The Competition of a Lifetime (Editing)

The Final Chapter: Caleb's POV Part 2

Before my father could utter any words, Olive entered the room. She simply looked at the faces of everyone in her presence, her blue eyes analyzing the situation.

"Did I miss something?" She asked with a small laugh, running a hand through her platinum waves that must had originally been in a braid. My father and I looked at each other, both pairs of blue eyes knowing what was happening, but at the same time not.

All at once Marcus and Kaleigh entered the room as well, Marcus giving a disappointed eye roll my way, and Kaleigh being completely  oblivious to the newest idiotic act performed by her brothers. It seemed as though everyone was here.

"I seem to be missing something as well," the brunette in the corner piped in, taking a step towards the royal family, including myself.

I looked her over, giving a sideways smile, holding out my hand to her. 

"Lady Bailey, mind if we take a walk?" I offered as my father gave me a questioning look.

"Caleb is she-" I quickly waved him off mid-sentence. I realized my thought process was rushed by the encounter with Marcus, I couldn't possibly chose my wife at this moment. Especially with a bright smiling Bailey taking my hand. There was no room to be rash.

The room stayed silent as we exited it. We made it halfway down the hall by the time Bailey finally turned to me with a laugh. 

"Was the vibe in there weird or what?" She made a thumb point back to where we just came from. I simply nodded it and took her arm, gently linking it with mine. 

Somehow we made it to the gardens and sat down on a stone bench. Bailey was smiling, but that slowly became neutral.

"Listen Caleb, I have been meaning to talk to you about something..." She began, my look changed from enlightened to concerned for a moment.

"Of course, what do you need to tell me?" 

Bailey seemed to struggle with her words for a second, like what she was meaning to tell me would be painful. Finally, her position straightened as she took a deep breath, locking her hazel eyes with mine. 

"I'm in love." She said it so quickly that I had barely any time to process, let alone respond. I simply sat there blinking like a buffoon, nearly tilting my head. 

"Bailey I-"

"Not with you," She said even quicker. How does one respond to that? By simply saying 'okay' and walking off like nothing happened? After all, there were only three girls left for me to choose who to spend the rest of my life, and one of them just told me she was in love with someone else. "Before you say anything, can I explain myself?"

I looked up and down the hall before taking a light sigh. "Of course," was my response, even though I would be regretting that soon.

She took my hand gently, guiding it down the hall to where a decorative bench stood next to a potted plant. She sat down, so I took that as a cue for me to do the same. 

"Now, I figured I had no chance of getting into the selection, let alone making it to the final three ladies. I figured this wouldn't be a big deal, a simple fling I had back home. But..." Bailey looked down, brunette hair covering her tan face.  "His name was Carter, and he was a farmhand at my family's ranch. We worked together a lot, and we were in the same caste and I just-" She seemed to choke over her words before continuing. "I fell in love. Then, I was selected, and, I just didn't know what to do." Bailey attempted to keep herself together as she told her story, but managed to let a tiny tear slip out. "I'm sorry, Caleb, I've had such a great time here, and I didn't want to spoil anything and-" She stopped herself as I wrapped my arms around her muscular frame.

"It's okay," I whispered in her ear, then allowed her to lean her head on my shoulder. I thought this all over in the matter of twenty seconds but,

"You should be with Carter," I said, thinking over my next words some more. "It'll be alright." I assured her. Bailey didn't say anything, but she didn't have to. She gave me a big hug and kiss on the cheek, before running off to her room.

-

I walked into the Women's Room to find my sister reading a magazine, which on the cover read, "PRINCE CALEB HATES BLONDES?".

"I would appreciate it if you didn't read those," I said in a stern tone as Kaleigh's green eyes peeked out over the pages of the rumor mag. 

"I didn't know you had a disgust for us blondes," She joked, messing around with her own blonde waves. I simply rolled my eyes ever so diligently, reaching over to steal the magazine from her. She was quick enough to throw it to the other side of the couch, and out of my reach. "You look ticked off," she observed, "what's wrong?"

I shook my head, balancing it on my arm in preparation to pass out right there on the couch. "To be honest, no clue." I replied, my eyes now closed from the sleep deprivation. 

Kaleigh switched couches, coming onto the one I was ready to sprawl across. She held her hand to my forehead, "No fever," she mentioned, now just poking me on the side of the face. "Is someone worried about making a life changing decision?" She said in a baby tone, smirking in an attempt to get a reaction out of me.

"Ding ding ding, we have a winner." I said, peeking up at her with one eye before closing it back and enjoying the darkness. She pushed on my side, getting me to open my eyes again. 

"The best advice I can give you, dear brother, is follow your heart, no matter how cliche it sounds, it is the best rules to live by." She patted my head, got up, and exited the room to leave me to my thoughts.

Without anyone else around I said out-loud to myself, "I think I know who to choose,"

"After this quick nap."

-

The trumpets sounded in the great hall, which I thought was unnecessary, but nobody seemed to care what I thought except for who I was picking to be my wife.

The three girls sat in coordination on a canary yellow couch, all in white dresses, legs crossed. Bailey gave me a supportive wink, then my eyes shifted to the other two girls.

Daisy, sweet Daisy with her ginger bob, bright smile, and flattering determination. She would be a perfect royal. 

Gabrielle, the incredibly stubborn, but honest, Gabrielle. She would be the perfect companion.

I wrung my hands together before clearing my throat, locking eyes with both of the remaining ladies. Was I making the right decision? Was this how I wanted to spend the rest of my life? If i left these women standing here any longer, I wouldn't live to see the rest of my life.

I finally looked over her, gazing her brunette locks, walking over to her before kneeling down on one knee.

"Lady Gabrielle, will you marry me?"

-

A/N: So goes the end folks! I may have rushed this chapter a bit and I might come back and edit it, but here it is! Please comment what you thought on the whole story and if you want an epilogue or not!