Chapter 14 Chapter Fourteen

As I expected, all the girls who asked to go home changed their minds after the incident subsided.We don't know exactly who said they were leaving, but some people (Celeste in particular) were very determined to find them.At present, there are not a single girl left behind, and there are still twenty-seven of us. According to the king, the attack was insignificant and should not be taken too seriously.However, because a camera crew was present that morning, some footage of the attack was broadcast.The king was obviously very upset about this, which made me wonder how many times there have been attacks that the public doesn't know about, and is the security situation here much worse than I thought?

Sylvia explained to us that if the attack had caused more damage, we would have called home to report that we were safe.Because the situation is not serious at the moment, we are only allowed to write home. I wrote to say that I was safe, that the attack was not serious as it seemed, and that we were well protected when the king hid us.I asked my family not to worry too much about me, told them how much I missed them, and handed the letter to a maid. The second day after the attack passed peacefully, I wanted to go to the women's space to give Maxson a compliment, but after seeing how unstable Lucy was, I decided to stay in my room.

I don't know what the three maids were up to when I was away, but when I was in the room they played cards and gossip with me. That's when I realized that for everyone I saw in the palace, there were hundreds of people behind them.I know the people in the kitchen and laundry room, but there's also someone who cleans the windows.It would take them a week to wipe all the windows, and in between the dust would settle on the wiped glass again, so their work would have to be repeated.There are also dedicated jewelers in the palace, who make jewelry for the royal family and visitors; and armies of tailors and buyers to ensure that the royal family (and now us) are perfectly dressed every day.

I also learned about other things, like how they thought the cutest people were the guards, and how the headmaid forced everyone to wear ugly new dresses at the holiday party.Some people in the palace have already bet on Faye Wong's candidate, and I am the favorite within the top ten.One of the cook's children was very ill, and Anne wept as she spoke, for the cook was a dear friend of hers, and it took the couple a long time to have the child. Listening to their small talk, with a word or two inserted here and there, really made me feel comfortable, grateful to have them for company, and at the same time, I can't imagine anything more interesting downstairs than here.There was a cheerful and peaceful atmosphere in my room.

It was such a comfortable day that I chose to stay in the room the next day too, but this time we left our room and balcony doors open to let the warm outside air rush in and hug us.This seemed to have a special effect on Lucy, which also made me wonder if she rarely had the opportunity to go out. Anne said that it was not right for me to sit with them and play cards with the door open.But she quickly stopped talking about it, because she realized that no one can make me a lady. We were playing cards when we suddenly saw a figure outside the door.It turned out that Maxson was standing outside the door with a thoughtful expression.The moment our eyes met, his expression clearly asked what I was doing.I stood up smiling and walked towards him.

"Oh, my God!" Anne exclaimed softly when she saw the Prince standing at the door, and at once swept the cards into a tailor's basket, and rose, and Mary and Lucy followed suit. "Ladies," McKesson greeted. "Your Highness," they said curtseying, "it is an honor to meet you." "Me too." He replied with a smile on his face. The maids glanced at each other, clearly flattered.We were all silent for a moment, not knowing what to do next. Suddenly Mary said, "We're leaving." "Yes, yes," went on Lucy, "we're going—well—to—" She looked at Anne for help.

"Going to finish Miss America's dress on Friday," Anne continued. "Yes," said Mary, "only two days left." With big smiles on their faces, they went out on both sides of me and Maxson. "Then I can't hold up your work," Maxson said, watching them all the way out, completely awed by their lovely behavior. As soon as they got outside, they made strange curtseys very irregularly, and then ran away as if oiling the soles of their feet.Just after they turned the first corner, there was a giggle from Lucy in the corridor, followed by a quick hiss from Annie.

"Your group is very interesting." Maxson said, walked into my room and looked around. "I can't help but want to care about them." I replied with a smile. "Obviously, they also like you very much, which is not easy." He stopped looking at the room and turned to me, "Your room is very different from what I imagined." I waved my hand: "This isn't really my room, is it? It belongs to you, I'm just borrowing it." He made a grimace: "They should have told you that you can change it? Change a bed, paint a wall or something."

I shrugged. "A different kind of wall paint wouldn't make this place mine. A girl like me can't live in a house covered with marble." I joked. Maxson smiled. "What's your room like?" "Well, what are you here for?" I changed the subject. "Oh! I have an idea." "about?" "Well," he began to explain, continuing to pace the room, "I was thinking, since you and I don't have the normal relationship I have with other girls, maybe we should have... other ways of communicating ’” He stopped in front of my vanity mirror, looking at pictures of my family, “Your sister looks so much like you,” he said with gusto.

I walked back into the room: "That's what people say all the time. What other way of communicating?" After seeing the photos, Maxson walked to the piano in the back: "Since you are going to help me as my friend," he took a deep look at me, and then said, "Maybe we should not traditionally pass the maid To pass a note, or to go on a date with a formal invitation. I wonder if there is a less formal way." He picked up the score on the piano: "You brought it yourself?" "No, it's here. As long as it's a piece I want to play, I can play it from memory."

His eyebrows were raised: "Amazing!" He walked towards me and didn't continue to explain. "Please don't be coy, and finish what you think." McKesson sighed, "Okay. I was thinking maybe you and I could have a hand signal or something like that, a way of telling each other we want to talk, in a way that other people wouldn't notice. Maybe we could Wipe your nose?" Maxson wiped a finger back and forth over the top of his upper lip a few times. "It's like you have a stuffy nose, no good." He gave me a slightly confused look, then nodded, "Okay, how about we just comb our hair with our hands?" I almost immediately shook my head in denial: "My hair is mostly combed and coiled, and it's almost impossible to comb it in with your hands. Also, if you were wearing a crown at the time, you would have knocked it off." He shook his fingers thoughtfully: "That's right, um..." He walked past me, then thought, and finally walked to my bedside table, "Then what about pulling the earlobe?" I thought for a while: "I like it, it's simple enough, it's hard to detect, but it's not such a common action, so it's not easy to cause misunderstanding. Then pull the earlobe." Maxson's attention seemed to be attracted by something, but he turned around in time and smiled at me: "I'm very happy to get your approval, next time you want to talk to me, just pull your earlobe Well, I'll come get you as soon as possible. Usually after dinner," he concluded, shrugging. I was going to ask, what should I do if I want to go to him, but Maxson has already picked up my small bottle and walked towards me: "What is this for?" I sighed: "This, I can only say, it's a long story, and it's hard to say." Friday is our big day for our debut on The Ilia Capital Report.It's mandatory for all candidates, but thankfully we'll just have to sit in the live room this week.Due to the difference in time zone, the local live broadcast time is five o'clock, we only need to sit for an hour, and then we can go to dinner. Anne, Mary and Lucy took special care to dress me up.My gown was dark blue, almost purple, fitted from the hips up, with a smooth tail in the back.The texture of the dress is so comfortable, it's the first time I've touched this kind of silk fabric when I grow up.They helped me fasten one button after another in the back, and then styled my hair with pearl barrettes.In the end, they gave me a pair of tiny pearl earrings and a necklace with very thin chains and beads so far apart that they seemed to float on the skin.I'm ready. I look at myself in the mirror, and it's still my true color.It's the prettiest version I've ever seen, but the face is still the same.Ever since I was drawn, I was afraid that I would turn into someone I didn’t know. I had to put on layers of make-up and wear those gaudy and gaudy jewelry, and it would take a lot of time to find myself afterward.Fortunately, so far, I am still American. This is more my style.From the distance between the room and the live broadcast room downstairs, I was already sweating a little.They told us to be there ten minutes early, and those ten minutes meant fifteen minutes to me and three minutes to someone like Celeste, so we showed up in pieces. Groups of staff were busy in the studio, making final adjustments to the set.Now there are several rows of chairs for candidates to sit on.The officials I saw in the "Report" for many years were also present, either silently reading the manuscripts in their hands, or fixing their ties.The candidate girls are all doing their final inspection in front of the mirror and arranging the luxurious dresses on their bodies. Everyone is very busy. I turned around and accidentally saw a slice of Maxson's life.His mother, the beautiful Queen Amberley, was helping him brush back some stray strands of hair as he pulled his suit jacket and spoke to her.She nodded approvingly, and a smile appeared on Maxson's face.If Sylvia hadn't hurriedly pulled us to sit down, I would definitely have looked at them a few more times. "Ms. America, go up the steps," she said, "you can do whatever you want, but you know, most of the girls already have the front row." She seemed to feel sorry for me, as if she It's like I have bad news. "Oh, thank you," I replied, and happily went to sit in the back seat.It wasn't easy going up in this dark blue dress and Roman shoes (were they really necessary? No one would ever see my feet), but I managed it.Then I saw Mary come in and she waved and smiled at me and walked over and sat on my right, she chose to sit next to me instead of sitting in the second row, it meant a lot to me, it was It shows that she is very loyal and will become a good Faye Wong. She was wearing a bright yellow dress, and with her blond hair and tanned skin, it seemed like she lit up the room. "Mary, I love your dress so much, you are so beautiful!" "Oh, thanks!" She blushed. "I think it's a little too much." "Not at all! Trust me, it's perfect." "I've been trying to talk to you, but I haven't seen you. Do you think we'll have time tomorrow?" she asked me softly. "Of course. In the ladies' room? Tomorrow is Saturday." I answered in her voice. "Okay." She responded happily. Amy, who was sitting in front of us, turned her head: "I think the pins are about to fall out of my head, can you take a look for me?" Without saying a word, Mary stretched out her slender fingers to touch Amy's curly hair, feeling for any loose pins: "Does it feel more stable?" Amy breathed a sigh of relief: "Okay, thank you." "America, do I get any lipstick on my teeth?" Zoe asked me, and when I turned to the left to look at her, she was grinning hard, showing all her teeth. "No, you're fine." I replied, and out of the corner of my eye, Mary nodded in agreement. "Thank you. How can he be so calm?" Zoe sighed, pointing in the direction of Maxson, who was talking to a member of the camera crew.Then she bent down, buried her head between her legs, and began to take deep breaths to calm her emotions. Mary and I looked at each other with smiles in our eyes, trying not to laugh.If you still look at Zoe, you will definitely not be able to bear it, so we simply pay attention to every corner of the room and start talking about everyone's clothes.A few girls wore charming red and fresh green, but no one wore blue.Olivia actually wore orange!I admit I don't know much about fashion, but Marie and I both think that someone really needs to tell her that this is not good, that the color makes her skin look a little green. Two minutes before the start of the live broadcast, we realized that it was not the color of the dress that caused her to turn green.Because Olivia ran straight to the trash can closest to her, threw up loudly, and collapsed to the ground.Sylvia immediately came to the rescue, wiped her sweat in a hurry, and asked her to sit back on the chair.She was placed in the last row, and a small container was placed under her feet, just in case. Ballie was sitting directly in front of her. Although I couldn't hear what she whispered to the poor girl from where I was sitting, it seemed that if Olivia spit it out again, Ballie would definitely do it. I figured Maxson must have seen or heard the mess, so I turned to see how he reacted to it, but instead of focusing on the center of the mess, he was looking at me.Maxson raised his hand quickly and tugged at the earlobe, so quickly, it must have been just unconscious scratching to the others.I repeated the motion, and we all looked away quickly. I'm a little excited to know that Maxson is coming to see me after dinner tonight. Suddenly, the national anthem was played, and the national emblem was displayed on small screens around the room.Immediately I sat up straighter, and all I could think about was that my family would see me on TV tonight, and that I wanted them to be proud of me. King Clarkson addressed the attack from the podium, which he called a hasty and failed operation.I don't think so, because we have scared the girls out of their wits.Then came one report after another. I tried my best to concentrate on listening to the content of each report, but it was too difficult.My habit is to sit on a comfortable sofa, hold popcorn in my arms, and watch while complaining with my family. Many reports are related to the rebels, saying that many things are caused by them.The road to Sennay hadn't been built yet, and the rebels had caused it; and the number of Ellen's government workers had dropped because they had been sent to St. George's to deal with the chaos the rebels had created.I had no idea that these things were happening, and looking back at what I had seen and heard growing up, and what I learned after coming to the palace, I couldn't help but reflect on how little we really know about the rebels.Maybe it's my inability to understand, but I really don't think that all of Ilya's problems can be blamed on them. Then, as if out of nowhere, Gavriel was suddenly invited to the stage by the Minister of State Affairs. "Good evening everyone, I have something special to announce to you all tonight. It's been a week since the election, and eight ladies have returned home, leaving twenty-seven beautiful ladies for Prince McKesson. Choice. Either way, next week's Ilia Capital Report will spend most of its time getting to know these beautiful ladies." I felt my brow start to sweat.Sit down obediently... I can; answer the question?I know I'm not going to be Faye Wong, so that's not a problem.I just really don't want to make a fool of myself in front of the whole country. "Tonight, before we talk to the ladies, let's have a chat with the leading man. How are you feeling tonight, Prince Maxson?" Gavriel said as he walked across the stage.Maxson was obviously not ready, he didn't have a microphone on him, and he didn't have an answer in mind. Before Gavriel handed the microphone to Maxson, he was looking at me, and I gave him a wink, which made him smile. "I'm fine, Gavriel, thank you." "Have you enjoyed their company so far?" "Of course! What a pleasure to meet them." "Are they as sweet and gentle as they appear?" Gavriel asked, and the answer made me smile before Maxson answered.Because I know he's going to be right...probably. "Hmm..." Maxson looked past Gavriel to me, "It's about the same." "Almost?" Gavriel asked in surprise, then turned to face us, "Then someone is naughty among them?" Luckily, all the girls giggled softly, so I didn't get caught.The little traitor! "What bad things did they all do?" Gavriel asked Maxson. "Oh, um, let me tell you." Maxson sat comfortably in the chair with his legs crossed, probably the most relaxed position I've ever seen him, because he was about to make fun of me.I love that side of him and wish he showed it more, "One of them had the audacity to yell at me the first night and slapped me hard." Behind Maxson, the king and queen glanced at each other, and it seemed that they were also hearing about this for the first time.The girls next to me looked at each other, not knowing who they were talking about.I didn't know how people guessed it until Mary spoke. "I don't remember anyone talking loudly to him in the hall, do you?" Maxson seems to have forgotten that our first meeting should be a secret: "I think he was just exaggerating and trying to be funny. I did tell him some serious things, and he probably meant me." "You mean you were scolded? For what?" Gavriel continued. "To be honest, I don't really understand. I think it was because of being homesick for a while, so of course I have forgiven her." Maxson is now very relaxed and fluent, interacting with Gavriel like the only one in the room. Like the two of them.I'll have to tell him later how well he's doing. "So, she's still here?" Gavriel glanced at us again, grinning, then turned back to the Prince. "Oh, yes, she's still there," Maxson said, without looking away from Gavriel's face. "And, I'm going to keep her for a while."