Emma nodded. “Yes, some people have even more than two houses.”
Konstantin was one of them, but he didn’t mention that right now. His son had enough to process with the idea of living in two locations.
“Is Mirrus your country?” Mikhail asked. “Only Mom said it was an island and you’re a prince there.”
“I am a prince wherever I am, but it is my country.”
“Oh. Mom only called you Prince when she was annoyed with you.”
“You could tell that, huh?”
“Yep.”
“Your mom doesn’t have to call me Your Highness.”
“Why?”
“Because you are my son and she is your mother.”
“I do not believe that is protocol,” Emma said drily.
“But it is the way it will always be between us.”
“If Mom marries you, will she be a princess?” Mikhail wanted to know.
“She will, yes.”
Mikhail’s expression fell. “Oh.”
“You do not want your mother to be a princess?” Konstantin asked, trying to understand.
“She doesn’t want to be a princess,” Mikhail said glumly.
“She told you this?”
Mikhail nodded, tears filling his eyes. “She won’t marry you and we can’t be a family.” He jumped up and ran from the room.
Emma rushed after him and Konstantin followed. He found them in his son’s room, Mikhail refusing the comfort of his mother’s arms.
“You won’t let us be a family!” the little boy cried.
“That is enough.” Konstantin spoke firmly, needing to stop their son’s blaming his mother. “Your mother never said we could not be a family.”
“But she did,” Mikhail said to Konstantin tearfully. “When I asked her about my dad.”
“I told him things hadn’t worked out between us, but that was okay because I never wanted to be a princess.”
“Give me a chance to convince her otherwise,” Konstantin said to Mikhail.
“My mom is really stubborn. When I don’t want to do something good for me, she tells me that she’s more stubborn than me cuz she’s been stubborn longer.” Mikhail looked so forlorn.
“If that is how it works, then I must be more stubborn than she is because I am four years older than she is, so I have been stubborn longer. And I am a prince. That means I am used to getting my own way.”
Mikhail’s expression lightened, but Emma looked like a thundercloud.
“I love you more than anything in this world,” Emma said to Mikhail. “But, sweetheart, I am not marrying your dad just to make you happy.”
She sounded so sure, but suddenly Konstantin suspected that she probably would do that very thing. It was clear that nothing was more important to Emma than Mikhail.