42 Chapter Forty Two

"It is because my sister told me to get away from you, Alex."

"…What?"

Prince Noah's fierce golden eyes were staring at me. For the first time since our first interactions, I felt scared by his presence again.

"Alex tell me, have you done anything against Isabel?" He asked me again, but this time he seemed more serious.

"N-No I…"

I was about to tell him that I had done nothing against the princess, but then I stopped myself.

'What if the princess told him otherwise?' I asked myself, nervous.

With those thoughts in mind, I started to feel anxious.

Isabel is a princess in this palace, and I am just a servant. If she told Prince Noah that I've done something against her, it doesn't matter if I did it or not.

'I will be guilty.' I realized, remembering my position in this place.

I gulped, scared. I felt like running away, but then I clenched my fist tight stopping myself.

I knelt on the floor in front of Prince Noah and said.

"I'm sorry, Your Highness. I didn't mean to offend the princess." I apologized.

For a moment there was silence in the room.

I was staring at the floor, too tense to look at Prince Noah. And then he finally broke the silence and asked.

"...What did you do to her, Alex?"

I didn't know what to say.

'What should I tell him? No, what did the princess tell him?' I asked myself, nervous.

I still couldn't understand, Princess Isabel seemed so nice. What could I have done that offended her?

'Maybe she just lied…or maybe…'

Then I remembered something that had happened this morning.

"I met Princess Isabel earlier today, and then carelessly I told the princess to come to visit you, Your Highness. After what happened earlier to you, Your Highness, I thought that maybe you seeing her would be good for you. But then the Head Maid scolded me saying that a servant like me shouldn't be telling the princess what she should or not do. And that is true, I forgot my place. I didn't mean to offend the princess, Your Highness. I am sorry." I said, trying to sound apologetic, though I wasn't feeling this way.

I was actually mad.

Mad at myself for being so naive.

'Just because of a careless mistake of a servant like me towards her, was enough to make her blacklist me.' I thought, mad.

I didn't realize that behind Princess Isabel's smile she was hiding her true intentions. Just like her brother Prince Dylan, she hides her true self behind a polite and kind facade.

'Is that a family thing?!' I thought mad. 'Are all royals like this hiding their true self behind a kind facade?'

'I must avoid the princess from now on.' I thought, determined.

"Was that all?" Prince Noah suddenly asked, confused.

Surprised I looked up at him and asked. "What do you mean, Your Highness?"

"Was that all that you did to Isabel? Are you sure you haven't done anything else to her?" Prince Noah asked me, confused.

I tried to recall but, unless she have told him something else, there was nothing that I did that could have offended the princess.

"No, I think that was all, Your Highness. I barely talked to the princess. You can ask Nicholas, we were together when your sister approached us." I explained.

Prince Noah seemed surprised after hearing Nicholas's name, then he sighed and suddenly seemed relieved.

"I see." Prince Noah said, and then he looked at me again.

"You may raise now, Alex. There is no need to apologize anymore." He said, and offered me his hand, surprising me.

Unsure I hold his hand and with his help, I got up from the floor.

I looked at Prince Noah and asked, confused. "Aren't you mad with me, Your Highness?"

It was weird. It seemed like all of sudden the tension dissipated from Prince Noah and he was calm like nothing had happened.

"Mad with you? No, I'm not, Alex." Prince Noah answered, calmly.

I stared at him, unsure. "...You seemed pretty mad just a moment ago, Your Highness."

After being deceived by Princess Isabel's kindness, for a moment I wasn't sure if I could trust Prince Noah's words too.

But Prince Noah looked at me surprised and then looked away, blushing. "I wasn't mad at you, I was just…"

He went silent for a moment but then he said. "I was worried."

"Worried?" I asked, confused.

Prince Noah nodded.

"When my sister told me to stay away from you, Alex, I asked her why. But all Isabel said was that she didn't like you. And I know how complicated things can be when my sister doesn't like someone… That is why I wanted to know the truth from you before anything happened, Alex." He explained, with a troubled expression on his face.

'Prince Noah was… worried about me?' I realized, surprised.

Then, suddenly, Prince Noah looked at me concerned and said. "Don't worry Alex, since Nicholas was there with you I don't think anything will happen to you… Just try to stay away from my sister from now on, alright?"

I nodded, though I was still confused. "...Yes, Your Highness."

I was surprised that Prince Noah was on my side.

A smile appeared on my face when I realized. 'Prince Noah's kindness is not a facade.'

I bowed and said, sincerely. "Thank you, Your Highness."

"You can raise, t-there is no reason for you to thank me." Prince Noah said, troubled.

I looked at Prince Noah smiling and thought, relieved. 'This kid is not as bad as I used to think.'

Then, someone knocked on the door, calling our attention.

"You may come in." Prince Noah said.

It was one of Prince Noah's maids.

"Excuse me, Your Highness. I am here to remind you about tonight's dinner. You may not forget that the King shall be there, so you may not get late." The maid explained.

"Right." Prince Noah said, and then he looked at me.

"I almost forgot to tell you, but you can't accompany me at dinner tonight, Alex. My father will be there so…" For some reason, Prince Noah seemed troubled to finish his words.

"It's fine, Your Highness, I understand." I said smiling, showing that it was alright.

Prince Noah nodded. "You can go now, Alex. You don't have to accompany me for today anymore, you can go and rest."

"Yes, Your Highness." I said, bowing.

As soon as I left Prince Noah's room all the maids' eyes were on me.

"Is everything alright, Alex? Are you alright?" Mary asked me whispering, she seemed worried about me.

I nodded.

"Yes, everything is alright, Mary. It was just a misunderstanding." I said, smiling, showing that everything was alright.

Mary sighed, relieved.

"That is good, then." She said smiling.

I was smiling relieved as well until I felt my stomach growl.

'Ugh, I'm hungry.' I noticed.

'And tonight I won't have dinner with Prince Noah…' I remembered, upset.

I was about to think that I would have to go sleep hungry tonight until I remembered. 'I'm a servant now!'

In the past, I used to eat the leftovers in the royal kitchen, before Prince Noah started to have meals with me.

'But, I can have meals with the other servants with no problem, after all, I'm officially a servant now!'

"Hm, Mary. Can you tell me where is the servants' hall?" I asked.

Mary seemed confused for a moment, but then she seemed to recall.

"Oh, right. You used to work on the west side. Well, the servants' hall is not far from here, but I'm sorry. I will have to accompany Prince Noah to the dining room soon, or else I would show you the place, Alex." Mary said, apologetically.

"It's fine, Ma-" While I was saying, one of the maids interrupted me.

"Are you going to the servants' hall, Alex? You can come with us if you want to." She said, smiling.

'Right, Prince Noah's maids always take turns to have their meal while serving him.' I realized.

I never had to, since I had all my meals with Prince Noah, so I always had to follow him without a break.

I nodded and said smiling. "Yes, I want to go with you, thanks."

***

The servants' hall was bigger than I expected, with long tables full of chairs, and many servants there already having their meals.

"Right here, Alex." One of Prince Noah's maids called me, showing me the line to get the meal.

"Thanks." I said.

While taking a tray for myself, I noticed the sudden silence in the room. I looked behind and noticed that people were looking at me.

Some of them were even whispering to each other while staring at me.

Just then I realized. 'This cloth really makes me out of place.'

I still just had the clothes Prince Noah gave me, they are not fitted for a servant at all.

"I don't think you were supposed to be here, Young Master." The old lady who was giving the food said to me, looking at me confused.

"N-No I-" I was about to explain, but I was interrupted by one of Prince Noah's maids.

"There is no need to call him Young Master, he is just Prince Noah's little servant, Mrs. Lewis." She said, louder than she needed to, making everyone look at us.

The old lady, Mrs. Lewis looked at me surprised and asked. "Are you really a servant?"

I nodded, feeling embarrassed by the sudden attention. "Yes, I'm Alex, one of Prince Noah's servants, ma'am."

"Oh, I see." The old lady said, surprised.

Then she gave me a plate full of food and said with a gentle smile. "Here, have some, my dear."

I took the plate and said smiling. "Thank you."

After having my plate I was back staring at the servants' hall, looking for a palace to sit.

Suddenly I felt like a freshman on the first day at school deciding where to sit during lunchtime all over again.

Prince Noah's maids that were with me just a moment ago were already sitting all together on a table that seemed full.

'I will have to seat somewhere else, then.' I thought, looking for a free place.

Though there were a lot of seats, they seemed to be all occupied. I tried to look around, but being small wasn't helping me at all.

For a moment I thought I would have to keep standing, waiting until someone leave, but then a young servant boy around my age raised his hand and said looking at me.

"Hey, there is a place here!" He said, pointing to a seat beside him.

"Thank you!" I said, glad, going in his direction.

I was so relieved that I didn't notice the weird smile on the faces of the children around him.