Chapter 167


    I followed Lilliana further into the gardens to a small rod–iron table with two chairs. Lilliana motioned for


    me to sit and then sat in the opposite chair.


    “I’m d we could finally have a chance to talk like this,” Lilliana said. She rested both hands on top of


    the table.


    I’mirrored her for a moment, but it felt unnatural having my hands lifted so high. I lowered them into my


    “What was it you wanted to


    talk to


    me about?” Nervousness prickled at my skin. While it wasn’t unusual for the candidates to talk to each


    other, this still felt like a special event. Lilliana had called me out in front of Nichs himself. She very


    nearly broke character to do it.


    She gave me a sour kind of look. The way a disappointed principal would make to a rowdy student in.


    their charge. “Prince Nichs. I want to ask you to please leave him alone. You are a distraction to


    him.”


    we are friends.”


    “I’m not doing anything to bother him, or at least, not trying to. But we


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    Nichs hade to my rescue more than once now. And somehow when I needed things or support,


    Nichs was always around to help. But that’s what friends did.


    Lilliana narrowed her eyes. It was unusual for her to show any emotion. Tiny rm bells started


    sounding in my head.


    “What is your problem, Piper?” she snapped, voice suddenly much sharper than it had been before.


    Her narrowed gaze had be a fully blown re.


    I was shocked silent for a moment. I opened and closed my mouth like a fish.


    Lilliana did not wait for my reply. “You can’t have both brothers! If you are after Julian, you should stick


    with him and leave Nichs alone. It doesn’t even make sense to chase both!”


    “I’m not chasing anyone.” I lifted my hands now, palms forward in defense. “I’m not after any of the


    brothers.”


    “Oh, sure, like anyone is supposed to believe that.” She crossed her arms.


    “It’s true!”


    She rolled her eyes. “You are constantly all over both of them. They won’t both pick you in the next


    elimination, Piper. Focus your efforts on Julian, who I shouldn’t need to remind you that you have been


    dating, and leave Nichs to me.”


    She saw me as a threat. That much was clear. What she failed to understand was that I wasn’t a threat


    to her so much as she was a threat to herself. Nichs might say now that he will marry whoever the


    King wants, but I refused he would be able to follow through.


    Nichs deserved a partner. Not a pawn.


    I lowered my hands and lifted my chin. “I am friends with Nichs. That is all. But because I am friends


    with him, I want him to be with someone he actually likes and not someone who just agrees with him all


    the time.”


    Lilliana looked at me for a moment, then threw her head back andughed. “Piper, you are so na?ve!


    That


    is not how royalty works. What did you think he was going to marry for love? Cute.”


    I knew she was making fun of me but she didn’t have to be so sé about it.


    “No one marries for love.” She didn’t even look sad about it. She had simply just epted it as fact.


    “Well, I think that should change, and not just for the sake of the princes, but for the girls too.”


    Lillianaughed again, harder than before. “You want to save us all, huh? Oh, Piper. You need to just


    ept this is how things are. This is how they’ve always been, and it’s how they always will be.”


    “I refuse to ept that, and you should too.”


    “You are a riot,” Lilliana said, chuckling again.


    But then suddenly, she totally stifled herself. In the blink of an eye, she shifted from the haughty


    laughing princess to a wilting flower.


    I didn’t even need to look to know that Nichs had approached us from behind me.


    “Piper must have told quite the joke,” Nichs said. “I’ve never heard youugh so… boisterously


    before, Liliana


    Lilliana ced her hand over her mouth and cleared her throat. “She can be quite funny when she


    wants


    to be.”


    I frowned. Nothing I had said was a joke.


    I’m pleased to hear it.” He walked to our table, a small smile on his lips. Yet one look at me, and that


    smile dimmed into an expression of confusion. “I know it was probably a fool’s hope, but I always


    wanted more of the nobility to get along.”


    Nichs was kind, to include me in that statement, when everyone in the whole kingdom knew that!


    wasmon.


    Lilliana’s smile pulled tight. Her desire to put me down seemed at war with her will to want to agree with


    everything Nichs said. I wondered which would win.


    “You are so kind, Nichs,” she said after a beat. “To want us all to get along. Humans really should


    get along with one another better, shouldn’t they?”


    ‘Nichs’s face fell. “Yes. Thank you, Lillians


    I felt bed for Lilliana in that moment, for the show she felt she had to perform. I knew she hated me


    enough to mock me, but my feelings for her were merely that of pity. She couldn’t truly be happy with


    the


    way things were.


    Maybe she wanted to be Luna. But I wondered if she even liked Nichs at all.


    Did she find him attractive? Did she marvel at the green flecks in his eyes? The strong width of his


    shoulders?


    Or did she look at him and see nothing but a crown?


    Lilliana smiled dully at me, then turned that same smile on Nichs. “Prince Nichs, with the


    eliminationing up, you will save me, won’t you? I know the princes will get to decide. I just can’t


    help but worry, even though I am your favorite.”


    Nichs looked down at the ground. “Of course, Lilliana. You can rest assured. Your spot is safe in the


    next elimination.”


    “Thank you, Prince Nichs.”


    When Lilliana shifted her gaze back to me, it added a subtle edge. She was daring me to ask him for


    my own sake, but I wouldn’t. I couldn’t. Even though I hated it, Nichs had an obligation to his


    kingdom. He had to choose each of his selections carefully.


    I wanted him to promise to save me, but that was entirely selfish. We all knew I wouldn’t be Luna. To


    select me was to through away a crucial vote.


    Besides, as I was acting as Julian’s favorite, it would be improper to seek sce with a different prince.


    If I was going to be saved, it was up to Julian to save me..


    But deep in my heart, I did wish it could be Nichs who saved me.


    The way he had pressed his lips to mine during the ball had sent tingles down my spine. I could still


    feel the gentle press of his lips to mine if I closed my eyes and imagined.


    I didn’t want him to have to pick other girls. I wanted him to pick only me.