Jasmine tried to keep her eyes off the Prince as he ate. Her stomach grumbled and churned, and she held it tightly. She was hungry, she whined to herself, feeling tiny pangs in her belly.
This was beyond punishment. She had missed breakfast, lunch wasn't served, and she had to wait till dinner. She hoped the Prince would finish eating quickly so she could rush to the kitchen and check for leftovers, as there was no doubt that no one had set aside a plate for her.
After what felt like long hours of torture, he finally finished eating. Jasmine had spent the entire time trying to mask the noises her stomach was making.
She finally moved from her spot and started walking away, catching a glance of Nikolai readjusting his eye patch. He instructed her to call Peter.
For some reason, she felt as if he only removed his eye patch when she was around. Peter was the only servant close to the Prince, yet Nikolai didn't seem to trust him enough to reveal his secrets.
Something about staring into the black sclera and red iris of his eye unnerved her.
When she reached the kitchen, just as she had guessed, no one had gone through the trouble to prepare food for her. There weren't any leftovers either.
"Jasmine," Mrs. Molly entered the kitchen to call her, and she walked up to the woman.
"Go to the east wing of the palace and clear the weeds in the garden," she instructed, and Jasmine nodded, walking away. She saw one of the male servants who usually had gardening tools and asked him for some.
"You are to use your hands," was his reply. Jasmine stared at him. When he didn't elaborate, she realized he was serious, and she walked away.
The garden was a large expanse of land, beautifully arranged with flowers and plants of different species. Fruit trees were scattered about, providing a significant amount of shade and cool air. Half of the garden had already been weeded, leaving the other half with very few unwanted plants that needed to be pulled out.
Having never been a fan of the sun, Jasmine moved to a spot under a tree where the shade was denser. She bent and started pulling plants from the hard ground. As the sun moved across the sky and the shade retreated, the heat intensified, beating down on Jasmine as she moved from one ridge to another. By the next hour, she couldn't bear it anymore and stood up, holding her head as dizziness and fatigue washed over her.
Away from the garden, on one of the upper floors, Nikolai stood in front of a floor-to-ceiling window, watching Jasmine as she staggered away from the garden. He noticed her steps were wobbly. She sat down under one of the trees, resting against the trunk. Noticing the ripe apples above her, she quickly stood again, picking up a stone from the ground. Nikolai watched, amused, as she started throwing stones at the fruit. She managed to knock down two apples, which she picked up with a self-satisfied smile.
"Prince Nikolai, should I go stop her?" Peter, who had been standing quietly alongside the Prince, finally spoke up. They had been coming out of his room and passed by the window to see his maid working in the garden.
"No," Nikolai replied, starting to walk away. The fruits she had plucked belonged to the royal family. No maid would ever dare to take from it. Well, except for his maid who was oblivious to this. It would be her luck if she got caught by a maid this time than having another time and being caught by one of the members of this family.
Though she could manage until late in the night before eating, Jasmine couldn't resist plucking the good-looking fruits to eat. Afterwards, she continued with the little work that she had.
Going round to the tap to wash her hands, she met a male servant who had come to wash his dirty hands as well. He made way for her first.
"You must be a new servant," The man said, pulling her attention towards him and she nodded.
"I could tell," The man smiled, Jasmine wanted to ignore him but she was curious as to how he knew she was a new servant and she asked.
"How?"
"I had come here earlier to fetch water and I saw you plucking the fruits from the tree, those fruits are restricted for the servants. They solely belong to the royal family,"
Do they? Jasmine's brows rose slightly.
"Oh, I didn't know that," She said moving away from the tap for him to wash his hands.
"No problem, I won't go reporting you to the butler," The man said, still smiling and she nodded, thanking him.
Before she could turn and walk away, he asked, "Not being nosey, but what did you do to get punished?"
Punished? Jasmine frowned slightly.
"None of the maids weed the plants in the garden except when it's laid down as punishment," He explained.
"I did nothing, the head maid just asked me to weed them," She told him.
"Are you assigned to the kitchen or dining hall works?" He asked again and Jasmine paused a bit, she thought he was talking too much and acting too friendly.
"None, I am Prince Nikolai's maid," She replied and watched his eyes widen a bit.
"Ah.. Prince Nikolai?" He replied with a stutter.
"I didn't know," He said.
"What are you doing here?" They both heard a voice behind and turned, it was the prince. The servant bowed and looked away, now suddenly wishing he didn't stop the girl to talk to her.
"Nothing, I was-" Jasmine was replying but he cut her off.
"Meet Peter at the entrance, he will give you the books to take to my room," He said and Eve bowed as he walked away.