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As we walked to the Queen's courtyard, Bella remained silent. I began to grow curious about what she was thinking of.
"Bella, "I said. "Is everything alright?" She bowed once more.
"Yes of course Miss! Is something the matter?" She said. I looked at her suspiciously but shook my head.
'She was being very quiet... Is she hiding something?' I quickly shook away the thought. 'Who am I to judge! My existence here is a complete lie!' I looked at her again.
'Still, She wasn't asking any questions or wondering why we were going to the Queen's courtyard. ' I tried to ignore the feeling as we soon arrived. Greeted by the servants in the front. We carefully made our way into the courtyard.
Just as before, the courtyard was bare, the dead trees exposing the ravens that rested on the trees.
As I was about to walk up to the door, two familiar girls blocked my path. It was the Derby family girls!
'These girls. The same from the first day we had arrived.' I thought.
They both wore blue gowns, they looked very similar, but one of the girls had smaller and less prominent eyes compared to the other. I looked at both of them.
"The Queen is resting, I am afraid we cannot let you in." One of the girls said. I nodded, however, Bella grew angry.
"Do you know who you are talking to?!? My Lady is Black Jade!" She suddenly announced. I quickly turned around with a frown.
"Bella! That is enough." I quickly said. Looking back towards the girls, I smiled before bowing curtly. "I apologies on my maids behave, please do not be offended." The girl with big eyes huffed and turned away. I turned towards Bella again, giving her a 'what-was-that-all-about' face. She only bit her lip before looking away and bowing again. I could tell she was still angry. I sighed.
"We will discuss this later, let's go," I said before beginning to walk outside of the courtyard.
As we were about to turn, I almost ran into a maid! I quickly retreated backyards as the maid dropped a bowl. It shattered at her feet.
"Miss!" Bella yelled before helping me to balance myself. She turned towards the maid angrily. "You could have hurt my Lady! Watch where you are going!" She said. I quickly stopped her. The maid grew pale before bowing deeply.
"M-Miss! Please forgive me!" she said, her hands shaking. My eyes narrowed as I scanned the maid.
'Is this not the Queen's other handmaid?' I thought. I shook my head before smiling. I carefully helped the girl to stand.
"It is fine, I am not hurt," I said. "Is your hand alright?" I asked, carefully pulling her hand towards me.
"M-Miss! I am only a servant to the Queen, you mustn't waste your precious time on me." She said while bowing again. I frowned before smiling bitterly. I signaled for Bella to hand me a handkerchief.
"B-But miss-" she protested. She sighed in defeat before finally handing it to me.
Taking it, I carefully wiped the girl's hand down before delicately tying it around the cut on her hand. "You are the Queen's maid, you must take care of yourself," I said softly. After knotting it, I stepped back and looked at Bella. "Let's go quickly," I said. She nodded before walking behind me as we left.
"Miss, why are you being so nice to these servants?? Even when they inconvenience you?" She asked perplexed.
"Bella, regardless of status or title, you must treat everyone you come across with respect," I said. "Understand?" She quickly nodded.
"Y-Yes miss…" She said. I eyed her once more before leaving the Queen's manor.
However, I missed the sly smile that made its way onto her face once I turned around.
*
"Bo!" I yelled. He quickly came rushing into the room. I sat behind my desk, a conflicted expression on my face.
"Yes, 4th Prince." He said as he bowed. I looked up at him.
"The men I told you to put on that girl, have they gotten anything?" I asked him.
'There must be a reason to why she was acting this way, was she sent to spy on me?' I thought. Bo bowed again.
"Your Highness, they have found something, however.." He suddenly paused. My eyes narrowed.
"However what?!" I said impatiently. He bowed deeper.
"Your Highness! Please do not be angry. They have found something, however, it is a bit unusual." He finally said. I clenched my jaw.
"Tell me, what did they find?" I demanded. He took a deep breath before continuing.
"The people in charge of escorting her here said they had run into bandits along the way, one of them had managed to enter her carriage, however," He paused. "They say that the bandit came running out of the carriage on his own!"
I squinted my eyes in confusion. "What?" He nodded before continuing.
"It is also strange, they reported that days before she was brought here, She was very ill! I had even checked with her old maids, they said that they thought she had died!" He said, sounding just as confused himself. I sat in silence for a moment before nodding. I waved my hand and he bowed before quickly leaving the room, closing the door carefully behind him.
'If she was seriously ill before coming here, could the Black Jade be what cured her??' I thought. 'And if she truly was the Black Jade, it would explain why the bandit ran away, maybe she tried to fight him?'
I clicked my tongue and sighed again.
'Still, it doesn't explain why she would believe me…' I thought. 'could she simply just be dumb?'
I rubbed my face before shaking my head. No, that couldn't be it.
I remembered her expression when I was talking to her.
"With all due respect 4th Prince, I am not naive!" she said angered. Her eyebrows furrowed as she spoke.
I scoffed. Not naive? Sure. I shook my head and sighed.
"tch." I couldn't help but scoff once more remembering her pitiful expression.
"Why must I need a reason to trust you? You have not done anything bad, so why would I be against you in any way your Highness," she said before pouting.
"this girl.." shaking my head, went back to reading the documents, a grin making its way onto my face.
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(Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed.)