“Good morning, Prince Chevalier,” Ivetta called the next morning.
I didn’t move, though I had already been awake and listening to her humming for quite a while already. If I lay still, maybe she would start talking again, like she had yesterday. I disdained small talk and mindless chatter from anybody else, but hers I found interesting.
“Sorry to break it to you, your highness, but it’s back to work again today,” she continued. “The festival was a lot of fun, but I’m glad it only lasted one day.”
“For once, we agree on something,” I mumbled.
The bureau drawers groaned as she opened them. “It’s bound to happen once in a while, your highness.”
I pushed back the covers and stretched as she set the clothes on the bench next to the bed. “I hope you had the sense to take my advice,” I said condescendingly.
“Yes, I did, your highness,” she replied, her green eyes calm as they met mine. “Prince Leon was happy to walk me home. I’ll be back with your breakfast.”
She was becoming more comfortable around me. I smiled to myself as I got out of bed and picked up the clothes she’d set out, heading into the bathroom to get dressed. Even the thought of her with Leon didn’t really bother me this morning. She’d only been following my orders, after all, and he’d kept her safe. His inborn protective nature did have its uses. And she clearly wasn’t interested in him, or any of my brothers. At least she had sense where they didn’t.
A few minutes later, while I was still finishing in the bathroom, I heard her voice again as soon as the door opened. “Prince Clavis, you and I both know that he will. And he’s in the bathroom right now, too.”
“Just do whatever it is you do,” Clavis replied casually. “Leave Chev to me.”
I’d left the bathroom door open, as usual. Ivetta always found something to do around the corner, out of sight. Maybe I should be more sensitive to her and close the door. But, then again, I wouldn’t hear intruders as easily that way. Like Clavis. What was he doing here?
She sighed and called out, “Prince Chevalier, you have a visitor.”
“What do you want, Noisy?” I asked icily, fastening my cloak about my shoulders.
“Ah, don’t be like that, Chev. When I’m being such a thoughtful younger brother, stopping by to wish you and your lovely little maid a good morning.”
Thoughtful younger brother. He was always saying such nonsense to sugarcoat his irritating behavior.
“It’s too bad I didn’t catch up to you at the festival earlier, but at least I got to see the lion and the tiger drooling over a certain dove. That was very amusing.”
He was pushing for a reaction from me. I wouldn’t have given him the satisfaction if it weren’t for Ivetta’s presence. She was probably blushing from embarrassment at this point. I’d brought my sword into the bathroom with me this morning, and I buckled the belt around my waist, smirking as the familiar weight settled over my left hip. It was tempting to just run him through this time and be done with him.
“Did you enjoy your time in the gardens, Ivetta?” he continued pushing.
He hadn’t said anything to me about that last night, so I hadn’t realized he’d seen us. Not that there was anything to see. We were just reading. But he’d probably move on to subtle innuendo and implications about the time we’d spent together, and I didn’t want to hear it anymore than she did. I exited the bathroom and grabbed him by the back of his collar, throwing him out the door.
“Thank you, Prince Chevalier,” Ivetta said as the door slammed shut. I didn’t acknowledge her as I went to my desk. She slipped into the bathroom without another word.
Clavis was going to be more of a pain than usual today.
I left for my office after breakfast, and, of course, Clavis was waiting for me with his sly grin. At least Nokto was absent. He may not have attended the festival, but he doubtless had found a willing woman to help him with his own festivities last night. It was quite probable that he hadn’t even heard about my excursion beyond the palace walls with Ivetta yet. Which was fine with me.
“I’m surprised at you, Chev. You don’t usually lose control like that,” Clavis said, his golden eyes gleaming as he started right back up with the teasing.
“If I’d lost control, you would be dead,” I said coolly. “You were distracting the maid from her work.”
“Was I?” he asked innocently. “She must be a sensitive little thing. I hardly said a word to her. But I guess you know her better than I do, since you spent the entire day with her yesterday.”
“She’s my maid, and I wasn’t in the office. She was doing her job,” I snapped.
“Oh? I didn’t realize it was her job to accept funnel cakes and books from her employer, and read in the gardens with him,” he continued, grinning slyly.
“You know as well as I do that rewarding good behavior is an effective method of securing loyalty.” Which was true, although that certainly hadn’t been my motivation.
“Ah, I see. You were securing her loyalty. Well, that makes sense, then.” He chuckled. “So, you weren’t upset about Leon walking her home last night.”
“What she does with her personal time is of no concern to me,” I lied.
“Just clarifying the situation. After all, you said yourself that she’s just a maid, and we’re all princes. I would hate to think that you needed that reminder,” Clavis said casually.
“Have you gotten anywhere in your investigation, or are you too busy following her around?” I asked sharply.
He sighed. “I do have a lead, actually. It’s probably best that I pursue that today.”
“Then go.”
This was why I couldn’t be done with him yet. He was annoying, but he was useful. At least he wouldn’t be bothering me, or Ivetta, anymore today. The amount of paperwork on my desk was minimal, and I would finish well before two thirty. It had only been a few minutes since I left her, and I was already looking forward to seeing her again.
No. I needed to stop that. She was my maid, not my companion. There were plenty of other duties I could attend to that were of much greater importance than her, such as supervising my knights’ training. They were due for a spot check. My sword had seen little use since the purge, and though I didn’t mind the peace, I could little afford to allow myself to become complacent.
But I made sure to be at the library at two thirty. The books I’d left on my chair the previous afternoon had vanished, doubtless integrated into the shelves. I didn’t think Ivetta knew any foreign tongues, so they would have posed a challenge to her, but I had little doubt she’d completed the task satisfactorily. Still, I gave her a short response when she delivered my tea, a reminder to myself that she was here only to serve me. She didn’t notice. In fact, she seemed to be distracted. I watched her leave with a sense of disappointment. Where was her sharp retort, the flash of irritation in her green eyes?
And why was I so looking forward to having a conversation with her, anyway?
About an hour later, I heard her muffled voice through the door.
“Thank you, Prince Licht, you were very helpful. That’s the last one.”
Now she had Licht after her, too? This was getting ridiculous. I put my book down and opened the door, but Licht had already turned to go. Ivetta was folding up a ladder just a few feet away. She glanced over at me.
“I’ll be right back, Prince Chevalier,” she said, heading for the main door. I turned and went back into my library without a word, waiting just inside the door, my arms crossed over my chest.
“What did the Mime want?” I asked as soon as she walked in.
“Prince Licht brought me something from Prince Yves, and then he insisted on holding the ladder until I was finished,” she explained.
“A gift from the Showoff. You are a busy little dove,” I said, smirking mockingly at her.
“I’m sure I don’t know what you mean, your highness,” she said calmly, though her irritation was plain in her eyes. “I haven’t opened it yet, if you’re curious to see what it is.”
This was what I wanted. No distractions, just her focused on me, allowing me to delve deeper into her way of thinking.
“I’m more curious about what you did to deserve a gift from him.”
“Nothing that I’m aware of, your highness. If you’ll excuse me.” She left before I could say another word, but I only had to wait a few seconds before she returned with a small brown paper bag. “Here,” she said, holding it out to me.
“You have become brazen,” I commented. “It’s your gift. Open it.”
She did so, her eyes immediately lighting up when she saw its contents. “Oh, it’s just a pastry,” she said, removing the croissant. “I met Prince Licht and Prince Yves on their way down to a cafe a couple of nights ago. They didn’t have to do that.”
I chuckled softly. A funnel cake from me, a croissant from Yves, and she recognized neither for what they were. She put the croissant back in the bag, watching me warily.
“How naïve of you. There is no such thing as a simple gift from royalty. Everything comes at a cost.”
“Maybe so, your highness, but I don’t know of a cost right now, so I think I’d rather be happy for the kind gesture instead of worrying about what this could mean,” she said, frustrated by my attitude.
“I see. So if I were to give you permission to read one of my books, you would be happy, even though you know I will ask something of you in return?”
It was possible I was enjoying this a bit too much.
“Unfortunately, it’s not that simple with you, Prince Chevalier. I can accept a gift from Prince Yves without concern because he’s never given me any indication of an ulterior motive. You are always angling for something of benefit, which leads me to be more cautious regarding a so-called gift from you,” she replied coolly.
“You’re learning,” I said, smiling with amusement. I turned away from her and walked to the bookshelf where The Romance of the Rose resided. She would find it more appealing than I had. I carried it back to her and set it on top of her head. “I give you my word there will be no untoward consequences.”
She removed the book from her head, her green eyes flashing. “Didn’t your mother ever teach you any manners, your highness?” she snapped.
Her words were a slap in the face, but not strictly because of their content. She knew my mother, the queen, was dead. Everybody knew that. And she knew that I was a prince, the Brutal Beast, the man who had threatened her life only a few days ago. But she was so at ease with me that she felt safe making such an improper comment. Clavis was right. I had been handling her inappropriately. She needed a reminder of her position as much as I did. My enjoyment had eclipsed my rationale, and it was time to put a stop to this.
“My mother taught me nothing,” I snapped back. “She was too afraid of me to linger in my presence.”
“What?” Ivetta asked, all irritation suddenly vanquished by shock.
“Do you truly find that so hard to believe?” I asked, smirking tauntingly.
“Well, yes, your highness,” she said without hesitation. “I’ve never heard of a mother being afraid of her child before. Why would she be afraid of you?”
“She was weak, allowing her life to be ruled by emotions. Her marriage to the king was one of political convenience, but she foolishly allowed herself to fall in love with him, knowing he had multiple wives and even more mistresses. That, combined with her fear of me, drove her to an early grave.” I slid a finger under Ivetta’s chin and tilted it up. “You have the same weakness,” I added coolly.
She brushed my hand away, blushing. “Maybe you see it as a weakness to experience emotions, Prince Chevalier, but I don’t. And I’m certainly not ruled by them to the extent that I can’t think for myself at all. But…I am sorry, Prince Chevalier.”
And she was. I could see the sympathy in her green eyes as she looked up at me. This poverty-stricken, overworked, vulnerable little maid pitied me, the Brutal Beast. She had forgotten who I was and what I was capable of doing to her.
“Why should you be sorry?” I asked bitingly.
“I’m not apologizing because I did something wrong, your highness. I’m expressing sympathy for what you went through,” she said, realization dawning in her eyes. She knew she’d made a mistake in treating our relationship too casually. I needed to drive the point home.
“And what makes you think the Brutal Beast would want your sympathy?” I said, my voice dangerously low. I took an aggressive step toward her, and she backed away quickly, running into a bookcase
“I guess I didn’t think about it, your highness,” she said, looking up into my eyes as fear flickered through hers. My fingers were at her neck again, her pulse throbbing in the prominent vein there.
“You are a foolish little dove. Perhaps I have let you flutter about for too long.”
She flinched as my fingers traced up and down her neck, her thoughts racing behind her eyes.
“I shouldn’t have said anything, your highness. My apologies.” She looked away, hoping that would satisfy me. It didn’t. It wasn’t enough.
“You seem to be laboring under the false impression that I am a human like you.”
She looked up at me again, startled. My face was so close that our noses were almost touching.
“What else could you be?” she asked nervously.
I gave her a predatory smile. My fingers settled on her skin, sliding around her throat until my palm was flat against it.
“What do you think?”
She was struggling to remain calm, as evidenced by her racing pulse. I wanted her to be afraid of me. I wanted her to know that yesterday was a mistake that should never have happened, and that she couldn’t trust me. She was almost there, and then - and then a sudden cool defiance filled her green eyes.
“I think I would like to get back to work, Prince Chevalier,” she said quietly.
What had changed?
I slid my hand up, my thumb and fingers pressing on either side of her jaw to force her chin up. There was no fear in her eyes anymore, striking green eyes that refused to look away from mine, framed by long black lashes contrasting with her pale skin, a slight tension in her jaw as she pursed her full, pink lips, so close to mine. Too close. Easily within reach.
“You’re not worth my time,” I said harshly, releasing her and stepping back. “Get out of my sight.”
She did so immediately, shutting the door behind her.
I put my hands on the bookshelf and leaned forward, hanging my head down as I took several deep breaths. That had backfired significantly. She wasn’t afraid of me anymore, and I had almost kissed her. The emotions that I’d told her were absent had come surging to the surface, threatening to take over. I needed a reminder, a reason to push her face out of my mind. The look of shock when I’d told her about my mother…
That was it. I pictured my mother, the sadness she wore everywhere she went, the desperate longing in her blue eyes whenever she saw my father. Their marriage had taken place only to satisfy the nobility who wouldn’t accept the last Belle, Jin’s mother, as queen. A marriage of the king to a commoner, a marriage of love that should never have happened. And my mother, the princess whose status entitled her to the throne, had made the mistake of falling in love with my father. Even when Jin’s mother ran away, unable to handle the pressure of life as royalty, my father never loved my mother. He became a sad, broken man, seeking momentary pleasure in the arms of any beautiful woman he saw. There were more wives, and mistresses, hence the rest of my brothers. It ate away at my mother until she just gave up living.
That wasn’t going to be me.
I would never allow love to taint my life. Neither of my parents had been able to rule effectively, hence the kingdom’s current difficulties. A king needed a clear head. I would marry for political reasons only, and I would do what I had to do to ensure the royal line continued, but I would not allow something as foolish as romance to enter the picture. The kingdom of Rhodolite deserved no less after its sufferings at the hands of my parents.
I needed some fresh air.
Ivetta was still in the library as I swept through to the main door, glimpsing her out of the corner of my eye where she sat in the alcove. It was odd for her to be sitting down during her working hours. Maybe my efforts had not been in vain. Maybe I really had upset her. Good. She needed to stay away. For me, and for her.
The cool breeze was refreshing on my face as I wandered through the gardens. I could fire her, or have her reassigned. I not only could, but I probably should. It was either get rid of her, or get a better handle on myself. I allowed myself a self-deprecating chuckle. My self-control had never failed me before. What did it say about me that a simple little maid was causing me so much trouble?
No more.
I returned to the library a few minutes to five, when she was collecting my empty teacup. She turned around and saw me in the doorway, and her green eyes widened in momentary surprise before she had herself back under control again.
“Do you need anything else before I go, Prince Chevalier?” she asked politely.
“Don’t forget the book,” I said, brushing past her to my chair.
“Thank you, your highness, but I don’t really have time to read at home. If it’s alright with you, I’d rather just leave it here.”
She didn’t get any time off, did she? No wonder she’d decided to stay yesterday.
“Do what you like,” I said dismissively, not looking up as I opened my own book.
“Have a good night, your highness.”
I was back under control, too. She was my employee, and her life outside of her work here at the palace was none of my concern. Within the palace, it was only her work that concerned me. That was all.
Sariel arrived shortly after she left, his black hair falling in his narrow lavender eyes, his expression inscrutable behind his thin black glasses frames. It was extremely unusual for him to invade my privacy, and I could venture a guess at what would bring him now. I glared up at him in annoyance. This news could have waited until later.
“Has the king finally died?” I asked.
“Yes,” he said quietly, crossing his arms over his black snakeskin print jacket and strange dark purple sash. “And I understand that your new maid would be an excellent candidate for Belle.”
Now, finally, Rhodolite would be able to move on from the mistakes my father had made. That should have been my one and only thought. But Ivetta as the next Belle…Belle, a woman with a pure and beautiful heart. Ivetta fit that definition so perfectly that I couldn’t argue the point, but there was no way she could fulfill that role unless she moved into the palace. And to do that, she’d have to be separated from her mother, which she would never agree to. Sariel would undoubtedly force the issue by attempting to move her mother here, which would either kill the woman outright or speed her demise.
And then, after the month as measured by Beauty’s Time, Ivetta would be forced to leave, never to return. She would be alone. Absolutely, completely alone.
I shouldn’t care. But I did.
“No.”
Sariel’s eyes widened momentarily, his black-gloved fingers tapping the white cuffs of his shirt sleeves. “You are opposed?”
“It is unnecessary to choose a Belle at all. I will be the next king. That was decided at my birth,” I said firmly.
He sighed, shifting his weight on his black boots, a series of black belts squeaking around his black-clad legs. “In any other kingdom, that would be the case, but you know very well that the title of your mother and your birth order have no bearing here in Rhodolite.”
“The Belle Covenant is a foolish tradition and a precious waste of time. The kingdom is vulnerable as long as it is without a king,” I argued. This had been my thought long before Ivetta entered the picture.
“Which is why Belle must be chosen immediately, so you’ll need a better reason for me not to choose Ivetta,” Sariel retorted.
I closed my book and stood up, walking past him to the door. This whole conversation was a waste of time. I needed to talk to Leon and call a round table meeting - do something of actual importance.
“She won’t agree to it,” I said simply, intending to leave it at that.
“Then I will persuade her,” Sariel said smoothly.
“No, you won’t,” I snapped, turning back toward him with a sharp glare. Even I was startled by my sudden anger, but I made no effort to curb it. “You won’t lay a hand on her unless you’re prepared to lose it.”
He furrowed his brow. “So it's true. You do like her.”
“Whether I do or don’t like her is none of your affair. She is my maid, and she is under my protection.” I closed the space between us and shoved his jacket aside, yanking his hidden whip free from his belt. “Do you understand?” I asked, pushing the leather coils in his face.
He took a step back, his lavender eyes widening slightly, but nodded. “I understand. But I still intend to discuss the matter with her first thing in the morning.” He grabbed at the whip, but I maintained my grip on it.
“Discuss it, then, if you wish to waste your time and hers. I have more important matters to attend to, such as convening a round table to discuss our kingdom’s future. If you interfere in any way, I will not hesitate to deal with you accordingly. Have I made myself clear?”
“Perfectly, your highness,” he said tightly, smiling as he usually did when I scared the living daylights out of him.
I released the whip and left. The death of the king could only be hidden from our enemies for so long, and now was the time to take action regarding Obsidian’s secret dealings. That had to be my priority. But my threat to Sariel had been real. He didn’t need two hands to maintain his position as court minister and king’s regent. And if he dared to touch that whip to Ivetta, I would use it to strangle him without a second thought.41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2HnEGlKgNk
