Chapter 75

Joseph’s smile was twisted with cruelty. It deeply unnerved me. This man was not a noble himself, simply employed by them. He must have been like Lena, a traditionalist. Someone who wanted to uphold the way things had always been, rather than accepting necessary changes.

I hated that such ideals constantly placed me in danger. I was merely a girl caught up in it all. I had been chosen by the selection. It wasn’t like any of this was my direct choice.

Glancing across the room, I noticed Nicholas locked in conversation with Lilliana. He seemed entirely bored but dutifully gave her his attention anyway. He hadn’t noticed the intimidating way Joseph was clutching my arm. I couldn’t expect a rescue this time.

I cleared my throat, attempting to gather my courage. Joseph was making threats. I couldn’t simply cower under them, or he would know how much they affected me.

“Don’t I have to do something wrong to be sent to the dungeons?” I asked.

His eyes narrowed. “It’s only a matter of time.”

“No, I’m fairly certain that Piper is right,” Julian said, suddenly appearing beside me. “Unless they changed the rules in the past few minutes while I was in the bathroom?” Brow raised high, he looked at me and then at Joseph. “No? Didn’t think so.”

“Prince Julian, perhaps you misheard me,” Joseph began.

Julian shut him down straight away. “No, I don’t think I did.” He pointed to where Joseph gripped my arm. “No, maybe you’d like to release Piper and move a few feet away. Or more.”

Joseph’s face scrunched up like he wanted to argue, but what could he say to one of the princes he was charged with protecting?

I somehow manage to hide my own smirk as Joseph complied. He dropped my arm like it had burned him and backed away exactly three feet. He continued to glare daggers at me.

“I don’t think he likes me,” I whispered to Julian, who laughed, bright and boisterous.

“No, it doesn’t seem like he does. I had better stay near you, then, to help fend him off, as it seems my brother is otherwise occupied.”

I glanced at Nicholas again. He was rubbing his forehead now.

“I feel bad for him,” I said.

“Ah. So you’ve spoken with Lilliana then.”

That remark wasn’t kind to Lilliana, though it was absolutely the truth. Still, I decided it better not to agree or disagree.

Julian just looked at me and then laughed again.

Nathan signaled it was time for Linda to begin, and she moved at once, collecting her supplies. She set the stove to boil the eggs.

“Nothing quite like watching water boil,” Julian whispered to me. “Except perhaps watching grass grow.”

“You aren’t a chef then,” I said, looking at him.

He pressed a hand to his heart. “If I made a meal, it really would be poison.”

Nicholas, I remembered, had worked hard more than once to prepare meals for me, when we had been together. I wondered if he maintained his skills after all this time. It wasn’t like he had much need to prepare his own meals nowadays.

“Your stuffed mushrooms were delicious though, Piper,” Julian said.

“Thank you, but… my cooking skills are also lacking. I do what I can, with what few ingredients we have at home. A lot of the time though, my roommate Anna makes the meals for Elva and I, since I work so much.”

“That’s kind of her.”

“It is.” I missed Anna so much. I wondered all the time if she was watching the televised portions of the competition. What she must think of everything! Sometimes I could almost hear her voice, chiding me for not chasing Nicholas.

“The man needs love, and you have love to give!” she would say, as if anything was that easy. Love wasn’t the only thing keeping Nicholas and I apart.

Linda took the eggs off the stove too soon. I wondered if they had fully solidified. When she cracked them on a bowl, however, the whites of the eggs, at least, seemed whole. Yet when she cut them in half, to remove the yokes, the yellow yoke was slimy.

She didn’t seem to mind and poured them into a bowl anyway. A bold choice.

Nathan leaned closer, peering into the bowl. “Does that look right?”

Linda nodded. “I cook the eggs shorter than necessary so the yellow bit comes out better. It makes it easier to mix too.”

To me, Julian said, “I wonder who they are going to get to taste test this, because… not it.”

I really hoped it wasn’t me, either.

Nathan leaned back. His face crumpled like he wanted to correct her, but ultimately, he decided to stay neutral.

Linda then mixed the other ingredients in with the eggs and began to stir. She lifted an egg half to add the mixture, when the egg slipped down onto the ground.

“Slippery little things, aren’t they?” Linda said, laughing though it sounded nervous.

She reached down, picked up the egg, and returned it to the plate.

Everyone in the room went very quiet.

Linda continued adding the mixture to that egg, like nothing had just happened.

Nathan leaned forward again. “Linda. Did you see any problem with adding that specific egg back to the plate?”

She blinked at him in obvious confusion. “Accidents happen. I’m sure the floor is regularly cleaned.”

Nathan frowned. “Do you ever spend time in the kitchens at home?”

Her brow furrowed. “Sometimes,” she said, but her eyes shifted as she spoke. She was clearly lying.

Nicholas stepped into the center of the room. “That’s enough. I believe this experiment has proven my case.”

Grumbling, Joseph pushed off from the wall and stormed out of the room. I stepped back just in time to narrowly avoid being shouldered by him.

“Sore loser,” Julian said.

“I don’t understand,” Linda said. “What did I do wrong?”

“Someone should have been supervising the girls when they cooked,” Nicholas said to Nathan. “If we do another cooking challenge, please see to it.”

Nathan bowed. “A horrible oversight on my part. I beg forgiveness, Your Royal Highness.”

Nicholas nodded.

“Someone explain to me what is going on,” Linda said, voice rising in panic or anger or both.

Julian smirked. “You blew it, Linda. Not only did you undercook the eggs, but you even dropped one on the ground, then returned it to the table. Admit it, you’ve never even been into a kitchen before in your life.”

“I’ve been in one!” she announced loudly.

Julian smiled wider. She’d taken his bait and proven that, though she’d been in a kitchen, she had not been in one to cook. Very likely, she had never cooked in her entire life. Likely, she hadn’t seen anyone else do so either, or she would know not to pick things up off the floor.

Everyone in the room watched her with pitiful eyes, except those few who were laughing.

Yet Linda sought me out in her ire.

“This is all your fault, Piper! You… You sabotaged me!”

“We know she didn’t,” Nicholas said. “You will convince no one otherwise after what we have just witnessed.”

“If you had only listened to me,” she said instead.

“I did listen, Linda. Until you stopped speaking to me. We could have helped each other, but you were too stuck on excluding me.”

“You deserve to be excluded. You have no right to even be here!”

“Stop embarrassing yourself,” Julian said. “You’ve already had a poor showing. Just accept the failure with grace.”

“’Poor showing?!’” She was shouting now, her eyes wild. She looked around the room like a woman crazed. Then her sights landed on a nearby knife.

She snatched it off the counter, then, holding it in both hands, she lunged for me.