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

been tamer, however. Something I will rectify when I

maybe that poor horse had reason to be afraid of Lillianna when it had

that animals had a sixth

of the property,” Lilliana said. “I felt

belong to

she spoke, I noticed she talked of the property and the palace and what she would

of the prince himself, like his beautiful

of Nicholas’s qualities in how much

money. The power. The house

inside of me. Nicholas deserved someone who would

him as a person.

was all wrong for him. Hopefully he

looks toward each other,

the room thickened as she

Ball was

seemed as if Lilliana was enemy number

didn’t want to harm her, but I too wanted to see

wasn’t jealous. It was just pure objective

wasn’t worthy

Chapter 0046

and I was dressed in

hair into a tight up

of me, though her dress came up

couldn’t stop giggling as she

like the physical embodiment

quick hug. “You are a princess,

went to the door, the strange maid stopped me. “Don’t forget your

me

1

were traditions about gloves and their length. It would have been a faux pas to show up

as well, but she was further back in the room and not looking

to thank her later

I took her hand. “Let’s

a toothy grin. “The

we waited for the results for the dress contest.

own way. They were a rainbow of colors and

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

own gown and I genely wasn’t sure who would

arrived, at the girls hushed themselves We waited with

First, he said. “Divis