Chapter 173


    It wasn’t that I didn’t believe Mark when he had told me that Julian had left the pce and hadn’t been


    seen since the morning, but I still had to snoop around some to be sure. I needed to talk to him so


    badly, t


    couldn’t just sit around and wait for him to return.


    I asked some of the servants and the more–friendly of the guards. But each person had the same story,


    more or less. No one had seen Julian or his Beta Brian since the morning Julian and I had talk to


    Williams.


    “It’s not unusual for him to disappear,” said one of the servants. “Prince Julian is a bit rebellious.


    Sometimes he would leave the pce for days at a time only to return with no exnation. No one’s


    ever


    really sure about that one.”


    That didn’t make me feel at all better. He would disappear for a few days? Surely he would know this


    time about the elimination ceremony. He wouldn’t leave me high and dry while he was off doing


    something foolish, would he?


    No, I couldn’t believe that. Much of Julian’s kiness was a fa?ade he put on. He took plenty of things


    seriously.


    Like our investigation.


    I didn’t want to admit to myself that I was worried about him. Nichs had been right about one thing:


    investigating the underground organization was dangerous.


    Julian and I weren’t exactly friends, but I didn’t want to see him harmed.


    I half–hoped he had simply run off with some random girl for a while, being irresponsible but safe,


    rather than the alternative that he was actually in trouble.


    Either way, he wasn’t here now, so I couldn’t speak with him about securing my spot in the elimination.


    I could only hope that he would return in time, and that he would consider me in his selections.


    To give the candidates just a bit more time with the princes, that evening, a brief meetup was arranged


    in one of the sitting rooms. Since Julian was missing, only Nichs and Joyce attended. The girls fully


    surrounded Nichs, while Joyce had only two or three girls vying for his attention.


    Nichs had locked eyes with me for a moment, before looking away. This was fine with me. I didn’t


    want to speak to him either. The presence of his emotionless mask hurt though, just a tiny bit. It


    seemed like he was treating me just as he did all the other girls.


    Wasn’t that what he had done earlier, too? He hadn’t spoken to me as a friend, he hadmanded me


    as a prince.


    Fine Perfect.


    This is ridiculous,” said one of the girls near me, who had tried to get closer to Nichs but was shoved


    away by the group circling him now.


    Tell me about it,” said another. “At this rate, we might as well see ourselves out. I don’t even think


    Prince Nichs knows my name.”


    “Well, what about Prince Joyce?” asked the first.


    “Prince Joyce?”


    N?velDrama.Org ? 2024.


    Both turned their heads to look at him. I did, too. He was chatting politely with the three girls near him,


    Susie being one of them. Jessica was another.


    “Thepetition isn’t so fierce with him,” said the first girl.


    She was right. Joyce was quiet and shy. For most of thepetition, he kept to himself, only brought


    into the spotlight when it was absolutely required of him. I wasn’t sure I had heard him spoke more than


    a handful of words at any one time.


    I tried to remember him from our days at the Academy. He would have been a few or two younger than


    us. But nothing stood out in my memory, not even his face. He must have preferred to stay in the


    background then too.


    The second girl pouted. “But Prince Nichs is the one I want.”


    “I think you need to ept that ship has sailed,” said the first.