Leon had trouble describing how exactly he felt. On one hand, he was angry that Julian had tried to assault a palace maid. There were enough courtesans and prostitutes to do his bidding. Nevertheless, he went after the innocent ones that would be defenceless against him.
On the other hand, it felt like his anger grew when he realized who Julian had tried to rape, not also forgetting that his sister was Julian's betrothed.
It was disrespectful to sleep around with numerous women when one had been betrothed to a royal family member but it was an entirely different thing to stoop this low.
'How would he even let his dear sister get married to such an impudent human?' He tried to reason.
He looked at the fragile girl he carried in his arms, now clearly seeing some of the injuries on her body. She didn't faint just because she felt repulsed that someone had touched her without her consent. Julian used some absurd amount of strength to slam her against the wall, weakening her.
Some of the elite and servants who were close by, walking along the paths saw the prince carrying the servant and almost jumped in shock. Some of them tried to clear their eyes, doing a double take to make sure they were seeing well and weren't intoxicated.
However, Prince Leon was oblivious to them as he kept carrying Melina in his arms. Some of the servants cleared the way when they saw the prince and whispered to themselves discreetly.
Why was the Crown Prince carrying a maid?
Carlos had been informed of the appalling sight and quickly stepped out of the quarters, coming to the place where the prince was with intent to face the prince with dread about what Melina may have done. When she saw the blood on the prince's hands, she yelped, her face turning pale. Did Melina probably try to attack the elite? But why was the prince carrying her? God, she hoped this was not a death sentence for her!
"Your Highness!" she bowed deeply when he came to stand in front of him. Fear was evident in her voice.
"Forgive me for my maid's stupidity. I would take her from here on," she said, wondering what exactly the prince had in mind because he looked very angry.
However, Leon barely spared her a look before he said, "Send for the royal physician." and he kept walking, taking her to the infirmary.
Royal physician? For a servant? Or was he talking about himself? She thought as she looked at his bloodied hands. Did he perhaps beat the stubborn maid up and decide to treat her? Or was it someone else's blood? Her mind was going wild with questions as she kept looking in a trance when she was snapped back to reality.
"With immediate effect," he added when he stopped in his tracks to stare at the woman, making sure she understood he was very serious.
"Yes, Your Highness!" Carlos didn't have time to think and immediately went in search of the royal physician. Though she could barely comprehend what had happened, the best she could do now was obey.
..
...Some distance away in the guest quarters...
Lady Jordyn had been in her guest room but decided to come out and take a stroll when she was greeted with the sight of people gathering around something. A commotion was going on as maids including some others crouched on the ground, doing something. It was a bit dark and the torches hadn't been lit yet in the palace so she could scarcely see anything. Curious, she walked towards the scene.
"Get out! Out! Out of my way!" was her approach to getting to know what was going on. She saw the look of horror on the people's faces as they cleared the way for her and when she arrived there, she looked down only for her eyes to widen and she used her hands to cover her mouth in disbelief.
"Julian! Julian!" she called her brother as she knelt on the ground, shaking his body before turning him to face her properly which was when she noticed the blood all over his mouth and head as he had almost been lynched.
"What happened to him?! Who did this?!" she demanded condescendingly even though she was lamenting.
Julian's body lay helplessly on the cold floor since Matthew didn't bother taking him to the palace infirmary and decided to dump him by his room door in the guest's quarters. Since it was night, it was easier for him to conceal himself.
"Answer my question!" She pulled the hair of a maidservant who was trembling not too far from her, which made the girl wince as she gave away muffled gasps.
"I have no idea, milady. I found him in this state while I was walking through the corridor as Ms. Carlos asked me to come attend to him. Please spare me! I do not know what happened!" the girl answered desperately as she felt the unmannerly woman pull her hair harder. But Lady Jordyn wasn't convinced.
"And how do I believe you?! What if you tried to kill my brother?!"
"No-"
"What happened to my brother?! You all better speak or I would ask the prince to cut off your heads!" she warned them with blazing anger, a tear slipping from her eyes seeing her brother's awful condition. She turned to him again and kept tapping him to see if he might gain consciousness but to no avail and none of the people replied to her question.
"Why are you just standing there?! Go and get some help!" she told the few servants who quickly rushed to call for help. Since most of the guards had barely filled their usual positions, they had to go further into the darkness to call for some of them.
When the guards finally came, Jordyn commanded, "Take my brother into his room. He is not in the state to be carried to the infirmary. And lock this foolish maid in the dungeon until she is ready to confess what she did to my brother!" the guards briefly looked at each other before bowing their heads and dragging the maid that was accused of the act.
"No! Please milady! I do not know what happened to Sir Julian! Please-" Her plea fell on deaf ears as she got carried away by the men to the dungeon.
"You, call the royal physician to come and attend to him immediately!" The guards nodded at her instruction, immediately carrying the young elite that was sprawled on the ground. Though they were fairly startled by the sight of the young man and questions filled their head, they didn't dare speak or ask questions and simply obeyed.
After successfully taking Sir Julian to his room and laying him on the bed, they attempted to pull down the button of his shirt that had blood stains on it but Jordyn slapped their hands away.
"Do not touch my brother and go call the royal physician now!" she ordered again and the guards hesitated for a moment before they left to look for the man.
Shocked was an understatement for Jordyn's reaction to the moment. She was petrified, angry and confused all at once. How and who dared to do this to her brother? She saw him this evening and he was perfectly fine! When did this suddenly take place?
She didn't know who it was but she would make sure Prince Leon made them pay for it dearly. They would wish they had never been born in this world!
She pulled out her brother's shoes from his feet, freeing them.
She would wait for the arrival of the physician, she told herself and with that, she sat on the couch just beside the door, looking outside as she waited.
Seeing there was still a maid there, she said, "Inform my family and the royal family about my brother's condition. I want an investigation into who tried to kill my brother and dared dump his body in the middle of the guest quarters." her voice a bit damp but it didn't hide the authority in it.
...
In the infirmary, some of the practitioners who had been present assisting and taking care of a few patients instantly dispersed when they were informed that the prince was bringing in someone urgently and had sent for the royal physician.
They prepared a luxurious bedroom in the compartment, probably thinking it was someone of great importance who had been hurt and made sure any tool required for faster assistance was available. However, when he arrived and they saw who he had carried, they looked at each other in surprise.
From the uniform, it was pretty obvious it was a maid whom they had prepared everything for.
They looked at the young girl, dumbstruck but seeing the urgency on the prince's face, they hurriedly carried Melina to the reserved room to attend to her. If he was catering to a maid, he probably had his reasons which were none of their business.
Melina's body had turned a bit frigid from all the struggle as blood had drained from her body, clarifying its paleness.
She was positioned on the plush mattress where her head rested on the soft cushion, one she hadn't laid on in a long time.
"I want her thoroughly attended to. All her wounds should be properly treated and inform me if she has any complications." Leon told the royal physician when he finally arrived.
The royal physician nodded but seemed scared and hesitant at first before he finally spoke, "Erm...m-my Prince, please m-may I know what happened to the young lady?" he couldn't necessarily diagnose and treat someone whom he had no idea what was wrong with, could he? And from the look of things, this person wasn't a noble-born for him to be worried about the slightest thing that was wrong.
Whenever a noble felt any minor illness, it didn't matter how insignificant it was, they were always specially attended to. But this one here looked fine and appeared to have been through thick and thin. Surely, if the prince was worrying about her, then it had to be serious.
Leon paused his lips and looked at the redhead on the bed before replying, "She got hurt. How it happened is no concern of yours. Carry out your job. If you're qualified enough, you would be able to discern what happened to her." his face was straight as he spoke, showing no emotions but the physician could see the danger lurking in his eyes as he said that and somehow felt threatened.
"E-err yes, your Highness. I would make sure she is taken care of." With that, he quickly dropped his equipment and began to examine the woman.
Leon looked at Ms. Carlos who had been behind, quietly standing there the whole time.
"Send someone to change her into a simple dress for now and I want another uniform ready for her by tomorrow." he went straight to the point.
Carlos discreetly stared at Prince Leon with acute eyes, wondering what was indeed going on with the prince but made sure to conform to his orders.
"Immediately, Your Highness!" she bowed and went to get the maids.