"I received a complaint."
"It was from Eva, wasn't it?" Julia snapped, swinging her feet from her bed to the floor. "If it is, get out of my room."
Her mother simply sighed. "Julia. This is a serious accusation."
"She's just jealous," Julia said, turning her head towards the window. A light curtain was draped in front of it, filtering bits of bright morning light into her room. "Don't listen to her."
"Julia."
"Now get out!"
"That's no way to talk to Lady Ares, Julia," her mother said. Julia groaned.
"Eva just-"
"I know you feel frustrated," her mother said, walking toward her. "But treason? And especially after Princess Alexandra's… situation?"
"Mom-"
"Look," her mother took her hand. "The King has requested a… questioning event, or so he says. We all know it means an interrogation."
"What?" Julia's heart sank.
"It's nothing personal!" her mother said. "It would look bad for him if he doesn't at least question you, alright?"
"B-but- he should be questioning Eva, not me!" Julia protested, standing up. "She's the one who-"
"It's alright, Julia," her mother said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "The noble involved will be questioned, too. Do not worry."
Julia stopped, then sighed, sitting back down on her bed.
"I know it's been stressful for you these past few days," her mother said, squeezing her shoulder. "And I'm here for you. You just have to cooperate with me, alright?"
"Stressful?" Julia forced out a dark laugh. "I haven't been able to sleep for days. I think we're already past the point of stress."
"Darling-"
"None of you understand," Julia continued. Her mother sighed. "None of you even care."
"You're an adult now, Julia. You have to get by on your own."
"I know! But everyone just keeps…" She trailed off. "Whatever."
"Alright. Well, you will be called into the throne room with Eva tomorrow morning."
"Mom?"
"Yes?"
"Has Alexandra's fate been decided?"
Her mother retracted her hand from her shoulder. Julia stared into her eyes, those deep, dark eyes of Lady Ares.
"… No. Not yet."
The dungeon was as dark and dreary as always, the air so disgustingly humid. After spending so many days here, Alexandra was beginning to think she might have contracted tuberculosis.
Well, at least she was going to die anyway.
The door clicked open somewhere far, far away, where freedom laid. She bit her lip, trying to suppress her fear. She had tried not to cry for so many days now… Maybe it was all over and she didn't have to hide anymore…
Ah. Her brother walked towards her, coughing a bit.
"What is this air?" he complained to the sea of servants that accompanied him.
"This dungeon is hundreds of years old, Your Highness," said a young man. "I don't think anyone has thought of renovating it. It's for criminals, after all."
"True."
Wow, Alex agreeing with someone? Alexandra smiled, waiting for Alexander to approach her.
"Hello, Alexandra."
She dove into a deep curtsy, despite her head throbbing relentlessly. It will all be over soon… It will all be over soon…
"I don't know how you've survived this far in here," he said, scrunching up his nose. "I can barely breathe."
Immediately, some servants whipped out fans and started fanning him. He sighed. "That's making it worse, blowing more of this disgusting air in my face. Stop it. Now."
The fans disappeared within a millisecond.
"I'm sorry, Your Highness," Alexandra said. The words felt funny on her tongue. Your Highness. When was the last time she had spoken those words? "I… I made a mistake. I should have told you from the start-"
"I don't believe that was the full story," Alexander cut in. Alexandra stopped, looking up at him. "That Schmidt woman sounded… sketchy. Tell me what happened. From your point of view."
A glimmer of hope passed through Alexandra's heart, but she knew it was no use. There was no way that it would change anything. Yet she still followed his order, detailing everything she had told Eva before.
When she finished, he nodded.
"It's alright. I don't believe the rebels had anything on us, anyway. I don't know why everyone keeps making such a big deal out of it."
She looked at the servants and knew that they were going to tell everyone everything she had just said as soon as Alexander left the dungeon.
"Is it time?" Alexandra whispered. He laughed.
"Look. I don't think any of us here want to kill you."
She shook her head. "No. No, you can't-"
"Oh, come on, Xandra!"
"You don't understand, you have to punish me!"
"You weren't going to hurt me. You weren't going to hurt any of us. This is just some stupid misunderstanding."
"No," Alexandra's voice shook with desperation. "No, Alex. Please. It could have been possible when no one knew, but the entire Kingdom knows what happened. You can't just pardon me. It'll cause a riot."
He frowned. "Okay, and…?"
Oh, right. Alex wasn't one to be deterred by only a few thousand commoners dying in a simple riot. "It'll cause a war."
He scoffed. "I don't believe you."
"Please-"
"Do you realize how ridiculous you sound?" He crossed his arms. "You're literally arguing for your death right now."
She fell silent.
"Besides, Annalisa already-"
"Annalisa doesn't know better," she retorted. She regretted those words as soon as they came from her mouth. "I mean… You know what I mean, Alex. Just-"
"Fine. But I'm not murdering my twin sis." He waved his hand, motioning for his servants to do… something? They took a step towards her, confused about what he was telling them to do. "Grab her. Throw her out of the palace. She can do well on the streets."
Why was Alexandra relieved? She shouldn't be relieved. If the people found out that he didn't kill her…
"O-okay," was all she could muster.
The gate swung open and Alexandra gasped, writhing as the servants dragged her out of the dungeons and into the Palace. She looked around wildly, trying to absorb every little detail, trying to salvage all that she had left…
Then she was quite literally thrown out. She crumpled onto the floor, groaning. Her entire body hurt like it had been pulled apart too many times. She lifted her head to look at the gleaming Palace, then looked back at the bustling city.
How did it come to this? Alexandra knew, of course, why. But that didn't stop her from hurting.
"I'm sorry," she whispered, struggling to her feet.
This time, there were no stars to guide her.
"Your Majesty," both Julia and Eva said at the same time. They looked at each other and glared.
The King of Ethica sat proudly on his jeweled throne, looking down on the two noblewomen.
"Julia Ares," King Eadger said. "Eva Schmidt. It's nice to see you."
"I present my case to you, Your Majesty," Eva said hurriedly. "I witnessed Julia spy on Miss Alexandra! Now, I didn't know what horrible secret she knew, but before I could do anything, the Princess was locked up! Now Julia's over here trying to pin it on me when I never even knew what happened!"
"Seriously?!" Julia shot back. "You're going to lie in front of the king?!"
"In the name of justice! You should be kicked out of the Selection at once, to stop your plans of taking over!"
"Now, now, girls," King Eadger said. "Let's not-"
"You know what?! Alexander was right, for once in his stupid life! You really are an idiot!"
Eva gasped dramatically. "Did you just insult our gracious Crown Prince?"
"Yeah, he's stupid! But even a broken clock is right two times a day, and I agree with him! You're an idiotic, backstabbing, SNAKE!"
"Julia."
Julia turned to King Eadger. "You don't believe her, do you?!"
He gave her a weird look. "Please."
She scoffed, but shut her sorry little mouth, though it kept opening in protest like a boiling pot, trying to do the right thing and speak the truth.
"What has gotten into you?!" King Eadger's eyebrows furrowed. "You're usually not so… brash."
Julia clenched her fists, but bowed her head and looked toward Eva.
"Thank you, Your Majesty," Eva said smoothly. "As I was saying, why would Julia spread this information? To eliminate one of the successors to the throne. She already abhors Alexander and probably blackmailed Alexandra into killing him—when she refused, she twisted whatever Alexandra had said into treason!"
Julia had the overwhelming urge to punch her, and since she had already expressed her hatred for her before, she probably wasn't going to be punished for attacking a minor noble. She released the usual resistance to her acts of violence and punched her in the face.
It was so satisfying, the way Eva yelped as soon as her fist collided with flesh. Good. She hoped that she bled.
King Eadger looked aghast. "Julia!"
Eva stumbled, clutching her face, and glared at her.
"You see? She's not afraid to resort to violence!"
"It's not violence if I'm just squashing an annoying fly!"
"Girls, calm down!"
Now, Julia was very angry, but she wasn't too crazy to defy a direct order from the King. She shut up.
"Listen, we could work out an agreement… How about I suspend Julia from any more meetings with my son for the next few weeks? Is that to your satisfaction?"
Eva opened her mouth, about to argue, before she bit her lip. "Thank you, Your Majesty."
Honestly, Julia liked the sound of not being able to see Alexander's stupid face for the next three weeks.
And, at this rate, the Selection would be over by then. Win-win for her.
"Then you are dismissed."
The girls were escorted out of the throne room, guards walking behind them ominously as they made their way back to the Selected Quarters.
"I can't believe you'd stoop this low," Julia finally said, tired of just the sounds of footsteps filling her ears.
"What do you mean?" Eva said sweetly.
"I thought you were my friend." If Julia didn't know better, she'd thought she saw a hint of sadness in Eva's eyes. "But I guess it was just a ploy, huh?"
"I-"
"Enough. Let's not waste our breath fighting each other in the halls."
Eva looked away. Julia rolled her eyes.
"Mark my words," Julia said, motioning for the guards to leave. They did her bidding. Eva took a step back. "If you ever try to pull something like this again…"
Eva looked panicked for a second before composing herself and looking straight into her eyes.
"… You'll get worse than a slap on the face."
Now, Julia was tempted to punch Lady Domanshee in the face when she walked into the main room of the Selected Quarters the next day, but unlike yesterday, she'd get in big trouble if she messed with her.
"Hello, my dear Selected," she said, looking over at each of the girls. Sandra came running in, muttering apologies for being late, but Lady Domanshee ignored her. "The Prince has decided to narrow you down to The Elite."
A murmur rose among the girls.
"That quick?" Thalia cried.
"It's only been a month!" Amaya gasped.
"Quiet!" Lady Domanshee commanded. They quickly shut up.
She walked over to Sandra, who looked at the floor, her heartbeat audible from several feet away.
"Sandra White. Cornelia here told me you said I was an 'evil witch'. Am I right, Cornelia?"
Julia tried her best not to fidget. She had heard them?
Cornelia crept from behind the door, her face dark red and her hands shaking. "Uh… Y-yes, My Lady…"
Sandra's shoulders shot up, her eyes darting to the side.
"I don't think I need to repeat myself. This palace has no place for gossip's, especially ones who gossip behind my back. Get out."
Sandra didn't move.
"Well? Get out."
"But…" Sandra whispered. Lady Domanshee let out a haughty laugh.
"But? But what? I've made my point clear."
"T-that's not fair!" Sandra protested. "The Prince-"
"The Prince has no love for commoners like you, anyway." Lady Domanshee motioned for Cornelia. The maid rushed forward. "He won't notice."
Cornelia grabbed her with surprising strength for such a skinny little girl, pushing Sandra down to the floor, who screamed.
"No! Please!"
"Julia, won't you help her?" Lady Domanshee snapped. Julia, to her dismay, forced herself to run to Sandra and pin her down.
"Julia, no!" Mary yelled, reaching out a hand towards her. Natasha growled and batted Mary's hand down, shoving her away from the scene.
Julia tore her hairband from her hair, letting her hair fall down to her shoulders in a smooth, beautiful motion.
At that moment, the door clicked open, revealing Prince Alexander, whose mouth fell open at the sight. Whether for her or Sandra, Julia didn't know, and didn't care.
Julia's heart wrenched as Sandra's wails filtered into her ears and absorbed into her brain, the extent of her anguish right under her nose. If she let go… one less person would be in pain today. She faltered, before narrowing her eyes and focusing on wrapping her peach hairband around Sandra's hands, tying her up nicely with a pretty bow, and then she pushed Sandra to Lady Domanshee's feet.
Julia stepped back into the circle of Selected that stood around her. She could see, from the corner of her eye, Mary sobbing silently.
"Your Highness," Lady Domanshee said with a smug smirk. She placed a heel on Sandra's back. "I'm eliminating this girl. I hope you don't mind."
Alexander stared straight into Julia's eyes, though Julia didn't know exactly why. "What happened?"
"She disrespected the Royal Family. We can not have such a girl be your Princess."
The Royal Family? Seriously?
He was still staring at Julia. "Oh. Sure."
Well, there goes their plan.
Alexander motioned for the lockdown guards to drag Sandra away, who screamed and kicked and cried. Julia felt her heart twist with guilt.
"I was… uh… about to say that the palace lockdown has been lifted," Alexander muttered. "But… you look very beautiful with your hair down, Julia."
She subconsciously touched her dark brown hair. "Err… thanks? I guess?"
A few of the other Selected whispered something, and Julia could only guess what they were saying.
"Yes…" Alexander coughed. "Ahem. I'll be narrowing our pool of girls down to ten later today. I hope you all had a wonderful time here in the palace."
She stared.
"I'd say good luck, but I've kinda already decided, so it'll be useless if I did." He shrugged, then walked out.
Silence.
Then an explosion of frenzy, all of the girls jumping and screaming and kicking and hyperventilating like gas particles.
"WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!"
"NOT DIE, YOU IDIOT! ELIMINATED!"
"ISN'T THAT THE SAME AS DYING?!"
"NO!"
"WHY IS THE PRINCE SO MEAAAAAAAN?!"
"I HATE THIS! I WANT TO GO HOME!"
"YEAH, GO HOME, THEN!"
Julia sighed, slumping down on a green armchair, groaning.
Why?