Disgust

Though the intention behind Leon telling the physician to send Ms. Carlos to her was to calm her down, Carlos had misunderstood it and came to fetch her back to start labour.

It was only after Melina stepped out of the infirmary, did she realised just how serious the ceremony to be held tomorrow was. If she had thought that the King's burial decoration was lavish, this was ten times extravagant. And it wasn't just mere flowers placed anywhere to make the place look pretty.

It was the embroideries of the flower stamped on the walls. Some of the leaves and trees at the corner were expertly trimmed in a pattern-like manner that intrigued Melina. She saw some maids place candles in strategic places and noticed that the pool where she usually went to hide was now filled with flowers- red roses to be precise.

Even though it was still morning and the candlelights spread across the palace hadn't shown their surreal beauty yet, Melina could already tell it would be magical.

The uniform Melina wore was not quite her size as the sleeves were a bit large, making the dress fall off her shoulders and reveal her slender smooth skin there.

The only thing that held the dress properly to her waist was the black corset that came along with it which she had tightened around that area, compressing the size of her waist to not let the dress fall.

As a servant, she was very slim but her current state made some of the servants give a double take at her, particularly her waistline region.

For someone like her, such things didn't matter as she had no one to impress, and neither did she think that making her body look thinner was a way to garner attention. She had only tightened the corset with the intent of making the cloth stay on her body.

However, she was gathering more attention than she needed at the moment.

"Find any of the maids working and join them. I do not want to see you hovering about aimlessly." Ms. Carlos who had been following behind her spoke, reminding her that the elderly woman was still present.

She nodded and when Carlos was out of sight, Melina entered the quarters to see how things were going there. She had decided to push aside whatever happened at the library the previous day, knowing that no one cared how she felt even though it still pricked her heart and she knew it would be hard.

It now made her wary of the elites as she realised they could do things as they pleased without a care in the world about how she would feel and no one could confront them or stop them.

As she passed the corridors, she spotted Cinna and a few other maids packing some things.

"Cinna!" she called as she waved at her before running towards her.

"Melina?" the girl spun her head to see that it was her. Her eyes brightened like the sunshine as she too, ran to meet her.

"You're finally back!" was the first thing that Cinna said to her. "Oh, I have missed you! I didn't know you would be back by today. I thought I wouldn't get to see you till the coronation." the girl continuously spoke as she pulled Melina into a tight embrace that suddenly made her wince before she shifted back.

"Sorry, my back still hurts," she apologized when she noticed how the girl looked confused seeing her actions.

"Oh, never mind. Sorry, I didn't know about it, I wouldn't have run into you like that," she said with a look of regret but Melina shook her head dismissively, happy to have someone who cared enough to hug her now that she was back and didn't mind it.

They stared at each other for a while before the eager smile on Cinna's face slowly died down and then she looked at her friend in dread.

Just like every other servant, Cinna had heard of how the prince had carried Melina to the infirmary which had shocked her to the core but she was even more shocked when rumours had passed that Melina was assaulted by an elite whom they assumed to be Sir Julian.

It was funny how the servants managed to gauge everything that happened in the palace in the twinkle of an eye without even needing to be told. Word spread like wildfire among them and the moment one person was aware of what happened, every other person would be.

"You-a-are you o-okay n-now?" Cinna managed to ask while stuttering, "I heard you w-were...sick?" she added, unsure if the way she wanted to phrase it would be okay. She saw the look on Melina's face that soon turned from one of joy to sadness immediately she heard the question and Cinna started to regret asking.

"I-it is fine if y-you don't want to talk about it. I don't think any woman would like to touch upon how she was deflowered against her will," Cinna told the last part of her statement in a lower tone to not attract anyone as she slightly lowered her head.

Still, Melina said nothing and just looked at her. Her heart squeezed when Cinna asked her the question knowing only Cinna could not be the one aware of what may have happened.

She subconsciously looked around her and noticed that the few servants present were staring at her. Some with curiosity, others with pity while the rest with contempt.

She felt her eyes moist at the thought that these people would probably think she was defiled and sullied from now on.

"Come," Cinna uttered and pulled Melina's hand to the direction where she had been standing earlier, possibly thinking of how to make their position less tense.

"Ms. Carlos has said we should move the prince's things to the King's chamber where he would stay from now on. He also ordered that his right-hand man should have his belongings taken there. You can join me in packing the things." Cinna offered and stretched her hand out to collect the two baskets before passing on to Melina who shook her head.

She said, "Have you forgotten I have been forbidden from attending to any royal duties?" she reminded Cinna and the girl opened her mouth in an 'O'.

"Okay, why don't you help me pack the things in Advisor Matthew's room, then I can take it from there?" she offered Melina since Matthew's room was not in the royal quarters.

Melina thought briefly about it before she nodded and collected the basket.

She went with Cinna to pack Matthew's things from the quarters and all the while she moved, she could sense some elites staring at her with curiosity.

Her palms turned cold and shivers ran down her spine at the thought that everyone was aware of what happened to her just last night. How was that possible?

She did her best to avoid looking at any of them while she packed most of the things in Matthew's room, little did she know that the gazes were particularly because of her uniform's corset that was cinched around her waist. She failed to notice the jealous looks some of the ladies passed to her as they whispered something hideous to each other and the lustful gazes the men sent her way, drinking in her appearance.

She was too occupied with her world and assumptions.

When she had finished helping Cinna, her body had now turned messy from the work. She excused herself and returned to the quarters where she entered her room to clean herself.

Surprisingly, she spent close to an hour cleaning herself up, ignoring Ms. Carlos's warnings. She felt so much like dirt, scrubbing and cleaning any part of her body she remembered Sir Julian had touched. Even though the physician lady had told her that she was undefiled, she had a tough time believing it.

If she had not been sullied, why did almost everyone stare at her with disgust and scorn? It didn't slip her mind that Sir Julian had run his disgusting hands all over her body without caution. So how was it possible that she wasn't defiled then?

Was it perhaps something deeper that it took for her to be deflowered?

She kept scrubbing, washing and rinsing her body until some part of her skin turned red, almost bleeding. So many thoughts and illusions infiltrated her mind as a tear slipped from her eye.

She sat inside the bathroom with her head on her knees and her hands covering her face as she sobbed uncontrollably till she had released all the pent-up anger and pain she had held.

She could feel her head and back ache as she rose from where she had sat and decided to get dressed back into her uniform to continue with her work.

She would do her best from now on to avoid Sir Julian or any other elite who may try to abuse her. She didn't want to see any of their faces as it would only remind her of her predicaments.

She left her room again and went to do something else even with her deploying state to avoid being scolded by Ms Carlos.

Fortunately, she was summoned by the head cook to join in the kitchen work which was a bit less difficult than other tasks.

She had been so engrossed in her work, with the intent to forget all about her plight, that she didn't notice Tynan had gotten a glimpse of her.

He gazed at her in shock from the side of the kitchen window for a while before he darted his eyes away from her.

He had been passing by the kitchen and foreseeing some things. Even when his wrist was still hurting, he knew he had to be busy because that was the least of anyone's concerns for him.

He didn't expect to see her out of the infirmary so soon since she had still looked sick and pale last night. He was surprised she looked poised like nothing had happened the previous night. But he decided not to give much thought to it and instead focus on what he had to do.

He would try meeting her later if he got the opportunity.

Seconds turned into minutes which soon turned to hours till it was very dark and yet the servants were still working tirelessly, doing their best to prepare for the upcoming event the next day.

Melina herself was surprised at how she had managed to pull through despite the pains she still felt in her body. She had been told by the practitioner to come back later to the infirmary to take the pills again to lessen the pain she felt until it was gone.

Still working in the kitchen, she suddenly saw a guard barge in, startling everyone who had been busy with their chores.

"Is there any problem or way I could help you?" The head cook, Mr. Jack asked the guard as he cleaned his hand with the towel beside him before making his way to where the guard stood. All the other servants in the room had also turned in his direction, curious about what the man intended to say.

The guard bowed at the man who was much older than him before his eyes scanned through the kitchen and only stopped when it landed on Melina. She felt her heart skip a beat at the way the guard had stared at her with narrowed eyes before he looked back at Mr. Jack.

He said, "Prince Leon ordered me to send for a maid who goes by the name Melina and I was informed she was present here in the kitchen." he turned to look at the redhead girl again, who suddenly stopped breathing at his words.

Her eyes widened as the other maids turned to look at her and she felt her body go rigid with time.

Was she possibly hallucinating again? Why in heaven's name will the prince send for her?

"You should come with me now, Miss. The prince does not like to be kept waiting." the guard told her, snapping her out of her thoughts and she saw the head cook nod for her to leave and immediately attend to whatever made the prince send for her.