STAMP OF APPROVAL - a selection story

"and i'm choosing you"

Maybe she does. Maybe I'm not hiding it well enough. Maybe everything is clearly written on my face and she's about to make the decision to let me go instead. I still can't determine which is worse, if she let me go or held onto me.

Ambrose's words fight their way into my memory. I was the best person for her, Levi. I glance over to Charlotte, the pit in my stomach growing. She can't even see that. What makes you think you can be if I'm being eliminated?

"Is—" I take in a breath. "Is everyone else gone?"

She nods. "Yes. There's no else here, but you."

I look at my feet. She's hanging all of her hope on me.

"What if—" My hands are shaking so I place them behind my back. "What if they were better for you?" I whisper in horror, wondering if all along, Ambrose was right. If he truly was the best person for her, the best person for this nation, the best person for the role of the king. Then where would that leave me as the person Charlotte chose?

Should I have simply just left on my very first day here?

"You deserve better," I whisper, staring at my hands. My hands, so dirty and covered in tattoos and grease. Hands that aren't meant to hold someone like Charlotte.

"That's what you don't get," she says, and she's exasperated. She crosses the room to stand in front of me. "I don't care if I deserve better, because I want you."

I lift my head. She takes my hand.

"There is nothing better than you."

Before I can respond, before I can tell her every reason why I'm not better for her, she has pressed her lips against mine, holding onto me and pressing her body closer. For a moment, I can only stand there in shock as she kisses me, but then I lean into her, hands wrapping around her waist.

"Wait," I find myself whispering, pulling away, the emotion clogging my throat. Charlotte falls back onto her feet, hands still around my neck, watching me silently. "I still need— I still need time." She pulls her hands away. "I'm sorry." I hang my head, taking a step back.

"I-I understand," Charlotte whispers, and my head lifts in surprise.

I nod back, working my mouth, turning to the exit of the garage. Before I convince myself to stay, I turn around and head back toward the castle.

—

"Levi, please come in."

I was not expecting the summation from King Will, but I find myself in his office at midnight, closing the door behind me as I face him. The office is dimmed significantly, and I can hardly see his face as I take a seat in one of the many cushioned armchairs.

"Make yourself comfortable," he says curtly, straightening himself in his own chair.

It's hard to get comfortable, and it's not because of the chair. It's because I am assuming he knows what happened this afternoon, and this meeting will tell me whether or not he wants me as his future son-in-law. He will either accept me or he will send me away.

"Charlotte has told me of your... dilemma," he starts, leaning forward in his chair. He looks away, taking in a deep breath. "I suppose I should have known from the very beginning that she would choose you." He meets my gaze. "But I see it's you who has refused her. I may even begin to like you a little for it, Mr. Hernandez." He grins, as if he just told a joke, but I know he's serious.

"I have not refused her," I say, crossing my arms over my chest. "I simply... need time."

He nods. "Yes. She has said as much." He almost looks disappointed. "Now, Mr. Hernandez, I am about to suggest something that not even Charlotte herself knows about. And I need you to consider these next words very seriously." Any pretense of a smile has now vanished, and he stares at me with a rigid expression. "Am I understood?"