Crown Prince Jayden Schreave, 18, the palace at Angeles.

35 girls. One royal prince. One chance at being queen. It was somewhat funny, to be honest. At least, that's what the prince thought; the whole idea of a "random" girl picked to become royalty, or at least somewhat close, was laugh-out-loud hilarious. He supposed the 35 girls he was going to collectively date wouldn't think it was quite so humorous, but Jayden accepted the fact that he was becoming hysteric. He took a few calming deep breaths, imagining a bottle. He then imagined putting all the crazy inside the bottle - for now. He then tried desperately to focus on something important, like memorizing his up-coming speech for the Report, but his mind just kept wandering to other things. Namely, the Selection at hand.

If there was one thing Jayden was certain of, it was that he was terrified. He hadn't wanted to have get married in the first place, much less have a Selection! He wasn't even sure he liked girls. Boys, girls, he didn't care for either. Of course he loved his family, no matter how annoying they were, but in terms of romance, he was clueless. He'd never even kissed, much less dated or fallen in love. He preferred books over people and spent most of his time locked up in his personal library with a cup of coffee or tea and his pet cat, Jasper.

But his father had forced him into this, and hell if he didn't at least pretend to enjoy it. He adjusted his gray suit and stepped onto the scene of the report, wiping sweat off his face. His family was waiting in the background of the stage, where he would join them once he was done giving a speech and talking briefly to the announcer, Emery. Lights glared, uncomfortably bright, into his eyes as he straightened his icy blue tie. The plush chair he sat on was somehow uncomfortable. Emery was already in her seat, quickly dusting makeup over her face. A cameraman held up three fingers. Two. One. Jay stood.

"Hello, Illea. Thank you for joining us today"- ugh, why did he say that, this was mandatory viewing, they had to be here -"as we have a very important announcement for you. As you all know, I am in line to be king of Illea. I've been thinking this over for some time"- absolute bullcrap, he'd known for about two days-"and I've decided that I simply cannot manage Illea on my own. I need someone to rule by my side, someone who loves me, and someone I love. Someone to trust and care for.

"I think you all know what I'm talking about. If, in fact, your guess was that I will be hosting a Selection, you were right. All eligible women between the ages of 16 and 19 will have a chance to become my wife and queen of Illea!"

A smattering of applause shook the stage. Jay sat back down, a wide - and fake - smile stretched wide across his pale cheeks. Emery said a few words to the audience, calming them back down with a few rules and benefits for the Selection.

"Prince Jayden?"

Jay started, quickly remembering that he was still on live TV. He blushed and cleared his throat.

"What was that, Emery?" Jayden asked. "Sorry. Preparing to date 35 woman all at once can be stressful." He shook his mistake off with a laugh, and it slid past Emery like water off a duck's back.

"Oh, don't apologize!" Scolded the middle-aged woman. "I'm positive I would have a heart attack if I had to date 35 men!

"But, away from my health. What kind of a girl are you looking for? Spunky? Kind? Smart?"

Jay laughed again. "To be honest, your guess is as good as mine."

"You gotta have at least some idea," Emery said fervently.

"Sorry to let you down, Em," he said, using the nickname he had had for her since he was a baby, "but I really don't know. A woman who loves me and Illea is all I could ever ask for."

Emery heaved a dramatic- albeit probably fake- sigh and pouted. The exaggerated face looked odd on a 52 year-old woman. Jay heard a handful of snickers from around the room, half tempted to join them, half tempted to defend her. She was only doing her job, after all. But he remained quite and waited for the room to quiet down so he could say something redeeming himself.

"Well, I guess I'll just know when I see her," Jay said smoothly, looking back towards his father and asking with his eyes if his time on screen was over. King Oscare nodded his assent. The king stood, holding out his arm to his wife, Queen Alicey, switching places with their eldest son. Conversation soon switched over to reminiscing over Oscare's own Selection, while Jayden happily faded into the background and began a game of cards with his sister, Lilliana. Willow rolled her eyes and scoffed as Lily's red hair became more disheveled every moment it was exposed to the humidity of the Report's stage. Jay ignored Willow's comments about how ugly Lily's hair and dress were and simply did not care about the ones aimed to him. Over the years, he had learned the careful art of not caring. Not caring about his father's harsh punishments, not caring about Alicey's worried manners, and not caring about Willow's snide remarks. He did care, of course, but mainly with Lily and little baby Tyson. He let himself wonder, just for a moment, what it would be like to care about a girl that wasn't his little sister.

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King Oscare, 45. Oscare rules his country with a firm hand, but the people only see his best side. His worst side is cunning and cruel, while his best side is kind, brave, and strong. He is the son of Alexander II, who was Queen Kriss' and her husband, King Alexander. Faceclaim: Brad Pitt

Queen Alicey, 40. Alicey is the picture perfect queen, a demure and pretty woman, content to sit in the sidelines and be elegant. She never argues with her husband. She was formerly a Two. {Alicey is currently four months pregnant. They do not know the gender yet, but they hope it is twins; one girl, one boy.} Faceclaim: Jennifer Morrison

Princess Willow, 20. Willow is the spitting image of her mother, with blonde ringlets, pink cheeks, and crystal eyes. She is a paper doll with hardly any personality. She's engaged to Prince Louis of France. Faceclaim: Elle Fanning.

Prince Jaydan, 18. Jayden is quiet and reserved to the public, but yearns for freedom and liberty. He is a very passionate person, but has never fallen in love and has never paid much attention to either gender, instead burying himself in books, music, and work. He has curly black hair. Faceclaim: Finn Wolfhard.

Princess Lilliana (Lily), 12. Lily is the polar opposite of her mother and older sister, with red hair and brown eyes and a fiery personality. She (secretly) looks up to Lady America Singer. She's a bookworm like her brother, and asexual, but she's awkward around anyone except Jay and her best friend, whose name is also Lillie. Faceclaim: Francesca Capaldi.

Prince Tyson, 3. Tyson is too young to have shown much personality, but he's almost identical to his father, with the same scruffy red-brown hair, though he has his mother's blue eyes. He's the palace darling. (no faceclaim)

the kingdom's backstory:

Two years after Prince Maxon was born, Queen Amberly gave birth to Prince Alexander. King Clarkson killed America and Maxon, disguising their murderers as the rebels' doing, and married Lady Kriss to his obedient son, Alexander. They were the perfect couple and soon fell in love and gave birth to Alexander II and his little sister, Alexandrina, now Princess of Germany.

hey ya'll! i decided to re-write the first chapter, partially because the original was super rushed, but mainly because I just got a new computer and was really excited to try it out, haha! Leave a review and tell me what you think! submission form is on my profile, so go ahead and check that out if you want!

until next time,

sirena.