Chapter 29
Long story short, the Report was a disaster.
It all started rather well, with a recap of the week's dates and activities: the riding and dinner date with Alek, followed by the movie date with Henryk, the hospital visits in Likely, and ended with the last date with Caspian. There was no mention of the Illéa Weekly magazine, since it was supposed to be a surprise when it came out.
Eliza really thought that she was going to come out unscathed. But destiny had decided otherwise. Call it destiny, bad luck, or even fate. One thing was sure, it didn't like Eliza right now.
After that, Ruby had interviewed some of the guys, asked them some harmless questions, and joked a bit with them. She was less nervous around them, now, and it made the Report much easier.
Then Her Royal Highness Princess Emilia Margaret Jane Schreave decided it was time for some drama. She was a good actress. She played the victim pretty well, making Eliza the bad guy, with her squad of bad guy suitors backing her up.
She just starting crying, at first, trying to hide her tears. Ruby noticed from the corner of her gaze. It didn't bother her at first, and she continued with her program.
Then Millie just let out a huge sob and tried to cover it with her hand, muffling the sound.
"Are you okay, sweetie?" Elinor whispered, oblivious to her daughter's schemes.
She shook her head, unable to speak.
By this point, everyone turned around to look at her. The camera zoomed on her, so Ruby had no other choice but to follow the music. And follow the orders of the stage director. She was just the Host.
"Princess, are you okay?" Ruby asked cautiously, coming over. The cameras followed. And that was her first mistake, obeying to the orders in her earphone. Giving space to Millie on a Selection Report was the worst one could do.
"I'm fine," The Princess replied, elegantly wiping a tear streaming down her cheek.
While no one was watching, Xander stood and walked to the tech guys. He had some business to take care of. If Millie was making a scene, he would show the world who she really was. And he had proof in his pocket.
"You're not, obviously," Ruby said. "What's wrong?"
Millie shrugged. "It's just," she sniffled, "I'm watching all these dates, the recap and all, and all the people see is perfect suitors, and a perfect Princess…" she trailed off.
Ruby wanted to run away, cut the Report short, and stop everything now. But it was too late. Especially when the Queen inquired on Millie's statement.
"What do you mean, dear?"
"Everyone's so mean to me. They make fun of me, and turn everything into something ridiculous."
Ruby frowned. "What are you talking about?" Clearly, she had missed the lemonade scene the previous day.
A huge sob came out of Millie, and she muffled it. "I'm sorry, I'm just-"
"It's okay, sweetheart," Elinor said, patting her daughter's back.
"Invite the Princess on the settee with you," the stage director said in Ruby's earphone. But she shook her head. There was no way she was letting this go out of hand. Millie had her script, she didn't. And she'd rather it be the other way around.
But Millie just poured out her tea, even without Ruby inviting her to.
"They're just making fun of me and they're rude! You'd think Princes would have some manners? But no!" she stopped, breathing. "I even found a plastic spider in my bed!" this time she really started crying. She truly hated spiders. "I didn't do anything to them. I'm just trying to get to know them because…" – sobs – "one of them is going to be my brother-in-law, you know, and" – another sob – "They don't even like me!"
Just then, a footage appeared on the big screen, one of the cameras showed it live to the rest of the country.
Tomlin tripped on something and a dozen lemonade glasses fell on the Princess.
"Oh, no, I'm so sorry," Tomlin said, trying to wipe off the sticky lemonade from Millie's black tulle dress. "Here, let me help you."
"Get your hands off me," she hissed. "You did this on purpose."
"No, I swear," he said, terror on his face. "I tripped on a foot and I should've been looking where I was walking but I was carrying this huge tray and-"
"Shut up," she said very calmly. "I wear heels bigger than your penis."
Tomlin quickly shut his mouth, and stood still.
The footage stopped there, Millie's words echoing in the Report Room. Everyone was frozen into place.
"That's taken totally out of context!" she yelled, getting to her feet. "Who did that!"
Ruby quickly taking control over the situation walked to the front of the stage. "Ladies and Gentlemen, stay tuned for more information on the Selection, and keep your eyes open in your favorite stores! We may have a surprise coming in for you, pretty soon!" She winked, and the cameras went off. The tech guys sent in the credits and when Ruby turned around, it was chaos.
Xander was quietly coming back to the group of Selected, his hands in his pockets, keeping his phone safe.
"You!" Millie said, pointing at Xander. "What did you do?!" she was hysterical.
"Nothing," he said, holding up his hands in defense.
"Millie, calm down," Eliza said, limping towards her sister. "What is wrong with you?"
"Everything! You're all against me!"
"We're not against you," Eliza said. "You are against them."
Millie snorted. "You know what? You don't deserve any of this. You don't deserve the Crown, you don't deserve to be Queen. You don't even deserve-"
"That's enough!" Oliver bellowed, coming in between his two girls. "In my office. Now," he said, very calmy.
The two sisters glared at each other and followed their father in his office like two school girls about to get their worst lecture of their life. That was probably true, though. Millie's heels were clicking hard on the marble floors, her rage echoing through the halls. Eliza limped, following them. She didn't dare look over her shoulder. She was too ashamed to cross anyone's gaze. Whatever happened in this Selection, it always seemed to fall back on her shoulders. When would it be too heavy and make her collapse? She wasn't sure.
-x-x-x-
King Oliver's office.
The king sat behind his desk in silence, clearing his papers. He filled himself two fingers of whiskey, and lit a cigar. The princesses just stood there, silent. Both knew they had gone too far.
For several minutes, King Oliver didn't say anything. The girls fidgeted on their feet and Eliza's ankle was throbbing from staying too long in the same standing position. But she didn't say anything. She just put all the weight on her good leg.
"What the hell is going on?" he finally asked, his voice as calm as just before a storm.
Both sisters looked at each other, then at the floor.
Since no one was answering, the King focused his question on someone. "Elisabeth. What is going on?"
She swallowed before talking. "To be honest, I'm not really sure."
Oliver raised an eyebrow. "You two have been acting like ten-year-olds for the past few weeks. Why?"
Eliza winced as she accidentally put weight on her bad foot. "I'm just trying to do my Selection, just like you told me to, but Millie has been trying to sabotage it from the start."
Oliver raised an eyebrow. "And what makes you say that?"
Eliza kept silent. How could she say anything without sounding like a ten-year-old tattletale?
Oliver continued staring at his daughter. "Elisabeth?" he prompted.
"You remember Harrison- or Spencer?" she finally said.
"Yes."
"That was Millie." She paused, but Millie didn't say anything.
"So?" he said.
"So she's digging up stuff on the suitors!"
"If that's true, then she's actually doing you a favor, Elisabeth."
Eliza rolled her eyes. "No, because there won't be even one left."
Millie laughed. "You really think I'm that horrible? I'm not a monster, Liz."
Eliza glared at her sister, but didn't say anything.
"Emilia, thank you. You are dismissed," Oliver said, puffing on his cigar.
Millie smirked and walked away, closing the door behind her. Oliver poured another glass for Eliza. "I'll deal with her later. Sit down," he said, handing her a glass.
"I'm not allowed to drink," she said, bitter.
"You are in here. Your mother won't know." He sat back in his leather chair. He sighed. "Tell me what's really happening," he said.
"I have no idea," Eliza said. "She's just being weird, hiding stuff, and all. That video you saw? It was cut just before she said something like I'm going to have you fly back to England. Or something." He sighed. "And you know better than me that she wants the Crown and that mother is backing her up."
He suddenly looked up at her. "How do you know that?"
"I, uh, the walls are not so thick, and someone heard you and mother argue."
"Hmph," he said, taking a sip from the amber alcohol. "Well it's true. Your sister wants it."
"What are you going to do about it?" she asked.
Oliver looked at his daughter above his glass' rim. "Nothing. The Crown is yours. And it'll fit you better than her." He paused. "Do you know why I let you go to College and not Emilia?"
"No?"
"Because I knew you would use all the knowledge well, once you were Queen. But not only your Masters' subjects," he said lifting a finger. "You now know how the real world works. You've seen it for yourself. Hell, you even lived it."
She nodded.
"Emilia wouldn't have done the same thing. She would have stepped on everyone, reminding all the people she met who she was. You didn't."
"How'd you know? Linus was updating you on my College life?"
He shook his head, smiling. "No. Your teachers, mostly."
She chuckled. "Seriously? You asked my teachers to spy on me?"
"Not spying, no. Just tell me how you were doing. Since you always said you were fine and all. I just needed to be sure. And you were more than fine."
Eliza smiled, and her belly grumbled. "Should we go to dinner?"
"Nah," he said, putting his cigar down. He pressed on the intercom button, and his private secretary came in.
"Yes, Your Majesty?"
"Have two dinners sent here."
"Right away, Your Majesty."
Eliza raised an eyebrow. "Hiding away?"
"No. I'm having a dinner date with my daughter. We haven't done that in way too long." He sipped his whiskey, and Eliza did, too.
"Listen," he said once the trays had been brought in and they had both started on their dinner. "I know Emilia wants to sabotage the Selection and undermine you. And she has Elinor's backup. But you have mine. And whatever she finds or publishes about the suitor or you, I will give a statement and decline. Unless it's something really serious and true. But I promise you I will personally back you up."
She smiled. "Thanks."
"I'm serious." He offered her a smile. "Besides. You're my Heir, and it's my responsibility to guide you and no one else to the throne." He took her hand from across the table and squeezed it tightly. "Today a Princess, one day a Queen, but forever my girl."
The Princess chuckled. "Aw, thanks dad."
"Ah, I love when you call me dad, and not father." He laughed. "You always call your mother mother."
"I do. Because she didn't really earn the right to be called mom." Both laughed and continued their dinner in companionable chatter and lightheartedness.
-x-x-x-
Weekend Shenanigans...
Saturday morning, Eliza decided to sleep in. She hadn't seen the boys since the Report, and frankly, she was in no hurry to do so. She didn't want to have to answer to curious questions about why she wasn't at dinner. Uh, I was having a date night with my dad? was not the best answer, even if it was true. So she ordered her breakfast to her room and ate in companionable silence with Mrs. Pebbles.
"I should rename you Mistress Pebbles, now that you belong to the Royal family, right?" she said to her cat, petting her soft grey fur. Mistress Pebbles meowed to the princess and cuddled against her.
There was a knock on the door, but instead of going to open the door, she just called out. "Come in!"
Through her door came in Linus, a grave look on his face, and a folder in his hands.
"What's going on?" she asked, seeing his serious composure.
"Good morning," he said, sitting down on the opposite couch. "Remember that footage of Millie last night?"
"Yeah?"
"Someone leaked the whole thing on YouTube."
"I don't even know what the whole thing was, Linus."
He took out his phone from his pocket, typed in a few words and handed it to her. She looked at the whole video, from the moment Tomlin came with the lemonade tray and tripped, to the moment where Millie threatened him.
Eliza chuckled. "You have to admit it was funny."
"Yes," he said. "But it was not his to do. Did you know that they created a new YouTube channel for the Selection? They're posting stuff from the Palace."
"So what? As long as it's not harmful. Latreall posted the Marble track."
"Yeah. That was fine. But not this. It's clearly against your sister, and it already has millions of views."
"Why don't you just take it down? You probably know who created it, right?"
"Yes." He paused. "But taking down the video wouldn't be of any use. It's everywhere. Facebook, Twitter. Everywhere."
Eliza laughed. "Serves her well, to be honest."
"Maybe, but it's illegal." He sighed. "By coming here, there agreed to the terms of the contract. You know, this thing you never read because it's way too long, but you still click I agree to the terms and conditions?"
Eliza nodded but frowned. "There was a contract for the suitors?"
"Yes. And by posting something putting one of the Schreaves in this kind of position was against the rules." He paused. "It's serious misconduct, especially when I told him not to do it. And he did it. Twice. First on the Report, then on YouTube."
Eliza wasn't hungry anymore and left her half-eaten cinnamon roll on the dish. "I understand. Who was it?" she asked, hoping it wasn't some of her favorite guys – because yes, as much as she didn't want to admit it, she had favorite suitors, in the bunch.
Linus handed her the folder. It was the boy's file, with the signed contracts among other things. Eliza nodded. "I'll take care of this today, I promise." She stood and went to the window, where a bunch of guys had already taken the pool by storm.
Linus joined her by the window. "I'm sorry," he said.
"No you're not," she replied bitterly. "The more who are gone, the better chance you have, right?"
He sighed. "No. Look. I'm sorry I even tried to do anything. It was not my place." He paused, looking for the right words. "I just want you to be happy and if I can help you find the one for you, then I'll do it. I'm keeping an eye on Millie, though. You never know."
Eliza chuckled humorlessly. "Yeah, well. I have to go deal with this, I'm afraid." She took a deep breath and headed for her walk-in closet, because she was still in her pajamas. It was Saturday, so she didn't care for a skirt. She put on a pair of charcoal gray ankle-length capri pants with a white sleeveless top, and a beige blazer. She paired all that with beige flats and quickly made a messy bun on the crown of her head with sunglasses, and headed outside, bracing herself for the task ahead of her.
When she stepped outside, all the boys turned their head and looked at her.
"Good morning, gentlemen," she said. She looked at the group of boys, and sure enough, the one she was looking for was in the pool. How surprising. Of course, he would be there. She walked to the edge of the pool and crouched to be closer to him.
"Xander, can we talk for a moment?"
"Sure," he said with a wide grin.
"Over there," she motioned with her thumb. She walked there, and waited for him.
"What's up?" he said, finally coming over and drying his hair with a towel. She couldn't look at his abs or she would come back on her decision. But as much as she hated to admit it, Linus was right. He had violated his contract.
Eliza sat on a chair and invited Xander to do the same, across from her, with the table in between them. "I know this is maybe too early in the day to talk about this, but I was going over some stuff this morning" – You're stalling Eliza. Get to the point. – "and I noticed Greece and Illéa don't have any trade agreement or alliance."
"That's true…" Xander said, confused on the start of the conversation.
"And I know you're siding with Mongolia in the war."
"Yes." He frowned. "Why?"
She sighed. She needed to get to the point. "Xander. What you did – filming that video, showing it on the Report and posting in on YouTube – was against your contract rules." There she said it. Almost.
He raised an eyebrow. "Contract?"
She opened the folder and handed him the signed paper across the table, pointing to the specific line of the contact he had violated. He read it.
"Oh. I totally forgot about this contract."
"Yeah, well too bad." She sighed. "And as much as I hate doing this, I'm going to have to let you go."
"What?" he put the paper down. "Are you serious?"
"Yes. Look. I can't afford to keep someone who disrespects my family. It may have been funny and Millie may have deserved it, but it was the wrong to do so."
Xander crossed his arms over his muscled chest, flexing his arms in annoyance. "Then why did you talk about trade agreements and alliances?"
"Because I want to do something about it before you leave."
He raised an eyebrow. "How? Here?"
"No. Once you're back home, I promise to get in touch with you and your father, the King, and we'll figure something out."
Xander nodded. "Okay." He sighed. "When do I leave?"
Eliza shrugged. "I guess we can arrange something today if you want."
He nodded. "Let me just say goodbye, first, to the guys." He stood and headed to the pool. Some of the boys were curious. He had followed Eliza with a grin, and was now coming back with a frown.
"What happened?" Rama asked.
"I'm out."
"What? Why?" the Indian prince asked.
"Damnit," Sebastian said. "The video?"
Xander nodded. "Yeah, I totally forgot about the contract we signed."
"We signed a contract?" Adrien asked.
"Yes," Rance said. "I told you not to post that video."
"Yeah, well I did it. And now it's all over the internet." He sighed. "Not really helping with Eliza's image, right?"
"There's no mention of Eliza in the vid," Adrien said. "It was all Millie."
"When are you leaving?" Rama asked.
"Sometime today. I don't think I want to linger, you know?" He looked at the Indian prince, trying to convey a message. Something like I don't want to linger here but I want to stay with you.
Rama nodded and took his phone. "You mind if we take a picture before you leave?"
Xander nodded and Rama also invited Adrien, Seb and Rance on the selfie. "I'll send it to you," he said to Xander.
Xander went to say goodbye to some others, and then headed back inside, accompanied by Rama, who was going to help him pack, and stay a bit longer with him.
Eliza just sat there, in the sun, her sunglasses hiding her face. She was lost in thought and didn't hear Raphael coming over, sitting where Xander had sat moments ago.
"Everything okay?"
She jumped, startled. "Yeah." She sighed. "I hate doing this."
He took her hand in his and squeezed it lightly. "But it's part of the game, so to speak."
"I know. Even though it's not really a game for me."
"Yeah. Sorry. I just literally translated that from a French expression you probably know. Ce sont les règles du jeu."
Eliza chuckled. "You can say that again. Ce sont les règles du jeu."
They stayed like that a moment, hand in hand, watching the others as the mood dropped pretty low. They knew whatever they did, they could do something wrong and go home.
Hi, so yeah. Not my best chapter, but oh well. Second elimination... I hate doing this, but like Raphael said, it's part of the game. Check the Aesthetic Board.
I just wanted to thank La Rosa for Xander, it was fun bringing him to life and writing him! :D
let me know what you thought and I'll see you soon for the next chapter!
