Stand By Me Darling
Chapter 445: Forgotten Promise

Chapter 445: Forgotten Promise

At times, Talia would wonder if she is supporting Arthur enough at all. She is not like other girlfriends, who cook, clean, and do other household chores. She rarely stays with Arthur because of her work too.

When Arthur says words like these showing how much he understands and cares for her, she would feel like she is the happiest person in the world.

"I have to ask Emily if Kate can be one of the flower girls. Little Lotte would be too small to walk, unfortunately."

Talia said leaning on his chest.

"Hmm," Arthur hummed as his hands trailed on her back.

"Of course, Carl will be a page boy. I have to find more boys and girls. Maybe I should leave the rest with the Palace."

"You aren’t wearing slips tonight," Arthur cared about a different issue.

She was wearing a nightgown that night. It had buttons, and it was not easy to get it off. Usually, he’d strip her off her nightwear easily. But this time, this minor inconvenience seemed major to him as he was impatient.

"Yes," Talia looked at him with a naughty smile. "I tried not to be provocative."

"Darling, who said nightgowns are not provocative? This is what our grandmas and their mothers wore to bed, which resulted in them raising twelve children." Arthur smirked and lifted her up. "We don’t care about what a woman wears. Anything you wear would end up on the floor anyway."

"Haha... What a logic!" Talia was sarcastic. Before she could speak further, her lips were covered with his. In his warm embrace, she ended up forgetting what she was about to say.

The next morning, Talia woke up early thinking of preparing breakfast for Arthur. But she was in for a pleasant surprise as Arthur had prepared breakfast for her already.

After having breakfast, Arthur got ready to leave. Talia told him that he need not visit her daily. Arthur agreed, but judging by his expression, Talia figured that he does not mean what he says.

As the papers were enthusiastically concentrating on Talia’s wedding, the palace was working like a duck. Everything seemed calm on the surface, but the Palace was working double internally.

Along with the wedding preparations, the Palace was handling another important issue: Lambert’s appointment as the Duke of Trenton.

Every news the press got from the Palace, was about the Royal wedding. At the same time, the legal experts were working hard on smoothly transitioning a Prince to a Duke.

With the major income from the Duchy from wool getting nationalised, the Duke’s income from his Duchy would be halved. If Lambert becomes a Duke legally, his claim to the Sovereign Grant will go void.

In other words, Lambert will go poorer. From someone who is part of a billionaire royalty, he will become a multi-millionaire aristocrat.

Of course, this will bring criticism against the Royal family for pushing away Lambert who had served the Monarchy all his life. With the recent popularity Talia received, she’d be blamed as the ’mastermind’ in pushing Lambert away to retain her position in the family. Louis will also be blamed for not standing up for his own blood.

The siblings discussed this in one of their meetings on the terrace. Lambert said that this is the worst dilemma he’s faced. To chose love, he will be abandoning his family to get bashed by the public. If he speaks the truth, Jolene will be blamed for being selfish. She’d be called names for turning a Prince into a Duke.

But both Louis and Talia didn’t mind getting bashed by the public. Both are used to criticisms by now, and they didn’t want to put Jolene through the same.

It was planned that the official announcement about Lambert’s title change will be made after Talia’s wedding. The Palace was under tight security to not let this news leak until then.

Talia busied herself in handling the relief efforts for Basmia. Talia wanted to make another trip to Basmia herself, but her idea was shut down immediately by everyone.

Since Talia wanted to get at least some aid before her wedding, she decided to send some representatives. As she was in the process of choosing her representative, Alexandra Belfauger volunteered to go to Basmia.

Talia thought Sandy might be over-excited and would back off if she talked about the terrible conditions there, but she insisted. Talia even got a call from Arnold Belfauger to let his daughter do what she wants.

In the end, Talia had no other way than to give in to Sandy’s wishes. Also Sandy said that she’d take care of all the expenditures from her own pockets. Since that would save a lot from the charity money, Talia was in the end happy.

Talia didn’t mind if Sandy did everything in her charity’s name since if the people are getting helped, it doesn’t matter who helped them. But Sandy made sure she credited Talia’s foundation properly. Talia was surprised by it even though what Sandy did is the right thing to do.

The wedding preparations were going on at maximum speed. Arthur visited Talia every weekday. On the weekends, Talia would travel to Esteria.

With just a month to the wedding, everything was hectic. Talia didn’t even have time to breathe as she had to do the final arrangements for the wedding. No matter how carefully everything was prepared, there will be one thing that will go wrong sending her to panic.

Thankfully, Talia had help from a lot of her family and friends. Just as she finalised the flower arrangements for her reception in Rosandale, Talia remembered one important detail.

Why didn’t Fred ask me anything about the reception in Esteria?

Arthur said he’d finalise everything only with her approval, but he didn’t ask her a single thing.

What has he done?

She asked him and he changed the topic slyly. She tried to get information from others, but no one said a word.

"I’m having nightmares, Fred! Just tell me what you’ve done," Talia asked and Arthur gave a smile.

"Do you not trust me? I will not do a single thing you do not like."

Somehow his calm voice made her feel secure. She did trust him and so she didn’t feel anxious anymore.

Also, she thought nothing could possibly go wrong.

With only a week to the wedding, Arthur was angry with her for arranging his stay in a hotel. Talia didn’t know the customs of Rosandale was to keep the groom from seeing the bride for three days before the wedding.

"Come on, Fred. Gigima asked me to follow this tradition. I couldn’t refuse. And I have many wedding customs to follow. Apparently, there is a party with the noblewomen-"

"How can you be this cruel to me, Iris?" Arthur turned his face.

Talia really felt bad seeing him pouting.

"You promised me a motorbike ride, but you... Liar!"

Only then Talia remembered that issue. She went to Mr. Ed and asked him to steal Lambert’s keys. But he plainly refused.

Talia even offered bribes to the security officers of Lambert. But no one helped her.