7 Had To Change

"Before lecturing people, adjust your principles first," he said.

Freya's eyes stung, but she closed them to prevent tears from falling.

"That's all for today. You may go," he said, walking to his chair.

Freya sucked in a deep breath the moment she exited the room. The tightness in her chest spread to her heart. Holding the door, she calmed herself down by remembering her childhood memories.

Even before living as a commoner, she never let herself breach the rules she put. Her mother was a kind and beautiful woman. Because she could not stand the schemes in the palace, she ran away. Her mother encouraged her to stand for her own, but in a limited approach.

She was simply a law-abiding citizen.

After she moved to the palace seven years ago, she had to change, facing a heartless brother, she played the role of a loving sister pretty well. With his power, she did nothing shady, but her brother was corrupted to the core. She witnessed it with her eyes and stayed silent. If she was to refuse, she would be the next one to be wiped off.

Freya cried her heart out. Being tortured between clutching to her principals, or letting herself blend in a stinky family.

Her choice was to act and be a natural person. Especially, when she had a mother who needed to care for her.

But when she came here, she was alone, in a huge palace, full of haters who waited to get a chance to laugh at her misery. She had to fight, and she had to change.

Her memory drifted to over two years away. There was once a maid named Rosalind. She was from the Frowshire kingdom, but she was cheerful and loved her or that was what she looked like. Until, one day.

"Your Highness, I brought your favourite chamomile tea," she said, her small black eyes twinkling.

Freya smiled and sipped her tea while chatting with Rose. As she was halfway drinking, the floor beneath her moved. She grabbed her head. Pain spread in her lungs, and her breathing quickened.

"Are you feeling pain?" Rose said, looking at her without helping her. "No, you don't feel pain, because if you did you would not come here!" she shouted like a madwoman. Her eyes tinged with hatred. "I lost my fiancée, brother and father in the war. Your people murdered my family! Less what you deserve is a painful death," she said, exiting the door.

It was the last words she heard before fainting. When she opened her eyes, she was in her chamber. One maid discovered her collapsed body and called for a physician. She was bedridden for a month. No one visited her, nor cared for her. Even the maids who took care of her expressed their displeasure.

She never felt lonelier missing her mother's gentle touch whenever she fell sick, waiting for someone to stay beside her, and ask her about her wellbeing.

Why had people forgotten that both kingdoms had blood feuds that could never be washed by joining hands in marriage?

Freya shook her head. She cast a glance at the brown wooden door. 'Please, do not look for me again,' she begged and walked away.

As soon as she entered her chamber, she lay on the bed. Her maid, Joe, followed. "Ma'am, are you okay?" she asked and Freya hummed. "Wait a moment," she said, leaving the room in no time, she came with a shovel in her hand.

"What are you doing?" Freya asked.

"I saw you sad, so I brought this for you," Joe said, holding the shovel.

Freya smiled and said, "Let's sow some vegetables."

One of her favourite ways to relieve her sadness was to garnish her garden.

They went out to a big space she left to sow something else. "Ma'am, Jules told me he didn't find vegetable seeds, so he bought flower seeds," Joe said.

Freya pursed her lips held the shovel and began to implant.

"Ma'am, why did the king request to see you?" Joe asked. Her hazel eyes shone with expectation.

"It's a long story, but we had plenty of time," Freya said. Her lips curved. "Listen carefully. A week ago, I met the king…" she narrated the whole story, concealing the fact that she went to the guild. Her plan was secret, and she didn't trust anyone enough to tell them about it.

"That's what happened?" Jo said and Freya nodded. "Ma'am, sorry for what I had to say, but I think it's a big opportunity for you to be close to the king," Joe said, withdrawing her gaze away.

"Why do you mean?" Freya asked, stopping what she was doing.

"Ma'am, think about it. Take this opportunity to have a few encounters with the king. When the two of you meet more times, feelings will develop. I mean the king never visited you in the past three years, but when he got to know you, he will love—"

"Joe, the king will love a maid?" Freya asked. Her identity now was of a maid, not the queen, so Joe's strange thought soared high.

"Your Majesty isn't a maid," Joe said.

"He didn't know," Freya retorted while watering the greyish soil.

Her maid stepped closer and handed her a towel to wipe the sweat. "You tell him," she said.

"Do you want my head to be cut off?" Freya said, raising her brows. Deceiving the royal family was a crime.

"No! He will never do something like that," Joe said. Her hazel eyes twinkled.

"Are you sure?" she asked, and Jo rubbed her nose. Freya's lips curved upright. "Joe, you should read less romance tales."

"But—"

"Prepare my bath. The king asked for my presence to see if the information he got from me was real. He will never look for me again, so wipe this foolish thought from your head," Freya said, flickering her maid's forehead.

She already had a plan to escape from this place. And the last thing she needed was an unwanted bond.

The next day, Freya sat on the wooden bench, fanning some cooling air with a fan.

"Ma'am, Ma'am," Joe hurried, shouting her name. Her petite figure wearing a black robe looked like a sparrow was flying.

Freya frowned, then asked, "Why are running like a fool?"

"The king is looking for you again," she said, smiling.

'What did that crazy man want?!'