Chapter 4

"Oh hello." Sorine greeted the lady she saw upon entering the room. What was her name? The maid girl from before.

She made a pleasantly surprised face as she moved into the room. This was highly foreign to her. She lived all her life in the castle, spent all her time alone in her small cramped room along the south wing of Newarfa, the castle. She has gotten used to a life of solitude and found that she was often used to isolating herself in the castle. Save for her interaction with Eric, she was often shunned by her fellow workers for the particular reason that she was the Crown Prince's favorite and pampered by one of the royals.

Today she was met with a pleasant surprise. There was a new occupant in her room at the same moment and it was the same girl from yesterday. The new girl who was fangirling about the fourth prince.

"Hello." Mary sweetly responded, all smiles despite the morning puffiness on her face. She was folding away all her blankets on her bed. It looked like she had slept the previous night in the room. Sorine found the idea of a roommate strange but surely, she could get used to it. She was hoping to get a change of her clothes but now she felt awkward to expose the deeds of the previous nights to this little girl. She said little girl but they were probably of the same age for all she knew.

Silently with the awkward air filling up the spaces between them, she lifted her frilly apron off from over her head. She tried to find words to strike up a conversation but nothing. She had failed in her efforts and attempts to communicate with other people. She was just impossibly awkward and taciturn for her own good to freely converse with other people. Mary was probably feeling at a loss as well.

"I am sorry." Sorine began, folding her frilly apron and dropping it onto her laundry pile. Mary abruptly looked up at her and frowned at her with her wide eyes wrinkling.

"I got you in trouble yesterday." She explained

"Oh!" Mary's eyes brightened in realization and she nodded in understanding, "Don't worry about that, it isn't your fault."

Sorine stood there in the middle of the room, awkwardly clutching onto the hem of her dress. How was she to change her dress in this situation?

"It was clearly my fault that I babbled about the fourth prince."

"The fourth prince, huh?"

"Isn't he just a mystery? I just flutter at the thought of those famed deep red eyes."

If anything, Sorine didn't realize that this fourth prince was so famed among the newbies. For all her time in the castle, Eric has always made sure to keep her close to him. She could hardly explore the castle on her own without him pestering her for wandering off on her own. He was anxious, she knew. The castle didn't approve of their relationship or even recognize it at that fact. He was constantly worried that if she went away, she would not dare come back one day. She thought that his fear was unfounded. There was nothing more important to her than him. Her life was made up of him and she knew not of anything else.

And she had not heard anything of this fourth prince. She scarcely knew anything of Eric's siblings. The Royals' quarter was huge and so was Eric's sprawling living area, That meant that they hardly crossed paths with the other members of the Royal family. and Eric made sure to hide her presence from them. So she hadn't seen this fourth prince but she had heard faint rumors that flitted across the walls of the castle. Save for that, she had never wondered about the fourth prince.

The fourth Prince was truly a mystery. He was one who never made his appearance at the royal court or other processions, to the point that people have begun to doubt if he ever existed in the first place. But he truly did exist, it seems. It just so appears that the cursed rumors were true. The other rumor that fascinated the inhabitants of Newarfa about the fourth prince was that he was allegedly cursed. Dark red eyes and black markings that are said to run along the entire side of his body— The murmur and tall tales about his appearance were endless. Nobody knows of him and why he locks himself up in his living quarters. They don't know why King Lemarke would not dare to officially recognize the presence of a fourth prince. While all the other royal siblings had had their coming-of-age ceremony, the fourth prince was yet to make his official appearance in public ceremonies.

Only the maid furtively engaged in the story of the fourth prince, wondering of his origin, his whereabouts, his looks, and appearance. There are maids like Mary who actually engage in trying to catch a glimpse of the alleged fourth prince.

Sorine turned to Mary, "Do you mind if I change?"

Sorine felt the need to ask. She had never cohabited with anyone before and she didn't know of the unspoken rules that ran between two people living together.

"Oh, it's okay. Feel free, I don't mind."

Given the get-go, Sorine undid her button behind her back and slid the shoulders off from her form. The evidence from the previous night marred all over her body and it didn't escape Mary's vision either. Mary blushed at the sight and immediately turned around to allow her new roommate some privacy.

'The crown prince must be a passionate lover.' Mary can't help from thinking. She shouldn't do so but it was right in front of her and she wanted to talk it out with somebody but she didn't wish to frighten or slander her roommate so she kept quiet.

"I'll leave first, Is it okay if I don't wait for you for the grand meeting?"

Sorine paused midway, looking up, "What grand meeting?"

The maid supervisor had apparently called for a staff meeting the previous day. Sorine did not get any news as she was not associated with the supervisor or anyone else. If it wasn't for Nary, Sorine felt that she would have missed out on the meeting as she had for many others.

Sorine told Mary to wait for her as they're about to leave. She hurriedly changed into a new set of black dress and a simple white apron before she went back for her Mary Jane shoes.

The lobby of the south wing of the castle was filled with maids who were lined up in proper arrangement. Some of the more older and distinguished maids gave Sorine a strangle look when Sorine clattered into the lobby hall after dashing past the hallways along with Mary in hurry. They were already late and they had to hurry past the empty path to the lobby. Sorine's heart beat in her stomach as she anxiously wondered if Ila would get mad at Mary for associating with her again. Ila was already pacing up and down at the front of the hall when they arrived.

"Girls! Today's is an important announcement for all of you. The King wishes to hold a birthday banquet for the Crown Prince. Lavish and extended for almost a week. You are instructed to properly prepare for the decoration and other requirements for the banquet. We want crisp and steady work. So I expect each and every one of you at work."

With that, Ila gave a pointed look towards Sorine's direction, "Every one of you will work."

Sorine knew what Ila meant by that. She was looking directly at her.

"It is an important day for the Crown Prince. Now everybody! Get to work!"