Chapter Text
The royal Family of Luthor of Belgravia included Lionel Luthor, the King of Belgravia, who married a princess named. Together, once they had gotten married, they had a daughter who they named Lena. Due to some complications with the Queen and how hard the pregnancy was on her, they only had one child. Lena was born different. She was born intersex and Lionel didn’t take that well. He thought that it would be hard to marry Lena off when the time came. She couldn’t marry a man with that… part. His goal became to find someone who would be willing to marry Lena that was a female, that way Lena could carry on the family line. At least he hoped that she would be able to with how she was.
Once Lena turned twenty years old, Lionel started looking for female suitors. She didn’t have a pick in who Lionel was picking. The first time, he made sure to tell them about how Lena was different, and they were needless to say disgusted and unhappy with it. They rejected the proposition offered, and that was only the first time it happened. It took two years to find someone who agreed to marry Lena; a beautiful duchess. Lionel suggested that Lena not tell her until they were engaged, upon the duchess agreeing.
She was Duchess Linda El of Montenaro, whose parents were dead so she was following her duty to become a royal. Lena did not inform her of how she was different. They had met two times, along with her Lena’s parents. Her father approved of it of course. Linda was taught that you have to serve your sense of duty. Not everyone gets to marry for love.
Lionel did not tell the duchess either about Lena. He thought she would not take it well, being someone from a family in the proper class to marry a royal. The pair got along alright. It wasn’t exactly magical for either of them, but they knew they had a duty to uphold. Once Linda agreed upon marrying Lena and forming an alliance, once it was set in stone, after some time Lena would tell her about her secret and hope she didn’t break off the engagement.
Linda El, Duchess of Montenaro, had a duty to become a royal, since losing her parents meant she was their only heir. She didn’t understand why the royal family of Luthor reached out to her in regards to an alliance when their only heir was a daughter. Did they not want their daughter to produce an heir? She could tell her daughter wasn’t exactly happy per say. Her father, the king, did most of the talking. She went along with it- well, could she even speak up against her father? It felt like they were hiding something from her. The princess looked sad, exhausted, and you Linda could tell she was something, she just couldn’t put her finger on it.
It wasn’t that she didn’t find the princess attractive.
She was alright looking, but she wouldn’t call her attractive or what she would really fancy to marry. Lena looked just like the queen, minus the hair color. She was a spitting image of her mother, but with what she assumed was the hair color King Lionel had before going bald. The queen had red hair and looked like an older version of Lena.
So perhaps she wasn’t attracted to the princess, but she needed to do her duty. Lena was just so… formal. All she ever knew was formal- how to act, speak and more. Now she had to marry someone she had met twice to do her duty.
Lena Luthor, the sole heir to the Luthor family of Belgravia, was born intersex. In her case, that meant she was a woman and a typically male reproduction part, which was a fully functioning. As long as Lena could remember, her father hated it about her. She could tell in his face when he looked at her. When it came to special events at their castle, he said that she had to wear special underwear that would basically flatten her anomaly and not draw attention to it. Lena hated being born this way. It made her a failure in her father’s eyes.
Her mother loved her as she was. She always tried to make Lena feel normal, but she knew she wasn’t. Lena knew her father believed it would be nearly impossible to marry her off. The first time he attempted to do so, the girl looked like she had been slapped in the face when they told her about the condition. Basically, she said something along the lines of ‘No one will want to marry a freak like that, much less have a child with her’.
Lena didn’t really blame her, in all her twenty-two years, she had never had one romantic partner; never had her first anything. She was a virgin in all forms. Lena had never had a crush either. She was always afraid to be rejected.
She had met Linda twice. There had been brief conversation, and it wasn’t exactly unpleasant. Linda was very reserved. You could tell she didn’t like the spotlight, and by the way she spoke about the alliance between their families, it sounded more of a business transaction she needed to go through with. Then there was the lack of attraction. It wasn’t that Linda wasn’t pretty or beautiful; which she was both of those things. She just didn’t know her at all. She didn’t seem like she wanted to get know Lena really more than small talk.
Lena was different, but she still wished to fall in love like some people do. Was that so hard to ask for? To find? She couldn’t help but think people do fall in love, right? There’s someone out there for her, right? Or was she destined to be alone forever and only marry for duty? All she ever wanted was to be accepted for who she was and how she was by people; especially a romantic partner to love her as she is.
In National City, Kara Zorell owned and operated a bakery with friends. It was very popular around Christmas time especially. With a successful bakery, you would think that she would be content. One of her closest friends, Lucy Lane, worked along with her. Her other closest friend, a government agent named Alex Danvers, stopped by often.
Kara had recently gotten out of a relationship with her now ex- boyfriend, Mike Mathews. Their relationship lasted a little over a year. The problem was, Kara didn’t ever bring anyone home she dated ever. Mike thought that Kara never wanted to take him home and introduce him because she didn’t really love him, which she didn’t really. So, Mike wasn’t exactly wrong. She did love him but not in the way she wanted to love her person. She knew deep down he wasn’t the one, but she hoped that maybe one day he would be, but you can’t change people. So they broke up, and Kara was sad about it
like anyone would be. She just wanted someone to spend the holiday season with. Was that so too much to ask for- someone she genuinely loved and wanted to spend Christmas with?
It was a normal day at the bakery. Since it was getting closer to Christmas, the shop had mostly Christmas cookies, cakes, and other sweets. Kara was having a conversation with a well-known customer who was a very nice lady- Mrs. Stein, who happened to live close in Kara’s apartment building. In fact, she adored Kara. “Thanks Mrs. Stein! You’re very kind. I’ll see you next time!” Kara said as she gave the bag of sweets to Mrs. Stein, who was not leaving the shop. “Such a nice lady. For her age, she sure has a lot of energy,” Kara said out loud as she walked back, passing Lucy who was working on a cake for city hall.
“She’s your neighbor who adores you. Of course she’s nice. I’m about to be done. All I need to do is place this last piece on the cake, then it will be ready,” Lucy said without looking at Kara. “So how did that date go last night?” Lucy asked after placing the last piece on top of the cake and turning to face Kara.
“It was… a date. The only date that will be happening with that person, I can tell you that,” Kara answered, leaning against the counter and crossing her arms. It had been awhile since she had gotten in a relationship that didn’t just stop after date one or a few dates. Dating had been challenging for her lately. She just couldn’t click with anyone. There was a lack of a spark. Sure the guy, or even girl, could be good-looking, but she didn’t feel that connection.
Lucy sighed. “You say that about every date you go on lately.”
Kara just shrugged and made a face that said ‘what do you want me to say?’ “So I don’t like any of the dates I’ve gone on lately. Is that a bad thing? I want someone I actually like, not someone who talks about themselves the whole date or is an asshole,” she explained to her friend.
“You haven’t had a relationship with anyone since you broke up with Mike. You dated him more- what, over a year? Might I add, you did not bring him home to meet your parents. Now all you do is at most go on two, three dates max, and then that’s it. What’s the problem?” Lucy said, hands up.
“I just haven’t found someone I like,” was Kara’s response.
“Again, you dated Mike for over a year. Did you even really like him?” Lucy fired back.
“I thought I did.”
“It took you a year to realize that?” Lucy asked.
“I guess so?” Kara shrugged once again.
“One day, you’ll take someone to meet your parents.” Lucy sighed.
“Sure. One day.” Kara snorted a tad saying that.
“Did you tell her the good news? Was she excited?!” Alex came in at some point behind the counter.
‘News? What news?’ is what the crinkle Kara had was telling. “What good news?” Kara asked Lucy.
“Remember that baking competition that you love and it takes place in Belgravia? And only the best of the best go and it’s broadcasted? Well, I sent in one of our recipes in along with a photo, and we got in! Here’s the invitation.” Lucy handed her a friend a red envelope, and she pulled out the invitation, reading it. Both of them were listening to her reading it out loud, then she turned it over and saw a picture of the Queen, King and Princess.
“Look, they have a Princess. Who knows? Maybe she’ll be your Princess Charming,” Lucy said, pointing to the princess in the middle of the paper.
Kara gave her an exasperated look and rolled her eyes. “When is it?” She wanted to know.
“We would leave Friday, so in a few days. They pay for everything and provide. I’ve already asked your parents and my parents to look after the shop, plus the other workers here will be here. It’s two weeks, and you get time to sight see!” Alex jumped in and explained.
“Give me the day to think about it? I’m not saying no. You will know my answer by dinner time. I’m going to take a walk.” Neither of them opposed that and let her be. Kara grabbed her coat and hat that did in fact have the baby version of Yoda. She walked aimlessly, trying to think and debating the pros and cons when she bumped into someone because she wasn’t paying attention.
“I am so sorry! I wasn’t looking where I was going- Mike?” Kara said once she looked up and saw who it was.
“Kara, nice to see you, or run into you I should say,” he said with a small smile.
“Yeah… sorry about that, lost in thought,” she said, adjusting her glasses and offering a polite smile.
“Babe, who’s this?” someone new who came out of the shop and grabbed onto his arm asked.
“This is Kara, my ex. We used to date, and she ran into me not paying attention. Kara, this is Imra, my wife,” he told her.
‘Oh- wow. You’re married, congratulations!” Kara was shocked. Mike never talked about marriage before, but she didn’t want to marry him, let alone date him. So it’s not that she is upset he is married, just shocked.
“Right, well I should go start packing. Belgravia is calling my name. I got into that baking competition I never stop talking about. I’m happy you found someone and it was nice to meet you, Imra,” Kara continued after it clicked. She did want to go to this competition, and after that she might need help with finding decent people to date. No more dating apps. If Mike could find someone he wanted to marry, she could find someone. Right? Right, and maybe her parents will stop bothering her about when they will meet someone she’s dating. Maybe? It’s a long shot. All she knew was she was on her way to Belgravia with Lucy and Alex. This will be fun. The shop will be okay without her for two weeks. Right? Right.
“Well, here we are.” Kara said, pulling up to the cabin according to the destination and turning off the car and taking the keys out.
“Wow, they really went all out, didn’t they? It’s got the Christmas look to it,” Lucy said, getting out of the car and going to grab her bags from the trunk.
“It sure does. You what that means, don’t you Lucy?” Alex asked Lucy.
“Kara will go full Grinch quoting on us?” Lucy fires back to Alex, and Kara looks at them with a look that says ‘you aren’t wrong.’
“My schedule will definitely allow it,” Kara responded with the best impression of the Grinch that she could do. Alex didn’t say anything back, just rolling her eyes and sighing, accepting her fate.
“You only do the Grinch impression to taunt me, don’t you?” Alex said once they were inside the cottage.
“Out of love,” Kara responded back with a teasing tone.
“Alright, come on you two. We have to set up our rooms then be at the studio to see what we want or need to set up. You know how picky I can get with handles on the pans,” Lucy pipes up. Kara shrugged and put her hands up, knowing Lucy is right.
After that, all three go their separate ways claiming a room. Then it was time to go look at the set. Lucy was bound to want to buy one thing new at least. Kara just knew it.
Alex wanted to stop by the town first to pick up some stockings for them to have since they would be here for Christmas. “They really go all out don’t they? It’s like the shop back home but with steroids,” Alex commented as they were walking in the town.
“It’s in honor of the Princess marrying the Duchess of Montenaro. The town decided to put a little extra effort in the Christmas decorations this year,” the old man behind the stand said as they were browsing the stockings.
“Oh, that’s strange isn’t it? A Princess marrying another woman? I mean, it’s great that they are so open about marriage but still a surprise,” Kara commented.
Lucy nodded, agreeing. “I have no doubt the Duchess is beautiful. We saw the Princess was good looking. Royals,” she chimed in.
“Well, the Duchess is rather camera shy. She isn’t much of a people person. So since she doesn’t allow her picture to be taken, and probably the shy girl doesn’t go out much, no one is sure what she looks like,” the old man explained to them as they were buying their stockings.
“That’s interesting,” Alex said as they finished up paying for the stockings and left the stand.
“Alright, now it is time to go to the baking set,” Lucy said, throwing an arm around Kara and Alex.
When they got to the set, all check ins went smoothly. They did not know the girl who could not stand Kara since culinary school was going to be in the competition as well. Kara made a comment about how she was rather close to the professors, if you get what that means. Siobhan Smythe. Who could forget her? Let’s just say she did not like Kara’s comment and spilled tea on Kara’s apron when she saw her, so Kara excused herself to try and get rid of the stain quickly. She wasn’t paying attention to what was in front of her, assuming that only contestants would be here (other than Alex who was sitting in the guest area that is. She was looking down at her apron when she bumped into someone. Not again. “I am so sorry, I was not paying attention to where I was going,” Kara says for what she feels like is more times than she has said before in her life.
“It’s quite alright,” the woman says, reaching down to grab her sunglasses that must have fallen off when they collided.
When she picks up the sunglasses and turns to look at Kara, it’s like looking in a mirror but with bangs. “What- who are you?” Kara asked, unsure of what was happening.
“Lady Linda El, Duchess of Montenaro.” Oh, she was the one marrying the princess. It all clicked in Kara’s head.
“Oh- you’re the one marrying the Princess,” Kara said, still in shock of how much the duchess looks like her.
“Yes… yes I am,” the duchess said back, sounding not very happy about it?
Kara wasn’t sure how long she should stand there, so she needed to think of something to get out of this situation.
“Are you a baker? I am assuming because this is the set for the baking competition, and you are wearing an apron,” the duchess explained, continuing on.
Kara looked down at her apron with the stain. Right. For a moment, she forgot about that. “Yes, I am. There was a little accident on set, so my apron looks like this. Oops,” Kara said, sighing.
“The baker in charge of my wedding cake isn’t doing it for me. I do not like what they have presented so far. You’re in this baking competition, so you must be very good. How would feel if I asked you to come to the castle say in about an hour or two hours from now? So that I could get an opinion on my wedding cake, and perhaps you could show me some idea?” the duchess said to her before Kara could even speak after the remark on her apron.
“Me? You sure you want me to try- well, give my opinion on your wedding cake? It is a royal wedding cake.”
Surely the Duchess couldn’t be serious. “I am sure.”
“Then I will see you in an hour to two hours,” Kara said, hands slightly in the air. Was this really happening?
“Fabulous. I shall see you then,” the duchess said as she put her sunglasses back on her face and walked away.
“Well, Belgravia just got a whole lot more interesting,” Kara said to herself, then looked down at her apron. “Guess I can just buy a new one.”
The duchess popped up again. “Oh, just so we’re clear, no one can know about our meeting. It might offend the king and queen, and I don’t want that.”
“Right…” Kara said in regards to that, even more confused than she was before watching the duchess walk away again. “What just happened?” she asked herself, still standing there.