Chapter 52 - The Princess Selection (6)

The crown prince got bored watching the ladies of Aphidia move from stupid activity to the other. He already knew who he was going to choose as his princess. They were just wasting their time and his. 

But since he had given his father his word that he would oversee everything, he had no choice but to not through the whole thing. 

They had been sitting there for over three hours. He just wished the elders would stop the whole thing and ask him who he wanted to male his wife to get the torture over and done with. 

Amaru had already fallen asleep. He wouldn't blame his friend, even he who loved ladies would get tired of staring at the same faces for so long without moving. 

The only eyes that were still open were his and Jason's and he too was drifting away. He had not slept a wink in the night, to avoid seeing Jason in his dreams. He thought that it would keep his feelings for the man from growing more than they already had. 

And now he was paying the price. He was struggling to keep his eyes open. Sleep was knocking at his eyes with such intensity that he was unable to resist. 

He leaned his head on his hand and closed his eyes. Jason yawned, he had jumped to the idea of joining the princess selection hoping it would be interesting to watch, but now he understood why women hosted such things in the novels that he had read. 

He was bored to death, the painting task was awesome, and he praised a few talented women who drew the crown prince to perfection. But he had lost interest after the calligraphy part of it. 

A lot of things had happened that he hadn't noticed, he was so dizzy and feeling very tired. He kept his eyes open despite feeling sleepy, he had to prove to the crown prince that he cared enough to sit through the whole thing. 

"Only a few more hours and we will be done," the elders announced. 

He groaned. His body drained of energy hearing that he still had to sit for a few more hours. 'I can do this,' he encouraged himself. 

His eyes were open but his mind was already drifting away to the world of dreams. After a while he couldn't keep his eyes open, he let go and fell asleep. His head swayed to the side and fell on the crown prince's shoulder. 

Davion opened his eyes feeling the added weighed on his shoulders. He glanced down and saw Jason sleeping peacefully. He would push his head away and scold him but he had no energy left in his bed. 

He laid his head on Jason's head and went back to sleep. Winrus ushered for the elders and the ladies to keep their voices down. 

Everyone looked down to the stage to see why, "Awww," the ladies let out fawning over how cute the three princes looked in their sleep. 

Winrus arrived with blankets, he covered all the princes and ordered for comfortable pillow to be brought for prince Amaru. Once he had made them comfortable he went back to watching the selection. 

Three maids came to the royals holding fans, they took their positions and began to fan the princes as they enjoyed their nap. 

The elders proceeded with the challenges keeping their voices hushed to avoid disturbing the princes. More and more ladies were eliminated as the rounds went on. In each round at least ten to twelve ladies were sent away. 

The number kept decreasing with the passing time, Winrus wrote down the ladies that were doing the best of all of them. He was compiling a short list for the prince to pick from after waking up. 

Not that the list was needed, one contestant in the group had already won before even the contest began. Winrus had her name on the top of the list, he watched on with interest to see if she will last till the end. 

The lady in question would look up to the stage once in a while watching the crown prince. She had clear eyes that told nothing of what she was feelings, she didn't show any reaction to seeing the prince and Jason lean on each other as the other ladies. 

The other ladies either thought it was cute or got jealous wishing they could trade places with Jason. But the girl who topped the list didn't feel any such emotion. 

She averted her gave from them and moved her eyes to Winrus. The look in her eyes gave out a warm and welcoming aura to herself but Winrus knew her too well to think of her as such. 

He was someone who went everywhere the prince went, saw everything that the man saw. He knew everyone that walked into the palace inside out. The masks they word couldn't fool him. 

The more innocent they looked, the more dangerous they were. They looked virtuous and righteous but they would not hesitate to rip you to shreds if you cross them. 

The minutes turned to hours unto only a handful of ladies were left. Winrus crossed out the potential ladies that had been disqualified. Among the ladies that had managed the selection was the crown prince's choice. 

And to make matters worse, she had topped everyone in every challenge that the elders had thrown their way. From the looks of things, the prince need not chose her as she had already won the hearts of the elders. 

He looked at the six girls that had managed to remain till the end. They belonged to the noble families of Aphidia, a very fine collection indeed, very fierce anf competitive. 

But compared to the crown prince's choice they all didn't stand a chance. The woman was there with a goal in mind and she left no stone unturned to let them know that she was serious. 

"I like this collection," Winrus jumped when he heard a fruity familiar female voice say from right behind him.