Chapter Two Hundred-Ten
They spent the next half hour meeting with doctors and nurses, who cared for the children.
The hospital director came over to them. "Should we head out so you can meet with the press and farewell?"
Before Keira could respond, Tanya approached quickly, her face tense. "Miss Warner, we have a situation."
"What's wrong?" Keira asked, instantly alert.
"It looks like a member of the press recorded your conversation with a child."
Keira's stomach dropped. It could have only been with Sophie. But how? That area was off-limits to the press. Then Keira realized the waiting room hadn't been officially restricted because it wasn't inside the children's ward. The little girl did not need her life plastered all over the internet. She was going through enough. "But that was private. That was a child who just lost her parents."
"I know," Tanya said grimly. "We're trying to contain it, but they didn't break any rules, and they have told me they are running with the story. They told me out of courtesy."
"Running with what?" Keira demanded, anger flaring. "A private conversation with a grieving child? That is not okay. I want to speak to this outlet now."
She stormed toward where the press had been permitted to gather for the final farewell, Tanya and Amelia hurrying after her.
"Keira, wait—" Amelia called.
But Keira was already confronting the assembled reporters, her eyes scanning for anyone who might have made the recording.
"Which one of you thought it was okay to film a grieving child and turn it into media fodder?" She stated, her voice shaking with anger. "That little girl doesn't need her life plastered all over the press and gossip rags. She doesn't need that moment replayed over and over again."
The reporters fell silent, cameras capturing her unscripted moment of raw emotion. Someone from the palace confronting the press so openly.
"She's a child…a child who just lost her parents. She deserves privacy and respect."
One reporter stepped forward. "Miss Warner, the public could respond very positively to your interaction—"
The words had just given Keira the target she needed. This was the reporter who had recorded them. She felt even more disgusted because the reporter was a woman.
"I don't care," Keira cut her off. "My concern is for that child, not public opinion or whatever narrative you're trying to spin. That conversation wasn't meant for anyone but her. Think of the damage this could do to her. She has already experienced enough trauma. Your story will only add to it. What if she was your niece or your sister… Would you put your own family through that?"
The silence that followed was heavy with surprise. A future princess didn't usually speak so bluntly to the press in any country. Normally, the answer would have been silence.
Tanya appeared at her side, attempting damage control. "What Miss Warner means is—"
"I meant exactly what I said," Keira stated firmly. "And I would appreciate if..." She glared at the reporter who had taken the footage. "That story and the footage involving a young child in one of her darkest moments doesn't appear on any news program, newspaper, or gossip rag or I will make sure that media outlet is excluded from all future events."
With that, she turned and walked away, leaving the stunned reporters in her wake. Her whole body trembled with adrenaline, her hands shaking as Amelia caught up to her in the corridor.
"I'm sorry," Keira said immediately. "I know I shouldn't have done that. I shouldn't have lost my temper."
To her surprise, Amelia was smiling. "Don't apologize," she said. "That was the most genuine moment since you arrived in Wystovia. You weren't trying to be diplomatic or proper… you were standing up for what you believed was right. I felt like clapping."
"But the press—"
"Will run with it," Amelia agreed. "But not in the way you think. You just showed them exactly who you are, Keira. Not someone playing at being royal, but someone who genuinely cares about people more than putting on a show."
Tanya caught up to them, her expression unreadable. "Well, that was unexpected."
"I'm sorry," Keira began, but Tanya held up a hand.
"Don't be. It was perfect."
"Perfect?" Keira echoed, confused.
"Authentic," Tanya clarified. "Real. The thing we've been trying to show them all along… who you really are. You just did it in thirty seconds of unscripted honesty." Almost saying the same thing as Amelia.
Keira really could be the firecracker Alexei called her. And she had just exploded in front of reporters.
By the time they left the hospital, Keira noticed something different… it was in the way people looked at her… in their expressions, there was something new. Respect.
"What happens now?" she asked Amelia as they slid into the waiting car.
"Now," Amelia said with a smile, "we wait and see. It shouldn't take long."
"I didn't speak to that child to get better press."
"Oh Keira… Everyone will know that. It was all there in your reaction." Amelia said, touching her hand.
By the time they returned to the palace, the story had already spread across social media and news outlets. But to Keira's surprise, the headlines weren't what she expected. There was no footage of Sophie anywhere or her story.
"FUTURE PRINCESS DEFENDS CHILD'S PRIVACY."
"KEIRA WARNER SPEAKS FROM THE HEART: Shares Personal Loss."
"PROTECTIVE PRINCESS: Warner Stands Up For Vulnerable Child Against Media Exploitation."
Alexei found her in her suite, scrolling through the coverage with a bewildered expression.
"I heard what happened," he said, sitting beside her on the bed. "Are you okay?"
"I lost my temper," she admitted. "I shouldn't have confronted them like that."
"Keira," Alexei took her hands in his, "do you realize what you've done?"
She looked at him, confused. "Made a scene at a children's hospital?"
"You showed them exactly why I fell in love with you," he said softly. "Your compassion, your fierce protection of someone vulnerable, your willingness to speak the truth. You weren't playing a role… you were being yourself."
"But I confronted them—" She remembered the golden rule: never confront the press in a rage.
"Sometimes that rule needs to be broken," he finished for her. "The people don't want a perfect, polished princess who never shows emotion. They want someone real, someone they can connect with."
He pulled her close, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "My father just called me. He's impressed."
"With me losing my temper at the press?"
"With your integrity and compassion." Alexei corrected. "He said, and I quote, 'She has fire. The crown needs that.'"
Keira laughed softly. "I think he's the only king who'd appreciate my outbursts."
"He appreciates authenticity," Alexei said. "And so do the people of Wystovia. Look." He handed her his phone, opened the palace social media page where thousands of comments were pouring in, overwhelmingly supportive.
"I really don't understand," Keira said, scrolling through the messages. "I thought they'd crucify me."
"They were waiting to see the real you," Alexei explained. "And by protecting a child you did. The one who fights for what she believes in and doesn't back down, even when it's difficult. And if you notice… not one outlet has run a story on the little girl. You stopped them by speaking out."
Keira leaned against him, letting his words sink in. All this time, she'd been so worried about it.
"So, I'm not supposed to apologize?" she asked with a small smile.
"Never," Alexei said firmly. "I'm proud of you."