Chapter 43
At first glance, she appeared friendly enough, smiling peacefully. She curtsied to me and introduced herself.
Tm looking forward to serving you,” she said.
But I found it strange. Surely she had passed my other maid being taken away down the hall. What kind of person would be smiling so calmly after having witnessed such a thing?
icholas.
I
I
Today was the day for Nicholas’s solo date, and I was trying my very best not to think about it.
Ever since receiving Joseph’s threatening letter, I’d been hiding out in my room as much as I could to
avoid him and the mean–looking guards.
With the First Ball fast approaching, I used the extra time in my room to help my maids work on me and
Elva’s gowns.
The dress had to be perfect. The order of introductions for the girls at the ball was to be determined by
the princes‘ preferences of the dresses.
Once the gowns were finished, pictures were to be taken of them and given to the princes, who would
then select their favorites. Those favorites would be the first ones introduced at the ball, and therefore
given the most time with the princes.
And with the cameras.
A major component of the Luna Choosing Game, was earning the public’s favor. I had a small advantage
with the common people, being one myself. But people like Lena and Joseph existed in every class.
I had little reason to believe that even with my slight advantage, I would make it far in this competition.
That didn’t mean I wouldn’t try.
The two maids and I had split the design for my dress into three separate parts that we had worked on
individually. Now, we were ready to combine the three elements into a complete gown.
We’d already finished Elva’s matching dress first.
The quiet maid insisted on doing the final work, as she had the most experience with sewing.
The newest maid began arranging the mannequin for the dresses photo shoot. Elva’s dress was not to be included in the shot, since that would ruin the anonymity of the contest.
Elva herself was looking at something outside the window, likely the horses again, with the stables so close.
I
I felt restless, though I wasn’t sure why, I kept thinking about Nicholas’s solo date, but it shouldn’t be enough to bother me like this
Nicholas and I were over long ago.
Still, I paced the length of the room, nervousness and trepidation waging war within my chest. My heart
“Mommy!” Elva called to me. “Mommy, come see!”
Eager for the distraction, I joined her at the window.
“Look.” Elva pointed down toward the stables. “It’s Nick–lass.”
Nicholas and Lilliana stood near the entrance of the stables as horses were brought to them by stable
hands.
Nicholas’s horse was a regal black stallion that greedily accepted a sugar cube from Nicholas’s palm.
The horse chosen for Lilliana was a brown and white mare that seemed nervous around her. The horse.
kept trying to sidestep whenever Lilliana came too close.
Nicholas, noticing. left his own horse to approach Lilliana. He offered her a sugar cube and gestured
toward her horse. Lilliana shook her head, refusing to offer the treat.
From this distance, I couldn’t hear the exact words spoken beyond some mumbled voices, but with the way Lilliana held up her pure white gloves, I assumed she refused to treat the horse to spare her gloves.
ing dirty.
getting dirty.
I wondered how she would hold the reins.
“I won’t let you fall,” he’d said then. “Tell me when you are okay, and I’ll let go.”
I had given him a playful smile. “What if I want to stay like this?”
His eyes had been fond, green sparkling brightly under the sun. “Then we should give up on horseback riding for today and return to one of our rooms instead. If you want me to hold you, I’d like to do it
Now, I wondered if he was saying much the same thing to Lilliana, But, no. They didn’t seem to be
talking much at all. Nicholas moved his hands away from her waist quickly and without protest.
Even from a distance, these two did not seem to like each other ver
speaking. I couldn’t imagine why Nicholas had chosen her, out of all the candidates, for his first solo date.
Then, before I could figure out what she was going to do, she shouted from the window, “Hi, Nick–lass!”
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