butterflies | ✓

brume.

My gown for the Report that night was simply stunning.

It was a minty blue with silver embellishments and thin chains. My maids left me without makeup, and they gently worked to twist my hair back so that it rested over my bare shoulder. They'd outdone themselves once more, and I'd hugged them and thanked them before hurriedly leaving the room. As Delilah, Corinna, Fleur and I walked down to where the Report was filmed, we complimented each other's dresses and joked about stealing them later.

We were quickly seated, and Lily hurried over to talk to me. Gideon and the royal families of France and Swendway were nowhere in sight, and she told me that they were off stage, sitting in a room and watching if they wished. They had all requested to not be on the Report.

The announcements were short and passed in a blur, and then Silon walked onto the stage, grinning and waving at the crowd. He waited until the applause had died down to speak.

"Good evening, Illéa! A lot has happened this week. We are now down to the Elite, and there are surprisingly only five young ladies left for our prince to choose from. It's only been two weeks! His father and uncle were only down to nineteen at this time, I believe!" Everyone laughed, and I tried to hold it back. The king and Alexander seemed to find this hysterical. "So tonight we are interviewing these five lovely young ladies to get to know them a little, and I would assume by next week the prince will be proposing." Everyone laughed again.

Marisole was the first to be interviewed. She strutted across the stage in a multicolored gown that looked like an attempt to resemble my dress from last week. "Hi, Silon," she said with a slow smile. Her interview was brief and boring—no, she hadn't kissed the prince; yes, they'd been on a few dates; yes, she thought that they might have something; yes, she was sure she could handle being a princess.

Fleur was next. Her gown was tight-fitting and one-shouldered. It was sparkly and red at the top, which faded to champagne tulle. Her interview was a little longer than Marisole's and a lot less serious, filled with lots of joking and laughter. She kissed Gabriel once, had been on a few dates, and wasn't quite sure if there was really something there or if she just felt pressured to love him because she was one of the public's favorites, but she did enjoy his company. She wasn't afraid of becoming a princess, but she said that it was still a foreign concept to her because this was all happening so fast.

Then it was Corinna. Her dress was red too, but it was a deeper red and more of an actual gown than an evening dress. Her lips were painted red, and it looked nice with her light skin and dark hair. Her interview was nice, too—about as long as Fleur's and still interesting. She'd kissed Gabriel once or twice and thought that it was a possibility that she and Gabriel could have something, but she was rooting for someone else—she'd winked at me when she said that. No one caught it. Obviously she'd gone on dates with him and she wasn't really nervous about being a princess. "I think I can handle it," she'd said confidently.

My interview was next, and Delilah gave me an encouraging smile as I got out of my seat. My stomach was twisted into knots and I quickly crossed the stage, taking a seat across from Silon. I picked up my microphone.

He smiled at me. "Hello, Lady Lysel. How are you?"

"I'm good," I said. "Terrified, but good. How are you?"

"I'm wonderful. Why are you terrified?"

I gestured towards the cameras and the audience. "All of this is a little unsettling."

He laughed at that, and I relaxed a little. "You have nothing to worry about, Lady Lysel." He smiled at me. "So, have you been on any dates with our prince yet?"

I shrugged. "A few."

"And? What do you think of him?"

"He's nice," I said. "And I do enjoy his company. He's a lot more down to earth than one would expect."

Silon nodded in agreement. "What do you think of becoming a princess? Do you think you could handle it?"

I shrugged again. "Probably. I'm sure it's more that it's a lot of work than it's actually difficult." Lexona and Lily both nodded. Clara just shrugged like she wanted to say, yeah, that's about it.

Silon nodded again and leaned forward. He grinned wickedly at me. "Have you kissed Prince Gabriel yet?" He asked. "It's a little soon, but the competition has been narrowed down quite a bit, and he has kissed two of your four competitors that we know of..."

I ducked my head, blushing, and nod meekly.

"Oh really? How many times?"

I looked up at him through my eyelashes and shrugged—I hadn't realized it was a nervous habit until sitting on that stage. "More than the others, I'm assuming by their replies."

Silon turned with raised eyebrows to Gabriel. "Is this your way of showing us that you already have your princess picked out?"

Gabriel lifted one shoulder and smirked, leaning back in his chair.

Silon turned back to me and shook his head. "Princes, I swear." We both laughed, along with the audience and everyone else.

My interview was over after that, and then Delilah was up and passing me in a gown the color of sunlight. My heart still pounded in my chest and blood roared in my ears as I sat down, making it impossible for me to pay attention during her interview. I smiled and laughed at the right moments, but that's it. Other than that, I couldn't focus.

It took until the end of the Report to calm myself down, and I sat for a minute while the others left to make sure that I was completely calm. Then I remembered what Gabriel said earlier, and I hurried upstairs to tell my maids.