The servant, though bewildered, did not show anything on his face and replied politely: "As you wish your highness! "
And who would not be stunned by such a situation: the prince carrying a girl in his arms and asking that the latter's clothing be put in order, it would be more than suspicious. But who would dare to say anything? It was that capricious prince after all.
The chief servant ordered his underlings to set to work and then told the prince: "Let me carry her to the assigned room"
The prince replied: "No need, just lead me there".
Thus, the servant replied, "This servant will lead you there."
Two maids were already present in the room. They saluted him and move aside to let the prince pass. He laid the girl on the bed and left. The head-servant followed him to assist him in the study room. The prince took a book and read it while waiting for his lunch.
On the other side, the two servants went to busy themselves. But what was their shock when taking off the cloak that covered her and seeing the girl's clothes: none of them had ever seen this kind of attire in their entire life. They examined her clothes for a moment to see how to remove them. After a while, they managed to undress the girl and make her wear new clothes. Not knowing what to do with the clothes they had removed, they put them aside. The two maids were talking to each other in a low voice about the girl's identity. The mere fact that the prince brings a stranger back to his sister's residence was already a strangeness more than a rarity. In addition, she wore almost nothing on her, apart from these clothes completely body fitting, whose fabric was quite strange. In short, everything that had to do with this girl was strange.
An hour had elapsed since the prince's return. He gave his half-dried pants to be spread for drying, took his lunch. Since he has to return to the barrack after a while, it would arise suspicion if he went back with other clothes.
After taking his lunch, he went to his sister's room. The four-year-old girl was still napping. He stayed for half an hour watching her and then went back to the study room.
Meanwhile, Lyria regained consciousness and examined her surroundings with half-open eyes. Without being noticed by the two maids, she got out of bed, walking on the tips of her toes, assessing where she was. Suddenly, she heard footsteps from outside and quickly returned to bed, like an unconscious person.
Unfortunately, the passer-by noticed the movements of a silhouette and made a detour towards the room. The passer-by was none other than the prince who asked the maids if the girl had already regained consciousness, but they answered no.
He approached the bed and stared at the girl without blinking for a moment but the girl made no movement. The two servants, nervous as they were, were standing beside the edge of the bed and heard the prince say, "So she is trying to feign unconsciousness! great! let's see if she really is still unconscious "
"You!" He said to one of the maids, pointing to her, "press her nostrils while covering her mouth!"
The maid was completely puzzled, faced to this order, but she can only obey.
She approached the girl and executed the order. A servant passing through the room at that moment heard the extravagant orders of the prince and ran to inform the chief-servant in an attempt to reason with him. The servant-in-chief ran to the room with two other servants and two other maids. The head servant assessed the situation and decided that he would try to reason with him when the situation really turned sour.
A minute after the execution of the order, the maid's began to eye towards the prince. The prince understood that the maid was asking him if she should stop pinching. But he answered coldly "stay still". Another minute passed and she still received the same answer from the prince. At the end of the fifth minute, the maid's hand began to shake. The fear of eventually killing the girl invaded her and she looked pitifully at her master saying "Your highness, please! If I continue like this, I'll end up by killing this person. I do not think I can bear to live with such a burden in this lifetime "
Regardless of the maid's pleading, he retorted "Just do as I order". But the servant could not take it anymore and removed her hand. At the same moment, the prince's voice growled: "Do you have a death wish? Is it so difficult to do it? "
Tears began to flow from the maid's eyes without daring to sob, continuing to tremble.
Having already noticed the crowd of other servants behind him, he said: "Someone else, execute what this incompetent could not do!"
Nobody dared to come forward. Meanwhile, Lyria insulted the prince inwardly, "What a tyrant! It had to be a prince. Generally princes are kind and helpful, that's how it happens in fairy tales! Ah yes ! I'm not in a fairy tale, unfortunately it's the sad reality ... damn it then! After being swallowed up by a wave, I have to deal with a despotic prince! Ah, such a bad luck!
As no one has yet advanced to execute the order, losing patience, the prince himself sat on the edge of the bed and began to pinch her nose while covering her mouth. While he was suffocating her, the pendant of her necklace had attracted the prince's attention. He began to examine it and read what was written on it.