I don't think I've ever updated this quick before, especially not with a chapter this size. But right now I'm on a roll.

To everyone who submitted applications, let me know if you have any changes you'd like to make. I know that you had only one chapter to base your characters opinions on, so I'll accept edits to their thoughts on Everett, Elisa, and even Clara (though she didn't appear in this chapter). Also, if you like you can submit their thoughts on Queen Emily and Queen Mother Madeline. Along with all of this, if your character is doing something specific when the names are announced let me know. I'm not imagining every single one of the thirty-five girls sitting eagerly in front of the television.

Without further ado, enjoy.

Since announcing the Selection things had become increasingly chaotic at the palace. Aside from issuing new assignments to maids and organizing events, renovations had to be done. Queen Emily felt that the guest rooms lacked femininity due to there not having been a female Selection for three generations. The once sparse rooms had been turned into bedrooms that appeared to have come straight out of a fairytale. Everett had never seen anything accomplished so swiftly.

Everett was eating breakfast alone in the dining room, while he read the tabloids. Ever since Elisa had told him that she had been dubbed the "runaway crown princess" he'd become interested in what other things they wrote about. Because of all the chaos surrounding the Selection he hadn't had time to read any until that morning.

"FRANCE TO INVADE ANY DAY!" one headline read.

Everett looked at the article in disbelief. While it was true that there had been better relations between the countries in the past, when they hadn't been at war, it was preposterous to assume that things would escalate. France had been one of Illéa's first allies and Everett's mother was doing everything in her power to make sure that things went back to the way they had been. He'd even had a great something uncle who had married a French princess.

After reading the article he realized it was nothing more than an attempt by the newspaper to anger the people of Illéa. Rumors had been circulating that a treaty had been proposed and not everyone was so thrilled. Despite the whispers, Illéa and France were nowhere near ready to take such a big step. Though that night during the Report, before the Selection candidates were revealed, Queen Emily would be announcing the upcoming peace talks set to take place.

The next tabloid was no more promising truth wise. Every word of it was grasping at straws. But until the Selection began there wasn't much for the papers to report on, other than the war with France and fictitious royal scandals.

"Our sources inside the palace tell us that the Selection contestants were handpicked by none other than Queen Mother Madeline. The level of corruption within Prince Everett's Selection is enough to rival that of former King Maxon's. His father King Clarkson infamously rigged his son's Selection. Though it is worth noting that the winner of his Selection, former Queen America, was only Selected as a throwaway candidate to give the appearance of randomness."

The accusations made were nothing short of infuriating. The only truth to the article was its reference to King Maxon's Selection. Though Everett didn't see how that had any bearing on his own Selection.

Just as he was through with reading the tabloids Elisa entered the dining room. After telling him good morning she sat across from him at the table and waited for her breakfast to be brought out.

"I see that you've taken to reading the papers," she said, looking at the stack in front of him. "Anything worth sharing?"

"Well apparently France will be invading us and my Selection was rigged by our grandmother," he told her.

She smiled at him, as she reached out to pick up her water glass.

"They're mixing it up I see," she said, before taking a sip. "No pregnancy rumors this morning?"

"Why would there be?" He asked, eyeing her.

"You've really never read the tabloids have you?" Elisa chuckled. "Anyway, apparently, the reason I choose to never be seen out in public is because I'm constantly hiding a baby bump. If all that they said was true I'd currently have six children, be divorced from Thorin and in an arranged marriage with the prince of the German Federation, who is also supposedly our long lost brother."

"That bad, huh?"

"You have no idea," Elisa sighed. "Just wait until the Selection starts."

He let himself laugh. The rumors really were ridiculous. He could already imagine that things would be very similar for his future wife.

They moved on from talking about the papers. Everett was more interested in how his niece was doing. Elisa was missing Sera terribly but she wanted to be there until just after the Selection was underway. She'd already agreed to help their grandmother welcome the candidates when they arrived.

He was finishing his meal just as Elisa's plate was brought out, which was when Clara finally came down. He said good morning to her then picked up the papers and excused himself from the table. He had a long day ahead of him, beginning with a meeting with an ambassador from Swendway and ending with the Report that evening. Though before he went to his meeting he wanted to speak with one of the advisors.

Advisor Penman was by far his favorite. She had been in her position since just after his mother's coronation when Queen Emily had put her in office. Advisor Penman had watched Everett and his siblings grow up, making her similar to an aunt.

When Everett reached her office he knocked on the door and waited for her to tell him to come in. As he entered she was just getting off the phone, but she still stood to greet him.

"I haven't checked the schedule but I know that my mother is most likely busy today, so I was hoping you might have a moment."

She smiled as she straightened the jacket of her suit, then tucked a loose piece of hair that had come out of her graying bun back behind her ear.

"Of course," Advisor Penman nodded and motioned for Everett to sit, which he declined.

"I don't have much time, I just have a few things to go over."

Advisor Penman took a pad and pen out from her drawer and then asked Everett what he wanted to talk about.

"Do you read the tabloids often?"

Her brows furrowed in confusion as he set the papers down in front of her. Everett immediately realized that she might think he was accusing her of something.

"I mean do you follow them? I was talking to my sister a couple weeks ago and she mentioned that they call her the "runaway crown princess." I've been pretty busy as of late, but this morning I was able to take the time to read a few."

"I don't follow," she confessed, reaching out to examine the papers.

"I'm concerned that some of the things they write about are having detrimental effects," Everett said. He picked up the one with the headline about France invading and handed it to her. "Things like this could be harmful especially when it comes to foreign relations."

"We have certain laws regarding what can be published, but they aren't enforced as strictly as they once were," she told him, leafing through the paper with her thumb.

"It's time to change that. The laws need to be enforced. In fact, they need to be improved upon."

She gave him a skeptical look.

"What exactly did you have in mind?"

"Well, for starters, papers would need to submit their proofs to the palace prior to printing them. I would like all articles to be fact checked. But as long as all they've written is true it will be approved." Everett explained.

"That could be seen as a bit intrusive don't you think?"

This was why he went to Advisor Penman. She was never afraid to tell Everett exactly what she thought.

"It would be a painful process, but lies and deceit hurt our nation and therefore it's a risk I'm willing to take. Besides, at the very least this could just be a temporary measure until we're at peace with France."

"Very well. It's possible that it can be done without too many issues. They won't be happy of course. But we won't be violating any of their rights since we aren't a free press country," she told him, jotting a few things down on her pad.

"In this day and age who is?" Everett inquired rhetorically.

Freedom of press hadn't existed for a few centuries. He knew that the United States had been a country with those rights, along with a few others, but overall the concept baffled him.

Advisor Penman stopped for a moment to look up at him. Everett knew that he was missing something.

"Actually, France will be."

"What?" He asked, uncertain that he had heard her correctly.

She set her pad and pen on her desk and sat down. Whatever she was about to tell him couldn't be good.

"King Sellius has decided the pass a motion to allow the free press to return. It should be enacted in about two weeks."

Everett took a seat across from her. He had been right, it wasn't good.

"Has anyone tried to stop him?" Everett demanded, feeling the anger well up inside him.

For years his mother had been trying to end the war with France and make peace. Time proved that France wanted to have no part in any of Queen Emily's suggestions for a ceasefire, truce, or anything that would stop the war, even if only temporarily. It wasn't until the German Federation had gotten involved that progress started being made. There was even an announcement regarding the scheduled peace talks that was supposed revealed that evening prior to the coverage of the Selection.

"Queen Lida of the German Federation strongly opposed it, as did your mother, but their arguments were ignored," she replied.

"Am I correct in thinking that this is intentional?"

Advisor Penman nodded and sighed.

"Almost certainly. He knows that with the upcoming peace talks freedom of the press would possibly help make the people of France oppose any treaties or suggestions of ending our conflict," she explained.

He brought a hand up to his temple and rubbed it. What a mess things were turning out to be. There was more he wanted to know but his meeting was soon and he didn't have the time.

Everett looked down at his watch. He hadn't realized how long he'd been in her office. He was running late.

"I want to discuss this more, but I'm late to a meeting, with an ambassador from the Swendway," Everett told her. "I'll make sure to bring it up to him, and see if he has any more information."

"Alright," she smiled weakly. "I'm sorry you had to find out this way. I thought Queen Emily would have already told you."

"It's alright. I know she's been busy."

Everett stood, as did Advisor Penman. She wished him luck and told him that she would begin working on the situation with the press straight away. Though as Everett made his way to the door he remembered what else he had wanted to discuss.

"I would also like to do a leak check before the Selected get here," he confessed turning back to face her.

After reading in the tabloids that there was an inside source he wanted to find out whether or not it was true in any sense. Not that he wanted to seem paranoid, it was just that he didn't want to risk anything.

He could only recall a leak check happening once before in recent years. After Ellie had announced her plans to renounce her title one morning at breakfast Queen Emily had wanted to make sure there was no one selling gossip and that her decision wouldn't reach the press before she was able to reveal it of her own accord. In the end, it resulted in hundreds of different lies being slipped to staff. And three days later when a report came out about Elisa leaving to go to an Italian boarding school they had found their leak.

"I'll make sure it happens," Advisor Penman assured him.

A few hours before the Report started he was out on his balcony, enjoying his last few hours before his life was consumed by the Selection. While he was excited, he was also a bit apprehensive. Everett wasn't sure that he was ready for the Selection.

At some point, his grandmother must have knocked on his door, but he didn't answer. He was surprised he she came outside to see him. As it turned out, she wanted to speak with him about the Selection, which was all anyone seemed interested in anymore.

"In a few short months, you could be getting married to the love of your life. Your one."

He wasn't so convinced. He didn't see how he was supposed to meet his soul mate in a room full of strangers. Really the only thing reassuring him was the fact that the previous century had produced four happily married royal couples.

"Was grandpa always the one?" He asked, glancing over.

"Yes, he was," she smiled, looking out at the gardens below his balcony.

He heard his grandmother sigh before she turned to him with a mischievous smirk on her face.

"But so was Sanford," she said. "And Brennon. And Ceylon. And Newell."

"What?" He looked at her in surprise.

It occurred to him just then that he know very little about her Selection, or his mother's for that matter. He'd never thought to ask. To Everett, it was bewildering that his mother had had thirty-five choices and the one she had picked had been his father. To him, it had always seemed like there had never been anyone else other than his father.

"Don't worry," she laughed. "You have a lot of options, which is daunting, but at the same time, it's wonderful. At the end of all this, you'll know it was all worth it."

She had gotten the wheels turning in his head. Why should he have to be so curious when he had access to all of the previous Selections?

He stared up at the theater screen, watching as a much younger version of his mother skipped across the Report stage, before plopping down in the interview chair, where Graydon began his string of questions.

"So tell me, Princess Emily, what are you looking forward to the most?" Graydon asked her.

"Well," she giggled. "I think any princess in my shoes would want a fairytale romance. I know my parents have one."

The camera turned to where Queen Madeline and Prince Wells were sitting side by side. For a moment it showed a close up of her smiling face before it narrowed in on their intertwined hands.

"But most of all," she continued, "I want someone who will be a role model to the people of Illéa. The people need someone to look up to. But more than anything, he needs to be someone I can respect and cherish."

It was strange for him to see his mother so young. She wasn't entirely a different person, but it was apparent that the years had changed her. The free-spirited girl she once was had been replaced by the much more serious person she had become.

He had just gotten past the announcing of the Selected when Elisa found him.

"What are you doing in here?" Elisa asked before she saw what he was watching.

She walked over to where he was in the front row, then sat beside him. From the corner of his eye, he could see her cock her head to one side as she watched the screen.

"Have you ever seen any of these?" He asked.

"No," she told him.

"Really? I was sure you had."

"Rett, I'm pretty certain that none of the royal children ever watched footage from their parents Selection. Something innately wrong about it."

"I don't see why."

She remained silent, completely engrossed in watching their mother interview each of the contestants. A few contestants in she'd gone from being the polite princess she was supposed to be to a complete flirt. After the second flirty interview, he couldn't take watching it anymore.

He hit the fast forward button. Together they watched the Selected have the first dinner and the first date all in high speed. He hit play just as his mother was having what appeared to be another interview with Graydon.

"Anders and I had a lovely evening last night," Emily sighed, blushing slightly as she talked.

"Is that so?" Graydon gave her a little smile. "Why don't you tell us a little about what you did?"

"First, we had dinner out on the terrace by the gardens, then we took a walk, and at the end of the night I let him escort me back to my room."

"Is that all?" He asked. "A little birdy told me there was more."

Graydon threw a small smirk at the camera before leaning over intently.

"Graydon, I don't know what you could ever mean my that!" She exclaimed in mock surprise.

Right on queue footage of Anders kissing her outside her bedroom door popped up on the screen. Everett's eyes went wide. He fumbled for the remote for a moment, immediately hitting pause once he found it.

"Still wondering why none of the kids ever watch these?" Elisa asked, with a hint of amusement in her voice.

"No," he breathed.

"Didn't think so."

The Report began a bit later than it was supposed to because in all the chaos Everett had accidentally left the applications in his room. Everett had picked them himself and they had been locked away in his desk drawer. He had to go back and get them much to the staff's displeasure. But there was nothing they could do since he was a major part of that evening's broadcast.

The Advisors took turns covering everything from the proposed budget cuts for the military to the upcoming province elections. Essentially it was nothing unusual. Following Advisor Penman's presentation on improvement for the education system, Everett's mother took the stage. And for the first time all evening the audience went silent. That was the effect Queen Emily had on everyone. She was someone to be respected.

"I am pleased to announce that I along with the queen of the German Federation, will begin our talks for a peace treaty with France at the end of the month. Queen Lida and I are confident that the negotiations will be a success and that King Sellius of France will accept our terms. As we move towards this momentous occasion we hope that you will rejoice with us. Though France was once our ally, tensions have grown over the years, leading up to our current estrangement."

She made no mention of the free press situation, which told Everett that she was hoping to have it resolved before the peace talks. He knew that she would only make it public knowledge if she had no other choice.

"I am optimistic that there will be a good outcome. Should you have any inquiries I ask that you send them to our advisory board, and they will respond in a timely manner."

Queen Emily paused. With a flourish she looked over at Everett, causing a slight chatter to break out in the audience.

"I will now turn things over to Graydon Novak, because you are all anxious no doubt. To all of the lovely young ladies who have been Selected, I look forward to welcoming you into my home."

With that, she bowed and returned to her seat, as Graydon made his way onto the stage. After his introductions, he called on Everett to come sit in the seat across from him.

"Tonight's the big night, Prince Everett," Graydon chirped. "I don't know about you but the past two weeks have been nothing but pure torment."

The audience tittered and Everett smiled.

"I agree with you, it didn't seem to get here quick enough, but here we are," Everett laughed, looking into the camera.

"Now I know we're all anxious to get to the big announcement," Graydon said, "But I think it's worth mentioning how exciting this is. Yours is the first female Selection that Illéa has had in over a century."

"Yes," Everett smiled. "Not since my great great grandfather."

"I'm sure you'll make him proud, Your Highness," Graydon remarked.

Everett knew things were winding down, and that it was time for the announcements.

"Thank you, Graydon."

"With that, ladies and gentleman, it's time for what you've been waiting for all evening."

Everett stood up and made his way to where the envelopes were in a bowl on the table next to the podium. Next to it was an empty bowl for the Selected he had already announced.

Reaching down, he picked up the first envelope he touched. Everett could hear the room go silent. And in that moment he was aware that the entire country was watching him in anticipation.

Everett took a moment to look up at the television screen facing him. He could see his mother holding her breath, while Clara eagerly sat on the edge of her seat and Elisa was visibly biting her lip. The only one in his family who appeared to be calm was his grandmother, who gave him a reassuring nod, knowing that he was watching them.

He turned his attention back to the envelope in his hand. After giving Illéa a smile one final time he broke the seal and pulled the card and picture out. He then looked back to the camera and prepared to read her name.

Pesky tabloids conflicts with France, old Selection footage, and a nervous prince. My what a lot to take in.

Not going to lie, I had a lot of fun writing this. Strangely I really enjoyed writing the political aspects. It's a nice change of pace for me. I liked writing about the tabloids. I'm a girl who checks the news about fifteen times a day and sometimes the tabloids pop up. The whole thing with Elisa was inspired by how magazines are always claiming that the Duchess of Cambridge is pregnant. In reality, Elisa doesn't like to be seen in public because that just isn't her life anymore. The only reason she's currently at the palace is to help of with a Selection that was supposed to have been her and to support her brother.

Side note, did anyone catch Everett's reference to Ahren? (France had been one of Illéa's first allies and Everett's mother was doing everything in her power to make sure that things went back to the way they had been. He'd even had a great something uncle who had married a French princess.)

By the way, I'm waiting until I get the rest of the applications to update. Until then, I'll just plot ways to send girls home. I already know who's going first (don't worry, it isn't an application girl).

Please let me know what you think! I'm open to suggestions and criticisms and really anything else.

Next up: the Selected will be announced