Hey everyone! I know that it has been awhile since the last update and I am deeply sorry for that! I got surgery not to long ago and I have just been resting and recovering. Also, I have been SUPER busy packing for college! So excited for that. Anyway, here is the next chapter, WARNING: it is just a filler chapter, so not a lot goes on, just some random stuff ha!

That night I told Dimitri all about Adrian and my relationship with him. How we met, how he started to go crazy, and how he broke my heart.

Dimitri stayed silent the entire time but listened to everything I had to say. He wiped away my tears and hugged me and kissed me when it was over.

"Ambassador Ivashkov arrived yesterday, Rose." Dimitri said making me cringe. If Nathan Ivashkov was here that only meant that Adrian was here as well.

In the morning, Dimitri had to leave for meetings and told me that I had to stay in bed until the doctor cleared me.

Dr. Olendzki finally cleared me that afternoon but instructed that I take it easy. The first I did once she left was change into my running clothes and snuck down to the gym to get a workout in.

I haven't been able to workout in a long time so it was nice to finally get back into the groove of things. Mason ended up joining me after I finished running and we lifted weights together and just talked.

He said that he was worried about me after my fall and felt like he failed. I told him that it was ridiculous, he wasn't even on guard. I feel like whenever I get hurt, he takes it personally.

"I thought the doc told you to take it easy?" He said as I finished bench pressing. I just gave him a big smile and rolled my eyes.

"Since when do I ever listen and follow the rules?" Mason laughed and we finished up our workout. He walked me back to my room and told me that he would be back to be on guard.

Before I walked into my room I quickly called out to him. "Hey Mason, do you think you could do me a favor?"

"Sure, what is it Rose?" Mason asked as he walked back towards me.

"I need some books from the library for my project," I started to ask. "Do you think that you could go and grab them for me?"

"Of course." Mason said with a little bow. "Anything you need Princess." He gave me a smirk and a wink before I walked back into my room.

Mia helped me shower and didn't say anything about my workout, which I was thankful for. It was usually Jill who would scold me for breaking the rules.

Once I slipped on a simple day dress, I thought it would be appropriate for me to go down to the Women's Room.

When I got down there, all the other Selected were there and gathered around each other.

"Oh Rose," Natalie said once I walked in. "Good, you're here! Come here," She said coming to grab my hand and pull me towards the other girls. "They released another article about us."

Once I was seated, Sonya started to read;

It has been several months since the Selection started and the race has been narrowed down. The Palace was once filled with 25 beautiful, eligible Princesses, and now only 6 remain; Princess Natalie Dashkov (20), Princess Camille Conta (18), Princess Sonya Karp (19), Princess Avery Lazar (18), Princess Natasha Ozera (20), and finally Princess Rose Hathaway (19).

There hasn't been an elimination in quiet a long time, so all of Russia asks the Prince, when will our new Princess be chosen.

In our last poll, it was Princess Rose who was in the lead. She still remains the public's favorite, especially with her appearances at local schools, but Princess Natasha in right behind her.

Other then her beautiful looks, Princess Natasha does have an edge on everyone else; Russia and Norway are very strong allies. It seemed like it wasn't that long ago when our beloved Princess Anastasia, Prince Dimitri's aunt, married Norway's Prince Andrew, Princess Natasha's uncle.

Another crowd favorite is Princess Natalie. She is obviously very beautiful, but it is her quiet, reserved demeanor that Russia has fallen in love with. It seems that in every way she is the exact opposite of Princess Rose, who is explained to have a wild personality; but a personality which makes her home country, Turkey, adore her.

It has been a close race so far but the entire nation is begging for our Prince to finally select our Princess, or at least have an elimination.

Avery and Camille were so angry that they were not mentioned that they just stomped out of the room not even wanting to talk to anyone. Sonya though, just left our group and went to go sit by herself; probably working on her philanthropy project.

"Congrats Rose," Natalie said to me before walking away. She seemed sincere but I couldn't be quiet sure.

"Looks like it will be me and you to the end Princess." Tasha sneered before shoving the paper to me and walking out of the room.

I sat there for about 30 minutes before Lissa showed up. "Did you read the article?" She said running to be basically bouncing with joy.

"Yeah," I said as she sat down next to me, obviously very excited. "The other girls aren't happy with me."

"Forget about them. They're a Princess, they know how important it is for the public to approve of you."

"Yeah," I said trailing off.

"So what happened the other day?" Lissa said lowering her voice. "I heard you had a nasty fall and was out cold for a few days."

"I heard some bad news and it shocked me." I said truthfully. "After that I do not remember much."

"Well, the Prince was so worried about you." She said with a dreamy look in her eyes. "Whenever he could get away from his meetings, he was up in your room."

I smiled at Dimitri; he is such an amazing man. But with Adrian back in the loop, this was bound to get messy.

"Oh, I met this new guy the other day." She said switching the topics. "He was from Turkey, so I asked if he knew you and he did! He said that you guys were really close, what was his name," Lissa tapped her finger on her chin and then perked up when she remembered. "Adrian Ivashkov! He said that his father is an ambassador so he is staying with him here for a little bit."

This was the last thing that I wanted to talk about right now, however, Lissa didn't know that and wanted to continue. "That must be nice, to have an old friend here huh?" She looked at me, waiting for an answer, but I just couldn't. "Rose," When tears started to form in my eyes she got worried. "What's wrong?" But I just got up and left her there calling out for me.

I quickly hurried through the halls with my head down. I didn't know where I was going, but I knew it had to be a place where people won't find me.

It was still too cold for me to go outside, so I just aimlessly wandered around the palace. My mind was going a thousand miles an hour. How could this possibly be happening to me right now? I thought that everything was going fine.

Flashback

"Does this make me look good?" I asked my maid for the thousandth time. Tonight was a big charity event that my parents were hosting. Reporters would be there, royalty would be there, and nobles. I had to make sure that I was perfect, especially after the big mishap last time.

"Rose, you look like the picture of perfection." I turned around and Adrian was standing in the doorway with a single rose. In his face, I could see adoration and love.

I smiled as he walked forward and gave me a kiss. "I love you my Rose," He said to me.

Even though Adrian went crazy, we had an amazing year together. Full of laughs, hugs, tears, and just love. It was my first love.

I was walking through the hallways when I noticed a rose on the floor. Instantly I bent down to pick it up, but when I stood back up, Adrian was standing in front of me.

The sight of him shocked me and I couldn't help but gasp. He smiled a sad smile and there were so many emotions running through his eyes.

"Rose," He said stepping towards me but I just stepped back. "Nice to see you out of a hospital." I could hear anger in his voice and I actually understood. I was the reason he was put into a mental hospital.

"Adrian, please," I started but he just got mad.

"I get out of the hospital to find that you are no longer with Jesse, but now in Russia trying to win over a guy who has 25 other girls fighting for him." He said and I could feel my heart start to break. "No letter, call, visit, nothing! After everything we have been through, don't you think I deserved at least that?"

"Yes, but-" I started however, he just cut me off.

"I loved you! I loved you and you destroyed me. You took my heart and ripped it up. You might as well have staked me!" The Change in his features also caught me by surprise. His voice filled the room. So much grief, so much anger. So unlike the usual Adrian. He strode toward me, hand clasped over his chest. "I. Loved. You. And you used me the whole time."

Tears were streaming down my face. The last thing that I wanted in the entire world was to hurt him, yet I did a pretty good job at doing that.

"I hope you find someone you can't live without. I really do. And I hope you never have to know what it's like to have to try and live without them." Then, he just turned around and let me there, standing in the middle of a hallway with tears streaming down my face.

[BREAK]

A few hours after my incident with Adrian, I just went upstairs to my room. "Mia, could you tell them that I am going to have dinner in my room." Mia just nodded and quickly left the room. Jill just sat there sewing something, and I was glad she didn't try to talk to me.

When there was a knock on the door, Jill stood up and opened the door. Christian walked in carrying several books.

"Apparently," Christian said dropping the books on my desk. "I am your personal deliver." I could tell he was slightly annoyed but I didn't really care.

"Every Princess needs one." I said with a wink causing him to smirk.

"This is probably personal and you either won't tell me or tell me the truth, but are you sure you are okay?" Christian had a serious face on for once and it was slightly weird. "Lissa is worried so I thought I'd ask to make sure."

"Fine." I said in a short tone and he knew to leave it.

"Okay, then," Christian said shoving his hands in his pant's pockets. "I should go."

"Wait...Christian." I called out causing him to turn around to look at me.

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for the books." He didn't say anything. "The ones you gave Mason,"

"Oh. I thought you meant the other books."

"Smartass." I said rolling my eyes causing him to laugh and shake his head.

"Later, Rosie." He called out and he shut the door before I could yell at him for calling me that.

I decided that the best way to get over my problems right now was to get busy on my project. Our presentation was really close and I wanted to make sure that mine was perfect.

That night I was a bit sad because Dimitri didn't come and visit me, so I just assumed that he was with another girl. I wanted to be mad about that, but it just seemed like it would be another useless fight, and with everything going on with Adrian, that would be the last thing I need.

[BREAK]

It has been a hard couple of days, but I finally finished my philanthropy project, and today was our big presentation.

All day I have spent in my room rehearsing my speech over and over. Lissa came by and sat down to listen me run through it hundreds of times before it was time for her to go and get ready.

Mia and Jill have been going insane the past few days making sure that my outfit was spectacular. As the got me all bathed and cleaned, I kept murmuring the speech over and over, probably driving them insane.

The best part about this whole project was that it really got my mind off of the whole Adrian issue.

Of course, the dress that I was going to wear tonight was a deep red color. Since this was going to be a formal presentation, it was floor length and I was wearing my fancy jewels.

Mason entered the room while they were putting my finishing touches on. "You ready?" He asked, since he would be escorting me. I nodded and took his arm and he escorted me downstairs.

All the other Selected were there and it was nice to see them again. We have all been so focused on this that none of us saw each other. I could tell that they were nervous but were doing a good job at hiding it.

"Roza," I turned around and saw Dimitri standing there in his suit. It has been a few days since I saw him and it was really good to. I hugged him and he kissed my hair. "Sorry that I haven't seen you since the accident. It has just been so busy," But I just cut him off with a light peck on the cheek.

"It's okay," I said taking his hand. "I have been extremely busy with this." I wished that I got to talk to him longer, but it was time for everyone to take their seats.

We were in a room where the Royal family made a lot of their public announcements and presentations. The room was packed with hundreds of people and cameras.

Everyone was sitting at a table and they were making a huge dinner party out of this. I sat down at the table with the rest of Selected as our dinner was served.

None of us talked to each other, we were just going over our speeches in our heads. I didn't understand why this was so hard for me. In Turkey, I made hundreds of speeches, I guess since we were all trying to win over Russia and make it our new homeland, it added some pressure.

After dinner was finished, it was time for the presentations. Each girl would go up and present her project; at the end of it there would be time for a few questions.

Natalie went up first and talked about the army and recruiting more people to sign up for it. Russia had an advantage over other countries since it was such a large country. She did a good job and I looked over and saw that Dimitri was happy with it.

Camille went next and made a huge fool out of herself. To be honest, I didn't really know what she talked about. She had so many points, that no one could follow a single word she said. At the end of her presentation, no one clapped or asked questions, it was that bad.

Sonya went up next and talked about a program that helped veterans. The only problem with that was she made a lot of references to Austria and some of her information conflicted with Natalie's.

Avery was next and she mostly talked about the little kids. She went on about some program that would help them grow and be the best citizens that they could be. To be honest, hers sucked too. Dimitri tried to put on a brave face, but Viktoria and Sonya had their heads in their hands shaking.

Tasha followed and her topic made me mad. She chose to talk about education, and the worst part, she used parts from my own work in Turkey but put them towards Russia. Not once did she give me credit, but listening to the people, they seem to really like her and her presentation. That just made me furious. I should not have gone after her.

When it was finally my turn to go up, I stood up and smoothed my dress with my shaky hands. I walked up the steps just praying that I wouldn't trip. Once I got to the podium, I looked out and met eyes with Dimitri. He gave me a look of confidence that made me feel like I could do this.

I talked a lot about the poverty of Russia's people and how to help the homeless. I proposed building new shelters and funding them better. Also, I talked about helping the homeless go to school and teach them new trades so that they would be better off and help them get a job. Once I got talking, it seemed like I was on fire. I never had to look down at my notes and it just felt natural to me talking.

The reporters were really honest with their questions but I could tell that they loved my presentation. I answered every question to the best of my ability and was slightly sad when it was over.

I sat down in my seat and Dimitri went up and thanked everyone for coming and said a few things to the Russian people

After it was finished, I had several people come up to me and talk to me about my presentation. I explained to them some details that they might have been confused on and so forth.

I looked across the room and saw Dimitri looking at me. He gave me an encouraging smile and I could tell just from the look in his eyes that I did good.

Hello everyone! Again, sorry for the delay, but what can I do? Anyway, not the best chapter, more of a filler, but the next shall be better. This weekend I move back to college so hopefully I will find time to write. Just so you all know, the project presentation wasn't a big thing for me, that was why I just slipped it in there. It actually gives me an excuse to cut someone from the Selection soon. Who do you think it will be? Review please! Also, let me know if any of you have ANY ideas whats so ever. I would be pleased to hear them! Especially on what you want to happen with Adrian!

REVIEW!