How would you react when the person you had one night stand with is actually the emperor of the country and you're the only one who's not a family member that knows about the emperor's secrets?
"There is no need for you to be so polite. But if we go with the title, I must say that I have to be bowing to you since grand duchess Annabelle is the one who sponsored you." Really? Just because she's the emperor's cousin?
"What weapon of choice will you pick?" Well, the only weapon the duchess taught me was the sword.
"A sword." Her eyebrows raised.
"A sword? Really? That thing is heavy. Will you be able to carry it around your waist?" I nod. Please, I took care and carry around my little siblings and do all the house chore before. A sword doesn't phase me.
"I'm sorry if I ever offended you in any way. I was born to have this kind of expression. I blame my father for having such evil glare. The emperor often makes fun of me because every time I try to make friends they all will assume I came for blood." Is she ... opening up to me?
"Oh, it's okay. And no, you never offend me at all. I was told to just ignore everyone who seems to hate me for some reason I don't know about." She giggled.
"You really have no idea why Natania do what she did?" I shake my head no. Jealousy I guess?
"She feels threatened. That's why. We all saw how the emperor reacted when he saw you at dinner. Everyone was so fixated to bring you down that they forgot about their own task at hands." Really? They were all threatened?! By a commoner?!
"Natania is not a bad person when you get to know her. She's just a fragile noblewoman. The only person who ever sees her break down is Alvia. You see, all three of us are his childhood friends. When our names were announced, we all know he just wants to get this over as soon as he can. We all know the result of this the moment our name was called." She chuckled.
Was that suppose to make me feel better about this whole ordeal?
"I just hope nothing bad will happen. That forest is bad news." She said in such low voice but I heard her clearly.
What does she mean by that?
***
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"Welcome, ladies. I hope you all had a long night of sleep yesterday." The chamberlain greeted us when we arrived at the forest entrance. I can't believe how much coverage we're getting because of this.
"Seem like the media is getting a lot of material for their station. There's no room for a mistake for this." Luna whispered.
"From what I'm seeing, you all decided to go in pair?" We all nod our head. The chamberlain then turns her head to listen to what the maid has to say. They were whispering and it was hard for me to hear what they're talking about.
"I was informed that the emperor has given his approval for the media to interview the candidates. They will only be given 10 minutes to interview each of you before the event starts." Luna sigh beside me.
