Chapter l257

Chapter 0257

I entered the dining room and sat down for breakfast across from Tiffany and Veronica and beside

Susie. Susie gave me a supportive smile.

“How’s Elva?” she asked.

“She was just exhausted,” I replied. “I let her sleep in this morning.” 1

“Oh good. I was worried.” When Susie said something like that, I believed her.

Jessica sat on Susie’s other side. She quietly ate her breakfast without making much fuss. However,

further down the table from her, Olivia and Lilliana were both glaring at me.

“I’m surprised the King let her stay,” Olivia said loudly to Lilliana, who agreed.

Tiffany rolled her eyes. “I wasn’t aware that was any of your business, Olivia. Maybe you should focus on

yourself.” Softer, to only Veronica and me, she grumbled, “Like usual.”

“Did you say something, Tiffany?” Olivia called.

“Nothing to worry about,” Tiffany replied.

Olivia frowned. Everyone went back to their breakfast.

Lilliana, however, did not seem as willing to let things go. “Piper’s behavior from the gala is inexcusable,

no matter what you say. She doesn’t deserve to even be eating breakfast with us, let alone, to stay in the

competition.”

“Let it go,” Veronica said.

“No,” Lilliana snapped. Her wilting flower façade had been crumbling for a while now. I noticed at the

gala last night. She’d glared more than usual when Nicholas’s back was turned. Usually she’d hide it

better.

I wondered if it had to do with how Nicholas had been giving Olivia and me more attention than he had

to her, when she had been the supposed favorite for so long. Lately, it seemed, she had been falling out of

favor.

“Could you imagine someone like that as Luna? Our Kingdom would be the laughing stock of the entire

continent. She’s a disgrace, An embarrassment. Someone should show her the door before she makes

everything worse.”

“And that someone should be you, Lilliana?” said Nicholas from the doorway..

Lilliana instantly paled.

Tiffany snickered into her hand. Veronica smirked,

Lilliana pushed herself off her chair. “Oh, Prince Nicholas, you must have misheard me…” She pouted a

little, her eyes wide and vulnerable.

She’d used that look on him before. Usually he bought into it.

This time, he glowered.

“Are you also attempting to judge my hearing, as you have judged Piper?” he asked.

“N–no… Of course not…”

1

“Piper has earned her spot in this competition, and no one especially not you can say she does not

belong here. The King himself has allowed her to stay. Or perhaps you feel yourself above the King?”

“No!” Lilliana scrambled closer to him, desperation in her eyes. “Please, hear me out, Prince Nicholas.”

“There’s no need. Please, return to your breakfast.” Nicholas glared at her, until she wilted back down

into her chair and obeyed him. Then he turned to me. “I would escort you back to your room, Piper, if you

are ready to go.”

“I am.” I pushed my plate away and rose to my feet.

Susie, Veronica, and Tiffany waved goodbye to each other, then I accepted Nicholas’s arm and let him

lead me from the room.

When we were out in the hallway, I said, “Thank you.”

“She had no right saying that to you,” Nicholas replied.

“She was talking about Jane,” I said.

“I’m not so sure she was,” Nicholas replied. “From what I’ve been able to tell, she’s resented you for a

while.”

I tilted my head and looked at him sideways. I didn’t think he’d been able to see through Lilliana’s

veneer.

“She doesn’t hide her disdain as well as she thinks she does,” Nicholas said.

I hummed my assent. “Is she still your favorite?”

I wasn’t totally sure why I asked. I didn’t want to know the answer if the answer was yes. Maybe it was

somewhat.

I knew it was all only temporary, and that I was playing with fire. But I still couldn’t stay away. It didn’t

matter how much it burned.

Nicholas looked at me. “She was never my favorite.”

My heart began to race, the treacherous thing. I had no reason to think that meant I was his favorite instead, except the intense focus of his gaze, the way he stared down into my soul.

“Nick, I…” I didn’t know what to say.

“It’s okay, Piper,” he said. I guessed I didn’t need to know.

Nicholas was the kindest man I had ever met by fair. Brave and strong. Valiant, always upholding his

sense of justice.

He would make a great King. And a wonderful husband.

I wished I would be able to see him as both. I would have to settle for one.

When we walked closer to the staircase, Nicholas pulled me into an alcove. In the shadow of the

doorway, he tugged me into his arms and k*ssed me until I was breathless.

I smiled against his mouth. “What was that for?”

“I couldn’t wait anymore,” he said, like that was reason enough. Maybe it was.

“Then k*ss me again,” I said. “Make it last until next time.”

One of these k*sses would be our last, but I prayed it wasn’t this one. Or the next. Or the next.

He cupped my cheek with his hand. Tilting me gently, he deepened our k*ss, licking his way past the

seam of my l*ps.

I sighed against him and wrapped my arms around his n*eck. I combed my fingers through the hair on

the back of his head.

He pulled away, enough for us to breathe, then he repositioned and dove back in.

If I had the power to extend time, this was the moment I would have wanted to last forever. I could

have stayed just like this, tucked away from the world in this alcove, wrapped in his safety and warmth.

Here, my worries felt terribly far away. His soft, persistent mouth chased away every bad thought that meant to haunt my waking hours.

Here, there existed only me and him and the bond that connected us – the one we so often ignored.

It was a long time before we parted again. We held hands as we ascended the stairwell toward the guest wing. At the top of the stairs, we both stopped.

A pair of paramedics were standing at my door.

“Elva!” I gasped and rushed forward. Nicholas was hot on my heels.

As we came closer to the room, we found one of the guards on the ground, a knife–wound across his

stomach. The other guard raised his sword against me.

“Hold!” Nicholas shouted. He pulled me behind him.

The guard immediately lowered the sword. “Forgive me, Prince Nicholas.” To raise a weapon against

one of the royal family was akin to treason.

“Forget that. Tell me what’s happening.”

“She…” The guard motioned towards me. “She stabbed him!”

!

Nicholas glanced back at me. Then he returned his gaze to the guard. “We’ve gone over this. You mean

her sister. Did you ask the identifying question? Where’s Mark?”

“Where’s Elva?!” I chimed in.

The guard motioned toward the door. The paramedics continued to work on the other guard.

Nicholas opened the door and I rushed inside. I skidded to a stop as I came face to face with the barrel

of a handgun.

“What is today’s identifying answer,” Mark asked. His hand was steady. His aim true. A fired shot would

kill me, straight through the heart. “Answer. Now.”