butterflies | ✓

maudlin.

Before Friday even arrived, everyone knew that I was back in the palace.

My maids were all too happy on Friday, the day of the Report and the day that Gabriel would officially announce our engagement. Apparently, Clara had told them that I would be returning, and they had rushed to finish one of the first gowns they had designed for me: a tight silver dress with vertical stripes of silver glitter.

I ran my hands over the material, smiling at my reflection in the mirror. "This must be what it looks like to be covered in stardust," I said, continuing to admire the dress.

Virginia let out a loud laugh. "Yes, Miss. But you're far more beautiful than any star."

Angela nodded in agreement as she worked on my hair. Michelle smiled from her position behind Angela. "Do you like it, Miss? I tried so hard to make it absolutely perfect for you."

"I love it," I assured her, grinning at her reflection in the mirror. "It's beautiful, and I never want to take it off."

Their smiles were so wide that I wondered if it hurt their faces.

The hem of my dress covered most of my gray heels, which were surprisingly not covered in sparkles. My maids escorted me down to where the Report was filmed, Angela occasionally brushing back some of my hair and Michelle repeatedly checking my makeup. Clara darted around people and threw herself into my arms, Gideon close behind her. Lily, Lexona, Mickenna, Tatiana, Eliza, and Aniya shoved past him and embraced me tightly, and I laughed as I struggled to stay standing.

"You're back!" Clara cried, squeezing me tightly.

"I knew you wouldn't be able to stay away!" Mickenna shouted to be heard over the others.

"I missed you!" Tatiana said, stretching her arms between the legs of her sisters and cousins to hug my legs.

"Girls, let the poor girl go!" They all stepped away, smiling sheepishly, and I could see Cassiana. She gave me a warm smile before hugging me loosely. "I'm so happy you're back."

The queen came over, dressed in a lovely ocean blue gown. She immediately embraced me, and hers was longer and tighter than Cassiana's. "Thank goodness," she sighed. "My poor son was completely destroyed without you."

"I was the same way without him." I told her. "Thank you for allowing me to come back."

"Anything to make my son happy," she said.

The royal family and I were rushed onto the stage, and the few announcements there were hurried. Then Silon introduced Gabriel again, and he made a small speech first.

He took a deep breath and smiled tightly at the cameras. There were no notecards in his hands like the last time he stood up on the stage to make an announcement. "As all of you know, two and a half months ago I ended my Selection without taking a bride, and I didn't give an explanation, and I feel that now you deserve to know." He looked over to where I was standing off stage, and although I knew he couldn't see me, I gave him an encouraging smile. "Not long before I ended it, I had determined who I wanted to marry, and she had basically told me that she would agree to it. But something happened back home with her, and she begged me to send her home. I couldn't pick someone else. It wouldn't have been right.

"I couldn't handle not being with her. Love is like that, I've learned: once you have it, you can't live without it. You don't want to live without it. So I went to where she lived, and with the help of her friends, I won her back. It wasn't very hard. I mean, she was just as wrecked as I was." He smiled down at the ground briefly and then looked up to the cameras again. "She's here now, and that's what matters. I'd like you all to be reintroduced to my fiancée, Lysel van Buren of Paloma."

I walked across the stage to him and wrapped my arms around him, smiling at the cameras. There were cheers, and they were deafening.

Silon did a short interview with us, asking about when our wedding would be and all of that. Then the Report was over, and that night I slept in my room from the Selection. Before I went to sleep, Gabriel had shown me the princess's suite that was attached to his room.

Soon, he'd promised.

It couldn't come fast enough.