Chapter 17

The two people's eyes met for a moment before someone called the attention of Leon.

"My Prince?" The architect who had been speaking all this while called him. "Are you okay, milord?" He asked while trying to search for what had pulled the prince's attention away effortlessly. He wasn't the type to lose attention so easily.

"Yes, I am." He answered looking at Matthew who seemed to be puzzled too.

"Okay. So what do you think about the idea of using earthen bricks for the covering of the mastabas?" Matthew asked him.

"Err....yes! It's a great idea. You can use it. Very brilliant." He remarked, nodding his head vigorously so they thought he was Listening but the two were not stupid to not know something else had caught his attention while they were discussing.

Meanwhile, Melina who was still staring at the Prince whose attention was now focused on the construction subconsciously stopped what she was doing to gawk at him when a brush came to hit the back of her head and she staggered forward. Because of the initial pain that she felt, she quickly pressed her hands on the spot that was targeted, feeling the intense ache and when it has subsided a little, she turned around to see who had hit her.

"It seems you have forgotten who you are, have you? Drooling over the Prince when you're meant to be working?" Ms Carlos questioned her with an intimidating look while holding her regular long whip on her other hand that was now fixated on her waist. She glared at the other maidservants who had stopped talking the moment they saw her and focused on their chore. She then turned to look at Melina again who was still soothing her head because of the pain. Angered that she had still not gotten to work, she shouted.

"Are you going to get to work now or should I help you?!" She threatened, stretching the whip forward and the young girl needed no one to tell her what to do. Quietly, she picked up her brush and continued working even though she was now feeling faint because of the brush that was stoned on her head.

The Castle was as big as an entire district so their only work for that day was to clean and brush the floors of it which would take such a long time even though many servants were involved. After a while, the servants finished their work earlier that evening and retired. They usually ate in the morning and evening unless one of them was being punished for doing something they weren't supposed to. Now it was time to eat.

Melina and other maids lined up with a plate in their hands in a queue, waiting for their turn to get food. She still felt weak from the incident before now but tried to contain it. Most of the time, when Ms Carlos hit her, she would usually fall sick. But Paloma was always there to help her and treat her.

Now, she was on her own. She would just have to fend for herself regardless since no one cared. Even when she got her food, she could barely eat. She was already having a headache that seemed to affect her whole body. She suddenly felt nauseous.

Leaving the small servants canteen, she rushed to her room in the castle. She threw up for some time before she cleaned herself up. After she entered the room, looking for the medicines that were kept in all rooms for situations like these but she could find none.

How was that possible? They were always here, she continued searching but to no avail. She tried to think of any other place where the medicines might have been kept but there was nothing there. Sighing, she left the room.

Could her fellow maids have hidden it? What would she do now? She thought of asking someone else for their box of medicines but who would she ask? She didn't even have any friends.

Her breath is out frustrated. Aunt Paloma always told her to make friends that will stand by her but with the rejection, everyone was giving her, she doubted there was any who would stand by her. Not that she could even be a good friend too. Her behaviour was repulsive, she denoted to herself. She needed to change certain things about her behaviour so she could have friends. At least, she would have someone to talk to....., she said to herself.

As she was walking, she saw a pillar that seemed quiet and lonely and went to sit on it. She remembered when certain situations would happen to her and she would express her feelings to Paloma, who never judged her for speaking her mind. If she made little mistakes, aunt Paloma always corrected her and most of the time, when she scolded her, she would think aunt Paloma was just being wicked to her. Now that she was gone, she understood the meaning of wickedness. Aunt Paloma only wanted to correct her but this woman wanted to bully her.

As she thought deeper and deeper while still sitting there, tears began to drip from her eyes. Why was she the only one? Why didn't anyone who came across her like her at all?

'So saucy for a maid. Who was your trainer?'

She was reminded about what the Prince had told her. Even though people claimed he was a nice person, he had still given a bad comment about her which would mean it was very true.

She was still meditating when she heard someone's voice.

"Hello?" Came the soft voice of the person from behind.

Instinctively, she stood up immediately as if scared the person would hurt her when she heard.

"Calm down. I won't hurt you." The lady told her.