The Luna Choosing Game

My whole heart shattered. “No, no, that’s not true. Prince Nicholas likes you a lot.”

Elva pulled away to look up at me with large, watery eyes. “But she said Nick–lass is mad at me. She said

I was naughty.”

“We can’t listen to her, okay?”

Her cupped her face with my hands and wiped away her tears. New ones just kept falling. My anger for Lena renewed, and I half wanted to chase her down the hall to give her a piece of my mind.

No one makes my little girl cry like this!

“She’s just a mean lady who doesn’t know what she’s talking about. Nicholas likes you. He’s not mad. He waved at you, didn’t he?”

The words seemed to placate Elva somewhat. Her tears lessened, though her sniffling remained. Her brows furrowed like she was thinking it through.

“He did wave…

“Because he likes you.”

“…Okay.” Her voice was small. It didn’t seem like I had fully convinced her, but I doubted I could say anything that would.

She would have to hear it from Nicholas himself.

Maybe if I could talk to him alone, I could convince him to spend some time with Elva.

Lena would hate it, and so would the other girls. I’d have to make sure it happened at a time that didn’t conflict with any of his other obligations.

Surely he would meet with her though? If I told him she thought he didn’t like her?

Surely he hadn’t become totally heartless in the past three years?

No, I knew he hadn’t. I had seen the soft–hearted way he’d interacted with Elva before

He might hate me, but he liked her. He would be willing to do this, I was sure.

I just had to get him alone to ask.

The next morning at breakfast, Lilliana was the most popular girl in the room. Every other girl wanted to know every detail of her solo–date with Nicholas.

attention seemed to go straight to her head, and she calmly and smugly answered every question she

was asked, albeit with a haughty attitude.

I

“Prince Nicholas lifted me into the saddle like the princess I am soon to be,” she said. “The horse

tamer, however. Something I will rectify when

horse had reason to

that animals had a

said. “I felt as if the prince

belong

noticed she talked of the property and the palace and what she would fix as Luna.

qualities of the prince himself, like his beautiful

framed all of Nicholas’s qualities in how much it

The power.

inside of me. Nicholas deserved someone who would notice things

him as a person.

he would realize

sharing sharp looks toward each other, and open glares at

the room thickened

Ball was quickly

it seemed as if Lilliana

but I too wanted to

jealous. It was just pure objective

worthy

Chapter 0046

barely recognizing myself. It was the night of the First Ball, and I was dressed in my beautiful, shimmering yellow gown it

brown hair into a

mirror figure of me, though her dress came up to her neck. It shimmered

giggling as

looked like the physical

quick hug. “You are a princess,

strange maid stopped me. “Don’t forget your

me

1

their length. It would have been a faux pas to show up

but she was further back

to thank her

hand. “Let’s

a toothy grin. “The

for the dress contest. The princes‘ preferences for our dresses would soon determine the order of

dress was beautiful in its own way. They were a rainbow of colors and materials, but each more spectacular than the

ease, she must have been used to it. Others were similar, carefully sidestepping their trains or lifting their long detoad

own gown and I genely

waited with bated breath as Nathan read the erder

First, he said. “Divis