chapter 4

I felt that I did alright during my dinner with the prince. We ate a full five-course meal and tackled pretty much all the first date things. He asked about my family and after telling him some boring facts I in return asked about his. Apparently, he was closer to his siblings than to his parents, which I could understand seeing as they had to work all the time.

I had gone on my date on day one, so I now had five days of complete nothingness to fill in. We were allowed to leave the castle, as long as we were being protected by guards. Tessa wanted to talk to me about her meet up with the prince, which would happen tomorrow, but every time we tried to meet up in the castle other girls insisted on talking to me too.

It all had to do with that damn vote count website. It felt like I had been invisible to them before my name appeared on the website, and now they all suddenly wanted to be my best friend. I suppose a way of standing out is having famous friends, but seeing as most of them had been proper bitches to me before the website I decided to just keep to myself and to Tessa.

We had two guards following us as we went down to the city. Tessa and I pointed a lot of things out to each other as we walked by them, but both of us were a bit apprehensive about actually going inside.

"They all speak with an accent," I said to Tessa. "But you never hear them speak anything but English."

"Maybe it is more for the commoners to speak it?" Tessa guessed as we passed a group of women that looked particularly interested in us but again did not say anything. Eventually, we mustered up the courage to eat lunch in a restaurant that was on the city's main shopping street. It was packed with what looked like rich folks, which made me a bit nervous until Tessa reminded me that we didn't need to pay, the competition would.

"It's weird how it's so different here yet so much like home." Tessa noted. I understood what she meant. Medora had been secluded for centuries, but they started off as a part of England. They probably spiralled from inns and taverns to restaurants, just like the rest of the world had.

We spoke about some lighter subjects until our food arrived, but I could see that Tessa was dying to ask about my talk with the prince. I just wasn't sure what to say to her.

Should I say the things we had discussed? There weren't any world-changing secrets, but it could help her in her talk, while I went in completely blind. It sucked to think about it, but if Tessa was in my position, would she help me? We had the agreement that we would help each other, but that only came after Tessa saw my name on the scoreboard.

I wanted to believe in friendship, but with a crown at stake... Could I?

I eventually told her some pieces of information, but not everything. I told her my talk went okay, but not the greatest, though I did feel that I really connected with the prince. I even started to like him a little bit, he had such dreamy green eyes and was very well mannered. I told her about the things he asked me, so she could prepare some answers, but not everything. I deep down now wanted to win. Even if I couldn't admit it to myself.

It did not come to anyone's surprise when we found out that they would be cutting girls off again after the prince met with all of them. If anything that was a justifiable way to get rid of girls. He really got to talk to them, he got to see who he connected with and who was just simply here for a crown.

Gwen was as always tasked with giving us the bad news. I don't know what they were paying her, but I sure hope it was a lot. Breaking the heart of nineteen girls was not an easy task, but as always Gwen kept her face stone cold.

"So, I will be announcing two names who will leave the competition." She said, turning over a page in her notebook where apparently there were two names and a simple explanation written. I don't know if we should be happy or not that we got to hear the reason why we were being sent home. I'd at least know, but it would most likely be another life long insecurity.

My heart was beating loudly in my chest, almost drowning out the hushed whispers of everyone else. I was still on spot two on the leaderboard, but seeing as the royal family didn't even know about that until I told them, I wasn't counting on it to save me.

Tessa was dead nervous too, and even grabbed my hand underneath the table and squeezed it tightly. I was beginning to second guess our decision about actually wanting to be here. It brought so much stress with it, and not a whole lot of reward so far.

"So the first girl," Gwen said, her eyes scanning the page again. "Ms Dominica Zabala."

I had played the national sport with Dominica. We hadn't really bonded or anything, but she wasn't as bad as some of the girls here. She didn't look like she'd kill me for Prince Sebastian at least. She kept her face straight, but I saw a tear run down her cheek.

In the last few days, I had spoken to some of the domestic girls at least, and I got to understand them a little bit better too. For us, the pressure was the world watching, and our countries rooting for us. For them, the pressure was entirely different.

A full country rooting for you versus only your family doesn't sound like they have it worse, but trust me, they do. My parents sometimes told me that they were disappointed by my decisions, like when I told them I would take a gap year rather than immediately go to school, but here things were different. Some girls wouldn't be welcome back home unless they marry the prince, or at least make connections inside the castle.

I had no idea if any of this was the case for Dominica, but I still felt bad for her. "The prince said that though you undoubtedly could make for a great queen, he doesn't feel that you would be the perfect wife for him."

The perfect wife doesn't exist. Marriage is about making compromises for each other. We all signed up for this competition, but him saying that he's looking for a perfect woman is absolute bullshit. Why should we throw our lives around just for one man?

"And the other girl getting cut is Ms Cleobella Lister." Gwen informed us. Cleobella was seated next to Dominica, but she wasn't able to just keep a straight face. She buried her head in her hands and sobbed loudly. I knew that she was one of the girls that would have to find a new home.

"The prince did not feel a genuine connection to you or the lifestyle you have led so far." Gwen explained. Even I had heard that Cleobella had a bit of a wild life before coming to the competition, most girls were astonished that she was even invited. Still, they knew all of that beforehand, why wait until now to cut her?

The two girls were led out by security. For a moment Gwen's cold mask cracked and showed some humanity. She looked tired, and upset when she sighed, but eventually turned back to our table with a newfound strength.

"I hope you girls listened to why they were being sent home." She told us. I could tell that this wasn't in her binder on what she should be saying, this was her speaking from her heart. "Only one of you will win, but that does not mean that the competition is only about falling in love. If you make enough connections here you have a place in this castle." Her eyes lingered on Tessa and me. "All of you."