Trouble 1

Immediately Prince Sebastian left the room, Aliena made an attempt to help Princess Alicia up but she shot her a death glare. If looks could kill, Aliena would have been lying limp on the floor.

"Don't annoy me again!!" Alicia warned and stormed out of the room.

Aliena sighed multiple times, she felt guilty thinking it was all her fault. If she had been focused while pouring the tea then Princess Alicia wouldn't have had to apologize.

She went out of the room to get water from the kitchen, her throat felt parched and dry. Naturally, Vampires hardly get thirsty for water only for blood but she was far from normal. Aliena walked quickly so she could return to the Prince's chamber on time resulting to her bumping into someone's chest.

Aliena held her head as strong arms kept her steady then she looked up only to be met with the gaze of Prince Miquel.

"I'm sorry" she bowed her head apologetically.

"You should be more careful" he said and smiled warmly at her but he frowned just immediately, "Why do you feel so light weighted?" he asked as he dangled her wrist so effortlessly.

Aliena looked down to the ground already embarrassed.

"Oh, sorry if you feel shy but you should eat more often. Okay?" he said and gave her a pat on the head before walking away.

Aliena stood there for several minutes wondering if that was really Prince Miquel, she never knew that he could talk so warmly considering how he behaved with his brother, Prince Sebastian and he was often seen with a straight face, seeing him smile was something new. She shrugged her shoulders and continued walking to the kitchen.

She got there and saw a ton of maids there, they were all busy performing one rigorous activity or another. Well, it was expected since there were many people in the Palace.

Thinking about it, Aliena figured that her step family were going to be present also but she wasn't looking forward to seeing them. She just wanted to see her dad, Hermia and Dinna.

She walked to the bowl and picked up a cup to drink water when she suddenly heard a woman's voice behind her, "You really are lucky to be Prince Sebastian's personal maid," she came closer to her and looked around to see if anyone had their eyes on them before she leaned into Aliena's ears, "He has never had any maid serve him as he dislikes it, he rather does everything by himself. You being his Personal maid is the latest gossip among the maids, you must be special."

Aliena nearly choked on the water, she dropped the cup and abruptly looked back to see the source of the voice only to find a middle aged woman by her side. Was this woman trying to say that being a personal maid meant you were special? Because obviously there was nothing special about her serving Prince Sebastian.

The Lady who just spoke to her was dressed in a cook's attire, she obviously looked like the head chef.

"Excuse me?" Aliena asked politely.

She took few steps away from Aliena and looked at her for awhile but her gaze shifted to something else, Aliena seeing that she was staring intently at her necklace with curiosity filled eyes coughed to gain the woman's attention. Aliena touched her neckline and she said, "Nice necklace you've got"

"Thanks" Aliena smiled awkwardly and faced the cup that was halfway filled with water. She walked to a cutting board a few distance from her and Aliena could feel her stealing glances. She hurriedly gulped the water down and made to leave but she came in front of her.

"Be careful dear" she smiled sweetly and secretly stole a glance at her necklace before walking to a cook and directing her on what to do.

Aliena took a deep breath before brushing her words away. she walked hurriedly to Prince Sebastian's room in order to get there on time before he returns. But to her utter dismay he was already in the room sitting in his study with a glass of blood wine in his left hand.

She gulped down her saliva and took slow steps to him, he looked at her as she walked to him. She fiddled with her nails and stared down to the ground. He was just too intimidating to look at and his features screamed beauty.

"You'll find a few clothes on my bed go wash them" he simply ordered.

Aliena wasn't expecting that, she expected that he'd ask where she was or why she didn't ask for his permission before leaving his chamber. Aliena nodded like the obedient servant she was and stepped out of the study. How hard could washing clothes be?

She got to his bed and her eyes couldn't stop growing bigger, she could recall that the Prince said only a few clothes but right now she was seeing hundreds of clothes folded in neat layers. She walked slowly to his clothes and they extended to the floor.

Aliena took one of the fabrics and it looked clean and smelt so nice then why on earth would he ask her to wash them when they were clearly clean. Was this his way of torturing? The fabrics used in making the clothes were hard and she was sure that before she could finish washing everything, her hands would have given out.

Aliena grudgingly carried the clothes to the wash room, just then an idea popped into her head and she smiled, the idea was that she was going to make use of the washing machine.

Smart....

She looked round the vast washroom but to her utter dismay she couldn't find a single washing machine.

What the hell...

A tear slid down her face as realization dawned on her, she was in a universe that looked like the olden era, although the universe still possessed modern technology but maybe not a washing machine. It now became clear that she was going to wash the clothes with her bare hands, these hard fabrics and heavy clothes.

"You can do this" She assured herself and sucked in a deep breath. Just then her resolve wavered as she began washing the first one, never had she washed a fabric that was as hard as this.

The Prince was really trying to torture her, she thought, she guessed this was just the beginning of serving a Crown Prince. She washed more and more until she got tired.

"I'm sorry I have to do this" Aliena apologized to the invisible Prince Sebastian as she dipped all the clothes into the water without adding soap neither did she wash it.

Aliena smiled cunningly and began squeezing out the water, it was easier than washing it. Within ten minutes, she was done with everything so she decided to iron the clothes so it could dry quickly, that's if there was an iron and luckily she found one.

Aliena stepped out of the washroom and got to the place where the ironing board was, she fished for the iron and found it at a corner. It was so easy to find the location of things in the Prince's chamber even though it was too massive.

She began ironing until she became tired, the fabrics were just too hard to even iron. Then Aliena decided to fold the remaining clothes even though they weren't dry, she folded the wet clothes and kept them in the middle of the dry ones. At least, the Prince wouldn't notice, she thought to herself as she kept them inside his wardrobe.She wiped her wet hands on her cloth and stepped out to meet the Prince.

He was sitting casually at the window side twirling with the same glass of blood wine, his eyes focused intently outside and Aliena couldn't help but wonder what it was that he was so focused on.

"Ahem" she cleared her throat to gain his attention.

"Leave" he dismissed her without a look.

Aliena walked out of his room feeling guilty for what she had done to his clothes, but who cares? The work was just unbearable, even when her Stepmom gave her a whole lot of task to complete, she always found a mischievous way to complete them quickly.

Forgetting about everything she faced in the Prince's quarter, Aliena headed to the maid's quarter to get some rest. The Palace was full and noisy with kids running around, the constant sound of heels clicking the floor, the laughter and chatters that resonated through the Palace corridor.

Aliena thought about searching for her step family but she dismissed the thought. She wasn't ready to face them, yet alone their mockery, she was sure that they would mock her for being a maid and she wasn't ready for any of that. The Palace was that big that it could house the entire village without difficulties.

Aliena cited only a few maids in the quarters, some were nestled in a corner talking as usual, maybe most maids were tending to the needs of the numerous guests.

Her two days stay in the Palace and she hadn't bothered to make friends with any of the maids as they gossiped alot, she decided to mind her business and be on her own without meddling in any gossip.

She pushed the door to her room open, it was small and it housed three maids plus her summing up to four. She went to her bed and collapsed on it, it wasn't soft but still manageable. One couldn't expect a comfortable life as a maid.

Five minutes hadn't passed when Aliena heard her name being called with authority, she abruptly stood up from the bed and went out of the room. It was the head maid that called for her, Aliena moved quickly to her as she sized her from head to toe causing her to inspect herself to know why the head maid had given her that look.

"Yes ma'am"

"Prince Sebastian requests your presence" she informed.

Aliena blinked severally at the woman, she just left his chambers not quite long and now he's requesting to see her. She could only hope that she hadn't gotten into trouble.

"Are you deaf?" the head maid's inpatient voice questioned as to why Aliena wasn't moving. She simply smiled and reported to his chambers.

Getting there, Aliena knocked on the door and there was no response, she raised her hand to knock again but before she could, the door opened itself. She stood for a second before stepping in, she checked if anyone was behind the door but there was no one. Aliena stared curiously at the door before going into the inner chamber where the Prince was.

He was in the same position as earlier, she was about to announce her presence when her eyes caught a heap of cloth on a chair beside him, wet clothes to be exact. Aliena's eyes couldn't stop getting wider each passing second.

"Could you explain what you are seeing right now?" Prince Sebastian's calm voice rang in the room, his gaze still fixed outside.

Aliena gulped down saliva as her hands began turning sweaty, just what would she say? The fabrics were too hard? Or the work was tedious? But wasn't that the reason she was a maid. Aliena's heart raced because she knew she was in trouble.