When I was young, people always told me I would be a heartbreaker.

It's a common thing, really, to say to a royal. That they'll break many hearts. That they're dashing, swoon-worthy, charming. That they'll surely have a perfect Ever After. So it was never something I registered as any importance.

My teen years, my young adult years, found me wooing and flirting, yes. They found me known for my fortune in battle, for my leadership and bravery. For my cunning and my ruthlessness against our foes. But they never found me with a heart of my own, nor with the heart of another.

Then you came along. You, with your focused and forward attitude. You with your heart on your sleeve, always bleeding for someone. You with your quick witted comebacks that rivaled my own. I had never met someone before who could handle my teasing and throw it back, twice as powerful. How could I not have fallen for you?

I will say we met under less-than-perfect circumstances. I remember that day, how you stormed the throne room, screaming at me for the troops I lost. You called me callous, naive, self-centered. Heartless. You demanded answers and to help fix the wrongs I had done. How could I say no? (My advisors all urged me to.)

So I let you. I let you take a seat on the court and talk back to me, pressure us all into your "moral path." God, I hated that descision at first. But you showed me how to have a heart. You showed me how to look past myself. And I showed you how to lead, how to relax, how to deal with the pain of blood on your hands. Your heart and my head, they said.

So, because of that ill-fated day, our kingdom has prospered. And now, looking back at the life I had led up until you arrived, I see where my mistake was.

See, the thing is, I grew up being told a heart was all in the lilt of a voice, or in the saunter of the hips. But you've shown me what the heart truly is. It is in the people of the kingdom when they prosper and celebrate. It is in the friends found in court, and the loyalty they carry in their souls. It is in the chest of the enemy as they ride against us, because they too have someone to fight for.

And as I look back, I realise I had spent my life focused on being the greatest ruler, on being powerful, and I lost sight of the hearts around me. Each step towards my imagined greatness grinded another heart to dust under my heel. Of family members who saw me lose touch with myself. Of friends who saw me shut them out and stab them in the back. Of subjects who suffered from my actions. Broken hearts litter the path behind me.

I have tried my best to make up for it. I have worked with you to build this kingdom back, to build a life together. I wake up every day and I chose to love you. I chose to love my friends, my family, my subjects. But those hearts are still lying there behind me. Turning my back on them won't stitch the pieces back together. And I don't know what to do about that.

People always told me I would be a heartbreaker. I don't think this is what they meant.