The Princesses (1)

Just like the other two, Peony also had a schedule handed to her that morning, the maid that woke them up had thrown it at her after getting dressed in a small storage room at the servant's house.

First on the schedule was to prepare a bath for Vivianne. After the maid had shown her around to the cleaning closet, laundry room, and kitchen, Peony's first day had officially started, with no one to learn from.

Luckily, when she returned to the bedroom, she found Vivianne still sleeping. However, it was still early with only servants awake, so she allowed the princess to sleep a bit more, as she had a frightful night.

Peony kept wiping the coffee table and sweeping the giant room as silently as possible, trying to stay productive. She knew that all the princesses had at least ten attendances, with Princess Luna having the highest number at fifteen.

Vivianne had only three, now five if you counted in Juno and her.

And now, she was waiting endlessly for the ordered soup, watching as the midday sun travelled across the sky and the garden buzzing with servants and guards working.

Finally, the long-awaited knock came. Peony rushed to the double doors and swung them open, only to freeze when she came face-to-face with the head maid pushing in a cart with steaming soup.

"You lazy classless fool. Who said you could lounge around here?" The head maid spat viciously, not caring enough to mind her volume. She was a big old woman with a tightly tied hair bun. Her bleary eyes were covered with circular glasses.

They bore into Peony's frozen face as if she was trash at the bottom of her polished high heels.

"Ma'am, the physician-"

"Are you saying the physician has superiority over me? Is it his job to maintain the maids?" She yelled loudly, causing Peony to flinch and flick her eyes back on Vivianne to see if she had been disturbed. That infuriated the head maid more, it seemed.

The cane in her hand was waving dangerously close to Peony's face. She stepped back reluctantly, hitting Vivianne's bedframe with a soft thud. Vivianne groaned in her sleep, disturbed by the jolt.

The head maid crossed her arms, awaiting her answer but remained silent, unwilling to give the old lady ammunition to use against her. It was the last strike on invisible offences that Peony had committed on the old lady's book. Her face turned bright red in poorly contained fury.

Suddenly, the head maid grinned a sadistic smile, edging closer to Peony, leaving her nowhere to run unless she was willing to trample over the princess to escape.

"I'll teach you who's in charge, bare your back and not a sound out of you unless you want to get canned more."

...

Vivianne woke up feeling dizzy and disoriented.

A strong breeze was rattling her bed curtains, and the sound of servants was streaming in from the open balcony. Only the sound of water sloshing around in her room was present, and somebody was fussing around in her bathroom.

Vivianne stood up with unsteady legs and opened the bathroom to a steaming room smelling like peppermint and eucalyptus oil.

Peony was filling the bathtub with her sleeves rolled up, seemingly lost in thought. Finally, Vivianne cleared her throat, gaining Peony's attention.

She walked up to the princess and silently helped her undress from her sleeping robe. Her eyes were rimmed red and hazy, perhaps from the steam and strong aromatic fumes.

Vivianne sunk into the water, feeling more clear-headed already. Peony had made the right choice by picking calming oils instead of heavy ones. It soothed her headache, only leaving her with an empty stomach.

Peony lathered the vanilla-scented shampoo in her hands before massaging her scalp in light circles. She rinsed the hair, applied almond oil to her roots, and pinned her long stands up before scrubbing the princess meticulously.

"Princess, you have been ordered by the court physician to rest for three days," Peony mumbled. Vivianne's face twisted into an unsatisfied frown, and Peony took an unconscious step back, but the princess only strutted past her without so much as a glance.

Vivanne wrapped herself up in a thick towel and plopped herself back into her bed, and Peony scooted the cart closer, putting a tray over her lap with soup and tea.

The soup was hearty but slightly cold, so Peony quickly rushed to the kitchen to heat it again.

Whilst Peony was gone, Vivianne took the chance to glance around and inspect her cleaning. It was clean, but she hadn't cleared off her working desk, nor had she fluffed up the pillows on her couch.

Vivianne decided to speak to the head maid to ensure that Peony had the basics down before Iris's wedding. Vivianne had invited a couple of her friends and couldn't host them in an unkempt room.

Peony returned to the bedroom with the steaming soup firmly grasped in her hands and carefully put it on her tray.

The soup was energizing and easy on the stomach. Vivanne finished the soup and drank her green tea in a sweep.

"Where is Juniper?" she asked, unnerved by Peony's silent staring. Vivianne never imagined that Peony would be so introverted, judging by her first impression of the girl when she arrived.

Vivianne wanted to speak to the newly appointed guard about something urgent.

"He is at the knight's training ground learning to protect you, Princess." the maid spoke, hands clasped together.

Vivianne signed, uncomfortable by the girl's odd demeanour. She slid down into her covers, closing her eyes when she remembered the blond boy.

"Where's the other one?"

"Princess, forgive me for assuming, but if you are referring to Mio, I heard the king ordered him to act as your substitute as you recover. Currently, he should be—"

Vivianne ripped the covers off herself, grabbing Peony by the collar. Her previously lively and calm face was pale and carefully blank. Suddenly, it felt like Peony couldn't take a proper breath, trembling hard, awaiting a second beating.

"Forgive me. I was out of line."

Her apologies fell on deaf ears because Vivianne was already rushing out of the room with the two guards at her door hurrying behind her.

...