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The thing I hate about social media is how people can twist truths and make things bigger than they really are. When I joined the royal family, people loved me because I was a 'normal' person from a normal family joining the biggest, poshest family ever. I was relatable. Yet there were people who hated me because I was bringing the royal family down with my 'broken' family, my clumsiness and 'common' accent compared to what they call the Queen's English. That's despite me coming from a middle-class area of southern England, where our accents are usually considered posh.

Social media for royals is a fickle thing. We're not allowed to have our own accounts – even though Kai and I have fake ones so we can keep up to date with everything – and yet the palace team controls our official social media accounts. With that, we're allowed to contact the team and upload our own things if it passes their 'acceptable' standard. We've posted quite a few personal photos, like Christmas photos of Kai, Emma, and me, or ones we took in Egypt, and some photos Kai's taken with his camera, and people love the candid look of it all because the palace doesn't touch the photos up and allows us to post a message.

The curse of social media is seeing what people who hate us think. Free speech is a wonderful thing until it hurts someone else. If you're a public figure in any way, then people having free speech can do so much damage. Then the expectation is that if you're a public figure and you can't take the bad things people say about you, that's too bad because you should never have become a public figure.

It's a tricky situation. Some of the more hurtful people say about me really stings. I've read some awful things about me, like how people would love to kill me or torture me, or worse, the things some people want to put me through sexually that involve torture. Those things are quickly taken down when the palace reports them, but I have still seen them. 

I still know what people say and think. To the public, all I've done is fall in love with a prince – the reality is slightly different, but still – and because of who I've fallen in love with, people are allowed to say what they want about me, have gossip columns about me, and threaten me. Sometimes I wish I could take it all back just so I didn't have to see some of the more horrible things, but the minority is always the loudest.

I know what every social media page is going to say about the news before I even look.

"Will you stop worrying, Peach? It's fine." Kai turns his laptop to show me.

My eyes scan the posts. A lot of them are in pure shock at Hugh abdicating as they never thought he would, even with the diagnosis. Some comments are going into how they think Kai will be a great king despite him not being born for the role.

"Yeah, and where are the comments about me? I know there'll be some. I swore on live TV, Kai." I've got my leg elevated at home; turns out I've sprained it. No more heels for a while, which works for me. I hate those things, they always bring trouble.

He sighs and scrolls down a little. There we are; comments about how they found it hilarious that someone about to be queen swore on live TV, a couple of comments about how they find me relatable. I don't get it, in all honesty; me being relatable should be because I come from a normal, working-class family and know what everyday life is like for people, not because I fall constantly on TV when there's pressure on me.

Then I see a few hate comments about the monarchy, which we always expect.

"Here. I knew it." I point to the screen and read the comment aloud. "What is a stupid bitch like that going to do running our country? We need to get rid of her."

Kai sighs as Annie appears in the doorway.

"People like that think they're gods; always have an opinion about something they know nothing about. They're idiots, my sweetheart, and just looking to hurt. Probably a middle aged guy, too, who thinks we need to abolish the monarchy and the rich should get richer. They're usually all the same." Annie stands in front of me, her hands cupping my face. "You are amazing, and you're going to be the best queen consort."

Kai shrugs. "She said it better than I could've."

"Shut up, both of you. I swore on live—"

"When my dad became king, he thought the cameras weren't on him as he walked out of Buckingham Palace. He was joking around with my mum and he gave her the middle finger. The media thought he was abusive for about three days." Kai laughs.

"Are you serious?" I question.

"Deadly serious. My grandad told the press to fuck off once, on national TV. I think the phrase he used was: fuck off, you fucking shitheads. The news had to apologise on his behalf. He was just trying to go to church."

I giggle. "Seriously?"

Kai nods. "Then he walked into church like he said nothing. It was hilarious. People wanted him to abdicate for that. He didn't. The palace just released a statement, apologising for his language – they told everyone he was super exhausted and stressed out. He wasn't, he knew full well what he was doing."

"I mean, I didn't call anyone a cunt." I shrug.

Annie laughs. "You're fine, sweet pea."

Kai shrugs. "My point is, people will hate you if you do good or if you do bad. There will always be people who hate the monarchy no matter who is on the throne or what they've done. Long as you're not killing people or generally doing bad, then you're fine, Peach."

"You're really using that nickname in front of my family?" I arch an eyebrow.

Annie scoffs and gets a bottle of wine from the fridge I donated to her, seeing as I can't drink. "We heard him call you Peach when you first met, Mila. I think it's sweet."

I snort. "You're not the one he calls Princess Peach like you're in a Mario game."

She grins. "I like that a lot."

"People will turn up wherever we are, saying down with the king even worse as of Wednesday. It's not us they hate, Peach, but the whole system. You move to America or whatever and they'll hate the system there. People are people and hate every system ever. The grass is always greener on the other side kind of thing. The same people who want the monarchy gone are the same people who think a queen consort should wear long dresses and never say a word. They're the same type of people – generally speaking – who think women don't deserve a vote and belong in the kitchen, not making a difference."

"You're saying they're White Supremacist?" I question, remembering watching something about them on TV ages ago and how toxic and awful they are.

"No. Well, I bet they're anti-monarch too, but no. I'm making a sweeping generalisation, but the views often go hand in hand. My overall point is this: stop worrying about what people think of you because, in this role, we don't have space for it. It'll eat you up. People will hate you, but the people who love you outshine that hate. Inhale the love."

Annie scoffs. "That last sentence was cheesy, the rest of it worked."

Kai grins. "I've been living with your daughter for too long. Her grumpiness makes me work harder."

Annie sips her wine. "You know, from the moment I met Mila and joined the family, I knew she'd be the grumpy one in whatever relationship she'd get into. I just never thought there'd be a bubbly guy to complement her grumpiness."

I feign offence. "What? I am not grumpy!"

Kai laughs. "Hate to break it to you, Peach, but you are."

I play slap him. "That's not fair! It's been hard, okay? I fell pregnant, moved into the royal family... I'm allowed my grumpiness."

"You're not that bad," Annie says. "Compared to him, though, you're pretty bad. By the way, Patrick mentioned they're looking at wedding venues next month."

I sit up properly. "They're finally looking? If they wait a little longer, we can give them a royal glow-up."

"According to Patrick, they don't want that. You'll have to conspire with them. The press will find them, though. Right, I'll leave you to it. Emma's having a story read by Grandpa and then she'll be asleep."

"Thanks, Mum," I say.

She smiles, still clearly getting used to being referred to as Mum. "She's a joy. Right little princess, that one."

I snort at her joke. "Going to be a queen one day. Hugh got the law passed."

"He did? That's amazing."

Kai nods. "Just got buried with all the other stuff been going on, but yeah. Emma will be queen one day. She'll be first in line as of Wednesday. When she's of age, obviously."

Annie walks out of the kitchen, leaving Kai to sit beside me. He closes the laptop, so I look him in the eyes.

"You did nothing wrong. Stop worrying about it. I know your head will be going a mile a minute. Stop, okay? It was a slipup, it happens. I'll make some – hell, I've made some. Those drunk photos of me after you told me you were pregnant last year? That's a major slip up. This is nothing."

"You always know what to say to make me feel better, and I hate it," I moan.

He grins. "It's my job." With that, he stands up and kisses my lips. "You, Mrs Kennedy-Abbott, are amazing. I don't care what... John from Yorkshire says about you swearing when you're a princess. I know you're good for this country and kingdom. To hell with that. If Dad turned around tomorrow and told me you weren't, I'd sooner give up the damn throne."

"Kai—"

"It's true. I'd give up everything, all of this if you wanted. Might be weird after everything we've gone through, but the point stands. You, Emma, and our little growing mango are all we need."

I laugh. "You calling this baby a mango? Emma was a kidney bean!"

He narrows his eyes. "All right, I broke the fruit theme for her, but we're going back to fruit nicknames. This baby is a mango."

I kiss his lips. Always so kissable, and he always sets off butterflies in my stomach when he touches me. "I love you. Thank you for not hating me and my clumsy ways. Or my grumpy ways, apparently!"

"You're clumsy and grumpy, but you're my clumsy and grumpy wife. You're not that bad, anyway because you're perfect in every way."

"You don't have to flirt anymore. I married you. In front of the whole world, I'll add."

"I'll never stop flirting with you. Mainly because I still don't know how you can love me after all this shit."

"I wonder the same about you. You're hot, I'm hot—"

He arches an eyebrow. "We doing this joke again? I mean, you are fucking hot, my wife."

I scoff. "Shut up. My point is, I don't know why you fell for me when you could have anyone out there, but here we are, and I love this life."

"Including the stress of swearing and falling on TV?"

I nod. "Even those because it means I can stay here by your side. I love our life, and I love our family. Here's the bit where you tell me we have to move out of the cottage, right?"

He winces. "Yeah. I mean, not permanently. Mainly, though, we'll have to relocate to Buckingham Palace most of the time. Well, I definitely will. You and Emma will have more freedom."

I shake my head. "We're going with you. I like the cottage."

"When we're in Windsor, we can stay here. It's close to the castle, but when we're in London, we'll have to stay in the palace."

I roll my eyes. "Can we live in Hampton Court?"

"I don't think so, no. But if you want to, we can stay there for a few nights once in a while."

"Really?"

Kai nods. "Of course. We still own the place. Like I told you when we first met, Henry the Eighth is my ancestor. Very, very distantly, but still, I'll take it."

"He was an arse, though! But I like his castle, so I'll take it."

Kai chuckles and kisses my forehead. "I love you, Peach."

"I love you, too."

He lets me go with a smile on his face, and some of the sunshine he leaves with me because my lips curve into a grin when he walks to the fridge. Soon-to-be King Kai will never stop being an enigma to me; I still don't know how he fell in love with me, or why he still is, but what I know is that the perfect he calls me is actually all him.

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