Lady Jia

The garden was the only place in this busy Palace that I could clear my head. So much had been going on. A rebel attack had happened, the Princess was kidnapped, the Prince was a recovering alcoholic and Sawyer was eliminated in a rather abrupt way. And all the while I still hadn't really felt a connection with Killian. We hadn't been on a date yet, but we had interacted, and I just didn't feel it. He was attractive, sure, and very bold and fiery, just like me, but I believed a connection should be natural, not forced. And we hadn't had that connection. Not yet at least.

I turned the corner to find myself in a secluded area of the Palace garden. On a bench sat the German Prince, his bleached hair shining in the sunlight. He looked up, noticing the sound my horrid heels made.

I quickly curtsied to the best of my abilities, and Oskar stood up and bowed.

''Your Highness,'' I breathed, just now noticing how striking his pale blue eyes were.

He smiled, and extended his hand to me. ''I don't believe we've met yet?'' He had an accent when he spoke English, and it was charming in a way.

I took his hand and shook it, ''Well, I know who you are. My name is Jia. But please don't call me lady, that's not who I am, at all. I'm just a firefighter who got Selected.''

''A firefighter? That's interesting. Will you have a seat with me?''

I nodded, taking a seat beside him on the stone bench. I couldn't help but gaze at his hair in wonder, a Crown Prince with bleached hair?

He saw me staring and chuckled. ''You're probably wondering why I have bleached hair?''

I grinned, ''You caught me.''

''Let's just say that like Killian, I had a rebellious phase as well. His involved partying, mine involved dying my hair. Sounds boring compared to him, huh?''

''It also sounds a lot safer.''

That earned me a smirk. ''That's true.''

''How are you dealing with the Yasmin situation?''

Oskar's face fell, his smile fading as he looked at the bright blue sky. ''I'm worried about her. I try not to think about what those rebels could be doing to her, and hope she comes back quickly. But it makes me feel useless, because that is all I can do. Hope and wait around.''

I nodded, ''That must be difficult.''

He didn't reply, he just kept staring at the sky, as if the answer to finding Yasmin was written there.

''Do you love her?'' The moment that question slipped out of my mouth, I regretted it. I had always been bad with knowing boundaries, but this time I had really crossed a line. He was a Prince, a Crown Prince, and I just asked him if he loved his fiancée, our Princess.

His head turned my way, a blank expression on his face, before his mouth curved into a smile. ''You really are something. I've never had someone ask me a question like that on our first meeting, not even reporters.'' His eyes narrowed. ''You're not a reporter, posing as a firefighter turned Selected, are you?''

I laughed and shook my head. ''No, I'm just a girl who's bad with etiquette and knows no boundaries.''

''Arabella would be disappointed in you.''

My eyes widened at the thought of our Royal planner and the scolding I would get if she heard about this. ''Please don't tell her. Don't tell anyone, for that matter.'' I hid my face in my hands and mumbled, ''I've completely embarrassed myself.''

Oskar laughed warmly, amused by the situation. ''I won't tell anyone. It will be our little secret.''

I peeked up at him, and shot him a grateful look. ''Thank you.''

Oskar stood up and held out his arm, ''Care to join me for a walk?''

I nodded and rose to my feet, smoothing the skirt of my dress as I took his arm. ''That would be an honor.''

Lady Evelaine

My maids were even more excited than I was for my date with the Prince, if that was even possible. They bustled around me, pulling out a coral colored day dress, as our date would take place during the afternoon. It was long at the back and short at the front, ending well above my knees, and tucked in the middle to emphasize my small waist.

My golden blonde hair, which was naturally curly and didn't need much work, was braided around my head in a waterfall braid. An elegant and delicate peach blush flower headband was carefully placed on my head, and I smiled as I looked into the mirror. It was made of little bunches of resin clover flowers and weaved with crystals and pearls. It made me feel like a Princess.

Regal placed a pot of expensive looking hand crème on my vanity, and I gave her a questioning look. ''For your hands.''

I looked at my hands, the one thing I was embarrassed about. They were calloused and rough to the touch, and they definitely needed to be softened up. I grabbed the crème and gently applied it on my hands, as Regal's twin sister, Imperial, held up a pair of gold cuffs. ''How are these?''

''Perfect,'' I nodded as I took them from her hands and fastened them on my arms. I tried to tend to myself as much as I could, as I believed I didn't necessarily need maids. I needed company, and they were great at providing me exactly that.

I gazed at Desiree as she did my makeup. Desiree was absolutely gorgeous, as were my other two maids. She had fiery red hair and a build so curvaceous it made me jealous. I used to have a natural C-cup I was proud of, but after the accident, I was forced to receive B-cups. It caused me great insecurity, and I often regarded Desiree with envy. But that envy never made me act vicious in any way. If anything, I admired her. And she could work wonders with makeup. She applied a heavy wing to my eyes, a light eyeshadow and left my lips in a nude color.

I rose to my feet and stepped inside the golden gladiator-style heels I had chosen. Imperial spritzed some of my vanilla perfume on me and beamed. ''All done! You look amazing. The Prince will be so impressed by you.''

''I hope he won't just be impressed by my surface,'' I told her as I looked over the note Killian had sent to my room this morning. I was supposed to meet him in the kitchens.

After my maids had given me directions on how to get there, I arrived just in time for our date. The cooks directed me to the back of the kitchen, where I found Killian waiting. He looked simple yet dashing, in a nautical striped sweater and white pants. Wrong choice on the pants, those were going to get dirty. God, why did I always sound like a pervert?

He gently took my hand and pressed a kiss to my knuckles, and I thanked God for the fast working hand crème, and hoped my skin had absorbed it so he didn't have a weird artificial taste in his mouth. If he did, his face didn't betray it, and I felt myself relaxing.

He smiled, ''Lady Evelaine, thank you for agreeing to join me in the kitchens on this lovely day. I hope you won't mind that we're spending our date indoors.''

I shook my head, ''First of all, you don't have to call me 'Lady', Elaine will do just fine. And I don't mind being here at all. But if I may ask, why did you pick the kitchens?''

''I read on your form that you love baking, and I love sweets.'' He grinned. ''So I thought, why not bake something together?''

My whole face lit up at that idea. Next to writing, baking was my favorite hobby. And I was pretty damn good at it. ''Sounds great. Do you know how to bake?''

He grinned sheepishly, ''Not really. But you can teach me.''

''Oh what an honor it would be to teach the Crown Prince how to bake,'' I joked, and I started rummaging through the utensils.

''So what are we making?'' Killian asked as he rolled up his sleeves.

''A peanut butter cookie dough brownie layer cake.''

His jaw dropped, ''Are you just summing up flavors or is that a real cake?''

''It's a real cake, and it tastes like heaven. Layers of brownie and peanut butter cookie dough are layered together and topped with chocolate ganache and a touch of peanut butter icing.''

''That does sound heavenly. Let's hope I won't mess it up,'' he grinned.

''Not on my watch.''

I gave Killian some small tasks to do and started on the cake. It had a lot of elements and would take quite some time, which is why I had chosen this cake. I wanted as much time with the Prince as I could, as he had really sparked my interest and I was eager to get to know him.

''So what made you turn to drinking?''

His question surprised me, so early on in the date, but then again, he had opened up to us last night about his alcohol abuse.

''Stress and pressure. I'm not proud to admit it, but it was not uncommon to see me drink just about any grown man under the table just to ruin his pride in my past years as a teen. I decided it was best to stop when I was fifteen, because it might ruin my health and my brother would kill me if he found out.'' I smiled fondly as I thought of my brother.

''Stress from what?''

I poured the batter in three pans. ''My mother isn't very supportive of my career and aspirations. She thinks I should have more interest in beauty than books. There has been an incident in which she has burned my entire novelty collection.''

Killian gave me a sympathetic look. ''That sounds awful.''

I nodded, ''But luckily for me, I had my great-grandmother and brother. He really is my best friend, and raised me more than my mother ever could.''

He smiled, his thoughts probably going to his sister. ''It's great that you have such a good bond with him. Siblings are important.''

''If you are as lucky as us to have such great siblings.''

He chuckled. ''That's true.''

''What about you? Why did you start drinking?''

He hesitated for a moment, his expression closing up. ''I'm the Crown Prince, and I will follow in the footsteps of a great King. Isn't that reason enough?''

I nodded thoughtfully. ''That must give you a lot of pressure.''

''It does. And with half the country not believing in me, it doesn't exactly make things easier for me.''

I looked at him, reaching out and gently touching his arm. ''Then prove them wrong. I believe you will become well-loved within the whole nation.''

His green eyes gazed intently at me, and I felt it. A spark between us. I took my hand off his arm and plopped the pans inside the oven. ''And now we wait.''

We took a seat near the oven, a cook bringing over refreshments, and continued talking. He told me about his childhood and the fun he had with Yasmin, and in turn I told him about the hideout Demic and I shared in our attic. For some reason, everything felt natural between us. I didn't have to think about what I was going to say, and our conversations flowed smoothly without me having to try.

Time had gone by fast, and before I knew it, the timer went off, signaling that our cake was done. I added the final icing and placed the cake in the refrigerator. I turned to find Killian with an adorable pout on his face. ''I thought the cake was done.''

I smiled and took my seat next to him. ''Not yet. It tastes better when it's cold.''

He leaned back in his chair, looking like a child who had just gotten his candy taken away from him. ''Fine, I'll wait.''

After a while, another timer began ringing, and it was time for us to finally taste our cake. I neatly cut it into pieces, setting down a plate for me and Killian. ''Bon appetit.''

He dove into the cake, and he groaned in satisfaction as he stuffed his mouth. ''This is delicious.''

''Told you it would taste like heaven,'' I replied as I also took a bite. I was right, it tasted good. Beyond good actually.

Killian was just about to cut himself another piece, when we heard a lot of bustling and moving around outside the kitchen doors. Someone was yelling, and my blood ran cold, afraid it was another rebel attack.

A guard threw open the door. ''Princess Yasmin is back!''

I was really hoping to update more this past week, but my brain was just way too tired after exams I guess. But here's another chapter! I hope you liked it. Also, I'm glad all of you supported Killian's decision in the previous chapter regarding the elimination. Oh and Oskar's faceclaim is Lucky Blue Smith.

Questions:
- What did you think of Jia and Oskar's encounter?
- Did you like Evelaine's date with Killian, and those two together?
- Are you glad Yasmin is back?

Evelaine's pinterest is updated with her date outfits, and I also pinned the cake and Killian's date outfit to his board.

Thanks for reading and keep reviewing!

Love,
Wolf