Beyond Her Beauty

CHAPTER 60 (Plan√)

I stepped away and swatted at him. Then He laughed.

“Let’s forget about it,” I proposed.

“Very well,” he agreed. “Besides, we have a project to work on, me and you.”

“We do?”

“Yes, and since the king, my father is gone for a moment, this will be a convenient time to start brainstorming.” he blinked.

“All right,” I said, excited to be a part of something that was just between the two of us. Since this we are close to the coronation. Should I confess my secret? There was a part of me that I should be honest to him. And my other half said won't.

Kaden sighed, making me nervous about what he was going to do. “You’re right. Father doesn’t approve of you. But he might be forced to bend if we can manage one thing.”

“Which is?”

“We have to make you the Milléan favorite.”

The people's favorite?

I rolled my eyes. “That is what we’re working on? Uhm, that’s never going to happen. I saw a poll in one of Selena’s magazines after I tried to save Liezel. People can hardly stand me.”

“Opinions matter. Don’t let that one moment bring you down too much.”

“We have so many ways.” he added.

I still felt hopeless, but what could I say? If this was my only option, I had to at least try. Try to be their favorite.

“Fine,” I said. “But I’m telling you, this won’t work at all.”

With an impish grin on his face, he came very close and gave me a long, slow kiss. “And I’m telling you it will.”

“I will help you,”

….

I lay back on the head board of the pink golden sofa at the Elite’s Room, thoughts focused on Kaden’s new plan. The queen hadn’t shown up yet, and the girls were all laughing in a clump by the windows. Am I the only one stressed out here?

“Lily, come here!” Kriesha said urgently. Even Selena turned back smiling, waving me over. What was that?

I was a little uneasy about what could be waiting for me, but I walked to the huddle anyway.

“Oh, my goodness!” I squealed.

“I know, I know,” Selena said.

There, running laps in the garden without their shirts on, were half of the guards in the palace. Bridger had told me that all guards got injections to help keep them strong, but apparently they also did a lot of work to keep their bodies in peak condition.

While we were all devoted to Kaden, the sight of handsome guards was something we couldn’t ignore. Dropping some salted water from their back.

“The guy with dark chocolate hair,” Kriesha said.

“Nope, it's ash blond.” Selena corrects Kriesha.

“I like this one,” Elise said quietly as another guard ran past our window. Elise stayed here with me. We thought we were eliminated. But her we are, staring at them.

Kriesha giggled. “I can’t believe we’re doing this!”

“Oh, oh! That guy, right there with the olive eyes,” Selena said, pointing to Bridger. I’m lying if I said Bridger is not attractive the way I look at him right now. Black hair, pointed nose, tall, what can I say? He's handsome.

Kriesha sighed. “I danced with him at the night party, and he’s as funny as he is good-looking.”

“And cute,” she added.

“I danced with him, too,” Selena bragged.

“Easily the most gorgeous guard in the palace.”

Oh, is this competition again?

I had to laugh a little.

I watched him run and thought about the hundreds of times those arms had embraced me. The distance growing between Bridger and me felt unavoidable, but even now I had to wonder if there was a way to keep some piece of what we had.

“What about you, Lily?” Kriesha asked and turned on me.

“Me?” I asked, pointing myself.

The only one who really caught my eye was Bridger, and after feeling that ache for him, this felt kinda confusing. I dodged the question.

“I don’t know. They’re all kind and nice.”

“Kind of nice?” Selena asked, seems to be questioning me.

“Did you know them?”

“You have to be kidding! These are some of the best-looking guys I’ve ever seen.” he asked in succession.

“It’s only a bunch of boys without their shirts on,” I countered.

“Yeah, why don’t you enjoy it for a minute before it’s just the three of us you have to look at,” she said snippily.

“Besides after this. The chosen Princess won't do this ever again. And of course it's me.” Selena exclaimed.

“Whatever. Kaden looks just as good without his shirt on as any of those guys.” I quickly said.

“What?” Kriesha shrieked.

A second after the words slipped out of my mouth, I realized what I’d said. Three sets of eyes focused on me.

“When were you and Kaden topless, exactly?” Selena demanded.

Can I ask the same question to her? She's too seductive that night. She almost ripped her dress just to turn Kaden.

“I wasn’t!”

“But he was?” Kriesha asked. “Was that what that god-awful dress was about yesterday?”

Selena gasped. “You slut!”

“Excuse me!” I yelled.

Who's slut here? Is she? Of course she is.

“Well, what else would you expect?” she snapped, crossing her arms. “Unless you want to tell us all what happened and why we’re so wrong.”

But there was no way to explain this. Undressing Kaden hadn’t exactly been a romantic moment, but I couldn’t tell them I’d been tending to wounds on his back.

“Selena was half-naked up against him in a hallway!” I accused, pointing a finger at her. Now it's my turn.

Her mouth popped open. “How did you know?”

“Has everyone been getting naked with Kaden?” Elise asked, horrified.

“We weren’t naked!” I shouted.

“Okay,” Kriesha said, putting out her arms. “We need to clear this up. Who has done what with Kaden?”

Everyone was quiet for a moment, not wanting to speak up first.

“I’ve kissed him,” Elise said. “Three times, but that’s it.”

“I haven’t kissed him at all,” Kriesha confessed. “But that’s by my own choosing. He would kiss me if I’d let him.”

Oh God, kissing Kaden's lips is now awkward. We kiss him already. Oh God.

“Really? You lie.” Selena asked, shocked.

“I promise.”

“Well, I’ve kissed him plenty.” Selena flipped her hair, deciding to be proud instead of embarrassed. “The best was in the hallway one night.” She eyed me. “We kept whispering about how exciting it was that we might get caught.”

Ugh! This woman.

Finally all eyes were on me. I thought of the king’s words, suggesting that maybe the other girls were being much more promiscuous than I was prepared to be. But now I knew it was one more weapon in his arsenal, a way to make me feel insignificant. I came clean.

“I was Kaden’s first kiss, not Percy. I didn’t want anyone to know. And we’ve had a few . . . more intimate moments, and one of those times Kaden’s shirt came off.”

Percy is one of the elite who's been eliminated now.

“Came off? Like it magically flew over his head?” Selena pressed. Oh, why do I even explain?

“He took it off,” I admitted.

Not satisfied, Selena pushed on. “He took it off or you took it off. Common!”

“We both did. Okay?”

After a charged moment, Kriesha started again. “Okay, so now we all know where we stand.”