Beyond Her Beauty

CHAPTER 32 (Mine √)

I felt my heart enlighten as if the bricks of worry I’d been carrying around were falling vanish all at once. The happiness at seeing my sister, the assurance that Kaden was as kind as I thought he was, and the general relief that this meeting wasn’t about him sending me home were overwhelming. They're wrong. Kaden won't send me home.

“Thank you, Prince,” I whispered.

“Of course.”

I wasn’t sure what else to say.

“I know you are overthinking Lily. I knew it, but I'm still here hoping if you were ever going to truly be mine.”

My eyes held his. “I know. Thank you,”

“I can’t read you anymore. I used to be able to see it in the beginning when you didn’t care for me; and when things changed between us, you looked at me differently. Now there are moments when I feel it’s there and others when it seems like you’re already gone, gone from this competition.”

I nodded. I want to be with him. How can I show myself? My true identity? if it's gonna be the reason to be eliminated.

“I’m not asking you to say you like me or you love me. I’m not asking for you to suddenly decide you want to be my princess. I just need to know if you want to be here at all if you want to be with me.”

That was the question, wasn’t it? I still didn’t know if I could do the job, I mean, I wasn’t sure I wanted to give up on it. And seeing this kindness in Kaden shifted my heart. There was still so much to consider for, but I couldn’t give up. Not now.

Kaden’s hand was resting on his leg, and I slid mine under his. He gave me a welcoming squeeze. “If you’ll still have me, I want to stay.”

Kaden let out a relieved sigh. “I’d like that very much.”

I returned to the Women’s Room. No one said anything until I sat down, and it was Keisha who was brave enough to ask me what happened.

“What was that all about?”

I looked not just to Kriesha, but to all the watching eyes around me. “I’d rather not say.”

With my bear face, a response like that was enough to make it seem like nothing good could have come from the meeting; but if that's what I had to say to protect my sister, then I was fine with it. I love Liezel, I love her to be my real sister even if it wasn't.

What rung was Selena pressing her lips together to hide her wide smile, Natalie’s raised eyebrows as she pretended to read her borrowed magazine, and the hopeful glance between Keisha and Elise? What's happening here?

The competition was deeper than I expected.

“It was a very daunting task we gave you,”

“And it absolutely could have gone wrong. I’m pleased to say, however, that both teams did very well.” Riana added, looking at each of us appraisingly.

The visits from our foreign friends were mentioned in passing, but the actual events were kept from the public. It wasn’t until the next morning that Riana and the queen came to speak to us about our performances.

We all sighed, and I reached for Keisha’s hand as she did the same. As confused as I was about her and Kaden, I knew there was no way I could have made it through that without her.

“If I’m honest, one event was slightly better than the other, but you should all be proud of your accomplishments. We received thank-you letters from our longtime friends in the German Federation for your gracious hosting,” Riana said, looking at Selena, Natalie, and Elise. “There were a few minor hiccups, and I don’t think any of us truly like such serious affairs, but they unexpectedly did.”

“And as for you Keisha and Lily,” Riana turned toward Keisha and me.

“The ladies from Italy enjoyed themselves immensely. They were quite amazed with your style, and the delicious food; and they made a special point to ask for the wine you served, so, bravo! I wouldn’t be surprised if Millea gained a wonderful new ally based on that welcome. You’re to be commended.”

Keisha squeaked, and I let out a nervous laugh, happy enough that it was over, let alone that we’d beat the others.

Riana went on to talk about how she would be writing up an official report to hand over to the king and Kaden but said that none of us had a thing to worry about. As she spoke, a maid scurried into the room and ran over to the queen, whispering in its ear.

“They may,” the queen said, standing and walking forward.

The maid rushed back and opened the door for the king and Kaden. I knew male weren’t supposed to come into this room without the Queen Karmilla permission, but it was comical to see it in action.

As they entered, we stood to curtsy, but they didn’t seem to care about anything.

“Dear ladies, we are sorry to interrupt you, but we have urgent news,” the king informed us.

“I’m afraid... we've had a development with the war in Asia,” Kaden said firmly. “The situation is so dire that Father and I are leaving this very moment to see if we can fix it.”

Oh, no...

“What’s wrong?” the queen asked, clutching her chest.

“It’s nothing to worry about, my love,” the king said confidently. But it seems it couldn’t be a completely honest statement if they had to rush out of here so suddenly.

Kaden walked over to his mother. They had a brief conversation before she kissed his tiny forehead. He hugged her and stepped away. The king then began rattling off a list of instructions to the queen while Kaden came to say good-bye to each of us.

2

His good-bye to Natalie was so short it almost didn’t happen. Natalie didn’t seem too bothered, and I didn’t know what to make of that. Was she not worried by Kaden’s lack of affection, or was she so bothered that she was forcing herself to be calm?

Selena draped herself across Kaden and exploded into the worst display of fake crying that I’d ever seen. It reminded me of May when she was younger, thinking tears would magically bring money for us to have what we wanted. When he went to untangle himself, she planted a kiss on his lips that he promptly—and in as polite a manner as possible—wiped away after his back was turned.

Elise and Keisha were so close that I heard his good-byes to them.

“Call ahead and tell them to go easy on us,” he said to Elise. I’d almost forgotten that the main reason she was still here was that she had family ties to leaders in New Asia. I wondered if this war going downhill would cost her her spot.

Then I suddenly realized that I had no clue what MMillea stood to lose if we lost this war.

“If you get me a phone, I will talk to my parents,” she promised.

Kaden nodded and kissed Elise’s hand, then walked over to Keisha.

She immediately laced her fingers in his.

“Will you be in danger?” she asked quietly, her voice beginning to shake.

“I don’t know. During our last trip to New Asia, the situation wasn’t nearly so tense. I can’t be sure this time.” His voice was so tender, I felt they should have been having this conversation in private. Keisha lifted her gaze to the ceiling and sighed, and in that quick second Kaden looked over to me. I averted my eyes.

“Please be careful,” she whispered. A tear fell onto her cheek.

“Of course, my dear.” Kaden gave her a silly little salute, which made her laugh a bit. He then kissed her cheek and put his lips to her ear. “Please try to keep my mother entertained. She worries.”

He pulled back to look into her eyes, and Keisha nodded once and let his hands go. The second they were no longer touching, a tremor went through her body. Kaden’s hands twitched for a second, like he was going to embrace her, but then he stepped away and started to walk toward me.

As if Kaden’s words of last week weren’t enough, here was physical proof of their relationship. By the look of it, they had something very sweet and real. One glimpse of Keisha with her face in her hands was proof of how much she cared for him. Either that, or she was an incredible actress.

I tried to gauge his expression when he looked at me versus the way he had looked at Keisha. Was it the same? Was there less warmth there?

“Try not to get into any trouble while I’m gone, all right?” he said teasingly.

He didn’t joke with Keisha. Did that mean something?

I raised my right hand. “I promise to be on my best behavior.”

He chuckled. “Excellent. One less thing to worry about.”

“What about us? Should we worry?”

Kaden shook his head. “We should be able to smooth over whatever’s going on. Father can be very diplomatic and—”

“You are such an i***t sometimes,” I said as Kaden’s brow furrowed. “I mean about you. Should we worry about you?”

His face was very serious then and did nothing to help my fears.

“Flying in and flying out. If we can make it to the ground …” Kaden swallowed once, and I saw how frightened he was.

I wanted to ask something else, but I didn’t know what to say.