She Missed Her Royal Engagement to Save a poor Old Woman… Then Her Father Disowned Her!

Chapter 7

A few days later, the whole village gathered for its annual harvest festival.

Ribbons hung between the cottages. Long wooden tables overflowed with bread, roasted vegetables, pies, and fruit. Children chased one another across the square while a pair of musicians filled the afternoon with cheerful melodies. And Nana, watching the celebration with a mischievous smile, quietly entered Belle and Edmund into nearly every competition.

The first was the three-legged race.

When Belle discovered their names on the list, she looked at Edmund. “You knew about this?”

He laughed. “I thought you did.”

The race began. Neither of them managed more than three steps before tumbling into a pile of hay. The crowd burst into laughter. Even Belle couldn’t stop laughing as Edmund struggled to untie the ribbon binding their ankles together.

“I believe we’ve already lost.”

“I think we lost about five seconds ago.”

The pie-baking contest went no better. Edmund added salt instead of sugar, and one taste was enough to make the judges quietly slide their pie away from the others. The children teased him about it for the rest of the afternoon. Archery was worse — Edmund missed the target entirely, and Belle hit the wooden fence, and the old carpenter solemnly thanked her for generating repair work. The wood-chopping contest ended in disaster when Edmund’s axe stuck fast halfway through a log.

By sunset, they had failed almost every event. Oddly, neither of them cared. Edmund laughed louder than anyone. Winning had never been the reason he came.

As evening settled, the music slowed. Lanterns glowed along the square, and couples gathered beneath them for the final dance. Edmund approached her with a smile.

“Would you like to?”

“I should warn you. I’m not very graceful.”

“I’ve seen your archery.”

She laughed. “That bad?”

“Worse.”

They danced anyway.

It was the first time she had ever been this close to him, the first time she felt his hand at her waist and the warmth of his shoulder under her palm. They were not graceful. They laughed at themselves, missed steps, apologized to each other’s toes, and did not notice that the music had nearly ended until the lanterns had begun to dim.

Later that night, Edmund helped Nana carry the empty baskets back to the cottage. At the door, she stopped him with a hand on his arm.

“You care about her.”

Edmund didn’t answer. He simply smiled.

Nana nodded slowly. “Then remember something.” She looked past him, toward the doorway where Belle was washing teacups, her back turned. “Never ask a woman to choose between love and kindness. If she chooses love, you may lose her. But if she chooses kindness — you have found your wife.”

Edmund stood very still in the doorway. The crickets sang. Somewhere inside, Belle laughed at something she had dropped.

“I’ll remember,” he said quietly.

Nana watched him walk down the lane, and she stood there a long time in the dark, a small woman with a basket of white flowers, looking after a prince she had once held in her arms.