The Luna Choosing Game by Jane Above Story

Chapter 0505 I fell asleep in Nicholas arms. It was the warmest, most comfortable I had felt in I couldn’t remember how long. With the sun creeping in through the blinds and | the sound of the ocean beating on the sand just outside the window, I was lulled to sleep like a happy baby in a cradle.

When I blinked awake, later, the sun was much lower in the sky and Nicholas was gone. I wasn’t surprised by his absence, but I did immediately miss him. The bed was so much colder with him, and without the sun.

I didn’t want to sleep anymore, alone. It helped that I was fully rested too.

I rolled out of bed and dressed in clean clothes. My previous linen ones had gotten wrinkled in my sleep. I tossed the dirty clothes into the hamper and then headed downstairs

The rest of the group was standing just ) outside of the dining room.

I “Mommy!” Elva called for me. She was holding Veronica's hand. Her free hand, | : : she waved at me enthusiastically.

{ Irushed over to them. They were standing, talking to Julian.

Julian flashed me a smirk as sharp as a dagger’s edge. “Have a good sleep, Piper?” I narrowed my eyes at him. I had no idea how he would know that Nicholas slept in my bed, but if anyone would have known, it would have been Julian. He seemed to have an innate ability to sense these things.

Even now, he read the truth in my reaction and just grinned wider, the absolute cad.

I ignored him as best 1 could, focusing on Elva and Veronica until we were let into

the dining room The seating arrangements were the same | as they had been before: Bridget and Nicholas were set at one table. Everyone | else was at another. They didn’t even bother setting a single place at a third | table for Jessica this time, rightly intuiting that we would have just invited her straight to our table instead.

Unfortunately, as we take our seats, noticed that the cameras were out in full force. Two different sets of camera crews watched us from all angles. They zoomed into our faces as we smiled, until those smiles turned awkward and fake.

The whole thing was such a chore. I knew that cameras and broadcasting to the public were part of the competition, but it felt like we had to be on all the time. We weren't allowed to make mistakes, or show too much of our true selves if we were having a bad day.

Though I supposed that was as muc ha

part of this as any event. The royal family )} couldn’t have bad days. Saying the wrong thing or projecting the wrong opinion | publically at any event or endeavor was not just dangerous for a royal, it could be deadly.

| With that thought in mind, I forced down all my bad feelings and tried to project my true, happiest self. I was having an okay day now that I was rested and recovered and having a good meal with friends, so it wasn’t a difficult mask to wear. Hell, it wasn’t a mask at all! The table beside ours, however, was wrought with tension. As I watched, Bridget tried no less than three times to start a cheery conversation. Nicholas shut her down each time by simply not responding. He stared at his food and refused to look at Bridget, even when she talked.

It was so tense and awful, that Nathan eventually stepped in to direct the camera

h Crews away Then, I noticed, Bridget said something, 4 | and Nicholas’s gaze snapped up to-her: 1 had no idea what she said, but I heard ! Nicholas’s reply clearly enough, mainly because he shouted it.

“You left her to die!” Everyone at my table immediately stopped talking, though we all pretended like we didn’t notice the scene. We continued eating quietly, casting each other curious side-eyed glances. Even Elva seemed unsure what to do, glancing around.

I cleared my throat, very aware of the cameras zooming in on our faces.

“Uh, Julian,” I said.

He cleared his throat and replied, “Yes, piper?” “You've, uh, visited the mer folk before, correct?” It was the only topic | could

think of at the moment.

“Ihave.” “Why don’t you... uh... tell Elva what it will be like when we go see them? I heard something about breathing underwater?” “Underwater?” Elva’s eyes go wide as she looks from me to Julian.

Julian, ever happy to be the center of attention, easily took the bait. His grin went wide, stunning really.

“They live in an underwater palace, the size of which puts even ours to shame...” Julian said. He placed down his fork so that he could use his hands to regale us with his tale. “It’s the real estate on the ocean floor. They have so much more space than us here up above.” He continued with hand gestures, eventually even mimicking some of the underwater dance moves as best he could.

It was enough to make both me and Elva

laugh.

“It’s easier to do underwater,” Julian i explained, though he was laughing too.

| “Gravity gets in the way so much up | here.” | Both Elva and I hang on his every word.

Maybe for everyone else, visiting the merfolk palace is a common event, but for us, it sounds like something out of a fantasy.

Julian laughed as he took us in. “Mother and daughter seem to share in their childlike wonder,” he said.

I smiled and kissed Elva on the top of her head. I couldn’t deny it, so I didn’t bother. Instead, I was proud to share something so innocent and honest with my darling daughter.

After dinner, Nicholas and Bridget were supposed to go on their romantic boat date. They were clearly still mad at each other, both standing a good few feet away

from each other, even as they walked down to the boat dock.

| To distract myself, I returned to the beach to inspect the sand castles Elva had | built earlier in the day. Most were dilapidated now, but Elva still excitedly | told me what they used to look like. And from her descriptions, I was very impressed.

Nearby, Julian and Jessica had begun making new sandcastles. They'd even thrown in a competition.

“pwenty bucks goes to the best castle,” Julian said.

“Fine,” Jessica agreed. She sounded like she was begrudging, but I saw the smile on her lips as well as anyone. “Who's the judge?” “Mel” Elva called, raising her hand high.

“Elva,” Julian said.

“yay!” Elva cheered. She rushed over to

|" inspect as they began to make their ) castles.

| Tlooked around and spotted Veronica | sitting in the shade of a coconut tree.

| Trusting Elva to Julian’s care, 1 walked | the few feet up to join her.

| She was holding a coconut in my hands.

As I walked closer, I suddenly felt something press lightly against my stomach. I lifted my hands to catch whatever it was. Looking down, I saw it was a coconut.

I glanced at Veronica. She wasn’t holding hers anymore.

She had just teleported it straight into my hands!