.:*:.

PRINCE ALEX

Sometimes, when I'm sitting alone in my room, the walls start closing around me like the thousands of expectations I'm forced to fulfill, things unsaid but not unseen. Sometimes I have nightmares of drowning in a pit full of those tangible expectations, just sinking and sinking but never hitting the bottom.

Sometimes, I can't help but wonder why I'm the one being forced onto a path very few have walked before - my back heavy with responsibilities I wasn't made for, but am meant to carry.

I know that without the tasks I am expected to complete, I am nothing to my people. If I do not do as I'm told, if I choose to abandon my duty, I will have failed everyone - not only my parents and the rest of the family, but the entire country of Illéa.

Seb was fine. His improper demeanor shoved him under the fire of thousands - perhaps millions - of people, but he came out unscathed. He was always the one with a rebellious nature, the one who was never expected to carry responsibilities of such enormity. I, on the other hand, was and still am different. I have always tried my best to please my parents, to make up for everything my older brother failed to finish, to fill up the gaps Sebastian punched in the image of the Royal Family.

It's depressing to think how the hardest working often live the hardest lives.

The thing is, there's absolutely nothing I can do about this situation. Being the heir of the throne is far less empowering than most people make it out to be - and now that the first round of Elite have been chosen, I have no choice but to follow this unpaved road, carry all the burdens others refused to carry.

I stare at the piece of paper laid out in front of me. It's a list of all the Selected, with six names highlighted in neon green:

Arianna Ivanovich

Cassandra Vinci

Belinda Katana Vlahakis

Piper Lockwood

Veronica Irene Sonnenfeld

Eira Noelle Caulden

All are names of those either famous, or wealthy, or of a high caste, or simply a combination of those traits. All are names that only add weight to my responsibility.

Who I choose to marry will change the future of this country. I will be, in a sense, appointing a second leader of Illéa.

The thought frightens me more than it should.

Soon, my father will release the newly made list of Elite. Soon, the Elite will share some of the burdens I also carry - but because the Selection is a twisted game of strategy, sharing my burdens will do nothing but add to my own sense of responsibility.

I resist the urge to crumple up the piece of paper in my hands. I have to force myself to remember that this is no more the Selected's fault than it is mine. Refusing to cooperate will only worsen the matter. I could sit down in the middle of the road and throw a childish fit if I wanted to - but afterwards, nothing will change but the fact that I have now humiliated myself in front of millions of people.

I sigh and stand up, a glance at the clock telling me it's long past midnight. I throw a jacket on before slipping outside, shutting the door as quietly as possible, careful not to make a sound.

.:*:.

VANESSA

It sounds like quite a number of people can't sleep tonight.

Actually, the palace is always noisy at night - all the maids, cooks, gardeners, and a variety of different workers living in the palace seem to prefer moving about when there are no cameras whizzing around the whole area. I also have a growing suspicion that the reason for all the nighttime activity has much to do with the Selected. If I were a maid, I'd definitely want to do most of my work when there are no whiny girls constantly stopping me in the hallways and asking for directions.

Unfortunately, from what I've noticed to far, the Selected also seem to prefer the night - including me. During the day, we all have to look out for cameras whenever we dare a venture out into the hallways. There's nothing anyone can do about the pictures, of course, but failing to notice a camera might mean having an embarrassing photo of yourself show up the next day in hundreds of different tabloids. If I see a camera, I have to control my expression and shape it into a (hopefully) attractive smile. Any maids around rush over and straighten out my clothes, smoothing any visible wrinkles. After that, all you can do is try to look confident and hope the crowds like you. Basically, it's a horrifyingly exhausting experience.

Night, on the other hand, is the time when everyone can relax and goof around. No need to wear pretty dresses and heels, and definitely no need to look good. I can walk around wearing a T-shirt and my favorite pair of jeans, along with comfortable sneakers deemed abominable any other time of day - and that's exactly what I'm wearing at this very moment, while I wander aimlessly down the hallways. I see a couple of other Selected girls like me, just roaming around the place with no specific destination in mind. To my left I see two maids arguing, and to my right is a guard, standing solid and still but much more dangerous than most.

They say the worst feeling in the world is being alone in a crowd of people. However, this is the very feeling that comforts me right now - the sense of being in a crowd, safe and protected, but somehow still being able to enjoy my own private time.

Now that I'm finally spending time by myself, my thoughts immediately go to Tessa, as always. I wonder if she got in - of course, it would be the coincidence of the century, but I'm still holding on to a bit of hope. There are a few Selected girls that could be her, but I'm not at all certain. It's all the more disappointing that I used to think I'd know who she was if I ever met her in real life.

It's raining tonight. The sound of rain pattering against the palace walls is muffled, but definitely there. I pass countless rooms, immersed in my own thoughts, but I pull out of my musings when I come across one of the doors. It's not a special one - just as fancy as the hundreds of other doors in the palace - but there's loud music blaring from the room, which makes me curious as to what's inside. When I tentatively knock on the door, someone yells, "COME IN!"

At first, my befuddled mind doesn't recognize the girl glaring into her screen. After a few moments, though, I stupidly realize that she's no other than Princess Seraphina herself. The blonde-haired princess is tapping on her screen furiously, yelling, "DIE! DIE, YOU IDIOT!"

I stifle a laugh. The princess completely ignores my presence as she keeps on tapping and yelling. After a few moments, she screams in frustration, gets up as if to throw her screen at the wall, seems to change her mind at the last second, and sits back down.

She flashes me a sheepish smile, but somehow I get the feeling that she's not the least bit concerned about the way she just acted in front of me. Her voice is as confident as ever as she asks, "Vanessa, am I right?"

My jaw drops to the floor. "I - yeah. I mean, yes, your highness - "

"Whoa, whoa, whoa there. There's absolutely no need to call me that. Just call me Sera. Not your highness, or princess whatever, and also please, please, please don't call me by my full name, because I hate it with a passion."

I shrug. "Okay."

She gives me the biggest smile I've ever seen. "Thank God! Like, yesterday at dinner I decided to talk to this girl, you know? What was her name... Emilea? Yeah, it's Emil - OH WAIT A SEC I WAS NOT SUPPOSED TO SAY HER NAME PLEASE FORGET WHAT I JUST SAID, anyway yeah, she insisted on calling me your highness, even when I told her multiple times that it made me highly uncomfortable, and after a while I just kinda popped and told her to quit calling me that, and she got really distressed and called me out for not respecting her parents enough to trust them to educate her in politeness or whatever - which was THE F*CKING WORST. I told Alex to cut her out of the Selection today, but he was in a pretty bad mood a couple of hours ago and he just said in this really cold, impassive voice that he didn't have the power nor will to do such a thing, and that the Elite and the people who... well, didn't make it were already chosen in the morning, and that tomorrow - well, actually today, since it's past midnight - they'd announce it at dinner, and next Friday on the Report - ugh, don't you just hate that the Report is weekly now? I mean, I only had to come on it every month before the Selection, but now everyone wants to be updated and everything, so they're making us do it weekly - ooh, it's gonna be your first ever Reports next Friday, I'm so excited for you guys - anyway, so they're gonna announce it to the public this Friday, and then the Report's the week after - wait, am I allowed to say that? Well f*ck whether or not I was allowed to say that, they're announcing it tomorrow anyway - so yeah, Alex told me that, and then he just walked off, like isn't he so rude? Wait, was that a bit too much? Like, you guys are supposed to date him, so am I supposed to keep my mouth shut about these kinda topics? I really don't know, I shocked a bunch of Selecteds with my apparently crude jokes the first day you guys came here - oh wow, it's now almost been a week! Anyway, so yeah. Wow, did I just rant again?" This time, Sera really looks flustered. "Oh wow. I promised Mother I'd stop doing that, and I also bet on it with..." Her eyes widen. "No! I'm such an idiot!"

"That you are," says a familiar voice, and I jump as Prince Sebastian casually walks out of the closet and sits down next to Sera. "Wait a sec, were you really making her stand the whole time, listening to your boring speech about at least a thousand different topics?"

"I - oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!" Sera points at the sofa opposite her and the prince. "Please sit down. Let's have, oh I don't know, a nice talk!"

"I'm pretty sure it can only be counted as a legitimate conversation if both sides are given a chance to speak," Prince Sebastian points out.

"Shut up."

"Wait, you're telling me to shut up?"

"I... whatever!"

Prince Sebastian laughs, first quietly, than harder and harder, and soon he's laughing so hard Sera actually slaps him in the face and tells him to stop acting like a madman. Her brother doesn't look the least bit fazed as he slowly stops laughing and focuses on me.

"So... what brings you to our humble abode?"

I try not to stare at the red handprint on his cheek. "I just heard music and got curious."

"I see." The prince pretends to tap his chin thoughtfully. "Got any questions? I bet you've got a lot, especially about the... questionable behavior of my loving little sister." He points at his cheek and grins while fighting off Sera's attempts to hit him again.

Instead of asking about the princess, I ask, "Why were you hiding in the closet?"

"Oh, that." Prince Sebastian laughs yet again. "We were playing this new game that recently came out - and I didn't want to be in the same room as her for fear of getting bonked on the head with a screen. You've seen her try to throw it. She does that a lot."

"Oh," I say. After a moment, I ask, "do Royals play a lot of games, too?"

"Not the average Royal. But we're not average, obviously," Sera tells me, pride evident in her voice.

"We aren't," the prince agrees, running a hand through his hair. "So we play a bunch of random games. Don't get me wrong, every Royal plays games, just like the rest of you, but we normally don't do it on a regular basis. After Sera and I discovered a way to make the cameras in our rooms think we're sleeping - "

"You have cameras in your rooms?"

"Yeah. Extra safety precaution. Don't worry, it's nothing creepy, it just senses your temperature, so it's more like a sensor, but still - I hate it, Sera hates it, everyone hates it. But there's nothing we can do." Prince Sebastian laughs for what seems like the fourth or fifth time. "Anyway, we found a way to trick them - and after that, every time we're bored we sneak down to the virtual reality room at night and play a bunch of VR games."

I gape at them. "You have a VR station in your own house?"

"Yep."

"Wow, you're making me feel so poor."

They both laugh.

"I guess we are pretty privileged," Sera admits.

"She always feels so guilty about it," the prince teases.

Sera doesn't laugh this time, though. "We all feel guilty - don't pretend you're not. We have a bunch of crap in the palace that no one really needs, but we have them anyway so that Mommy and Daddy dearests can flaunt their wealth when our relatives come to visit - "

"Come on, Sera, it's not like that," Prince Sebastian says - but it sounds more like a warning, and when Sera sees the look on her brother's face, she immediately shuts her mouth tight. The eldest prince shakes his head, as if trying to assure me that it's nothing like what Sera just said. "She's just a bit sensitive about this topic. As are all of us, but we normally don't like to talk about this problem in front of other people."

"Of course," I reply, "I understand."

"Thanks." He sighs. "You probably should start heading back. It's almost one o'clock, and you really don't want to be here when I beat her in that game again - "

"You are definitely not gonna beat me," Sera tells him. "Wanna bet?"

"I wouldn't want to do that, if I were you," Prince Sebastian says, his eyes glinting with mischief.

"Oh, I'm sure," Sera grins, then turns to me. "Hey, if you like playing games, would you like to play a round with us before you head back?"

"Really?"

"Ooh, you look excited." Sera giggles. "I take that as a yes, then?"

"Definitely! I'm actually an online game developer - "

"WHAT?!" Prince Sebastian yells, just as Sera exclaims, "I knew it!" She grabs my hands and starts shaking them so hard, I'm scared they'll fall off. "This is so awesome! I've always wanted to be one of those - "

"You want to be everything, Sera, I've actually wanted to be a game developer since I was, like, six - "

" - At age six you were too busy getting over your crush on that girl - "

" - That's a lie, that was age five, I was over her by the time I was six - "

" - And you moved on to someone else - "

" - Shut the f*ck up, I actually took a bunch of programming lessons when I was fifteen - "

" - Fifteen? Ha! I distinctly remember you whining about how you wanted to be a... what was that, a - "

" - Don't you dare say that in front of - "

" - HE SAID HE WANTED TO BE ONE OF THOSE HOT BARTENDERS IN THOSE MOVIES AND GO AROUND MAKING EVERYONE FALL FOR HIM - "

" - That was a joke, you idiot - "

" - For some reason, I highly doubt that - "

" - Shut up - "

" - He also went through this phase when he wanted to be a fashion model - "

" - Which I already am, like have you seen those photographers, they all want a piece of me - ha! - so that doesn't even count - "

"Guys," I interrupt, "can we just play that game?"

"Of course," Sera says. "We would be playing that already, if it weren't for a certain annoying guy who doesn't know his place - "

" - Excuse me?"

"Guys!" I interrupt yet again. "Let's do this. For real. I'm serious."

"Sorry," Sera tells me, as she hands me a spare screen. "Let's do this for real, then."

...


.:*:.

VANESSA

"HOW ARE YOU SO GOOD?!" Sera yells, once again tapping furiously on the screen as Seb, next to her, unleashes a string of creative words.

"I... don't know. As I said, I'm an online game developer - "

"But we thought we were pretty good, too! Like, once Seb went on this multiplayer server - which we weren't supposed to go on, since if the public finds out the prince has a game account, the crowds will go crazy, so please, if you ever go on, like, a date with Alex, which I really hope you do, because you're one of the few Selected girls I can actually stand - "

"Jeez, Sera, just get to the point," the prince mutters, his eyes still trained on his screen.

"Ugh, I'm so sorry your highness, are you satisfied now? Anyway, so he went on it and played this thing and he won first place or something, also please don't tell Alex about any of this, okay?" Sera doesn't look to see if I'm nodding - she's far too busy trying to keep her elvin character from being killed by Prince Sebastian's ogre.

"I usually don't play these kinds of games, though," I tell her. "I mainly create visual novels."

"Ooh, you mean like - oh, sh*t! - those choose-your-own-adventure games?"

"Yeah."

"Then why are you so good at this? This isn't even close to what you normally do!"

I shrug. "Beginner's luck, I guess?"

Sera places her screen on a nearby table and comes to watch my character battle the prince's ogre. "There is no such thing as beginner's luck," she declares regally, resting her hand on my shoulder. "I have seen into your soul and have come to the realization that you are a genius."

"...Okay?"

"OKAY?!" Sera yells, just as my character lands a fatal blow on the opposing ogre, which disintegrates on the spot. "This is not something to be taken lightly, my friend! This is the discovery of the century, one that I predict shall change the future of gaming forever - "

"Don't mind my sister, she gets a bit too carried away sometimes," Prince Sebastian interrupts. He grins at me. "You really are good, though."

"Thank you," I reply, grinning back.

"Okay, you NEED to join our nightly gaming club," Sera tells me. "You NEED to!"

I look at her, surprised. "You guys have a... gaming club?"

"Well, at the moment it's just me and Seb," Sera says sheepishly, "but if you join, we'll officially be a club!"

"Ew, I'm too old for clubs," her brother mutters, "and you're too old for clubs, too. You seem to be forgetting your age."

"Says the guy who's known for being incredibly childish," Sera counters. "I mean, I guess calling it a club IS kinda weird, especially since... there's only three of us."

"Assuming that I join," I remind her.

"You won't?"

"I mean... isn't it kinda against the rules?"

"Why would it be?" Prince Sebastian asks, setting his screen on the table, next to Sera's. "I've read those rules, and I never found anything against playing games at night."

"But you guys are Royals. You're the family of the Crown Prince. If I spend time with you guys at night, people are definitely gonna think I'm trying to make connections within the family to make a better impression on the prince."

"And what's wrong with that?" Sera wonders. "Isn't the Selection all about making a good impression on everyone?"

"...I don't know. What I'm trying to say is, I don't want to receive hate from the media. And definitely the rest of the Selected. I just... think staying under the radar for a while is a good strategy, you know?"

Sera frowns. "Playing it safe will get you nowhere. And even if the media starts making up theories, isn't our trust enough? We know that you don't have any bad intentions. Other people can get mad if they want to, but we know the truth."

"Maybe the truth won't be enough."

"She's right," Prince Sebastian agrees. "Sometimes even the truth isn't enough. But," he adds, before Sera can get mad at him, "I definitely think you should try hanging out with us sometime. It'll be fun. And I think we all need to loosen up a bit, y'know, since everybody's all tense and anxious about the Selection and everything else that's going on. We need a bit more fun here in the palace."

"More fun," I repeat. "It'll be more fun."

"Of course it'll be more fun!" Sera squeals. "You need to come, Ness!"

"Ness?"

"Yeah, that's my new nickname for you. C'mon, it will be fun. Just try it out. We'll go to the VR room."

Just the mention of the VR room is enough to weaken my resolve. "I..."

"Please?"

"...Okay, then. I'll come. But you have to take me to the VR room."

"YES!" Sera jumps up from the couch and pumps her fist in the air. "YES! YES! YES! This is so awesome! Now go away!"

"Huh?"

"Oops, sorry, I didn't mean to offend you, did I offend you? If I did, I'm incredibly sorry... It's just that it's already three in the morning and - "

I whip my head around and spot the bright letters flashing in the top corner of the room. As soon as I see the time, I feel my heart sinking down, down, and a fresh streak of panic washes over me. I immediately get up, scrambling for my screen and backing towards the door. "I - we got an order to come to this one hall tomorrow morning, I don't know what it's for but I think it's for a meeting of some sort, I can't believe I forgot about it, I'm so sorry, I promise I'll come with you guys tomorrow night - "

"Of course. We'll send you a message," Prince Sebastian promises. "Now go."

"I, uh... Thanks for everything, and - "

"We know!" Sera tells me, grinning widely. "But I think we can all agree that you NEED to go now."

"Yes, of course. Um, bye!" I rush out the door and shut it tight.

I can hear Sera giggling behind me as I sprint down the now nearly empty corridors and up a flight of stairs. I don't stop to catch my breath until I reach my own room, collapsing on the huge, puffy bed with a deep sigh of what seems like tired elation.

As I lie on my bed, staring up at the ceiling, I'm able to truly smile for what seems like the first time since the Selection began.

I finally made some friends. Friends that don't mind any version of yourself because they're too eccentric themselves... Some real friends.

Somehow, I don't think many others can say the same for themselves.

.:*:.