Hello! This chapter contains party planning, some stuff with Lavinia, Some Royal Family + Romaine stuff, and just fun. I honestly felt so bad for not updating for, like, a week, until last chapter, so please forgive me. Anyhow, onto the chapter….

Romaine

I hesitated before knocking on the door. The Selected typically didn't do stuff with the Royal Family often. But Cressi wanted me to help her. I knocked my fist against the door. Soon, it was opened by Cressida. "Come in."

She wheeled away, and I walked into the room. It sure was a suite fit for a princess, With plush ballet-slipper pink furniture, white embellishments, and hints of silver throughout the room. Cassi turned towards me. "So...I really like prince Cosimo of Italy, as you know. But he's always sort of overlooked me because of my wheelchair. Everyone has, it's like I'm...invisible. Somehow being below eye level makes me less worthy of looking at, of liking. I just want to be noticed. And you can hopefully help me with that."

"Absolutely. I met with my team, and we all settled on an idea. The theme for the party is light up and glow in the dark, so the planners and I are all wearing costumes made of glow in the dark fabric. Your dress, however, will be shimmery and light-up. We'll place mirrors around the dance floor, so you'll be our disco ball, in gold. What do you think?"

"Perfect! I seriously cannot thank you enough."

"No problem. I should head back to my room for bed, it's getting late."

"Yes. Thanks again!"

Lavinia

Did I really want to do this? I studied myself in the mirror. I was brave, but was brave enough? I had faced the wrath of Queen Cassiopeia of Swendway, having to cater to her every need, and yet I couldn't meet someone at a lake? As if my conscience was controlling me in every way, my feet moved forward towards the garden. I suppose that the longer I put this off, the less I would want to get it over with. He obviously didn't like me back. I might as well just go along with it.

Romaine

After my maids left, I decided to get to business. The prince had agreed to help me get Cressi her prince, and everything had to be perfect. Sure, we weren't following the princess' instructions, but we knew that we could help her.

Exiting my room, I made my way down the halls to the library. Shelves stretched all the way to the ceiling; a maze of books that touched the stars. I looked around for awhile, failing to see anything. That is, until I saw the highlighter sticky-note taped onto the book, "Secret rooms." This had to be the place. I pulled the book out of the shelf as it revealed itself to be a metal handle. I opened the hidden door, and went inside of the nook to find the prince. "I figured you'd find it. I had a palace carpenter create this space secretly, nobody knows about it. Anyhow, a glowing dress, as you mentioned, is not enough for Cressi. We have to get her out of that wheelchair, and we only have a little while."

"Right. I developed a plan….It will take a lot of work. During the party, we'll have a giant cake."

"So….."

"Charles, we chose a very specific date for the party, it's two days before Cressi's birthday, and the only time to celebrate with the Italians. We'll have a big cake, with the bottom made of wood. Only the top will be actual cake. Anyhow, the bottom will be hollow with a hidden door, and Cressi will be inside the topmost wooden layer, sitting down without her chair a few feet above the ground. We'll drag Cosimo to just the right position under the cake that he could easily catch her. Then when the door is open, someone will push Cressi through the back, making her fall right into the Prince's arms!"

"Perfect! I'll speak with the Royal carpenter at once, than you so much for your help."

"You're welcome. Good night."

Lavinia

The thick fog of the night hung in the air, pushing my feet down on the ground, instead of flying off into my comfort zone. The brown soil of the surface rested below me, pulling me to the earth, instead of pushing me back into my maid's quarters. Did I really want to do this? Taking one step at a time, I soon found myself at the pond, but nobody was there.

Shivering in the cold Angeles winter air, I thought of all of the fun memories coming to an end. I guess that he wasn't coming, but I wasn't sure if I was relieved or disappointed. I turned, heading back to the palace. Soon, I took off into a sprint, fearing that the other maids would notice my absence.

However, I was too focused on the rhythm of my jog to notice that I had bumped into someone, falling back into the pond. The person I ran into had to be Jackson.

Romaine

I walked out onto the balcony, looking up at the stars. So far, the Selection had been a lot of fun.

My memory brought me back to the day that I was leaving my house, when I saw the little girl and the officer. Milo...he must work for the palace. I knew that somehow, he had known Gracie. I picked up a piece of stationery from my room, and began to write a letter.

Lavinia

I plunged into the cold water, sinking deep below the surface. The reflection of stars and the moon shined through the water, creating ripples of light in the depths of the pond. I swam up to the surface, but couldn't see anyone there. That is, until someone lifted me from the water from behind me. I turned around to see a smiling Jackson. "You couldn't help but jump in again?"

"I fell in."

"Why so solemn?"

"I'm just so sorry about….earlier. I really shouldn't have done that."

"So I shouldn't be doing this?" Jackson kissed me. I was confused, but all of the confusion, uncertainty, and sorrow of the past day was gone, replaced by pure joy. I clung to Jackson, until we heard clapping. Turning around with a new bright red mask on my cheeks, I saw Julia, Augusta, and Jackson's friend, Cam. I turned to Jackson, and I was positive that we were thinking the same thing. We both ran over to the trio, and dragged them over to the pond. With a quick push, they were all in the water. "Payback!"

I had a feeling that we would all be visiting this place much more in the future.

Julia

I woke up to find the morning sun shining into my face, as I heard the birds chirping outside my large window. Not! I actually woke up to see somebody shaking my shoulder. "Julia! You must have forgotten to set your alarm. We took care of Lady Romaine, but it's 9:00 AM, and General Milo would like to see you."

I jolted out of bed, combing through my damp hair that had dried overnight. I slipped into my maid's uniform as fast as possible, braided my hair, and was out the door. I dashed through the servant's quarters and into the guards' chambers until I was at General Milo's office. "I'm sorry for my lack of punctuality, sir, but I forgot to set my alarm."

"No problem. I just received something that concerned me, one of your maids handed it in. Romaine wrote me a letter. Cam," said the general, pointing to the guard next to me, "has already read it."

I was handed the card, and started to read the cursive writing.

Dear Officer Milo,

My name is Romaine, and I am one of the Selected. I met your daughter outside of my house one day, and you seemed to recognize the house, as well as me. You called me Gracie, which leads me to believe that you once knew my sister. We look like the same person, but she was obviously older than me. Anyhow, I never knew the details of my sister's death, and I have suspicions about who you were in her life. Please contact me soon.

Regards,

Romaine

I looked up from the letter. "This is bad."

Lavinia

The carpenter followed Jackson and I through the small forest, as we showed him parts of the soil where we thought there should be a path. Eventually, we got to the pond. I spoke up. "This truly is a lovely pond, but we maids and guards now use it as a shortcut to get around the palace, as well as a place to have a picnic, or have some fun. We find that it would be a wonderful addition to the palace, even as just a gathering spot."

The carpenter looked at his clipboard, and smiled. "Well, I have no current projects, so it's a yes! It should all be easy and inexpensive to install, so we're looking at about a week."

"Yes!" I responded. Soon enough, two figures approached from the distance; Officer Cam, and Julia. "It's going to happen," I exclaimed, "a new pathway and picnic spot wil be built!"

Julia gave me a high-five. "Talk about a morning! If you guys can keep a secret, we were assigned to keep Romaine from Officer Milo, because he was the fiancé of her dead sister, Gracelyn. Milo wants her to focus on the Selection, so we are supposed to keep her away from learning the truth of her death. Anyhow, she just wrote a letter to him, and she's closer to reality than we thought."

I am so sorry for the late chapter! You have no idea how bad I feel. Hopefully the next chapter will come soon!