"Let me know this afternoon if my request still can't be fulfilled. I will leave the resort and make sure the Keller Group understands that my words mean something." The man completely ignored the three people who bowed down to him to pay their respects, and waved them off. "You can go now."
"Uhm ... the kitchen is still a mess, Sir," said Fae in a low voice. "Let me clean up first."
The man gave Fae a long look and then nodded. "You can stay."
Mr. Krause and Ms. Kohler looked at each other. They nodded respectfully and then excused themselves. They walked quickly back to the office, their chests were pounding.
The two of them couldn't wait to hear back from the headquarters about Franka getting transferred back to Switzerland after just two days at the resort.
They really hoped that Franka would leave, and the company would replace her with another director who was actually professional.
Oh ... they were so lucky that the prince liked Fae and wanted her to be his personal maid at the resort. Otherwise, they might still have to endure working under the Franka for years.
***
Meanwhile, Fae hurried back to the kitchen and cleaned up the floor from the porcelain shards. She wanted to finish cleaning the villa immediately so she could rest.
Her chest was still pounding from the shock of hearing all the information she had received today.
She didn't know Franka hated her so much that the new director intentionally moved her to the housekeeping department. She was also shocked to find out the real identity of their VVIP guest.
"Be careful. You'll get hurt again."
Fae was surprised to hear the man's voice behind her. But this time, she was more mindful and didn't drop anything. She nodded awkwardly.
"Thank you, Your Highness. I will be careful ..." she said.
"Ishh ..." The man frowned at Fee's words. "Don't call me that. That makes me feel so old, like King Gustave, my grandfather. My name is Ren."
"Prince Ren ..." said Fae with a bow.
The man clicked again. This time his voice really sounded annoyed. "If you still call me that, I will cancel my request to make you my personal maid, and you can continue to work cleaning the villa until you are old."
Fae was very surprised at Ren's harsh words. She really didn't understand this man.
"I .. I dare not be presumptuous," said the girl in a confused tone. "Please, Your Highness, don't make things difficult for me. I'm just a lowly employee here."
"That's right. That's why I want you to obey my words. Don't ever call me your highness unless we're in the palace. I don't like hearing it," Ren said in a curt voice. "You may call me 'Sir', but you don't have to call me any other honorifics. I don't hide my identity here for nothing. Do you understand? Is there brain inside that beautiful head of yours?"
Finally, Fae nodded obediently. "I understand."
Inwardly she realized Prince Renald could indeed be annoying. Slowly, his reputation started to make sense to her.
"Good. I knew you are smart." Finally, Ren smiled with satisfaction. He took the rubber gloves from Fae's trolley and then crouched down on his knees. He carefully picked up the porcelain shards from the floor and put them in the trash bag. "Let me help so you can finish quickly."
Fae did not dare to argue again. Besides, she wanted to get out of there as soon as possible. She immediately collected the porcelain shards together with Ren and put them in the trash bag.
The girl then used a vacuum cleaner to clean the small pieces and then set the cleaning robot to mop the floor.
Less than ten minutes later, everything was back in order. Fae rubbed her sweaty forehead and sighed with relief. Ah .. there were still a few cups she needed to wash in the sink.
She quickly tidied up everything and rearranged the cups on the drying rack and wiped the kitchen counter clean. While Fae was working, Ren stood by the door, watching her.
The man put his hands in his pockets and stood motionless beside the trolley, as if in awe of the beautiful girl who was so quick to clean his kitchen.
Ren still couldn't help thinking. Earlier, when treating Fee's injured finger, he felt how smooth her hand was. Fae didn't look like a poor girl who was used to manual work.
Her clothes were indeed very ugly, for she was wearing a housekeeper uniform, but even the ugly clothes could not hide her extraordinary beauty.
If Fee were to wear fine clothes ... Ren couldn't imagine how much prettier that girl would be. Fae was truly the most beautiful girl he has ever met in his life.
Fae sensed that Ren had been watching her all along, but she tried to pretend she wasn't bothered. After all, she couldn't possibly send him out of the kitchen just because she was working. Ren was a VVIP guest in this resort.
Fae tried to stay calm and do her job well. After she finished cleaning the kitchen, she then tidied up the living room, study, bathroom, and finally, she went into the bedroom.
Ren followed her inside.
"Why are you not singing anymore?" asked Ren suddenly, shocking Fae to death.
The girl became embarrassed and almost tripped over when she was about to pull out the sheets and duvet to replace them with new ones.
The girl just realized that yesterday, apparently, Ren heard her sing before he fell asleep.
My God ... Fae felt so embarrassed. She only sang when she was alone, and yesterday, she didn't know that this VVIP guest was listening to her while she was humming.
"No, Sir," replied the girl politely. "I don't want to disturb you. I'm sorry I was presumptuous yesterday. I sang because I thought I was alone. I won't do it again."
Ren shook his head.
"No. Actually, I love to hear your singing," said Ren firmly. "If I'm not mistaken, it's your singing that lulled me to sleep. I don't want you to feel awkward and uncomfortable, but I hope you don't mind singing to me for a bit after you've finished making my bed."
"Eh?" Fae widened her eyes immensely.
Ren asked her to sing?
Was he serious??
"Please?" asked the man, politely. Now it sounded like a plea. "I really want to sleep."
.
.
>>>>>>
From the Author:
If you read FINDING STARDUST, I'm sure you have met Ren :). He was the genius professor in the cybersecurity conference with severe insomnia. He looked so much younger than his age and he always looked sour and displeased. At that time he was still the Director of Space Exploration Initiative in SpaceLab.
Haoran Lee knew Professor Renald Hanenberg's background because his father had a big share in SpaceLab when Ren worked. That's why when Emma Stardust commented that Ren looked like a Sleeping Prince when she charmed him to sleep in SpaceLab's headquarter (after she contacted AWA), Haoran only chuckled. ^.^