The Luna Choosing Game

Chapter 0614

In the bedroom, Nicholas and Charlotte helped Elva and I pack our bags for our weekend homecoming trip. I pick out many subtle outfits for Elva and me. Back home, people would notice if we dressed too expensive. It might even have painted targets on our backs.

Elva, however, didn't understand. When she saw I was packing her plain shorts and tees, she crossed her arms, stuck out her bottom lip, and pouted, "I want to be princess."

"You are a princess, honey," I told her. "You don't need fancy clothes for that."

Elva frowned deeper. "It's not the same."

"It is." Nicholas lowered himself down onto one knee so that he could look Elva in the eye.

Elva glanced up at him through her eyelashes. She seemed sadder than anything and it broke my heart. I wanted Elva to have the things she wanted, but it was just too dangerous. We weren't from the best part of town. If we wore fancy clothes around, we would be robbed at worst.

At best, we just wouldn't fit in.

"Elva," Nicholas said. He placed his hand on her little shoulder. She always looked at him like he hung the sun in the sky, and now was no different. "What makes you a princess is not what you wear. It's what's on the inside that counts."

Elva glanced down at herself. "But I'm just a girl..."

"You are a girl with a very special ability," Nicholas said.

"What?" Elva asked.

Nicholas smiled at her so kindly my chest ached. "You have a big heart. Carry that with you, feed it and protect it, and you never need the fancy dresses to show you are a princess."

Elva's mood shifted somewhat, lightening. She smiled.

As Nicholas started to stand, Elva added, "I will still get to wear dresses though... right?" Softer, she said, "I like the dresses."

Nicholas laughed, just a little. A rare sound from him, I wished I could bottle it and listen to it again and again, whenever I was sad.

"When you return to the palace, you can wear all the dresses you want," he said. He glanced at me. "If it's okay with your mom, of course."

Elva turned her doe eyes on me in a flash. As if I would deny her.

"Of course," I said.

"Yay!" Elva cheered.

Charlotte chuckled from the door to the closet. She was holding a few outfits. She smiled as she brought them to the two suitcases on the bed.

"Are you sure you won't need more than this?" she asked. Even knowing my background, she seemed uncertain with my choices.

I supposed I could understand why. I imagined all the other candidates dressed fancy and formally at their own mansions and estates. But those candidates weren't going to a two-bedroom apartment in a bad part of town like Elva and I were.

"I'm sure," I told Charlotte. She nodded without further pressing and carefully folded the chosen clothes. As I went to help her, Elva tugged on Nicholas's sleeve.

"Will you come with us, Nick-lass?" she asked.

The question was genuine, with hope in her eyes.

Nicholas patted her head. "I wish I could, princess. But it's against the rules for me to stay."

"Oh," Elva deflated.

"But," he said, and she perked back up. "I will make the trip with you and your mom, and then be there when time is up to bring you back here again. How does that sound?"

"Great!" Elva said.

"Good," Nicholas said. He glanced up at me. "How does that sound, Piper?"This belongs © NôvelDra/ma.Org.

Now, it was my turn to smile, grateful for the gesture. It would help, knowing that he would be there in a few days to rescue us again.

I knew I needed to think in better terms of my home. That very soon, very likely, I would be living there again permanently.

But it was difficult to imagine a future now without Nicholas.

I knew that was going to make everything hurt worse when I was ultimately dismissed but I couldn't help it. Nicholas noticed my shift of mood. Leaving Elva to her toys, he walked closer to me. He gently traced his hand down the length of my arm and then kissed me lightly on the lips.

"It's going to be okay," he whispered. "I will be there to bring you back. I promise."

I could believe him. I didn't know how to properly convey that it wasn't this trip I was worried about.

He was so kind to worry, so sweet to care so much. I didn't want to ruin the moment with my fears, so I kept them to myself.

A servant carried our luggage out to the car, despite my many failed attempts to offer to do it myself. Nicholas would likely offer himself, but he currently held Elva in his arms. She was quite clingy now that we were actually leaving.

I understood the sentiment. I didn't want to leave him either.

When we reached our car, the servant piled the luggage into the trunk. We were only taking two bags so it didn't take long. Around us, many of the other candidates were bringing along several more bags. Lilliana was even bringing a folding wardrobe.

Nearby, Mark opened the backseat of a sedan for Susie to climb inside. They weren't touching but they looked at each other with such open longing, that it still felt intimate.

I hoped no one else noticed. Glancing around, it seemed as if most people were busy worrying about themselves.

With Elva in her booster seat, she patted the middle seat for Nicholas. He glanced at me and I nodded. Then he dipped into the backseat of the sedan and buckled himself in. I took the remaining seat, the one nearest the open door.

The sedan was spacious and luxurious, a town car. It had a partition dividing the back of the car from the front, but the divider was currently down so we could see the driver and the windshield.

The driver looked back at Nicholas, and Nicholas gave him the go-ahead. With that, the car veered forward and through the back window, we watched the palace get smaller and smaller until it was out of sight.

Nicholas held Elva's hand the entire way, while his other arm was wrapped around my shoulders.

"I can't wait to see Aunt Anna, Elva said. She kicked her hands as she looked out the window, watching the world pass by.

Nicholas lifted a brow looking at me.

"A dear friend," I explained to him. Not an actual aunt, I didn't need to say out loud.

He nodded.

"It will be nice to catch up with her," I said. And while this was true, and I did miss her terribly, I couldn't generate quite the same excitement level as Elva.

I wanted to see Anna desperately, no lie there. But I wished it had been, to bring her to the castle. Returning home like this.... As much as my brain tried to protect me from thinking overmuch about how this could be the future...

I couldn't help but worry.

It felt so much that Nicholas was taking me back to my previous life just to leave me there.