CHAPTER TWELVE

Mason walked into the dining hall,when got there Christian was already seated at the head of the table but he wasn't alone,his aunt and her daughter were also seated.

His aunt sat next to him to his left and her daughter Charlotte sat next to her rigid like a porcelain doll. They both eyed him as he walked in,he bowed to them when he got to the table and went to stand behind christian "what are you doing?" came the question

"you called me so I thought you might need me to serve you your breakfast" he answered meekly

"I didn't call you here to serve me mason,I called you here to eat..and stop standing behind me like a slave, sit down" he said his voice a little strained.

Mason moved away from his position and went to sit on the fifth chair away from the king.Christian stared at him looking fed up, not wanting to raise his voice at him while his aunt was seated,he called softly "Mason"

"yes mi'lord" he turned to look at the king

"on your feet"

Mason got up "come sit here,next to me" christian said lowly which sounded as warning to mason.so without protesting he went to sit right next to him but no longer had he sat that aunt Rosà spoke disdain clear in her voice " since when do servants sit on the queen's chair"

Mason didn't answer but kept fidgeting with his fingers, feeling his nervousness christian placed a hand on his thigh and squeezed. he looked at him who gave him an assuring smile.

Christian then asked the servants to serve the food.the started eating but mason couldn't eat as he was very nervous and kept toying with his food.he was lost in his thought and jumped when christian cleared his throat next to him

"is something wrong with the food"

"no"

"then why aren't you eating?"

"I'm not just hungry" he answered placing his cutlery on the table

Christian was about talk when aunt Rosa said "he's a servant,he should eat along with his fellow servants" she said eyeing Mason with hatred evident in her eyes

Christian sighed and rubbed his eyes "I'm sure I didn't invite you into this castle this morning and I clearly remember telling you not to show your face here uninvited hmmn?"

"or is age finally getting to you that you forget things easily or perhaps your ear is the problem" he said look at her with no interest

Aunt Rosa closed her mouth and looked away. shamefully she said "we stayed at the castle after the party,you left early so we couldn't inform you" she laughed awkwardly and started eating again

"don't ever address him as a servant Rosa,he became a Conrad as of this morning and leave immediately after you're done eating"

Aunt Rosa dropped her cutlery noisily on her plate in anger,she glared at christian "and so?" she asked "should we address him as your ward, your son, brother or perhaps it's something else" she said disdainfully

"whatever suits you is fine as long as it's not servant" he answered and continued eating.

Aunt Rosa stood angrily, her daughter also got up,they both looked at Mason with hate before they left the hall their shoes clicking noisily.

The moment they left, mason turned to Christian and said "what is wrong with you"

"wow mason,you have finally turned me into a talkative" he said back with a bored expression on his face"this is not how I thought I would turn out"

"you could have ignored her,it won't be the first time she passes negative comments at me"

"where are your manners sir,I don't talk while eating" he said and went back to eating his food.

Mason sighed tiredly,he looked at christian worriedly but didn't say anything.

Tessa's jaw dropped as she heard what Martha said,not sure if she heard correctly she raised her hand "yes Tessa the king has forgiven you"

"that's not what I want to ask"

"oh, what is it dear" asked the impatient Martha

"did you just say the butler became a royal ?"

"noble" she corrected "and yes you heard me correctly,if that would be all?" she asked

"yes ma'am"

Martha nodded and turned to look at the other maid "he'll be staying in the king's quarters, so only Charles and I would be in charge of preparing his room and also we'll be attending to his needs for now till another butler is gotten" she said smiling brightly

"the king hates disobedience,you know the rules,under no circumstance should any of you step foot in the king's quarters but once he comes out of there you should serve and respect him as you would the king" she looked around again and said "that is the king's instructions, now go back to your duties" she dismissed them.

Tessa walked alongside Abby who kept giving side glances "I thought you'd be happy and dancing with joy" she said "I don't know you wanted to die that badly"

Tessa scoffed at her friend's remark but didn't say anything

"Nathan keeps bugging me because of you know" Abby said and looked at her weird friend

"then you should give him a chance" Tessa spoke her voice low

"it's you he wants and as you know I already have someone and I think you should too, just give him a chance "

"I do NOT want to Abby, I don't like him at all ,I can't even stand the idiot"

"please" her friend begged making puppy faces

"no for God sake Abby, absolutely not " she said and walked faster leaving her friend behind.

Abby laughed and ran to catch up with her friend, together they walked to the garden where they were supposed to work,more leaves are falling as winter starts kicking in so they were assigned to sweep them.

Immediately they got there they got to work but Tessa remained quiet which was unusual, feeling worried for her friend, Abby nudged her and asked "what's wrong Tessa, you've been awfully quiet since morning,is everything fine with your family"

Tessa stopped sweeping and sighed,she can't tell her friend what the problem was so instead she put on fake smile for her friend "I'm fine you're the one doing a lot of talking today and that's very unlike you"

Abby laughed softly and said "well if you weren't so cold and quiet I wouldn't be nagging you and Tessa?" she called

"yeah?"

"wipe that fake smile off your face,Its not reaching your eyes and it's creeping me out"

" what" Tessa said and laughed with her friend as they went back to their jobs.

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