When night came, Melina wanted to go back to the same place where she had rested the previous night but didn't want to get caught up again. To be honest, she never enjoyed her sleep in that room since she was always bullied by her fellow maids for reasons she barely understood. And now, this 'weird' prince was using threats to stop her from her usual routine. After contemplating the issue at hand for a while, she decided to try her luck. Maybe she wouldn't get caught this time, she thought.
Gently passing through the corridors to make sure the coast was clear and she wouldn't be caught, she left the room. As she walked further into the corridors, she made sure to keep her senses intact.
Afterall, women were blessed with good hearing. When she had strolled down, almost getting to the first floor, a guard out of nowhere came suddenly and blocked her way, almost frightening her.
"Hello,... beauty. Looking for someone?" The guard said, a mischievous, scary smile was fixed on his face, sending chills down her spine.
"I?...err....actually..." She tried to think of an excuse when he interrupted.
"Such a pretty girl.....you shouldn't be roaming about this late at night.....or do you now have a boyfriend you go to meet so often?" He teased her and attempted to bring his hand forward to touch her but she shooed it away hastily and moved back.
She looked at his face very well. She sort of recognised him. He was one of those guards that was staring at her like a mannequin on the day of introduction. He definitely had no good intentions as she could see so she needed to get out of this place urgently at any cost, she told herself.
"Oh..yes, I'm sorry. I forgot it's a rule that no one should go outside at nights. So maybe tomorrow I would go and see my boyfriend, it was a mistake on my part." She explained getting ready to run for her life as she steadily moved back but the guard followed her steps.
"Mistakes comes with consequences too, dear..." he was still speaking when she abruptly started running but then another guard who had being hiding on the other side blocked her way again.
What?! They were two?!! Melina wanted to go mad in her head at the current situation. The guard put a devilish smirk on his face when he saw her expression.
"Don't bother running, dear. just give yourself to us and make things easier."
"Yeah we don't like struggle." The two commented but Melina didn't care if they were more or not. What she knew was that she was not going to surrender herself to anyone.
She ran to the other corner from where the guard was standing but she barely even got past before he grabbed her from behind, the other one coming to support from the side as he covered her mouth to make sure she didn't scream. The guard tried to tear her gown from the top when she kicked his groin hard enough for him to fall and wince in pain.
The other guard was caught off guard by the scene but before he could take action, she stamped her feet on his and he instinctively moved back, giving chance for Melina to escape.
She used all the strength she had to run up the stairs but this time decided to pass the back staircase so they would not catch her easily. Since she barely payed attention to the front and was always looking back, she suddenly bumped into a broad back and for a moment, she thought it was the guards until she saw his face.
This man again?....
"What happened?" He asked.
She stared at him remembering when he had told her a night ago to be careful in the castle. She wasn't going to tell him anything else he would mock her, she assumed.
"Err..no, nothing."
"Speak."
"I said it's-" before she could finish, the two guards who had being pursuing her before now came rushing, one shouting "let's find her." But they stopped immediately they sighted the Prince.
"M-milord." They bowed and greeted while panting heavily. Melina too was breathing heavily which made Prince Leon suspicious.
"What is going on here?"
"Nothing, milord.."
"Speak!" His voice thundered this time, sending a shiver down their spine.
"My Lord, this maid was roaming around the castle late at night which is totally against the rule. We decided to arrest her so that tomorrow, she would explain herself to the court what she was doing in the middle of the night. That's exactly why we were chasing her. She breaks a lot of rules!" The first guard lied but Melina felt the Prince needed to know the truth and spoke.
"That's a lie, Prince. They were harassing me! He even attempted to tear my clothes." She explained showing the place where her clothes had been torn slightly.
"We only held her clothes while she attempted to run and that was when it tore. We would never harass a woman like that, milord."
"Shut up! Why are you lying....? They attacked me, Prince Leon." Melina still didn't relent and kept arguing with the two guards who still continued defending their lies.
Leon just stared at the three servants who were arguing like little children. He was so furious that he had decided to rest by the pond tonight to have a peaceful time but had to encounter an even worse situation. They were still arguing about what happened, pissing him off before he screamed at them.
"Stop!! Stop it now!"
He turned to the two guards, "Leave...now!" The tone of his voice alone was enough to make them dashed out of the place.
And now he was left alone was this annoying maid. He turned to her.
"You....."