I Was The Perfect Queen But He Forgot My Name Chapter 68
Julian’s POV
Julian Fraser had always been a gentle, restrained, and exceptional prince.
Even in death, that remained true.
He was a qualified first heir in every way. The only place he failed to meet tradition’s expectations was that he only ever wanted one mate.
He did not want Genevieve to end up like his mother one day, trapped in the royal castle dealing with her husband’s past entanglements and endless factional struggles.
Genevieve had looked only at him since childhood.
He had hoped she always would.
Julian’s kindness was not weakness. Otherwise, he could never have suppressed the ambition of the other princes.
It was only that all his sharp edges disappeared the moment they reached Genevieve.
When she was seven or eight, she once stole some caramel Tessa had bought and ended up losing a baby tooth.
She tried so hard to stay serious in front of others, but her steps grew faster and faster until she ran into Julian’s royal study and threw herself into his arms crying.
“Am I going to be a toothless monster?”
Teenaged Julian had just finished dealing with a spy who had tried to access the royal archives, a bloodied tactical knife still hidden in his hand.
The moment he saw her, he put the knife behind his back and used his clean hand to stroke her hair.
“It’s only an old tooth retiring. A new one will take over very soon.”
Little Genevieve reluctantly believed him.
As they grew older, her schedule filled from morning to night, and they both became busier.
But Julian always made time to see her.
Once, after she had argued with her etiquette tutor, she told him miserably that rules shouldn’t be allowed to decide her life.
The next day, Julian sent over an entire new set of royal etiquette manuals.
Only when Genevieve opened them did she discover that beneath those severe covers lay a carefully selected collection of adventure novels.
Later, she kept a very jealous rabbit.
Whenever she got too close to Julian, the rabbit would thump its foot furiously.
Julian watched this happen a few times, then remarked thoughtfully that the rabbit was very clever.
The next day, the kitchen served rabbit meat.
When Genevieve realized her pet was gone, she thought she had eaten it and burst into tears on the spot, all dignity forgotten.
That very night, she ripped open the lining of the coat she had given him and turned the beautiful cedar embroidery into an ugly little stump.
Julian coaxed her for a long time and brought her a new rabbit.
Only a few days later did she “accidentally” learn that the kitchen had used properly sourced meat and that her old rabbit had merely wriggled past the fence and was hiding in the garden.
Still, the old rabbit was sent away by Julian.
He could not tolerate anything stealing Genevieve’s attention from him for long.
Later still, when they came of age, they were formally engaged.
As the wedding approached, flooding struck the Lorne River. Julian went to the site with engineering officials and his guard.
Before he left, Genevieve came to the castle parking garage to see him off.
He stroked her hair and said gently, “You don’t need to work so hard on the wedding dress. It’ll strain your eyes.”
“When I get back, I’ll secretly help you embroider it.”
The midsummer sun fell over his brows and white shirt.
At the time, Julian still did not know those would be the last words he would ever say to Genevieve.