Eva was a hopeless romantic and wanted to marry someone that she was madly in love with, just like in all the stories she read and the movies she watched. Since she was a little girl she had daydreamed about meeting a sweet man that was romantic and caring and handsome, that talked to her for hours and understood her completely because they had so much in common. She dreamed about falling desperately, head over heels in love with him and of the perfect fairytale wedding they would have. 

She imagined seeing this man that she loved more than anyone else in the world wearing a black tux, waiting at the end of the aisle for her while she walked towards him in a beautiful gown. She would be crying happy tears and he would start crying too and they would be so excited about spending the rest of their lives together and starting a family.

She took a deep breath in, hung her head and sighed, because her daydream would never come true. She could never have that. Maybe her Dad was right and love was just a luxury for normal people, but she wanted love more than anything in the world. Just thinking about that made her so sad her heart started to ache. 

She heard her phone ding so she got it out of her clutch and saw that there was a text from Astrid. She had been in the audience at the ceremony earlier but she hadn't talked to her since.

'So, the prince is REALLY hot huh? You're so lucky! What's he like?' 

'Well he might look like one but trust me, he's no Prince Charming. He said this arranged marriage is the last thing he wants and then he just refused to talk to me and we sat in complete silence for 20 minutes.' 

'Oh no. I'm so sorry Eva. Well, maybe he'll be nicer once he gets to know you. Literally everyone who knows you loves you.'

'How is he going to get to know me if he won't talk to me?' 

In the quiet she overheard her Mom say to the Queen of Spain, "I can't believe the wedding is tomorrow. It's so exciting isn't it?"

 "Yeah, real exciting," Eva rolled her eyes and grumbled under her breath sarcastically, quiet enough that no one heard.

Queen Victoria smiled at her Mom and said, "Yes it's very exciting. You know Paulo is my husband's only living male heir so if something happens to him, the crown would leave our blood line and go to my husband's brother and his son. He's a horrible, selfish man that the people of Spain hate and his son is just the same. To see them ruling would absolutely break my heart. Hopefully by this time next year we'll have another male heir to the throne of Spain so we won't have to worry about that happening." 

"We're in the same predicament. Kristoff is our only male heir, but like you said, I'm sure by this time next year that won't be an issue any more. With Paulo being twenty two and Eva being twenty one, they're at the perfect age for getting pregnant. There shouldn't be any fertility issues," her Mom added with a smile. 

"Hopefully not. With any luck we'll have another heir very soon!" Queen Victoria told her Mom with a smile, clinking her wine glass against hers before they both took a drink.

Eva felt overwhelmed by the pressure of needing to give Spain and Norway male heirs as soon as possible with a man that wouldn't even speak to her and acted like having to marry her was the worst thing that ever happened to him.

She turned back to the piano and started playing again to drown out their conversation. She couldn't stand to hear any more. She closed her eyes as she played and got lost in the music and imagined that she was anywhere else in the world but here at this moment. She exhaled deeply, letting out the breath she didn't realize she had been holding in. 

She heard someone very close clearing their throat and she opened her eyes to see her brother Kristoff standing next to the piano. 

"Can I sit?" he asked.

"Sure," she said, scooting over on the bench to make room for him.

He sat down and started playing Beethoven's 5th symphony and she joined in, playing it as a duet with him like they did pretty often when they were bored.

She noticed that Prince Paulo was across the room talking to the Kings and they seemed to be deep in discussion.

"Eva," Kristoff whispered as they continued to play the piano. "I just talked to Paulo and he said you two weren't hitting it off. You've got to find a way to make this work with him. We really need this marriage to happen because the trade deals with Spain have already been signed and they'll set our countries up financially for generations."

"How can I make it work? He won't even talk to me. What am I supposed to do?" she whispered back as they both continued playing. 

"I don't know. Do what other women do. Use your charm to make him fall for you." 

Eva laughed. "You do remember that Dad's never let me date right? I don't know the first thing about how to charm a man, especially not one that looks like him and has probably dated supermodels."

"It's not that hard. Just go over there and talk to him, flirt, smile, say something funny and make him laugh, give him a compliment. Guys love that," Kristoff suggested. "Now go. Try," he said, pushing on her shoulder and giving her a fake smile as he motioned his head and eyes in Paulo's direction.

She looked across the room at him, standing there talking to the Kings, laughing with a bright white smile on his perfect, handsome face and that made her feel nervous and the thought of flirting with him tied her stomach up in knots.

She laughed, looking down at her hands. "I know it might sound silly but I'm scared to flirt with him. I don't even know what to say."

"Just say anything. Hey, you could talk to him about polo. He loves polo."

She laughed and raised an eyebrow. "Kristoff, I don't know anything about polo." 

He rubbed his chin and thought for a second. "Politics! You know more about politics than anyone I know. And it just so happens that the kings are talking to him about politics right now, so here's your chance."

She let out an exhale. "Fine. I'll try," she said reluctantly, letting out a groan like she was being tortured, before getting up and walking slowly across the room towards where Prince Paulo was. She felt like her feet were weighed down with cement blocks the closer she got. He was in a trade discussion with King Hans and King Ferdinand.

She stood beside Paulo and listened as his father was telling them, "We're negotiating lower wheat and beef prices to China in exchange for access to their tech exports."

"Why would you do that?" Eva cut in and King Ferdinand looked over at her, surprised by her question. 

"What do you mean?" he asked. "Why wouldn't we do that?"

"Because China just got hit with their worst drought in 100 years so their wheat crops have been totally destroyed. This is the time to raise export prices of wheat to them because demand is so high they'll be willing to pay more."

"Well if that's true then that will just let us use wheat as more of a bargaining chip to get access to the tech we need from them," King Ferdinand told her.

She shook her head and said, "But the tech that comes out of China is mostly manufactured in sweatshops and the quality is low and unreliable. Japan has much higher standards in quality control and they just recently had a huge outbreak of swine flu that took out most of their local pork suppliers. What you could do is sell wheat at the higher rate to China, and then negotiate a trade deal for tech with Japan in exchange for your Pork exports at a high price because they're desperate for it. You make a lot more money that way all around and have a higher quality of tech imports."

King Ferdinand and Paulo looked at her with their jaws on the floor, clearly impressed. 

"That actually sounds like a great plan pumpkin. You see gentlemen, my daughter is not only beautiful but she got her mother's brains as well," her father King Hans told them with a proud smile, wrapping an arm around her shoulder and kissing the side of her head. 

Paulo looked stunned. He nodded and said, "Yeah that's actually brilliant."

She looked over at him and said, "You might be surprised at all the clever things I have to say if you took the time to actually talk to me."

He turned his head towards her and studied her face before saying, "I'm sure you're very clever Eva and you're probably a great woman but the fact is, I don't appreciate being forced into a marriage with anyone, no matter how great they are."

He looked over at his Dad and said, "Can you please reconsider this arranged marriage and let me pick my own wife? I'll do anything," he begged. "I'll go to every royal function for the rest of my life and not complain a single time, I swear. And all the shit you're always nagging me about, I'll do. I'll stop cussing and drinking and smoking and driving my cars too fast. I'll even start going with you to mass every Sunday without complaining!"