Nara couldn't believe her ears. Na Jaemin, the doofus that she had grew up with had liked her all this time.
Nara decided that she had heard enough, making her way back to the ballroom where Jeno was still seated with Jia. He must have noticed the look on her face as he turned to look at her as his smile immediately fell.
"Nara, are you okay?" Jeno asked, snapping the girl out of her trance. She faked a smile and nodded her head.
"Yeah, just the lady's thing." Nara lied. Jeno seemed too believe her though as he nodded his head, turning back to Jia. Moments later, Jaemin and Cai returned.
"Well, I have to say, you two really outdid yourselves here. Thank you so much for hosting this." Cai said with a smile as he clapped his hands together but the words didn't register into Nara's head. She could only think about what she had heard in the halls.
"Nara?" Nara saw someone wave a hand in front of her and turned to look at who it was. "I'm leaning now." Cai said with a smile. Nara nodded her head, standing up.
"Thank you for coming." Nara said with a curtsy as she walked with Cai, Jia, and his friends to the front doors of the castle. Jia gave her a big hug.
"Today was so fun, will it be like this the next time I come?" Jia asked with big eyes. Nara smiled back at her.
"I'll try but I can't gurantee anything." Nara said with a chuckle. Cai gave both Jeno and Jaemin a big hug each while the two boys shook the hands of the Prince's friends. As Cai hugged Jaemin, Nara couldn't help but stare as Cai whispered something into Jaemin's ear before stepping back.
"Well, thank you for the good time, Illea. The next time I'll be back will be Nara's wedding." Cai said with a wink as he entered the limo with his entourage. Nara bit her lip.
He made is sound like my wedding would be so soon.
...
Nara, Jeno, and Jaemin entered the castle once the had watched the New Asian royals leave, where the four other Elite were waiting with Heeyoung. Nara watched as the two boys joined the others in their line.
Nara stared at them until Heeyoung nudged her.
"Your highness, the elimination." Heeyoung whispered to her. Nara had forgot about that. Nara immediately made up a speech in her head.
"That marks the completion of the last reception. I will be announcing the two boys that will be going home tomorrow night, so please, enjoy the day with each other tomorrow." Nara said, giving them a wide smile. "You may carry on with your night."
The six men in front of her bowed before making their exit. Once they were gone, Heeyoung turned to her.
"Your highness, why didn't you eliminate the two now, it was quite obvious." Heeyoung asked her. Nara looked at the lady.
"Tonight was a night a celebration, don't you think it would be too harsh to eliminate two boys tonight?" Nara asked back. Heeyoung immediately bowed her head.
"That is true, your highness." Heeyoung replied. "I'll be excusing myself for the night."
Heeyoung curtsied before heading up to her room for the night. Nara let out a deep sigh.
The real reason why she didn't eliminate anyone that night was because before, she was so sure that Jeno was the one for her but after hearing Jaemin's true feelings, she didn't know anymore.
...
Nara woke up to knocking on her door and was surprised when a maid opened it up to reveal the Queen.
"Mother?" Nara exclaimed, sitting up on her bed. The Queen smile.
"I heard that you were having lady issues yesterday." Her mother said, taking a seat on the bed.
Jeno must have told Jaemin, who either told his mother or the Queen directly.
Nara sighed, knowing that she couldn't lie to her mother. "That wasn't true."
"I know." The Queen responded before asking the maids to leave. Once they were out of the room, she turned to her daughter. "If you did, you wouldn't tell Jeno. So why exactly did you leave last night."
Nara sighed before spilling everything that she had heard from Cai and Jaemin. Her mother listened intently as her daughter spoke.
"To be quite frank, I already knew that Jaemin liked you this entire time, he made it quite obvious." The Queen said with a chuckle. Nara pouted.
"I thought he was just being friendly! Plus, he kept trying to set me up with Jeno so how was I supposed to know?" Nara whined. The Queen gave her a small smile.
"I think it's normal to be confused, but I wouldn't know. The boys are all really kind and sweet and at this point, I honestly wouldn't mind if any of them became King. But, this is a conversation for your father. I came to ask about something else, actually." The Queen told her.
"What is it?" Nara asked her mother.
"With your permission, I'd like to talk to each of the Selected one on one." The Queen told her. Nara tilted her head.
"You have my permission, but I'm curious as to why." Nara confessed.
"I want to give the boys my advice for the remainder of the Selection and just talk to them about my observations, both as a Queen and as a mother. Besides, I was technically the winner of the last Selection." The Queen said with a grin. Nara nodded her head.
"That makes sense. Go ahead." Nara said to her mother.
"Have you selected who to eliminate tonight?" The Queen asked. Nara nodded her head.
"Haechan and Mark. I couldn't save them if I wanted to, their reception was an absolute disaster." Nara confessed.
"I agree. They're both lovely boys but the reception... was not the greatest." The Queen said with a small giggle. "Anyways, I'll let you do the honours tonight. I'll let the maids know that I'll be starting the interviews soon."
Nara watched as the Queen got up from her bed, heading to door. As she opened it, Nara called out to her.
"Mother, who will you be interviewing first?" Nara questioned with wide eyes. The Queen gave her a smile.
"Lee Jeno, of course."
...
"I'm going home tomorrow, aren't I?" Haechan asked as he took the box from Nara's hands.
"I.."
"It's okay. Our reception was a mess." Haechan said, cutting her off. Nara bit her lip.
Nara had had a similar conversation with Mark earlier when she had given him his gift, her favourite novel from the palace libraries. She let out a small sigh.
"Yes, you are." Nara answered. Haechan slowly nodded his head, gripping to the box.
"What is this?" Haechan asked her. Nara gave him a small smile.
"Open it." Nara told him. Haechan pulled the gold ribbon, removing the lid, revealing a golden microphone inside.
"Your highness, you didn't need to." Haechan said but Nara shook her head.
"You'll need it. For your performance at my wedding." Nara said as Haechan widened his eyes.
"Performance? Wedding?" Haechan asked. Nara smiled.
"Did you really think that I wouldn't get you to sing at my wedding?" Nara said as Haechan gave her a big hug. Nara softly patted his pack.
Now, four boys remained in her Selection.
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I am so sorry that i've been MIA for two days, school has been busy and so has work.. but good news, i have published a new book!
It's called breathe and it's about doctors! Check it out!!!