Chapter 11 My Bracelet

My eyes flew open before the sun was fully up. I remembered instantly where I was, and my interaction with Prince Theo weighed on my mind.

I took a few deep breaths, trying not to let his constantly irritated state get to me. I had slept well, had good dreams, and had a lot of energy pulsing through my veins. Why would I let his pessimism ruin my day before it had even begun?

I glanced down at my pillow and saw the flower that Prince Warren had given to me and instantly felt a rush of adrenaline.

No wonder I’d gotten a good night of sleep. The blooms were slightly faded from the vibrancy they’d had when he’d first picked it and handed it over to me, but the fragrance still filled my lungs when I inhaled, and I thought it might last another day or two.

I quickly put the flower in the top drawer of the night stand and hopped up, ready to prepare for the day. Lots of hard manual labor lay in front of me, but I was mentally prepared for all of it.

After a few hours, I had almost finished wiping down the entire wing. Almost, because the ceiling was too high for me to reach. While I was pondering what I should do to get

myself up there, I had an overwhelming feeling that someone was watching me from behind.

I looked down the hallway and saw a tall, lean form coming toward me, and immediately, my heart knew who it was.

Quickly, I sprinkled some water on the floor so I’d have an excuse to speak to him. “Be careful, Your Highness!” I called. “The floor is wet here!”

“There you are!” Prince Warren greeted me as he approached, staying back from the area I’d just dampened. “I had wondered why you weren’t outside with the animals. So… you were chosen to be my brother’s personal attendant, huh?”

Something was slightly off about his tone. He was saying kind words, but he didn’t exactly seem happy about the news.

“This is my assignment, for now,” I said, keeping my head down. “It was… an accident… sort of.” I couldn’t quite explain to him how I happened to be at the pavilion at the same time that Prince Theo was expecting his attendant there.

“Well… congratulations.” His smile looked forced for some reason that I didn’t understand.

“Thank you,” I said. “But honestly… if I had a choice….” His eyebrows raised, and he took a step closer to me, as if he knew I was hesitant to say what I was trying to get out, which was true. “I wouldn’t have chosen to be Prince Theo’s attendant.”

I wasn’t sure whether it was a good idea to share my displeasure about one prince with another prince, but looking at Warren’s face, I knew I could trust him.

“Really?” His tone suddenly changed, and I thought I heard a bit of lightness to his voice. “Well, it looks like you’ve got quite

a bit of work to do, cleaning up this wing of the castle. You know, a personal attendant isn’t meant to be a maid.”

I felt my cheeks redden as I thought about how I had gone

| into Prince Theo’s room last night and ended up getting myself into this predicament. But at least I had something to do. “I don’t mind a bit of hard work,” I told him.

“Perhaps I could help you? I’ve never done much cleaning, but I can give it a try.” He flashed a kind smile to me that made my heart skip a beat, and I wondered if he could hear it.

had to turn down his offer. “That wouldn’t be appropriate at

my cheeks flare up

to spend more time with him. I glanced around and suddenly realized exactly what I could ask him to do. “Well, I am having a

looked at them for a moment, his hand in his pocket as he studied the problem. He

to the corner and climbed up, stretching to reach the

his sleeve moved back just enough,

in my throat as I got another,

the same material and color as the one I’d given away as a gift all those years ago, I could see some wear on one of the beads. I remembered scraping it on a rough tree trunk when I was climbing in

stare, I looked away, but I couldn’t lose this opportunity to

I said, “That’s an unique bracelet you have there, Your Highness. Where did

took him a moment to respond since he was working. When he finally lowered the duster down, he said. “This?” He held it up so I could see it. His gaze seemed to get even softer as he said, “It was a gift I received a long time

fishing for information now. I needed to know what he remembered. Was there

climbed down off of the ladder and moved it

another web above him.

That’s… nice. Do you have fond memories of receiving

do. She’s a very important person to me.” He turned and looked at me, and I had to avert my eyes, grabbing the mop

“I-I was just curious.”

today before he got

could just blurt out to him that it had come from me, that I’d been the girl who saved him in the woods all those years ago. I wasn’t sure whether

anything else, an annoying voice hit my ear, and I suddenly wished I’d mopped the entire floor with the

she is again, doing the dirty work that only maids would do! She must have embarrassed Prince Theo so

stand to be near

away, her arms folded, her friends gathered at her shoulders, all of them looking down their noses at me. Sophia bowed down to greet Prince Warren, “You Highness, please do not be deceived by her. She would bring you nothing but disgrace. She was supposed to serve Prince

of the ladder. I couldn’t quite read

whore!” Sophia

frowned. “It’s not lady-like

and speaking

Let’s get back to the clean part of the castle. Clearly, this girl is a terrible maid who doesn’t know how to

distinct feeling that she didn’t like

making more trouble for me soon. I

she was gone, I turned to Prince Warren. “Thank

me briefly on the shoulder.

a tingle of electricity

he finished his sentence. When he

enjoyed his company. He was so different from his brother, so much more thoughtful and kind. I wished I had been assigned to be his personal attendant instead of

assigned as his

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