Chapter 10: Ladies On Proof

I went to the ladies' salon to talk to the girl, I wanted to find the perfect bride for Nicolas, the guilty conscience eating away at me that I wanted to do something good for him too. In my absence, groups had already formed and so I no longer needed to sort by genre. I started with the group by the window. They were the sophisticated ones. They were drinking tea and talking about trivial things, like the classic, the weather, "Hello," I said to the group. They put down their teacups in sync and looked at me in that, what are you doing here, you're polluting us with your present way. I had never felt so small as I did now. Should I have thought of something before sucking up, yes probably? Can I join you?" I tried again without losing my courage. "Fine with me, have a seat." I sat down on a chair, it was as uncomfortable as it looked, just like the pink colour. We haven't seen much of you around here, you're more of a loner aren't you?" a girl with red cork curls and a plain dress asked me. Yes, but I want to change that now, I'm Belle," I offered her my hand, but she didn't take it and took another sip of tea. She put the cup down on the saucer and replied: "I am Abgail Armstrong from Mententown, pleased to make your acquaintance Belle." She took another sip and continued: "This here beside me, is Sissley Brand of House Yorkto, a good friend of mine and a talented piano player." Sissley was a petite thing, she looked like a doll if she wasn't breathing I would have thought she was stuffed. She seemed very shy. Her blonde hair was braided into a side plait and her big blue doll eyes made her look even more fake. "Hey, Aby, I can speak for myself." She cleared her throat and said: "I'm Sissley, but I can't play the piano as well as everyone says I can." A brown-haired girl with forehead fringe and even dark skin introduced herself: "My name is Miranda von End. My family had ruled years before the Kantonie." She was wearing a red-organic dress with a V-neck. I knew exactly why she was here, it was almost obvious, her line was to return to the throne. That's why she was wearing this striking, attractive dress. I laughed inwardly as if Nicolas would get involved with her and like that. He didn't like that kind of woman, no...he liked me...No, focus Belle, you're not here for that reason. The girl next to her, I learned later, was called Elenore von Thun. Ash-blonde and very restrained, I excluded her from my proposal, my list of non-candidates was bigger than the ones in favour. Slowly I understood that the prince was not ready to commit himself. But nobles wanted to be entertained, they had to be kept in check, unfortunately. When I had finished with all of them, well, I deliberately left out Lulu the Beast, I didn't want to begrudge her becoming a princess and later queen. I wrote down all my facts, thoughts and wishes in a little notebook, every girl had received it, it was supposed to serve for self-reflection, during the time in the palace. I always carried the key with me under my dress, I couldn't risk exposure. I took it upon myself to go to Nicolas after dinner and pitch the girls to him, in fact, I had found four that seemed suitable for him. Myranda Sink, a Youtuber who had turned her back on her family and stood up for justice. Sofia Alexandra von Hohenburg, as the name implied, she was the descendant of an ancient Germanic lineage, she was educated and seemed genuinely interested in our prince. Myridia White, a rich actress who had registered here for publicity purposes, I took her into consideration as she made no secret of it and was honest with me. Last but not least we had Eliza Wyart, she was a fashion designer and had been working in the court tailor shop for a long time, she probably knew Nicolas best of all of us.