When I arrived at the hotel lobby a large and shockingly strong woman in a suit greeted me before grabbing me by the arm to lead me to the elevator. I had expected the event to take place in one of the hotel's conference rooms, but I was instead escorted to the penthouse suite. As soon as we were in the door the woman pulled my bag off my arm and did a pat down of my person then searched the bag to ensure I was not there to assassinate either royal. It was only then that she introduced herself as Mel, no surname given, the head of Prince Pavo's security detail, as well as the only member of either royal's security team that was present at the hotel. That was when I realized I had told as many people about this wedding as the couple had.

I was lead from the narrow foyer and into the large living space where the royal couple was sitting on one of the provided loveseats. I asked they hold the position and snapped the first picture of many that would be taken at this event.

[They sit in a modern beige loveseat, Prince Pavo has his arm slung over the back of the chair so that Lord Esti may rest with his back against Prince Pavo's side. Prince Pavo wears a deep navy dress shirt embroidered with a small repeating floral pattern, the buttons have been left almost entirely undone, and a pair of black slacks and brown Oxford shoes. His hair is pulled back in its usual braid, and the only accessory he has chosen to wear are his mirrored sunglasses. Lord Esti is dressed in a relatively form fitting turtle neck sweater, grey jeans, and white sneakers. His much shorter hair is left loose, his bangs nearly obscuring his eyes when he tips his head forward.]

They looked well dressed but comfortable and human. Like a normal couple about to go on a nice date as opposed to royals in the minutes leading up to their wedding. Prince Pavo's notorious love of ornamentation had been set aside for the night, even if he did still leave his shirt front most of the way open. Only a few buttons near his waist line were doing anything to keep it closed.

"Afternoon, Glad you already figured out what your job is here," Prince Pavo stood and greeted me with a handshake after the photo. He is a much taller man than you might expect, with a broad frame and large personality that seems to make him take up the entire room. In person he looks like he's lived every single one of his years fully, fine lines edge his sun tanned face and his beard has begun to grey around his jaw, but he carries himself like a man much closer to his partner's age.

"You Invited me to be your photographer?" I asked. To which he replied with a shrug before dropping back down beside Lord Esti

"Sorry, It's nice meeting you." Lord Esti's much more reserved personality rang through in his demeanor. He shook my hand while still sitting down and gestured to the arm chair to their left so that we could discuss this matter before the main event. "He's nervous-" "No I'm not." "- Whatever. You were invited because we needed a witness and... This is a big deal whether we want it to be or not. We wanted something as small and fast as possible but knew there would be so many questions when we made the announcement."

"So you invited me so I could do the announcing?"

"Exactly. It is a major piece of news, we hoped that would cover-" Lord Esti spoke.

"He hoped that would be payment enough for your time. This shouldn't take long." and Prince Pavo interrupted. A conversational dynamic between the duo that reoccurred many times in the two hours I was with them that night. Lord Esti did not seem to mind this habit, or at least he was very used to it. "Speaking of, Mel you got the paperwork? I want this done."

"Really?" I was still in a sort of shock over the total lack of ceremony as Mel brought over a single sheet of paper to set on the coffee table before them. Their marriage certificate looked exactly as any other might, the information already filled in and ready for the four signatures needed to make this official.

"Yeah. the longer this takes the more time he has to think better of it," Prince Pavo said with a smirk as he held out his hand towards Mel for a pen. Lord Esti elbowed him subtly in response to the comment.

"We... do not exactly have permission from our families to be doing this. Someone will notice we aren't in his home sooner than later and we'd rather not have our wedding crashed." Lord Esti smiled apologetically, and suddenly the entire event made more sense.

"Mel, give me the damn pen." Prince Pavo turned his attention to his security guard when she didn't hand him what he'd been silently asking for.

"No can do, boss man. You've gotta actually do the ceremony before you can do the signing. Get off your ass so we can get this done." Mel spoke crudely and with little regard for the status of who she spoke too. I would later find out the two had been close friends for many years prior to Mel's assignment as his head of security.

Prince Pavo groaned loudly before standing, dragging Lord Esti up by his wrist as he did. An action that got a laugh out of Lord Esti despite how rough it looked.

I stood too, moving to the side to get a good camera angle for the vows.

"Ok, lets-" Mel had begun speaking but was interrupted by Lord Esti. It was the first and only time I saw him speak out of turn.

"Wait- Take your glasses off," Lord Esti was firm, though he added a quick "Please," after a moment of silence from the room.

"No. Keep going Mel," Prince Pavo gestured for her to continue.

"Pavo- Cris, take them off. I don't want to be looking at myself during our vows," Lord Esti took Prince Pavo's hand and held it with Prince Pavo's palm flat to his own chest. A modified version of puppy dog eyes that I will admit I did not understand the purpose of until it had worked its magic.

Prince Pavo had sighed, and taken off the mirrored sunglasses as asked.

Since that moment I have had time to do some research. Prince Pavo was born blind, though the exact nature of his disability had been kept secret. When he made his appearances, it was always with sunglasses on and in situations that could mask his blindness. Less to hide the fact he was blind, and more to simply allow the public to forget. In the early years of his life there had been an enforced ban on so much as mentioning it without good purpose in any public piece. I was among the many that this strategy had worked flawlessly on as I had always assumed the signature mirrored lenses he's worn longer than I or his partner have been alive were simply a part of his flashy aesthetic.

I have been given permission by Prince Pavo himself to put this in print under the caveat that I go into no detail on the matter; he doesn't have eyes.

"Where's everything?" Prince Pavo asked before preceding.

"The chair we were in is to my right, the table to the left. We are on the short side of it, Mel is at the other. Deplume is one step behind and two steps to the left of her, eight-ish to my left." Lord Esti filled him in with practiced efficiency.

"Deplume get on Mel's right. Esti's the cute one, you need good pictures of him." Prince Pavo ordered.

"Pavo-" Lord Esti attempted to protest.

"This is a compromise. You get me without my glasses, she doesn't get any pictures of it." Prince Pavo stayed firm on his terms until Lord Esti gave up the argument a few volleys later. I moved, Mel checked the screen on my camera, then confirmed for Prince Pavo that the positioning meant his face wouldn't be in any of the pictures.

While I have attempted to keep this recounting as one to one with the events of that afternoon, it is here I am going to deviate from writing what was said exactly as it was said to respect the deep sincerity that all parties put into the ceremony. There was no attempt at tradition, or prewritten vows, just a very loving couple and their friend celebrating and reminding themselves why Prince Pavo and Lord Esti were making this decision. I believe that I faded completely into the background as things progressed. There were details in their vows that I do not think they would've said if they had remembered I was there in the moments they were spoken.

As previously mentioned, Mel is a very close friend of Prince Pavo's and as the officiant for the wedding she started with an anecdote about how she met 'Esti' for the first time (None of them use titles when referring to each other, a fact I will be preserving in this recounting. However both Mel and Lord Esti almost exclusively refer to Prince Pavo by his surname only.)

It had happened shortly after Pavo and Esti began seeing each other, Esti had been at Pavo's home one morning after spending the night with him. Pavo had not told his security staff that he had company as, apparently, he hadn't been expecting any himself. Esti moving around the building was noticed by one of the security detail, which resulted in Esti being tackled and dragged into one of the offices for questioning. I will not repeat Mel's description of the event, but her opinions of him following it were extremely low. She didn't see him as a good fit for her friend due to their wildly opposing personalities, but slowly she realized what they had found with each other was balance.

Pavo is loud, aggressive, often quick to anger and slow to forgive. While Esti is quiet, and shy, and slow to stand up for himself. Esti calms Pavo when it's necessary, and in turn Pavo bullies when Esti needs him to. Pavo's impulsiveness was softened by Esti's calculating approach, Esti's passiveness by Pavo's eagerness. Every flaw the other had was perfectly matched until they all cancelled out, leaving the pair to function better together than either did alone.

Mel then passed the moment onto Pavo, who made a joke about wanting to hear what Esti had to say first before he "put too much effort in." He would resent me including this, but his nerves were finally starting to show on the edge of his voice.

Esti had smiled and laughed gently and told him Pavo's vows would be perfect, but still took his turn then. He rambled a bit as he talked about how he never expected to like Pavo, much less love him. He admitted that he was terrified of Pavo during their first few weeks of figuring the other out. He felt like he never knew what was going on or why Pavo was insisting on spending time on him. Pavo was so much cooler and more experienced. He had an endless list of things to talk about, a thousand friends, he commanded every room he entered, he was always the biggest and best while Esti just wasn't. Then Pavo started to let him in more and it all clicked. No one else besides them understood what it was like to be unwanted as people but adored as figures. Now they both had someone to disregard what they were completely in favor of loving them as people entirely.

Pavo nods, and says something about regretting letting Esti go first under his breath before taking a moment to find his words. I will transcribe the opening lines of his vows completely:

"I think I loved you from that first morning. I thought you were going to hate me when you found out about the video and never talk to me again, so I didn't hesitate to be... me around you. I didn't think anything I said to you would still matter by lunch time, but you didn't flinch even when I was at my worst. You said you were scared of me, but I should've been scared of you. I'm not the same man you talked to at that party. He's dead, you killed him, and someone so much happier is here now instead."

The promises they made each other were near perfect mirrors, though I suspect that was in part due to Prince Pavo's nervousness finally getting the better of him. His usually endlessly cool and confident persona faltering as for a moment he was simply a man pouring his heart out for another.

They said their 'I do's, exchanged rings, were pronounced husbands and kissed. Then Prince Pavo swept Lord Esti off his feet to spin him while Mel made loud wretching noises at the display until Lord Esti was put back down.

At this point we all signed the marriage certificate, Prince Pavo first with the assistance of a credit card placed by Lord Esti to use as a reference point for where the line was, then Lord Esti, myself as their sole witness, and Mel as their officiant. Mel took the certificate, said her good byes and congratulations, and then left to rush to the clerk's office so that the certificate could be put on record and made permanent before anything could happen to prevent that.

Myself and the couple took our same seats again. Prince Pavo grinned and seemed to have not a single care in the world as he pulled Esti to sit against him exactly as they had been when I first walked in. They both accepted my congratulations with dismissal before Esti sighed to recenter himself and said simply "Ok, We're ready," to indicate it was time to move on to the actual interview.

Reader's Fair: Ok, I believe it might be best to go chronologically as you two have been private about this relationship to a point that many people may be shocked to know you are together... especially if all they remember is The Video. (There was a tangible weight placed on the mood at the mention of The Video.) Was that the first time you two had met?

Prince Pavo: Yeah.

Lord Esti: No! We met earlier in the night. A Lot earlier.

Prince Pavo: Not really, you showed up, got blasted within an hour, we went to my room and then that was probably another hour or so after we left the party? We were both smashed so I don't know how long we were going for, just that that was Definitely towards the end of it because we only stopped when you were starting to act like you were about to black out.

Reader's Fair: Do you remember anything from that night, Lord Esti?

Lord Esti: Not really. I had way too much to drink.

Prince Pavo: I'll take the blame for that. I didn't know how small he was until we were already in my room and I wouldn't have guessed he was such a lightweight by how he was putting his shots back.

Lord Esti: It wasn't my first time drinking.

Prince Pavo: You acted like it was. It was cute, don't worry.

Reader's Fair: And you? How were you doing by that point.

Prince Pavo: I'd been drinking for four or five hours while pregaming. Only beers until he showed up though. We did the same number of shots but I'm twice his age and weight so they didn't get to me half as fast as they did him. If I'd been able to see the door I would've absolutely noticed we were being recorded.

Lord Esti: I know you're trying to get at the consent thing since I didn't look uh, conscious in that video... I am being completely honest when I say that being sober wouldn't have stopped me. The alcohol definitely gave me the confidence I needed to, you know, make a move on him but I would have been consenting about what happened between us either way... I do wish I'd been sober because then I'd at least remember it.

Reader's Fair: So you made the first move then?

Lord Esti: Sorta?

Prince Pavo: No you didn't.

Lord Esti: I absolutely remember kissing you first-

Prince Pavo: After I invited you to my room to change clothes and insisted on helping you do so.

Lord Esti: You said my outfit looked awful -

Prince Pavo: You were six shots in and taking fashion advice from a blind man about it. I had absolutely no idea what you were wearing.

Lord Esti: Wait- You were hitting on me? I thought I jumped you- (He looks genuinely shocked at this revelation.)

Prince Pavo: Yes, I was hitting on you. "You're dressed way too prudish for a party like this come to my bedroom and strip so you can wear one of my shirts instead." You don't say that to someone unless you're trying to fuck them into next week.

Lord Esti: Oh...

Prince Pavo: Oh. (Prince Pavo's teasing is undercut by the fact he is smiling and lightly playing with Lord Esti's hair.)

Reader's Fair: It's been three years, you genuinely never realized he was flirting with you that night?

Lord Esti: No! He's pushy about my wardrobe most of the time- He made me change before we came here today. He just does that.

Prince Pavo: He was going to wear a vest, and I like this sweater on him... I get it though. He walked in that day and I smelled blood in the water the second he spoke up.

Lord Esti: You looked like a shark.

Prince Pavo: Yeah. He was just... Here's the guy who was supposed to be my number one political rival, but he's squeaky, stuttering on every word, and outright admitted to my face that he didn't want to be at my party. He was just there to say a polite Hello because I invited him when I heard he moved into town and his mother insisted he go act friendly with me. He was just too fucking cute. I had to push him around a bit you know? I was absolutely bullying him for the hell of it as well as flirting with him.

Reader's Fair: When did you stop bullying?

Lord Esti: He hasn't.

Prince Pavo: Shh. You know what she means... Said it during the vows, but I started acting better that next morning. I woke up first and heard about the video, tracked down a copy, and looked to see what people were saying for the hell of it while I waited for him to wake up. When he did we realized his phone was dead out of battery and I acted like I didn't have a charger that would work with it because he was still too drunk to go anywhere on his own and I wanted another round... that was fun but it was how Shy he got with me immediately after that had me wanting to chase him down. Not even about the sex, he was being shy about having breakfast with me and letting me put his clothes through the laundry before he left in them. But no matter how much I was pushing on him he just kept taking it like it was nothing. He never acted scared or tried to push back, it was like he liked it.

Lord Esti: I wanted your attention for a bit longer and you've never been good at actually being mean to me.

Reader's Fair: Can you talk about that? Wanting his attention after the encounter you two had had, I mean.

Lord Esti: I.. uh. I think that uhm. This is stupid. But that was the first time I think someone was treating me normally? He wasn't walking on eggshells or trying to manipulate me. I knew exactly what he was after and ... it was just fun to have his whole attention all morning and start talking to him. He doesn't act royal, you've noticed, and he wasn't treating me like one either.

Reader's Fair: You mentioned being scared of him, when did that start if not that night?

Lord Esti: The next time we talked in person. I couldn't understand why he would still want anything to do with me after we found out about the video, and... I also read the comments on it. I was terrified he was seeing me the same way they were or that they were right about some things.

Reader's Fair: Is there any example specifically you want to bring up?

Prince Pavo: I mean a couple of them were right when they were calling you the hottest thing they'd ever seen and me an extremely lucky man for getting to fuck you.

Lord Esti: We've talked about this before. He knows I was worried that he might not know what I looked like and would be embarrassed about wasting time with me instead of a model or something when he figured it out.

Reader's Fair: So you two did end up discussing the video?

Prince Pavo: Yeah... It wasn't until he left that I had that "Oh shit, that could've been something good" moment. That's when I started doing damage control and then I bothered him on every platform he had an account on so I could give him my number directly. I wouldn't admit I'd watched the video and did nothing about it for a few hours until months later. But we got in touch and chatted about it on a call since he hadn't watched it at all yet and I was just guessing what was actually being shown in it.

Reader's Fair: Was this when you two made it official?

Prince Pavo: Not by a long shot. He avoided me for weeks. We were both busy... But I wouldn't let it go. I never gave a shit about the news but suddenly I was listening in just to see if anyone would mention where Esti's next appearance would be so I could go crash it and try to get some time with him. But he never left his fucking apartment so I had to throw another big party and make a whole show about inviting him so he couldn't ignore it.

Lord Esti: I didn't ignore your previous invitations I was just busy.

Prince Pavo: Yeah, well you should've been busy with me instead. But yeah, he came, and then a few more times-

Lord Esti: Pavo!

Prince Pavo: What there's a porn video of you face down in my bed. The fact I fuck you right is the Only thing everyone already knows about us- Whatever, we had another morning together and I pushed until it was the entire day and he had to stay another night. Rinse and repeat until he tells me he's done.

Reader's Fair: Wait- you two broke up?

Lord Esti: No-

Prince Pavo: It definitely felt like a break up.

Lord Esti: We weren't dating. That was the Entire problem. He was still sleeping around and every time I saw him he had someone else hanging off his arm. I was in love and I just woke up one day and couldn't do that game with him anymore. I told him we either got serious or I was out, and then we didn't talk for a bit.

Prince Pavo: I don't like being told what to do.

Lord Esti: I wasn't telling you to do anything. I was giving you a choice.

Prince Pavo: And I made the wrong one.

Reader's Fair: What made you realize it?

Prince Pavo: Oh I knew I was fucking up as it was happening, unfortunately I'm me and wouldn't just apologize and thank him for giving me a chance to actually date him. I did just fine without a partner for the first fifty odd years of my life, I thought I didn't need him.

Lord Esti: You crashed the first date I went on.

Prince Pavo: Yeah because it was that or finding an excuse to have that jackass executed and then making it illegal for anyone to touch you.

Reader's Fair: So you were wrong about not needing him?

Prince Pavo: Absolutely. If he had shot me down that night I was just going to kill myself.

Reader's Fair:... Do you want to elaborate on that?

Prince Pavo: No.

Lord Esti: Yeah, we're working on it. But anyways we got back together, and have been steady and happy about it for about two years now.

Reader's Fair: Ok... may I ask why you decided to get married now? Was there anything that influenced the decision?

Prince Pavo: I mean I asked him to marry me for the first time back when I broke up that date. I learned my lesson, I wasn't letting him go a second time.

Lord Esti: We were arguing, I told him I wanted this to be a serious relationship, he said ok and then asked me to marry him while we were still standing in the bathroom at that restaurant.

Prince Pavo: I then asked again a week later, but you know, not in a bathroom. I did it better.

Lord Esti: He did.

Prince Pavo: And you said no again.

Lord Esti: I did. There... it's a complicated situation.

Reader's Fair: I'd assume so. What did you see as the biggest hurdle?

Lord Esti: You'd think it was our stations but no... This would've been a very advantageous relationship for our families but...

Prince Pavo: His mother Hates me and has been trying to make us break up since the day she found out.

Reader's Fair: Really? I mean, I wouldn't imagine she would be so forward about it given that you are a prince.

Lord Esti: Oh it has nothing to do with politics. He's just... him.

Prince Pavo: I'm older than his mother. I've never made a good impression in my life. She thinks I'm making him drink and drug up so that he'll be too intoxicated to say no to me and that I'm beating him when we are sober. (It is worth noting that through this entire encounter the two have been touching in some way almost constantly. At this point Prince Pavo had his arm around Lord Esti's shoulders with his hand resting on Lord Esti's chest, who was casually playing with Prince Pavo's wedding band while we talked. At no point did Lord Esti look afraid of being touched or like he was worried that the touch may become violent. I suspect the domestic violence allegation was based more on Prince Pavo's reputation as a brawler than any observed evidence as I certainly saw nothing that would make me concerned in that regard.)

Lord Esti: She also thinks you'll break up with me when I age.

Prince Pavo: And I've told her to her face that if my dick is still working by the time you've aged enough to not be beautiful, then it's probably an indicator of how great our sex life would have to still be.

Lord Esti: And that's part of why she hates you.

Prince Pavo: It's the truth!

Lord Esti: He was a lot more graphic about it when they were having this argument. She especially didn't like him telling her she was beautiful so he already knew I'd make it to at least 50 before I might stop being desirable. And then he reminded her that he is blind so even if I do get ugly, it won't matter because he'll just stop taking me out.

Prince Pavo: Yeah That was the first time I ever heard her yell. I'm not surviving to 80 anyways, we all know that, so I don't get her problem.

Lord Esti: Yes you are.

Prince Pavo: You've seen how I live.

Lord Esti: And you've already begun making good improvements and lifestyle changes that won't widow me tragically young. We'll continue to work on those.

Prince Pavo: He's trying to get me to go vegan.

Lord Esti: I'm trying to get you to mind your sodium and cholesterol levels.

Prince Pavo: (attempts to say something)

Lord Esti: If you die while I'm still young I am going to fuck as many people as possible and remarry within the year just to piss you off. Do not make me do that.

Prince Pavo: And everyone thinks I'm the mean one!

Reader's Fair: Can we circle back to something? You said that Lady Corax was making some pretty serious accusations about you, and the fact Lord Esti would decline your proposal for her sake makes me believe they are close, can you comment on that?

Prince Pavo: She's a paranoid old crow.

Reader's Fair: Alcohol has come up a few times now, specifically in the context of you getting Lord Esti drunk. You can see why her accusations are concerning on that front yeah?

Prince Pavo: She's not even here and you're going to listen to her word over mine?

Lord Esti: Pavo, it's ok... He's covering me... I got so drunk so quickly at that party because I had already been drinking heavily that day, and that wasn't abnormal for me. People, my mother included, just hadn't noticed how bad it was until after I started seeing Pavo and they went looking for things to blame on him.

Reader's Fair: Did you know about this?

Prince Pavo: I thought it was cute how often he'd steal sips from my drinks then it was weird when I'd count how many he'd had and he'd lie when I asked him. Then...

Lord Esti: You can tell her.

Prince Pavo: Maybe I don't want to.

Reader's Fair: Tell me what?

Lord Esti: I thought I was being careful and that I was being smart and not drinking too much. But uh... When you're dealing with a bad addiction what "too much" is changes. It keeps getting further away.

Prince Pavo: I thought he just liked to party until he had a seizure in our bed and I couldn't wake him up afterwards and he just- he was Barely breathing.

Lord Esti: Yeah... I was fine. Spent a few days in the hospital. Liver is never going to work the same and I couldn't think straight for a month, but I got really lucky. Scared him something awful, though.

Prince Pavo: I didn't know how bad it was even though it was really obvious I hindsight.

Lord Esti: It's almost like I was hiding it from everyone I loved.

Prince Pavo: Shut up. Not the time to be funny.

Lord Esti: Yeah, probably.

Reader's Fair: May I ask how you're doing now?

Lord Esti: I won't pretend it's over or that I don't still have relapses, but I'm sober now. I try not to count days since that just makes me think about it more, so I don't know how long it's been exactly, but I know I don't even know when my last drink would've been... People keep accusing Pavo of getting me drunk, but he's the only reason I was able to get sober.

Reader's Fair: Really? (Prince Pavo's reputation as a heavy drinker and frequent partier made the idea he could be any good for a recovering alcoholic a bit strange to me.)

Lord Esti: He stopped... everything. The drinking, the parties. His friends aren't even allowed to bring beer to poker night anymore and if we get given any alcohol he dumps it out as soon as it arrives at our place. And he has been there for me the entire time. If I'd had to do it alone - I just wouldn't have been able to.

Prince Pavo: You're making me sound soft.

Lord Esti: No, I'm making you sound like a good partner.

Reader's Fair: Was you getting sober what changed Lady Corax's mind?

Lord Esti: She didn't. She is never going to but getting sober is what changed my mind. I... It's so stupid, but I woke up way too early this morning with a headache, and I didn't want to drink about it. There was no craving and that was such a big deal to me, and I realized that the only person on this planet who would care about that wasn't her. He was sleeping right next to me, and I had told him I wouldn't marry him for her sake. Which was so incredibly stupid. So I woke him up and told him I wanted to get married.

Prince Pavo: I thought I was still dreaming.

Lord Esti: We had to do it quickly before anyone could stop us.

Reader's Fair: Who did you think would stop you?

Prince Pavo: My family. My father in specific. Corax didn't want us to marry but there wasn't anything she could do to get in the way besides being a dick to Esti about it. My father absolutely could have stopped our license being processed and had it thrown out. We need it on record before he finds out just to make it harder for him to fuck with it.

Lord Esti: We also needed us getting married to be something people knew about so if he does try to get the license tossed it'll have some public backlash.

Reader's Fair: I believe I could see where Lady Corax was coming from, but King Cris...? No offense your highness but it seems like Lord Esti has been an extremely good influence on you.

Prince Pavo: Oh he absolutely has and that's the problem. I'm not drinking anymore, I don't party every night and I stopped only showing up to my duties when it would be fun. I'm not sleeping around, I'm doing charity, he's even gotten me into doing fucking yoga with him in the mornings. I'm downright Respectable now.

Reader's Fair: And the problem with that is?

Prince Pavo: I have never been a contender for the throne. Doesn't matter that I'm the eldest, I was always going to be skipped. The only reason that it hasn't been made public yet is that doing so would be an embarrassment to our family. It's always pissed me off that I was stuck with all the responsibilities and burden of being Prince but that I'd never be king despite it. That's why I've always made a point to be as much of a fucking problem as possible. He'd get an excuse for skipping me and I wouldn't have to sit and quietly take it, but now? The excuse is gone. I'm a changed man, I've got a spouse to make a prince consort out of. A good and respected one!

Reader's Fair: Did the potential of this securing the crown for you play into your decision?

Prince Pavo: This didn't secure the crown. It made absolutely certain I'll be out of the family within the week. (He's grinning like it's the best news possible.)

Reader's Fair: You're happy about this?

Prince Pavo: Yeah! I've got my own businesses and money. I don't need a fucking crown to keep living the life I have and I don't want it either.

Reader's Fair: You said you were never considered a contender, was there a reason?

Prince Pavo: I don't have eyes. I was born a disappointment and there was never a chance at me making my father happy enough to make up for it. I've accepted that, and found every way possible to make it a fucking problem for him.

Reader's Fair: And Lord Esti, I assume you knew all of this?

Lord Esti: That's correct. I married him because I love him, not because of his position... Besides, I will most likely be giving up my title too. This isn't the life for me, and I feel any of my younger siblings might be better suited for my roles. Hopefully having married a man and one my mother despises will be enough to convince her I am not fit for this anymore.

Reader's Fair: It seems you've both made your decisions, but you alluded to the elephant in the room so I do need to ask, how do you think you two both being men had effected this entire situation.

Lord Esti: Us not being able to produce a biological child together is definitely going to help both of our cases. The line of succession would have to go through a sibling on each side if we don't adopt, and even if we did it probably would still go through our siblings, just with more aggravation for the people. It would be simpler to just skip us to begin with.

Reader's Fair: Ok, I think I only have one question left... What were you going to do if I didn't show up?

Prince Pavo: I picked this place because there's always hookers in the bar downstairs. If you didn't show up I was going to give Mel a wad of cash to go flash until one agreed to come upstairs with her. She'd have been our witness and we'd have probably made her film the entire thing on one of our phones or something before Esti and I left to let Mel get the rest of my money's worth.

Esti swatted his arm, and it was at this point I felt we had covered all that was important. I asked a few clarifications and permissions over this and that and then left to begin this article.

I had a morbid curiosity when I first arrived at this wedding. A sort of certainty that I was going to witness something deeply troubling as a person barely old enough to be called a man married someone so much older than him. Someone with so much more powerf and sway and a much bigger and more aggressive personality, but I left knowing for certain I had witnessed the beginning of something beautiful.