"I don't think I would have been in such a predicament in the first place," he returned with a shrug and half a smirk. "Paris was chosen as judge for being exceptionally fair, if I recall. He'd previously called a contest to his own detriment, and I would never do such a thing," he said, shaking his head.

So she liked literature — at least she knew about something, then, which was good. He was beginning to worry that she was an idiot, but perhaps she was just sheltered.