Evelyne sat on the floor while vacantly staring at the space ahead of her. The tears in her eyes had already dried but the redness in them had not faded yet and
by the looks of it, she had been sitting there for hours but even after the time she had spent, the pain of betrayal had not left her.
The more she thought about what had happened an hour ago, the more more tears threatened to come out but with a lot of effort, she managed to blink them away and with her continuous stay in her room, her misery melted into a blank tingle that increased her heartache.
'Why?!.' She asked no one in particular while sighing heavily. Not more than an hour ago, she was supposed to have left the kingdom of Zeuphean but yet here she was, in a room that she had been using for a month while trying to obtain a magic balm that had been stolen from their father who was the king of Ramset.
She had always known that she was not enough for her family but after getting the magic balm back, she was only hoping that they would at least acknowledge her.
Her thoughts were brought back to the present when she heard a soft knock at the door and when she did not answer, the person on the other side spoke. "Your highness, are you okay?"
It was her nanny, Emily, who was not only her servant but someone with whom She had grown to rely on.
Getting up, she unlocked the door to which the woman who happened to be in her fifties entered. "Oh dear God, you don't look well."
Just as the woman said those words, Evelyne wrapped her hands around the woman. The extent of her pain was unsaid but Emily could somehow understand her and with seconds that passed, the woman raised her hand and patted the young lady's back. "Everything will be okay."
"I don't think so. Father said that he no longer wants me there." Her words were tinged with pain and in as much as the lady would have wanted to take it away, she just couldn't.
Staying like that for almost a minute, Evelyne calmed down and after withdrawing from the hug which was resulted by a moment of weakness, the woman again said,
"Your highness, everything will be okay."
"Don't call me that." Evelyne spoke and then added, "Lyne is just enough. We should get back to the chores before someone realizes that we are missing."
Before getting back to the laundry area, she washed her face to erase the evidence that she had been crying.
As a princess, she had not been used to working and during the first week of her stay, it had been hard for her but with days that had passed, she had started to slowly adjust to the life of a maid.
"That was a long break that you two took."
A lady who was also in a maid's attire said while looking at Evelyne with disdain.
Even in the faded blue maid's cloth that she wore, her beauty was still evident.
Her expressive emarald eyes had captured hearts of most men including some of the princes and while most women loved to having their hair long, she had trimmed her wavy blonde hair to her shoulder length making her more alluring and different.
"I was not feeling well and Nan.. Emily had come to check up on me." Evelyne explained and seeing that she could not do anything to please the maid, she resumed back to work.
Taking a basket that was filled with wet clothes, she went to the hanging lines.
Once she was done, she went back to the laundry area and not finding anyone there, she placed the basket back to it's usual place and for a moment, her eyes fell on the bold orange sun rays that were an indicator that the day was about to end.
Like a painting, the sky had been decorated by a splash of colour but her eyes focused on the red hue. The colour of love, blood, life... Anger... And then courage. If she had to survive, she had to be strong and courageous so that she could at least fit in the lower class.
"Lyne, what are you doing there. Let's go to the kitchen." It was Camille. Another maid that had befriended her during the initial days in Zeuphean and sparing the vast horizon a glance for the last time, she followed Camile.
"Have you heard, prince Daceus has returned." Camile stated excitedly.
The name Daceus had been mentioned by the maids and with just a month of her stay here, she had never seen him and neither was she interested.
"You know, sometimes I wonder why he is not the successor of the throne. He is so handsome.., masculine and has won so many battles. I wish he could ever notice..._"
"Camile, another word and princess Leila will here you." Evelyne interrupted the dreamy girl and when she came back to reality, she saw princess Leila who was making her way towards the opposite direction.
Her black hair had been neatly pinned at the crown of her head while the rest of it had been freed to flow down her back. Her red eyes looked serious and aloof and when the two maids walked passed her they sighed.
"You are not used to seeing the night creatures are you?" Camile asked to which she received a nod in response.
"Are you not afraid that they might suck you dry?" Evelyne asked in a hushed tone and with a small laugh, Camile said,
" The would never. They have a large number of escorts who are much appealing to the eye."