"Your Highness, I have the information you asked me to get," Gary, Prince George's assistant said.
"Finally. Did it have to take you a week to get information on an ordinary woman?" Prince George asked.
"I'm sorry it took so long, but like you said she's an ordinary fellow. I had to dig very deep before I could find out anything about her. But permit me to ask my lord, why do you want information on a common maid?" Gary asked.
Prince George gave Gary a stern look, one that sent chills down Gary's spine. He did that with a raised eyebrow and Gary immediately knew what the look meant before Prince George even mentioned it.
"It's none of your business, Gary. Just give me the information I asked you about," Prince George said.
"I'm sorry for intruding, Your Highness. It won't happen again. Anyways, the woman you asked me to look into is Elena Johnson. She used to live in a small town in this kingdom with her mother before she moved here to work for the Princess. Her father died a few years back and…"
"And what?" Prince George asked impatiently.
"That is all there is to know about her," Gary said.
"Well that's not much information. Is this all you could gather after one week?" Prince George asked with a frustrating tone in his voice. He had waited the whole week and this was the only information Gary could gather.
"I'm sorry, Your Highness," Gary apologized with a bent head.
"Since you couldn't get much information on her, I have one more assignment for you," Prince George said.
"Always at your service, Prince George. Just tell me what it is," Gary replied.
.................
Elena was walking back to her Chambers when she felt like she was being watched. She had been having that feeling for a couple of days now but if she turned, she wouldn't see anyone following her. She didn't know if she was just imagining it or if her guts were actually right. Although she believed that being in the palace was safe and no one would suddenly attack her, she began to question if she was really safe within the palace walls.
It wasn't until she got to her room and locked the door behind her that she felt a little bit of safety once again. She shook her head to get rid of the eerily thoughts. She had to go to bed early because she had the morning duty of attending to the princess. While Elena went straight to bed, Prince George couldn't get a wink of sleep as he couldn't stop thinking about what Gary had told him about Elena. Gary had been carrying out the assignment he gave him so far, which was to. Earlier, Gary had come to give him some more information about Elena.
"I've been watching her so far and I can say she is a very kind person. I've noticed how she offers a helping hand to some of our colleagues around the palace. Also she has a love for cats. I saw her once helping a stray cat. I believe she loves children too. I've seen her play with some kids in the market square during a free time," Gary poured out his research.
Prince George couldn't help but keep the big smile on his face as he said,
"Oh, how sweet. Not only is she beautiful, but also sweet and kind."
"Excuse me?" Gary asked surprised.
He had not expected to hear that from the prince. Prince George on the other hand did not know he had said that out loud.
"What? Did I say that out loud?" He asked.
"Yes," Gary replied with a weirded look on his face.
"Oh," Prince George, turning away embarrassingly.
There was a brief moment of awkward silence between them before Gary spoke again.
"Prince George, I know I promised that I would not intrude in your private matters anymore even though I am your assistant but I have a question I want to ask. There's something that has been bothering me for a while," he said.
"Let me hear it," Prince George answered.
"About this made you keep asking me to keep an eye on, is there anything… Is something going on?" Gary asked, his heart pounding in fear.
"Something like what?" Prince George asked, starting to feel angry.
Gary, who was initially scared, took a deep breath and faced Prince George. Then he said,
"There is no point dragging this issue so I will just go straight to the point. Do you love Elena Johnson?"
"And what if I do?" Prince George replied after a generously short period of silence.
Gary gasped before replying,
"That cannot happen, Prince George. You're royalty and she's a commoner. Your father would not take it likely if he finds out that you have feelings for a common maid. And that aside, you are betrothed to Princess Natalie. She'll be turning 19 in a couple of days and that is when you get to marry her. You have to kill this feelings for the maid."
"First of all, you of all people know that I have no feelings for the princess. I cannot pretend that I like her when I don't. This marriage was arranged by our parents. I love Elena and it is her I want. I can't keep pretending to be what I'm not. I…" Prince George was saying paused for a while before continuing.
"… I know in the eyes of many it is the wrong thing to do but I can't help it if I feel that way for a common maid. I have tried to distract myself but nothing seems to be working. I just have to adapt to it."
"Your Highness, think about this carefully. You're the Future Emperor and she's a common maid. It's a theory that cannot work," Gary said, hoping to make Prince George understand.
"What's a theory that cannot work?" A voice suddenly said, causing Prince George and Gary to yelp in surprise.