The Choice

30

The day after the press conference, I woke up extremely bored. Luckily, there were no surprise events so I had the day all to myself- I hoped. With the competition, one could never be sure. I hadn't seen much of Carlos even though the whole point of me staying in the competition was to keep him company. I assumed he must've been busy as I hadn't seen Amancio around either. Princely duties must be exhausting. 

"Lady Madeline," Lucy and Imogen singsonged as they waltzed into my room. 

"Good morning Imogen, Lucy," I groggily rubbed at my eyes. 

"What a beautiful day it is, right?" Imogen asked, her eyes bright. 

I shrugged, "I just woke up but it feels good so far. I'm just glad we don't have any events." 

"About that...," Lucy trailed off. 

"What?! Another event?!" I shrieked. I must've woken up the entire palace. 

Imogen smacked Lucy on the shoulder and shook her head. "Don't let Lucy play games with you, Lady Madeline. Lucky for you, today is a day for you to be free." 

I let out a relieved sigh, not sparing Lucy from my deadly glare. 

"What do you plan on doing today, Lady Madeline?" Lucy asked. 

I shrugged. I was aching for some discovery and secretly planned on wandering through the palace halls again. I did feel a bit wary after my previous sight but not only did it scare me, it made me more curious as to what secrets the palace held and why they were so guarded. 

"I think I'll just read in the gardens as per usual," I lied. Neither Lucy or Imogen looked suspicious, to my relief. 

"Then we'd better get you dressed. The weather doesn't look like it will be very good for much longer," Imogen suggested. 

After getting cleaned up, I slipped my hands into an orange day dress that was a bit too tight for me. I dreaded another fitting, though it seemed like the palace food was taking a toll on my weight. If my mother found out about how much weight I'd gained, she would kill me. 

My mouth watered as soon as I took the cloche* off my breakfast. I was met with a steaming hot plate of waffles drowned in golden syrup (just as I liked it), dotted with juicy blueberries. My stomach grumbled in protest, urging me to dig in instead of staring. I happily obliged, cutting up the waffles eagerly before stuffing them in my mouth like it was my last meal. 

I knew Lucy and Imogen didn't approve of my eating habits but they knew me well enough not to protest as it would change nothing. 

Once there was nothing left on the plate and I felt like the dress I was wearing was tearing at the sides, I let out a satisfied burp followed by a sigh. 

*** 

I didn't know what part of the palace I was planning on exploring. I just knew I wanted to get as far away as I could from the Ladies' Wing. I feared that I was slowly becoming like Esme and Ashley, as a result of the amount of times I'd spent around them. I had started caring more about my appearance- which was something that rarely crossed my mind before the competition. 

I vowed to make sure I stayed Madeline Prowess. There was no way I was winning the competition so I'd rather preserve my personality and not turn into some evil entitled brat. 

I didn't want to visit the Royal Wing again. It seemed like that part of the palace held the most secrets and even though my mission was to find them, I wasn't planning on getting killed. 

A couple of servants and people I guessed were courtiers bustled about the hallway, not paying me a second glance. It seemed like everyone had a job to do and couldn't care less about a clueless Lady wandering the halls. 

As I walked on, turning at random corners, I realized the amount of people on the hallways dwindled until I was the only one. I certainly didn't know what part of the palace I was in. It looked old, abandoned. Yet, it wasn't dusty or dirty. It looked more...forgotten. 

But, I had to admit the artwork and design that lined the walls were like nothing I had ever seen before. It even rivaled the art in the Royal Wing. Paintings, portraits, murals, the wallpaper- even the carpets looked amazing, like it was stolen from the Aridian Art Museum. 

I couldn't help but wonder, why was this part of the palace so forbidden. There were no sounds coming from any of the rooms so I presumed they were uninhabited and locked. Extremely strange. 

I ran my fingers along the walls, the soft velvet fabric caressing my skin. The paintings looked like they each had their own tale to tell. 

I stopped in front of a painting of a battle. On each side were seething men, dripping with anger as they held their weapons ready to attack. I recognized the flag that the army on the right held as the Aridian flag. Though, I didn't recognize the flag of the opposing army though. To be fair, I never paid attention in Finishing School to know enough about Aridian History. 

The picture was strangely enticing. I felt like I could stare at it for hours and not get tired. There were so many things going on, I felt like I knew the the stories of the countless soldiers, putting their lives at stake for the goodness of their countries. Maybe it was the seducing hue of blue the sky was painted in, or the waterfall in the horizon, or the birds in the sky going about their business that intrigued me. It seemed like a far too nice day to fight over a silly squabble, yet it didn't. 

Though, I had to admit, the painting did look odd. It looked out of place. I didn't know whether it was the positioning, or the painting itself- it just didn't fit in. Tentatively, I brushed my fingers along the rough painting, reveling the feeling of the artist's strokes. 

Taking another look at the painting, I realized what was wrong with it. It wasn't the complicated battle, it was the fact that the painting was oddly crooked. I couldn't fight the urge to position it rightly. Such a beautiful masterpiece didn't deserve to placed wrongly. 

I tilted the painting to the right, then to the left again but instead of satisfaction, I was met with a loud click and the wall began to move, sliding further away to reveal what looked like a hidden room. 

Cliffhanger am I right? The next two chapters will be updated tomorrow and they're going to be VERY interesting and packed with secrets so stay tuned. 

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*cloche meaning= a tableware cover, sometimes made out of silver though commercially available as glass, stoneware, marble, or other materials. They often resemble a bell, hence the name.