Chapter 142
The next afternoon, Elva and I watched from the window as the second garden party was held down
below.
Because of the dy, the girls had been given another chance to remake their food items that moming
This seemed a bit unfair, since their appetizers would be much fresher than those from the day before.
which had been made and then ced into storage.
I couldn’t and wouldn’tin though. The girls had been denied their chance yesterday, and this
was
the fairest way of making that up to them.
The Queen herself seemed much better, standing upright and majestic as ever. Linda’s undercooked,
spoiled eggs likely only made her sick for a few hours. I’d never been able to tell she’d been sick at all,
looking at her now.
“Their dresses are so pretty, Mommy.” Elva said. She seemed particrly taken with Olivia’s pink
ruffles. Blonde and beautiful, Olivia looked great in everything.
I hated to be so self–centered, but seeing Olivia look so regal and stunning made me pull into myself a
little.
Linda’s insult stuck out in my mind, reminding me that no matter how I dressed, I would always be
common underneath. Such thoughts never really bothered me before. But sitting here, looking at how
wlessly Olivia and Lilliana fit into their noble rules, I felt inferior.
I truly did not belong here. No one knew that better than me.
“What’s wrong? You’re frowning.” Elva poked at my cheek.
I took her hand in mine and ced a soft kiss to her palm. She was an observant little girl, I had to
remember to school my emotions around her.
Elva needed me to be strong, so I had to be. Even if we didn’t belong here, I couldn’t let Elva think so.
For her, I would bury my inferiority under a wave of courage.
“I’m okay.” I told her. “See?” I forced a big smile.
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She tilted her head like she didn’t quite believe me. But then, eventually, she nodded and looked back
to the window.
“Oh! There’s Susie!” Elva said. “Susie!” She waved, despite Susie trying her best not to look at us, as
the royal family was at her table.
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In the end, only Nichs nced up at us, a tiny smile on his lips. He didn’t look long enough for Elva
to switch her attention to him, however.
I gently shush Elva. “She’s in the middle of something important. We can say hi to herter.”
“Her dress is so pretty,” Elva said.
I agreed. She looked great in a crimson cocktail dress withce trim
Behind us, Mark slowly came closer to the window. I gave him a knowing look. “Would you like to take
a peek, Mark?”
His cheeks flushed slightly. “No, I… Well, if it wouldn’t bother you too much.”
I waved him forward. Together, we all looked out the window. Seeing Susie, Mark’s breath caught. I
pretended I didn’t notice.
Later that afternoon, the rest of the girls and I were called down to join the party, to receive the results.
We stood out in the grass. Susie shared some of her leftover appetizers with Elva and me. After eating
hers, Elva skipped circles around us.
“This is delicious,” I told Susie as I finished my own pastry treat.
She shrugged. “Thank you. There’s no way we won though. Neither my partner nor I knew what to talk
to the royal family about. We mostly stood there awkwardly.”
“I’m sure it wasn’t all that bad,” I said, offering my friend as much support as I could
Yet she did not seem at all convinced by my words. “It was worse.”
“May I have your attention, please? Nathan called.
We all quieted down and turned toward him, waiting for him to begin. There was a brief dy as the
camera crews set themselves up to capture both Nathan and the royal family behind him.
“The royal family would like to thank you all for giving your best to this garden party event,” Nathan
continued, after given the green light by the camera crews. “As you know, this was a chance for you to
demonstrate your ability to cooperate and negotiated with adversaries.”