#Chapter 233: A New Contender

The next day at lunch time, Elva and I walked down to the dining room to have lunch with the rest of the candidates. As soon as I walked through the door, I felt the tension in the room. No one was smiling, not even Susie as she saw me. She waved as we came closer. Per the contest rules, none of us were supposed to watch television or use our cell phones. As such, we shouldn’t have any knowledge of what was going on in the outside world. None of us should be aware of the news of the dire recent events with the King’s statues being defaced. Yet everyone still seemed to know, if their whispered words and worried faces were anything to go by. I took the open seat beside Susie and Elva hopped into the seat on the other side of me. Susie gave us both a smile then, but it was tight and dishonest. Still, I appreciated the effort and gave her one of my own. I imagined she heard the news from Mark. Veronica likely heard it from Julian, if she didn’t have other means. If any of them were kin