Hey y'all! thanks for the 4 handsome boys submitted so far... I still need 21 others. The Selection Draw will be in the next Chapter, so I need these guys pretty quick =] Thank you! ^^

Chapter 3

"All right, Sleepy Head. Where do we start?"

I slowly pushed the covers away from my face, but pulled them right back up as someone was opening the curtains and blinding me with the early morning sun. I mumbled something under the covers.

"What, I can't hear you."

"Go away, Phil. I'm not finished sleeping."

"Yes you are. You've got thirty-five boys coming in three weeks, we have work to do. What ever that work is." He stripped the covers from my bed and I was left there in my foetal position, covering my eyes from the light.

"How dare you do that!" I threw a pillow at him. "What if I slept naked?"

He chuckled. "Well, that would have been a pleasant surprise. But I know you don't. Now come on." He grabbed my ankles and pulled me from my bed. He stopped pulling just when I was about to fall.

"Ugh. Are you always that gentle with girls?"

"Nope, only with you."

I made a face at him and rang for Anna. She was here in a record time. "My Lady, is everything all right?"

"Yes. This monkey, here, woke me up, so we'd better get started."

She looked at Phil and I saw her suppress a laugh. He winked at her and made himself comfortable on the bed. "Wake me up when you're ready. I have a feeling this is going to take some time." He yawned and reclined on my pillows, putting an arm over his eyes. He was really going to sleep here! I couldn't believe it!

Anna took my wrist and led me to the bathroom. "Let's surprise him with a very quick readying, My Lady."

I smiled mischievously and nodded. A quick shower helped me to be totally awake. I tied a huge messy bun on the top of my head and then I slipped in a pair of fancy pants and a light blouse. I didn't want to have a skirt in my way that day. I slipped in some comfortable heels – yes, they exist – and glanced at the clock: fifteen minutes. Now that was a record. I filled a glass of an inch of water and silently walked to Phil sleeping on my bed. He had awakened me this morning, I would do the same.

I splashed the water in his face. He jerked awake with wide eyes. "What the-"

I was laughing hard. "That was for waking me up and taking off my covers."

He glared at me and sat on the edge of the bed, drying his face with his sleeve.

"Yeah, I love you, too, Rosie."

We went down to the Dining Room for breakfast. Like everyday, it was a buffet and we could come at anytime we wanted. Well, Father and I always came early because we had work to do. Mother had breakfast in her bed, and the three other Princesses took their time. The buffet was served until 10 a.m. It was 7 a.m. and Father was not here yet. We both filled our plates with pancakes, waffles, maple syrup, strawberries, croissants, and filled our cups with coffee. We would need it.

We gobbled up the waffles. "So, what's the plan?"

I swallowed what I was chewing. "Well, we have to refurbish the thirty-five Selected's rooms, along with the Men's Parlour."

Phil stopped eating and glared blankly at me. "You made me come all the way here to do interior decoration? You're joking."

I bit my upper lip and looked at my food. "No."

He shook his head. "You're impossible!"

"But let me just show you the rooms. You'll understand."

He sighed. "Fine. Let me just finish my breakfast, first."

We ate in silence. When we were both finished, I led him to the second floor. I opened the door to the first room we came across.

Phil's eyes widened. "Oh."

The room was all pink and white. The walls and curtains were pink; the bed was made of fancy white wrought iron. All the furniture was white; the floor was made of light brown wood, with a dusty pink rug laying on it. Three generations of Selected young Ladies had come here, dreaming about a future life with the Prince.

"Um… All the rooms are like this?"

"Yeah. They're all identical."

"Well then, we have a lot of work to do."

I looked at him. "You're not backing away?"

"What? No. Why would I? I told you I would help you, and I will." I hugged him.

"Thank you." He hugged me back. "Let me just get a notepad and a pen, I'll be right back." I scrambled to my room for the desired objects and came back. He was sitting on the bed, bouncing up and down.

"I'm testing the mattress. We'll need new ones."

I wrote that down. 'New mattresses' "I don't know how long these have been here. Maybe sixty years. Since the first woman Selection after Queen Eadlyn's."

"Sixty years?! Get rid of them."

The morning was spent writing down what needed to be changed. Almost everything: beds, mattresses, curtains, wall paint, rugs,… I refused to write down new furniture. We would just paint them brown.

"What are you going to do with thirty-five white beds? Throw them away?"

"No way. I'm going to donate them to an orphanage or a school or a hotel, or something. They're still in really good condition." I wrote down donate on my paper.

We chose to paint the rooms in the Eastern Wing in different hues of blues, and the rooms in the Western Wing in hues of greens. Brown wooden beds would replace the white ones, along with beige curtains and rugs. I wanted to put some more colour, but Phil thought it better to keep it neutral. So I obeyed. He knew better than me. I gave orders to the decorators Father hired for me, and they would be answering only to me for the next couple weeks.

Then we went to the Men's Parlour. It hadn't been used since my great-great-grandmother's Selection. Everything was covered in dust, but the room had a little vintage-y charm.

"Don't change anything here. I think the room has a nice charm. But I would add a few things, though."

"Like what?"

"A pool table, table soccer, a table with things to eat and drink all day, a ping-pong table, I don't know."

Yeah, I like that. I might even come play with them!"

"Yeah right. If this is like the Women's Room, you're not going to be allowed in here."

"Oh. I forgot about that. I'll change the rules about this room." I smiled mischievously and walked away, writing what we had just talked about.

We worked all week, overseeing what was being done to the rooms and Parlour.

Friday evening came in too quickly with a Report. Of course, Prince Philippe was a surprise guest and Everest took delight in peppering him with questions about why he was here and what we did together and if he was going to stay during the Selection. I think Everest was a bit disappointed when Phil told him we had only been overseeing the renovation work in the Palace, and that he would be going back to France soon.

During the second week of his stay, the rooms were all finished. There were still some details to go through – beddings, objects to put in the rooms, etc – and finally, the Wednesday evening, two days before the Live Draw of the Selection on the Report, we were done. It was 11 p.m. and we just went to bed without even celebrating.

I was so happy to be able to sleep in after all this tedious work. But when I looked at the clock when I woke up, it was 7.30 a.m. Ugh. I tried to go back to sleep, but it was useless. After twenty minutes of turning and tossing around, I got up. I opened the curtains and a blinding light entered the room.

June 23, a perfect summer day. I decided I would be spending the day outside by the swimming pool, getting my tan ready for the Selection. I rang for Anna and ordered my breakfast in my room. I wouldn't bother with a dress today. My bathing suit would be my outfit for the day. I braided my waist length hair and twisted it into a bun high on my head. I hastily spread sunscreen on my body and slipped on a light beach dress over my swimsuit, put my sunglasses on and headed for the stairs and the garden doors.

Turning around a corner, I bumped into Philippe.

"Hi. Where are you going?" he said with sleepy eyes.

"To the swimming pool. I think we deserve a day off, don't you think?" I winked at him.

He smiled and lifted an eyebrow. "We sure do. I'll join you in a moment." He ran up the stairs to his room and I went outside. The weather was perfect.

I took off my dress and reclined on one of the lounging chairs, closing my eyes. I decided I'd spend the day doing absolutely nothing. It was a rare thing in my life, at this point. But I needed to relax before the Draw the next evening. I dozed off for a few minutes, when I heard someone come. I opened an eye.

"Oh, hey Kate."

"Rose, you've been missing out this swimming pool for two weeks! Look how tan I am!"

I took off my sunglasses to see better. "Tan? You're red. Did you put sunscreen?"

"Of course I did! And I'm not red!"

"Yes you are. Between you and me, I have the best skin for tanning. Don't put a pink dress tomorrow night. You'll look terrible."

She humpfed and crossed her arms over her chest, reclining on the chair next to me.

"I love you?" I chuckled under my breath. I loved to tease her. She was always jealous of my skin. At least I had something she couldn't have. It made me kind of happy.

"Shut up, Rose."

"What are you two talking about?" Phil's voice resonated above our heads.

I opened my eyes and saw him looming over us. He walked around us, threw his towel on a nearby chair and walked to the diving board. My eyes widened and my mouth dropped open. Kate apparently did the same, because I heard her say: "Oh. My. God."

Phil spread his arms and looked at us. "What? You've never seen a man in a swimsuit?" and he bomb dived toward us, splashing everywhere, soaking us almost to the bone.

But we didn't mind. Looking at a half naked and wet blond and blue-eyed French Prince was spellbinding and we forgot to complain about being wet. I realized it had been a long time since I had seen a handsome man in a swimsuit.

Phil burst out laughing. "I can't even begin to imagine you two girls surrounded by thirty-five boys in swimwear. I wish I could stay longer just to see what would happen and laugh."

Kate and I looked at each other and nodded. This was an excellent idea.