Chapter 29 – Nevaeh de Montignac

"…and that's how I was envisioning this special day," Emelda said, finishing her presentation.

"Thank you." Queen Helena nodded and wrote down a few things.

Nevaeh knew how terribly scary it would be for the girls to talk about their National Day projects in front of the whole royal family. Nevaeh was discovering the projects at the same time as the queen, and for now, only a few stood out in her opinion, but she was looking forward to seeing what her aunt thought about them.

"Next up is Leigh Altmann," Nevaeh said, reading from her list.

Leigh stood with her papers and her USB drive, which she plugged into the computer and projector set out just for the occasion. Not everyone had done a digital presentation, and she was one of the few who did.

"Good morning," she said, addressing the Queen and the other members of the Royal family, her head high. Nevaeh knew how important this was for her – they had discussed it a little over the weekend. "Under the Stars," she started. "That is the main theme of my project. It would take place in y luxury private yacht, where all the guests would board first, followed by the Royal family. Yourself, Your Majesty, or even Prince Silas could start the evening with a welcoming speech."

She clicked on the small remote control in her hand, showing the first picture of her presentation. It was a digital moodboard with pictures of ships, fireworks, red-blue-white accents, people partying in fancy gowns and tuxedos, and of course, a nighttime sky picture.

"Following the flag's colors, the whole event would follow a red and white color scheme, with a hint of blue, that means in the outfits, decorations, and the food and drinks." She paused, going on to the next picture of various color-themed foods and drinks, not going over too many details because pictures were more explicit than thousands of words.

"Since there is a helipad on the yacht, there will be a helicopter ready to be dispatched in case of an emergency or if a member of the royal family would like to retire early, as well as boats for the guests. And of course, no one would want to miss the fireworks at midnight." Leigh paused and passed on the next picture. "All in all, the budget for the whole party would be around 70 thousand dollars, but the guests would pay a ticket and it would cover half the costs, so it would end up costing only 35 thousand dollars."

For anyone outside of the selection, this would have seemed like an exorbitant price. But Nevaeh had told them that the maximum price they could go for was 50 thousand. Leigh's idea to have people pay for their entrance, giving it was the Selection and thus a special event, was a good formula.

The queen wrote down some notes then looked up. "I like your idea of doing it in another place than the Palace, it's a nice change," she said, and Leigh beamed. "However, I'm concerned about the safety of the whole… thing." She shifted on her seat. "Let me explain," she said when Leigh deflated a little, not understanding. "A ship in the middle of nowhere is an easy target. How would you protect the ship?"

"That's-"

"No, not you Silas," the queen said, laying a hand on her eldest son's arm. "I want Miss Altmann to figure it out. She's a lawyer, she should be able to."

Silas clapped his mouth shut at the light scolding.

Leigh straightened her shoulders. She knew this was a test of her knowledge and of how she performed under pressure. "The ship wouldn't be going too far from the shore, but we'd stay within Illéan waters, of course." She paused, thinking. "We could also have one or two military submarines cover the waters at a safe distance, making sure no one approaches from underneath, and a helicopter or two in the sky. But that would considerably elevate the budget, I'm afraid."

The queen wrote a few things down. "Thank you," she said.

A few other girls explained their project – garden parties, costume parties, traditional ballroom events – but there were all average. Until Abigail Correll stepped in.

"My party is full of symbolism," she started. "The party would start on the steps of the Palace, since this is where Illéa was founded, all those years ago, and The Queen or Silas would make a speech. Everyone would be masked until midnight, where people would then take off the masks to reveal themselves as some sort of 'liberation' symbolism." She paused and looked at her papers. "Each prince would have one color – Silas would be blue, Nathan would be read, and Valerian white – and the Selection would dress in the colors of the prince we're on the list of." She paused again, and seeing the quizzical eyebrow pop up in the queen's face, she explained further. "For example, I'm on Nathan and Val's lists, so I'd be wearing a red and white outfit. Either that, or who we're fighting for," she added, smirking, and looking at Ximena and Leigh. "I know some of the girls would be wearing only blue even if they're on the other lists as well."

"I see," the queen said, unimpressed.

"As for food and drinks, I wanted to stay in the symbolic aspect of it: we'd have New Asian foods for northern Illéa, Hispanic foods for Southern Illéa, and European foods for central Illéa, all representing our roots and what makes Illéa great."

"Interesting," the queen nodded, writing some things down. "Is that all, Miss Correll?"

"Yes."

"Thank you."

After that, a few other girls presented their project and the morning was finally over. Thank goodness Nevaeh had had the genius idea to only give them five minutes to present their idea. Nevaeh came to the front of the class and told the Selected they could get ready for lunch while the royal family debated on the projects and the chosen one would be announced after lunch so the girls could start working on it as soon as possible.

The girls filed out without too much noise and Nevaeh joined her aunt and cousins at the front table.

"Well? What do you think?" Nevaeh said.

"I have to say you've done a great job with these girls, Nevaeh," the queen said. "Some of these projects are definitely off the table, some are too small." She looked at her sons and her husband. "What do you think?"

"I think Mia's idea to do a fundraiser was nice," Valerian said.

"I liked Pallas' project," Nathan said.

"Well, I preferred Ximena's party," Silas said, not looking at anyone.

"Of course, you would," Nathan replied, rolling his eyes.

"Thank you for your input, gentlemen," she said. "Toby?"

"Honestly, they were nice. I liked Leigh's idea to go on the Yacht, actually," he said. "It's a nice change. Put I could get behind any project, really."

Auntie Lena nodded. "Nevaeh?"

"I'm with Toby, on this one," she said. "The Yacht idea is my favorite."

Helena nodded. "Same for me, but I also like the symbolism of Abigail's idea." She tapped the pen on her chin, thinking.

"Smash them together," Nathan said, shrugging. "I'm hungry. See you later, guys." With that, he left the room and headed to the dining room. Nevaeh and the other talked a bit more and then they went to lunch as well, where all the girls were waiting, chatting among themselves and with Nathan. The royal family sat down, and lunch could start.

At the end of the meal, the queen stood and everyone stopped talking to listen. "First of all, I would like to thank you all for coming up with such great ideas. Two of these projects have drawn our attention: Miss Altmann's and Miss Correll's projects."

The two girls looked at each other and a strange look passed between them. Nevaeh wasn't sure what it was: jealousy? Superiority? Pride? She knew these two girls didn't really hang out with the same group of friends.

"We will not choose one or the other," the queen continued. "You will both work together to have a mix of your projects. We like the Yacht idea of Miss Altmann as well as the symbolism of the liberation and the colors of Miss Correll. Work it out to create something even better." She offered a smile to the two girls and then excused herself. The meeting that they usually did on Monday morning had been postponed to the afternoon, to which the Queen and Silas went promptly

-o-0-o-

Right after lunch, Nathan went over to the girls' table to ask one of them on a date.

"Why don't you have a rose?" Jesse asked the prince who was leaning over Brandy to talk to her.

"Uhm, because it's inconvenient," Nathan replied. "I don't have one right now, and I want to ask Brandy on a date." Then he looked at Brandy. "Do you want a rose?"

Brandy looked at the others.

"Actually," Jen said, "we're all kind of in a competition with each other, trying to see who would get the most roses, and the more of one color, the higher the chances of winning…"

"Huh," Nathan said. "You should have said that sooner! I'll give roses to everyone, then!"

"That's cheating," Gail said. "It's one per date."

Nathan rolled his eyes. "Fine. Jesse, may I please have an orange rose to give to Brandy?"

"Yup, just give me one minute!" he said, running away to get a rose. Nevaeh chuckled. why had the girls started to compete over the roses? Was it just for fun or were they trying to figure out who would be winning considering the number of roses the same color they got?

While Jesse was gone to get said orange rose, Nathan asked Brandy on the date. "Would you like to go on a date with me?" he asked, surprising no one, by now.

"I'd love to," she said, mimicking him.

"Uh, okay, cool!" Nathan replied. He offered his hand which she took and they were off, not waiting for Jesse and the rose. She'd get it later and add it to her collection.

-.-

As soon as they were out of earshot from the others, Nathan asked her if there was something specific she'd want to do.

"Do you play any video games?" she asked. "I'd be into that! With drinks, snacks, and all."

"Video games, huh?" Nathan chuckled. "You know what, that's actually a good idea! Come on." They walked faster, heading to the cinema room where their whole collection of video games was. "Have your pick!" he said, opening the huge panel on the wall, revealing dozens and dozens of video game boxes.

"Oh. My. God." Brandy grinned at the sight of so many games. There were even tiny stars in her eyes and she ran her fingers on the side of the boxes, looking for one to play with. "Oooh, this one…" she took the box out and handed it to Nathan.

"Mario Kart, huh?" he asked. "Okay by me." He took the box from her and put it in the console, getting the game ready. They started playing and it turned out that Brandy was much, much better at it than him. "Damn, how did you get so good at it!" he asked after losing four times in a row and getting them a drink in the minibar.

"I used to play a lot with my brother, once upon a time," she replied. "Turns out I can still play."

"I can see that." Nathan walked towards her with a beer. "You like beers, right?"

"I'm more of a whiskey kind of girl, but a beer is good, too."

"Whiskey? Why didn't you say so sooner?" Nathan went back to the minibar to change their drinks.

"You don't play anymore with your brother?" he asked, pouring two glasses of fine whiskey. "Both grew out of it?" he chuckled.

Brandy didn't reply right away. "He's dead, actually," she replied, bitterness filling her voice.

"Oh." Nathan had not been expecting that. "I'm sorry, I didn't–"

"I don't want to talk about it."

The atmosphere in the red velvet cinema room had suddenly darkened, becoming heavy, almost palpable. They were silent for a while, sipping on their drinks while the screen was on PAUSE.

"How did he–"

"Fucking cancer."

Nathan looked at Brandy, but she didn't meet his gaze and downed her glass in one gulp, wincing at the burn it left in her throat.

"Older or younger broth–"

"I said I didn't want to talk about it," she snapped. "Why d'you keep insisting?" She stood and filled herself a second glass. "Either we race again, or I go back to my room…"

Nathan nodded and picked up his controller. "Let's race, then." He didn't want to end this date on a bad note, so maybe if they played some more, it would loosen the tension between them. How was he to know her brother had died of cancer? It's not as if he had read her application form. Or any of them, for that matter. He didn't even know if she had put it on it. He tried to focus on the race, but Brandy was so focused and angry that she won the next two races. Until the whiskey started to kick in, and she kept getting off the track and laughing for nothing. Nathan finally won a race.

They took a break, refilling their glasses.

"Younger," she blurted out.

"What?"

"My brother. He was younger."

Nathan nodded. He didn't know what he'd do if his own little brother died. Maybe he wasn't as close to him as Brandy seemed to be, but still. Val was a softness in his life and he couldn't imagine living without him.

"I'm sorry," he said for lack of something else to say.

"Three years," she continued, not hearing him. She twirled the amber liquid in her glass. "He fought for three years, and then he was gone. Just like that." She shrugged. "And with his death died all my creative juices."

"You're an artist?" he asked, trying to get her to talk some more. If he was going to keep her on his list and in the Selection, he wanted to get to know her a little better. He wondered if she had talked about this with Silas. Two dates: what could they possibly have talked about?

"Was, yeah." She chuckled sadly and finished her glass. "Anyways. I hate talking about that." She stood, stumbled a little because of the alcohol, and put her empty glass on the counter near the minibar. "Thanks for the date," she said, gesturing at the screen with her multiple wins. "I'm gonna go now," she finished, her words slurring a tiny bit.

Nathan nodded and lifted his glass in response, but stayed in the plush, velvet seat. He turned his glass in his fingers, watching as the golden liquid danced slowly in his glass. This had been the first date that hadn't gone super well, but he couldn't blame her. He had broached a touchy subject without even knowing. He snorted. He wasn't good with words or at talking with people. Silas was. No, Nathan was good in bed and only that.

The prince downed the rest of his glass and put it next to Brandy's – funny, he thought, he had been drinking brandy with Brandy – and walked outside, out the front door through the main entrance. He needed to smoke, he needed to be alone, and he knew everyone would either be in the garden or working on the stupid National Day party. Every year it was the same thing. Maybe this year it would be a little different, though?

He sat on the front stone steps and took out a cigarette. He lit it and took a deep swig of it, realizing he had missed the mixture of alcohol and cigarette smoke, lately, and only one thing was missing from the mix: sex. But he was trying to do that less often and he was really seeing the difference near his midsection. The ice cream had made his stomach even softer than it already was… damn it. At least sex was some kind of sport, right?

He finished two cigarettes before going back inside to look for an orange rose to give to Brandy: he still owed her one. And he might even give her a whole bouquet to apologize for hit tactless questions. Women loved flowers, right?

-o-0-o-

Nevaeh could feel the tension rising among the girls as the days passed and September 5thapproached quickly. She had suspended the morning lessons so that the girls had all the time they needed to get the party prepared. They had exactly ten days to get everything running and ready. And though Nevaeh never thought Leigh and Abigail would a good team to organize an event, they both had their fortes, and they had come up with a great mix of both their projects. The girls who had a little fewer things to prepare were working on their outfits.

Speaking of outfits, Nevaeh almost tripped on her own feet when she saw Silas coming down the stairs in a very, very unusual outfit: he was wearing a black pair of jeans with black Italian shoes, a black t-shirt, and a black leather jacket. He had finished the outfit with large Ray Bans covering half of his face.

"Uhm, what's going on?" Nevaeh asked, seeing her cousin. "What did you do with my cousin– Who are you, exactly?"

Silas smirked and took off his sunglasses in a very sexy way. "Wow, you're blurry." He put them back on. "Uhm, I'm just trying something different," he explained. "I'm going on a date with Malia, and we don't want people to recognize us."

Nevaeh burst out laughing. "Sorry." She composed herself, trying not to laugh. "I mean, people aren't going to recognize you, that's for sure, but they are going to stare at you."

"Holy shit! Is that Silas?" someone said, walking into the main entrance hall of the Palace. Both Nevaeh and Silas turned their head to see who had just come in: it was actually a group of the Selected with a bunch of papers and other things in their arms. "Is that really you, Your Highness? Or did you transform into a Bad Boy version of yourself?" Brandy asked.

"Someone call Ximena!" Jenissa said, laughing. "She's gonna want to see this…"

"On it!" Laelia said, running back to the Women's Room where they had just come from.

Nevaeh was having a great time watching Silas getting all flustered over the unwanted attention.

"See? I told you!" Laelia said, pulling Ximena by the arm. "Doesn't he look dashing, like that?"

Ximena's and Silas' gazes met for two seconds: Silas became even redder than before, and Ximena laughed.

"A surprising, but very welcome change," Xi said coming over. Nevaeh saw Leigh also coming out of the women's room with the rest of the girls and wondered how that was going to turn out. "What's the occasion?"

"Uhm…" Silas was at loss for words. Nevaeh knew he was going on a date with Malia. She was also pretty sure he was suddenly regretting going on the said date and would have preferred to go with Ximena.

"Aloha! We're going on a date!" Malia said, explaining as she came over. "But we don't want people to recognize us, so we've changed into something… different…" she trailed off, seeing Silas dressed in the leather jacket and suddenly she had to hold on to his arm, or she would swoon and fall at his feet.

Malia was dressed in a high-waist mini jeans short with a black crop top with short puff sleeves and a sweetheart collar, her hair was down, and as always, she was wearing a flower behind her ear, which was her signature look. It was different from what she was used to wearing during the selection, but it turned out it was her actual clothes she had taken from home, something very casual and comfy.

Silas was also looking at her, but then he remembered he was in the middle of all the girls – especially Leigh and Ximena – and he didn't know where to look, anymore.

"The break is over, ladies!" Nevaeh said, clapping three times in her hands. "Let's give Silas and Malia some space so they can go on their date." She shooed the girls away but noticed Xi and Leigh's eyes lingering on the 'bad boy' prince they had both grown to love… Nevaeh felt bad for them since she knew at least one of them would have her heartbroken at the end. She just hoped Silas would be gentle when the time came. He had already broken one heart… who would have thought?

Now that all the girls but Malia were gone, both of them were feeling a little better.

"So, what's the plan?" Nevaeh asked. "Is Jesse coming along?"

"No, only Sydney," Silas said. "And Doug, and Parker. We're going into town."

"No way," Nevaeh said. "You're going into town?" She chuckled. "I'm sorry."

Silas shrugged and adjusted his leather jacket. "I think it's a bit warm for the jacket, don't you think?" he asked to no one in particular and just took it off. "It's a bit too much anyway…"

"Here, give it to me, I'll have someone bring it to your room," Nevaeh said. "You two should be going, then! especially if you don't want to miss lunch…"

"Right." Silas handed her the jacket and he and Malia headed outside where Parker, Doug, and Sydney were waiting for them near the black, unmarked car parked just outside.

-.-

They climbed into the car and Malia chatted away during the whole fifteen-minute drive to the fast-food restaurant called TJ's Burger Joint.

"I'm so excited!" Malia said.

Silas smiled. "When you said you had never had a greasy burger before, I thought it would be a good idea to do this together." He chuckled softly as he climbed out of the car and helped her out as well. "Besides, this is my first one eating one outside the Palace, as well."

"Wait here," Parker said as he went into the restaurant to make sure everything was okay and to have a small chat with the owner, which had been called in advance. Tim came back a couple of minutes later and motioned to them to follow him inside while Sydney filmed them, and Doug wagged his tail furiously at the greasy meat smell coming from the place. The owner welcomed them and guided them to a private booth in the far corner, where people wouldn't notice them too much.

"Can I, uhm, take a selfie with you two, Your Highness?" he asked.

Silas didn't know what to say, so he looked at Sydney for help.

"At the end, right before they leave," Sydney said. "I don't want a picture of them on social media before they're gone." She paused. "Understood?"

"Yes, ma'am," the man said, walking away with their orders.

Parker and Sydney sat at another table, keeping an eye on the Crown Prince and his date.

"Thanks for doing this," she said after a moment's silence, tucking a long strand of hair behind her ear. "Taking the time to take me here and all," she continued, babbling. "We all know you're stuck between Leigh and Xi, so I appreciate it."

Silas raised an eyebrow. "Is it that obvious?" He played with the glass that was already on the table when they arrived.

"Yeah." Malia chuckled. "But it's keeping us all on our toes, and there are actually bets going around."

"Bets?" he asked. "With actual, real money?"

"Oh, yeah." She laughed. "And Jenissa and Abigail have started a hashtag war on Social media, and you'd be surprised at the number of people who've started to participate in that."

"A hashtag war?" Silas had no idea what she was talking about. What was even a hashtag?

"Yeah! Like, #TeamLeigh and #TeamRainha. And they can count how many times they have been used on social media, and they're both trending for now. Though there is a third one that has appeared lately, too, and it's #QueenXimena." She paused, taking a sip of the coke the waiter had brought in. "I'm personally on #TeamLeigh, but that's just me, you know?"

Silas laughed. What on earth was she talking about? But as long as she talked and he didn't need to talk too much, he'd be fine.

"Here, look!" she took out her phone and showed her the statistics of those three hashtags, babbling and talking the whole time – because she was nervous – and they had to take a break when the owner came in with two giant, greasy burgers. "Oh, my God," she said, stars forming in her eyes. "I need to take a picture or my dad will never believe I ate this."

She snapped a few pictures with her phone and then just snapped one of Silas smiling at her taking pictures of food.

"Hey!" he said, surprised.

"What?" She looked at the picture she had just taken. "You look really good when you smile like that," she said softly, showing him the picture.

Silas had to admit that he didn't look too bad. The black t-shirt and sunglasses on his head made him look like a completely different person. He was always used to seeing himself in suits in pictures. "Can you send me that picture, please?"

"Sure!"

Once that was done, they started on their burgers and Malia quickly had grease rolling down her chin. Silas too, but he didn't mind. They laughed a lot, and when they were done, Malia sat back in her seat, sighing.

"I have a food baby," she said, gently tapping her belly as if she was actually pregnant.

"I'm sorry, a what?" Silas asked, genuinely confused.

"A food baby! It's when you eat too much and you have a food bump like a baby bump. It's not only for girls," she added giggling. "I always have a food baby when I try to beat my dad in eating more pancakes than him. I always lose, of course, but I try!"

Silas smiled. "You talk about your father a lot," he said. "Are you close to him?"

"Oh yeah! I don't have any brothers or sisters, so it's just me and my parents, you know? They're really supportive and loving and, yeah, I'm really close to them."

"Do you miss them?" he suddenly asked. He had never realized that these girls might be missing their families while being here.

Malia nodded. "Yeah, sometimes," she said softly. "Like there's something nice happening, and I want to share it with them, but then I remember they're not here with me. And there's a lot of time difference, too, so I can't just call them when I want." She paused. "That's why I took a picture of the burger." She looked around the small restaurant that had started to have more and more customers over the lunch hour. "He would have loved this place."

Silas nodded though he couldn't fully understand. Sure, he had a nice family, but them being queen and prince consort and him being crown prince didn't give him many opportunities to do fun things with them.

They talked a little while longer before they decided it was time to go have a digestive walk on the seaside. And Doug needed to take a walk too, after the big steak he had gotten from the restaurant, as well. Parker paid for the four meals – he and Sydney had also eaten their own burger – and the man got his selfie with the Prince and his date.

They walked along the seaside, on the long walkway along the Los Angeles shore, parker behind them and Sydney moving around the couple to film or take pictures without being too conspicuous. Malia did most of the talking while Silas asked the questions – about her family, her parents, her island, how she started as a mermaid, and so on. They even stopped at an ice cream shop for a late dessert and Silas offered Malia to take a picture of her and them to send back to her dad, which she accepted with joy.

All-in-all, it had been a very pleasant date, and Silas knew they would stay friends in the long-run. And even if Valerian decided to choose her – or to fall in love with her, same thing – he'd be happy to have her as a sister-in-law.

-o-0-o-

Nevaeh had taken up residence in the 'classroom' while the girls worked on Leigh's and Gail's mixed projects. Phone calls were being made, decorations being hauled here and there, check-lists ticked off, and whatnot. Since Leigh wasn't the best with organizing people, Gail had taken matters in hand, bossing people around. And she loved it.

The duchess was lost in thought, going over her own checklist of the guests who had answered positively to the invitation: more than 200 people would be there including the royal family and the remaining Selected.

"Hey, knock knock," a familiar voice said, pulling a chair in front of Nevaeh's desk and sitting backward on it, resting his arms and chin on the backrest. Valerian smiled at his cousin. "How's everything going for the party?"

"Hi, yes, everything's going fine. I think," she added. "Did you find your outfit?"

"Pff. A white tuxedo and a pink bowtie and boutonnière was easy peasy, lemon squeezy." He chuckled. "How about you? You're not gonna wear our colors, are you? Or are you gonna go with matching outfits with Jesse?" he asked, wiggling his eyebrows.

"Why would I do that?" she scoffed. "No, I'm going to go off-chart. What do you get when you mix red, blue, and white?"

"Uh… purple? Light purple?"

"Mauve, exactly."

"You're going mauve?" he asked. "How shocking." He snorted. "But how unsurprising of you, as well. Hey, I was wondering," he continued, "and I know this might be a bad timing with the party organization and all, but can I take one of the girls on a date this afternoon?"

"Hmm," Nevaeh said. "It depends on who it is. Some have some pretty serious responsibilities for the party…"

"I was thinking Phoebe."

"Let me just check…" she ruffled through her papers and found the list she was looking for. "You'll have to check with her, see if she can spare a few hours. She's responsible with Sydney for the photo booth area on the ship."

"Okay, thanks!" he stood to leave then backtracked. "Do you know where she is?"

"Probably with Sydney, but I have no idea where they are."

"Okay." Valerian left, going on his search for his date.

-.-

He finally found both girls in Jesse's office room, huddled behind a laptop. "So, uhm, I just wanted to know if you could spare a few hours this afternoon?" he asked Phoebe. "For a date!"

"I'd love to!" she said, then she looked at Sydney. "Do you mind?"

Sydney chuckled. "Of course not. I'll continue looking for ideas and inspiration and we can talk about it later, or tomorrow. It's not that urgent." She smiled and rolled her eyes. "Have a nice time, you two! Oh," she said in an afterthought. "Don't forget to tell Jesse, he's been wandering all morning for something 'juicy' to find."

Valerian and Phoebe laughed. "I'll tell him to come along if you don't mind," he added to Phoebe.

"Nope, as long as he doesn't hear everything we say, I don't mind."

"Good. I'll tell him to say twenty feet away."

All three laughed and the couple was on their way.

"So, I was thinking going outside for some 'fresh' air – I know it's still hot out – but you've all been cooped up in here to prepare the party, I thought you'd enjoy some time away from all… this…" he gestured vaguely to the palace around him.

"Oh, my God, yes. Let's go somewhere else!"

"Great! So, what do you prefer: roller blades or bikes? We even have a tandem."

"A what, now?" She looked at him confused.

"You know, a bike where you can be two on it?"

"Oh! Yeah. Uhm, let's try that! I've never done that before…"

"Me neither." He chuckled and rubbed his neck. "But okay, let's do this, then!" He took out his phone and dialed something, waiting. "Jesse? yeah, hi. Um, me and Phoebe are going on a d– Yeah, you can come," he said, laughing. "Meet us in ten by my car, okay?" With that, he hung up.

"I'm gonna go change in something more comfortable for riding a bike. I'll pick you up in your room in ten, okay?"

"Yeah, great!" she said. They walked together to the staircase, and up to the second floor where Valerian left her to go to the third floor, and his room. He picked a sporty outfit – shorts, sneaker, t-shirt, and baseball cap, and then waited a few minutes, scrolling on his social media feed until eight minutes had passed and he could go get Phoebe. He took a pink rose – he had asked Jesse to deliver at least one every day to his room so he could go on dates whenever he wanted – and went to look for Phoebe's room.

He knocked on her door and handed her the rose. She took it with a bright smile and added it to the two others – one orange and one pink carefully dried and hanging upside down – and followed him down the stairs. She was wearing a tank top tucked into a pair of high-waist shorts, with converse shoes, sunglasses, and a backpack.

"What's in your bag?" he asked, curious.

"A couple of bottles of water, snacks, my camera, a sketchbook and a pen, and a hat in case the sun is too strong."

"Huh," he said. "Smart."

They headed towards his little green car, where Jesse was waiting for them, and she also commented on his car, of how it was cute and all. She also laughed when he told her the car's name was Clover Daisy. Once the introductions were over, they tried to put the tandem in the small car, but it was impossible.

"Oh well, I guess I'll just have to take one of the big cars…" He patted his car affectionately on the roof. "I'm sorry baby, we'll go out some other time." He noticed Phoebe was looking at him with a small smile. "What?" he asked, a little defensive, but still amused.

"Nothing, I think that's cute, that's all."

With Jesse's help, they managed to put the long bike into one of the bigger cars, and all three of them piled into the back of the car. He couldn't drive it so they had to ask a chauffeur to take them down the coast to a nice place to bike.

It took them a few tries to get their balance, but they managed to finally get a hang of it and not fall. Val and Phoebe chatted along the ride, with Jesse following them with his own bike, trying to film or take pictures – it was honestly hilarious to watch him. Phoebe told Val about her family, how after her father and sister died of cancer three years ago, how it was just her and her mom now, and how they loved to travel the world each summer. Her favorite place was Georgia, in Europe, and that she had her first camera for their first trip there.

"Why Georgia?" Valerian asked as they stopped in a nice place for her to take pictures and for both of them to drink some water and rest.

"My mom's from there," she explained. "She came to Illéa as an au pair when she was seventeen for a new experience and she fell in love with the country and my dad," she chuckled. "She started her studies in music and after several years, she became the Concertmaster of the New Hudson Symphony Orchestra." She paused, snapping some pictures. "She had never gone back to Georgia since she'd come here, so we decided to go back to see her family two years ago. That was the only time I met my grandmother there."

"Wow, I don't think I've ever been there. I mean, I've been to France and a little around Western Europe, but not East."

"You should, it's beautiful." She smiled and snapped a picture of a really relaxed Valerian, leaning on one elbow, chewing on a strand of grass. "I still don't understand how my mother could have loved Illéa more than Georgia."

"As you said, she didn't only fall in love with the country, but with your dad as well…"

"True. Huh, I never thought of it that way." She paused. "And now that he's gone…"

They continued chatting for a couple more minutes before climbing back on their bike and continuing on their little trip. During the whole afternoon, they pedaled for more than ten miles and when they came back at the Palace, they knew they would have calf cramps in a couple of days. Oh, well. At least they spent a really good time getting to know each other a little better!


Hi, Hello! thanks for reading! can't wait to hear your thoughts on all three dates, "Bad Boy" Silas, the presentations, and everything ;)

Thanks to Dreamerdash and Slyther for sending in Leigh's and Gail's projects! I didnt want to use only one becuase both were so cool, so yeah! thanks!

also, if you guys want to send in your girl's outfits for the Ball, please do! (if not, i'll just do it myself, lol). but if you do, send me (through Pinterest, FF, or discord) pictures of the outfit with a minimum of: dress, shoes, hair, nails, mask (it is a masquerade until midnight, after all), and accessories (if you want). if you dont have pinterest, just give me a detailed descirption so I can find something close enough and I'll post the outfits on IG ;)

Colors: Silas - Blue / Nathan - Red / Val - White

you can either chose to dress up your girl in the colors of the list(s) she's on, or in the color of the prince she's fighting for :eyes: thanks in advance! You can send them to me ASAP, but the deadline is November 15th.

see you on Saturday for a new Article, with three other girls being interviewed! ;) And there will be no chapter next Wednesday, because i'm on holiday ;) so yeah, see in two weeks for the next chapter! byeee