair."

And while Nick was still confused by his bride's sudden change of attitude, Tessa removed her bride's veil and ran out.

"Wait, wait! Princess Tessa!" Nick's father blocked Tessa's way out of the palace. "What do you mean you can't do this? We've had the wedding well prepared and all…"

"I am truthfully sorry, your Highness" Tessa gracefully curtsied. "But it's not me that your son wants to marry. And it's not him I want to marry, either."

She maneuvered her way out, while Nick's father was still stunned.

"What… what just happened? Melody?" He turned to his daughter, who was standing next to him.

"Father, please listen to me… For once…" She started explaining everything to him.

Meanwhile, Nick still stood at the altar, not believing his own eyes.

"Did she just… leave?" He asked Damian, who giggled mischeviously.

"If I were you, I would stop standing there looking like an idiot and go find her. And by her, I don't mean your bride." He answered.

Right, look for Blair and tell her what just happened. She would be glad to hear this! After everything she'd been through, after everything we've done… Could this be true? Could it be, we can finally be together?

Nick ran out of to the palace garden, frantically looking for Blair.

"Strange… I don't hear anything… Those people should have been celebrating by now…" Blair rose from her lying position and listened carefully to every slight sound human ears can hear.

And she heard footsteps. Walking toward her.

"It must be one of my servants" She thought. "It's no use persuading me to come inside. I'll just ignore her like I did the last time."

She turned her face to the fountain, and began playing with her reflection again, hoping her servant would get the hint and leave her alone.

But she was wrong.

That someone still stood behind her. Not giving up, Blair focused on her reflection in the water. And she saw the reflection of someone she least expected there.

"Nicholas!" She abruptly got up and turned around. He was smiling at her.

At first, Blair thought she was hallucinating. But no, he was there, he was there in the flesh. He was there with her, instead of at the wedding. What happened?

"Nick… What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at… the wedding?" She calmly asked him.

"No… Tessa just cancelled the wedding. I'm single again." Nick laughed.

"Oh." Blair was surprised that it was the only thing she could say. She had thought if they could ever got together, she would burn the whole palace out of happiness. Hm, no. That was really over the top.

"Blair? Now that I'm free to marry whoever I want to, do you know who I want to be my princess?" Nick asked with a smile.

"I think I do." Blair finally regained her awareness of the situation and walked toward him.

"Will you do me the honor of being your husband, Blair?" Nick held her hands as she came in front of him.

"Of course I will" Blair responded. She got lifted up and spinned around by strong hands almost immediately after answering.

When Nick finally settled her down on the ground, she giggled with an amused expression on her face.

"See? I told you, there was no need to run away. Everything worked out fine. And to be honest, I didn't think it would work out so easily." She said.

"I guess we owe Tessa this time" Nick added.

"No. She owed us a lot. Now we're even." She joked and they laughed together, finally free of any pressure from anyone. Their time came. And Blair realized, she was wrong to assume her wish didn't come true. It just did.

Meanwhile, somewhere else in the palace, Tessa was taking off her glass slippers and jewelry, mumbling something about the shoes being too tight.

"Why hello there, princess." She looked up and saw Victor approaching her. He couldn't look more satisfied. "I'm just so proud of you."

"Stop fawning and help me get those shoes off" Tessa snapped at him. But from the look on her face, he could tell she was only messing with him.

"All right, all right, Madame Bossy." He laughed and helped her deal with the tight shoes.

When he was done, they both sat there in silence, enjoying the rest of the day.

"You were right, Victor" Tessa finally said, breaking the silence. "It was for the best."

"I told you, no one understands you better than I do." Victor said. "And I understand that you're not happy."

"I was. And I didn't even realize that. I thought I was doing the right thing. I thought we were in love. We weren't. And we aren't now." She said. "I guess I was lucky to have you as a friend."

Silence again. But inside, Victor was celebrating. Tessa regarded him as her "friend". Well, that might not say anything, but it was definitely a progress.

He got one more reason to celebrate when Tessa leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you."

Victor was intrigued. He tried to kiss her on the lips, but Tessa gently pushed him away with an embarrassed smile.

"Maybe we should take this slowly… Vic." She suggested.

"Oh, all right… I was only testing your response." Victor denied. Which made Tessa laugh.

The new couple, who just found a new attraction toward each other, continued to sit together and enjoy as the sun set in the West.