Chapter 19 Chapter Nineteen

I didn't tell anyone what happened between me and Maxson, not even Mary and my maid.It's like a sweet secret, and I replay the good moments in my head during those boring classes with Sylvia, or the boring times in the ladies' space.And, to be honest, I think about those two kisses (the awkward one and the sweet one) more than I can imagine. I knew I couldn't fall in love with Maxson overnight.I know that my heart will not change so fast, but I suddenly discovered that there are some things I want in this place where I am now.Although I almost blurted out this secret more than once, I still endured it and kept thinking about it in my mind.

Especially after three days, when Olivia announced to half the girls in the ladies room that Maxson had kissed her. I couldn't believe how lost I was.I suddenly found myself staring at Olivia all the time, wondering what was so special about her. "Tell us all the details!" Mary insisted. The other girls were also curious, but Mary must have been the most enthusiastic one.In the short time since my last date with Maxon, she seemed to be more enthusiastic about what was going on with the others, and I couldn't tell why there was a change, but didn't have the guts to ask directly.

Olivia doesn't need to be egged on by others.After she sat down on a sofa next to her, she spread out her skirt on it, as if practicing Faye Wong.I really want to tell her that that one kiss doesn't mean she will win. "I don't want to go into too many details, but it's really romantic." She said it all at once, her chin almost retracted to her chest, "He took me up to the rooftop, which is a bit like a balcony, but look It looks like a place used by guards, I can't tell. From there, we can see beyond the city walls, and the whole city is shining. He didn't really say anything, just pulled me into his arms and kissed me .” She was trembling with excitement.

Mary sighed, and Celeste looked like she was about to throw something.I just sit there. I've been telling myself that I shouldn't take it too seriously, and that's the case with Feiben.And, who said I really wanted to be with Maxson?To be honest, I should consider myself lucky that Celeste finally had a new enemy after the gown incident (it occurred to me that I forgot to mention this to Maxson), and her attention It's great that the power is not on me. "Do you think she's the only one he's ever kissed?" Dusty asked in my ear.Chris, who was standing next to me, heard her question and interjected.

"He wouldn't just kiss anyone, she must have done something right," Chris exclaimed. "What if he's already kissed half of the people here, but everyone doesn't tell? Maybe it's their strategy." Dusty was thinking wildly. "I don't think people who don't say anything must use silence as a strategy." I objected, "Maybe they just don't like to show off." Chris took a breath: "What if Olivia told us that this was just a conspiracy? Now we are all worried, and none of us will really ask Maxson whether he has I haven't really kissed her, so there is no way to verify whether she is lying."

"Do you think she would do that?" I asked. "If she's talking nonsense, I only regret not thinking of it first," said Dusty expectantly. Chris sighed: "This is more complicated than I thought." "Do you still need to say it?" I muttered to myself. "I basically like everyone present, but whenever I hear what Maxon has done with a certain person, I just want to know how I can be better than this person." She said frankly, " But I don't want to have such a big competitive mentality against you." "Just like what I said to Tinnie the other day," Dusty said, "I know she's a bit timid, but she's also a lady, and I think she'll be a good Faye Wong. So, even if she gets more than me More dates and I won't be mad at her, of course I want the crown myself."

Chris and I looked at each other and I think we were both thinking the same thing.She was talking about the crown, not him.But I didn't pursue this point, because another point she said coincided with me: "Mary also often talked about it with me, and we also saw very good qualities in each other." We looked at each other, feeling a little different.All of a sudden, I wasn't so jealous of Olivia, and I didn't hate Celeste so much.We're going through this in different ways, and perhaps with different purposes, but at least we're going through it together. "Queen Amberley may be right," I said, "the only thing you can do is be yourself. I'd rather Maxson send me home because I am me than he pretends to be something else because I am. people, and leave me behind."

"It's the truth," Chris said, "and, in the end, thirty-four people have to leave, and if I'm the last one left, I want everyone's support. So, let's try to support each other as well." .” I nodded, agreeing with her.I feel like I can do it. Elise rushed in suddenly, followed by Zoe and Amy.She is usually very calm and slow, and she has never seen her raise her voice.Today, she turned her head and screamed at us. "Look at these barrettes!" she yelled, pointing to two hair accessories studded with expensive-looking gemstones. "Isn't it beautiful that Maxon gave me?"

There was a new wave of excitement and disappointment throughout the room, and my newly regained confidence was gone. I tried my best to suppress my disappointment. Anyway, didn't I also receive a gift?Didn't I get kissed too?But as more girls entered the room and more stories were repeated, I found myself just looking for a place to hide.Perhaps today is a good time to be with my maids of honor. Just when I was thinking of running away, Sylvia came in with an excited and nervous expression on her face. "Ladies!" she said loudly, trying to silence us, "Ladies, are you all here?"

All of us answered yes. "That would be great." She calmed down, "I know the following news is a bit sudden, but we have just received the news that the king and queen of Sven Wei will visit within three days, and you all know that our two countries There is a marriage. Also, the queen's family will come to visit you. So, the palace will be full. Now, we only have a short time to prepare. So, free up your afternoon, after lunch, Immediately go to the hall for class." She turned and left after she finished speaking. Seeing the huge tents set up in the gardens, and the food and drink stations set up on the lawn, you might think that the palace staff took a long time to prepare.There were more guards outside than usual, and among them were soldiers brought by King and Queen Svenwe.I think even they know that the palace here is not safe.

There is a tent where the thrones of the king, queen and Maxson are arranged, and there are special seats for King Svenwe and the queen beside them.The queen of Sven Wei (I can't pronounce her name) is as beautiful as Queen Amberley, and the two are obviously very close.With the exception of Maxson, the king and queen of both countries seemed quite comfortable in their tents.Maxson was busy socializing with the girls and relatives and friends. Maxson looked excited to see his cousins, even the few rogues who kept tugging at his collar.He took out one of the cameras and chased after the children to take pictures. Almost all the candidate girls looked at him with admiration. "America," someone called me.I turned to the right and saw Elena and Leah talking to a woman who looked very similar to the queen, "Come and meet the queen's sister." There was a special meaning in Elena's tone, which made me a little nervous . I went up and curtseyed to the lady, and she smiled and said, "Come on, honey, I'm not the queen. My name is Adele and I'm Amberley's sister." She held out a hand , I held it.While shaking hands, she hiccups.The woman had a slight accent, and she had a comfort that made one feel at home.She was a little wobbly, holding a wine glass that was about to bottom out, looking at her cloudy eyes, it was obvious that it was not the first glass. "Where are you from? I like your accent," I said.Her accent is a bit like that of some girls from the south, which sounds very romantic to me. "Hongdu Rangwa, right by the sea. We grew up in a very small house." She made a distance of about an inch between her index finger and thumb, "Look at her now, and then look at me ,” she said, pointing to the dress on her body, “what a change.” "I live in Carolina. My parents took me to the beach once, and I loved it," I answered her. "Oh, no, no, no, child." She kept shaking her head.Elena and Leah seemed to be trying not to laugh, obviously they thought the queen's sister shouldn't behave like this, "The beach in central Ilia is really worse than the beach in the south, you must go there by yourself in the future have a look." I smiled and nodded. Of course I wanted to see all corners of the country, but I doubted whether there would be such an opportunity.It wasn't long before Adele's kids came to her and pulled her away, before Elena and Leah finally laughed. "Isn't she funny?" Leah said. "I don't know. She's very friendly." I answered her with a shrug. "How vulgar she is," replied Eleanor. "You should have heard what she was saying before you came here." "What's wrong with her?" "Do you think she has to learn some manners after so many years? How could Sylvia let her go?" Leah said with disdain. "Need I remind you, she was born as a fourth grade, just like you." I snatched her away. Her complacent face immediately pulled down, as if remembering that she and Adele are not so different.But Elena, who is the third level, went on to say: "I dare you to bet that if I win, my family will either be trained or deported. I won't let them embarrass me like this." "What's the shame?" I asked. Elena grinned: "She's drunk. The king and queen of Sven Wei are here, so she should be locked up." I had heard enough and decided to leave them and get myself some drinks.After getting a glass of wine, I looked around and couldn't find where I wanted to be. The reception was beautiful and interesting, but it was too luxurious. I recalled Elena's words, if I was the last one to live in the palace, would I expect my family to change for me?Looking at the children running around, and those people happily reminiscing about old times, don't I want Kenna to be the same, and don't want her children to just enjoy it all? How would life in the palace change me as a person? Would Maxson want me to change?Was that why he went to kiss other girls?Because there's something wrong with me? Will the next development be so annoying? "Smile." As soon as I turned around, Maxson took a picture of me, and I took a step back, startled by the sudden action.This unexpected photo wears out the last of my patience, and I turn away. "What's wrong?" Maxson asked, putting down the camera. I shrugged. "What happened?" "I didn't enter into the competition to choose Philippines today." I replied coldly. Undeterred, Maxson stepped closer and whispered, "Do you want to talk to someone? I can pull off my ears right now." He offered. I sighed and tried to force a polite smile: "No, I just want to think about it." I turned and left. "America," he called me softly, and I stopped and turned to face him, "Did I do something wrong?" I hesitated, should I just ask him if he kissed Olivia?Should I tell him that since things are different between us, things between me and other girls have become tense?Should I tell him that I don't want to change myself or my family to suit this?When I was about to say everything, a high-pitched voice suddenly came from behind me. "Prince Maxson?" We turned to see Celeste standing there, talking to Svenwell's queen.She waved him over, clearly wanting Maxson to come and talk to her. "You'd better go over quickly." I couldn't suppress the impatience in my voice again. Maxson looked at me, and his expression reminded me that this was a situation that had been agreed a long time ago, and I had to accept it. "Be careful with that." I curtseyed quickly to Maxson and walked away. I was walking towards the palace, and on the way I noticed Mary sitting by herself. At this moment, I didn't even want to be with her.However, I noticed that she was sitting on a bench under the back wall of the palace in direct sunlight, and the nearest to her was a young guard not far away. "Mary, what are you doing? Get in the tent, you're going to get sunburned." She smiled politely: "I'm fine here." "No, really," I said, putting a hand on her arm, "you're going to get a tan like my hair, you should..." Mary shook off my hand abruptly, but said softly, "I want to stay here, America, I want to be here." Her expression told me she was trying to hide her nervousness.I'm pretty sure she's not mad at me, but there must be something wrong. "Okay. Don't stay in the sun for too long. Sunburn is very painful." I also concealed my frustration and continued walking towards the palace. Once inside, I decided to go to the women's space, since I couldn't be missing for too long, and that room was empty, at least for now.But when I walked in, I found Adele sitting by the window, looking out at the people.She turned and smiled at me as I entered. I walked over and sat beside her: "Are you hiding here?" She smiled: "Almost. I want to meet you and my sister, but I really don't like this kind of occasion turning into a state banquet, which makes me very nervous." "I don't like it either, I can't imagine doing that all day long." "You're not," she said lazily. "You're the fifth class, aren't you?" The way she spoke was not harsh to my ears, it was more like asking if I was the same kind: "Yeah, that's me." "I remember you, you were nice at the airport, that's what she would do," she said, nodding to indicate she was referring to the queen outside the window.She sighed, "I don't know how she did it, she's stronger than most people I know." I watched her pick up a wine glass and take a sip. "She does look strong and ladylike." Adele's expression brightened: "Yes, but it's more than that, look at her now." I watched the queen and noticed her eyes fell across the lawn to Maxson.He was standing beside Celeste and talking to Queen Svenwei, and a cousin hugged his leg under his feet. "He would have been a great brother or brother," she said. "Amberley had three miscarriages. Two before him, one after. She told me she still thinks about it. And I , with six children. Every time I come here, I feel guilty." "I'm sure she doesn't think so, she must love your visit." I reassure her. She turned and looked at me: "You know what would make her happy? It's you guys. Do you know what she wants most? A daughter. She knows that when this is over, she'll have two child." I turned my gaze from Adele back to the Queen: "You think so? She's been looking a little distant. I haven't even spoken to her yet." Adele nodded: "Just wait and see. She is very afraid of becoming dependent on you, and then she will watch you leave. You will know when there are only a few of you left." I looked at the Queen, then at Maxson, then at the King, and then back at Adele. There are a lot of things going on in my head.No matter which class, the family is the same, and mothers have similar troubles.Also, it's impossible for me to hate any of the candidate girls here, no matter how wrong they've done.Everyone outside wears a strong mask for their own reasons.Finally, I think about the promise Maxon made to me. "Sorry, I need to talk to someone for a while." She took a sip of the wine in her glass and waved goodbye to me happily.I ran out of the room, back into the harsh sunlight of the garden, and it took me a while to find Maxson, who was chasing and wrestling with his little cousin.I smiled and approached them quietly. McKesson finally stopped, shaking his hands in surrender.He laughed and turned to see me.But when our eyes met, his smile disappeared.He looked at my face, looking for clues about my mood swings. I bit my lip and looked at the ground.To be noticed as a member of Xuanfei obviously means that I have to deal with a lot of emotions that I am not prepared for.However, no matter how I plan to digest these things, it must not be taken out on other people, especially Maxson. I thought of the queen, who was entertaining leaders of other countries, her family, and a host of girls at the same time, yet managed everything well and supported public affairs.She assists her husband, her son, and the entire country.Beneath it all, she was a 4th degree who wasn't raised very well, but never let her previous class or her current annoyance stop her from doing anything. I looked at Maxson and smiled.He also smiled slowly, and then whispered something to the little boy, who immediately turned around and left.He raised his hand and pulled his ears, and then I did the same.