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Madin's POV,,

Like a wildfire ,, news spread through every conner of every village in our kingdom...

*girls from different villages are needed in the palace for crowned prince to choose his personal servant *

People wondered why because the time for choosing again hasn't come yet. Usually in our kingdom, boys and girls are chosen to go in the palace , work for five years and then they'll be let to go and let others in.

The essence of this is to raise the living standards of every family in our kingdom because people working in the palace of our kingdom usually are paid , unlike in other kingdoms.

And for that reason, our kingdom turned out to be the greatest, richest and it's the leading one among other many kingdoms. People in other kingdoms admire it so much .

It has the most powerful knights that win in every battle , kindest but tough king , the ambitious crowned prince who took after his father in everything, most beautiful ladies and strong men , developed towns , fertile soils that produce many food and other many things that I won't be able to finish mentioning now.

Around the villages , girls are jumping around playing cheerfully because of the great news , I understand their happiness.. I mean, which girl wouldn't want to be the crowned prince's maid ? Being his servant means to see him everyday and be close to him everyday which is every girl's dream.

Every girl is beautifying herself with high hopes that she'll be the one to be chosen , others even fight with each other, quarrelling about who is beautiful than who.

I don't understand why being a servant has anything to do with beauty.

°°°Meanwhile.. am walking home in total darkness , feeling so drained, I had left the house very early in the morning feeling extremely sad , rejected and betrayed.

I had no intention of going back in my aunt's house but thinking about it , I really have no other place to go , if I leave her house then that means I'll have to live on the streets and am not about to do that.

So I decided to work so hard out there in our small town so that I can prove to my aunt that I can take care of myself , to proof to her that am ready to get myself food and other basic needs , all she has to give me is a place to sleep.. Am ready to work so hard and get her the money she needs without doing what she wants me to do .

I would rather die working hard out there than to commit the sin that she wants me to commit, with the excuse of; she needs money to get herself treated  .

I don't get why she's using that excuse to get rid of me , everyone knows she extremely  love money . She's not sick , I know for sure . She is literally imposing a disease on herself to get rid of me in her house.

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The man that happened to get my mother pregnant ran away from his responsibilities so I never got to know him , my mother struggled with me for ten years but the sickness couldn't spare her after a very long time of suffering, we had taken her to several village doctors but she never seemed to get any better , at the end she passed away.

For seven years I've lived with my uncle and his family . Uncle Barnabas,, is my mother's brother , who was a knight and he died in a battle one month a ago . Auntie Christabel who didn't like me from the very first moment I stepped in her house couldn't wait to marry again after her late husband's departure to Netherworld .

They say when a man come to live in a woman's house then that means the woman is the one marrying, right?

So uncle Patter got married to my aunt who just lost her husband, people in the village talked about it day and night , criticizing her of how she couldn't wait to get married again when her husband just passed away , how she was a cheating wife and all that,, but one thing about auntie Christabel is that she never give a shit about anything apart from money , so you can talk however much you want , but for her.. she'll eat , laugh and sleep like nothing happened.

Sometimes I even wonder if she's really a human , what she does and say can't be explained , so many bad things you could never imagine.

I actually never cared about all that, I lived my own life as long as I have food and a place to sleep, but what she asked me to do yesterday is a total No and I would never do that .

Instead of asking me to dress like a female and go work in the palace , why don't she sent there one of her daughters, or dress her boy in a dress like she want to do to me ,, we're same age , so why not them?

  Am a boy for heavens sake ! I get that I somehow have delicate features and weak almost as girl's , but that shouldn't be the reason to take advantage of me . I can be a strong man if I wanted to be!

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I enter through the wooden gate to the compound which is surrounded by wooden fence , actually this is an example of an average home , several stone made houses where by there's a main house for her.

I walk to the main house to try convince my auntie to have pity on me and change her mind . I knock on the wooden door and it doesn't take even a minute before the door fly open .

" So you think this is your home? Where you can just go at anytime and come back at anytime?!" she asks trying to sound casual but I know she's burning inside.

" Am sorry , I was out working , I was hoping that you could let me stay and I'll take care of myself, I can even work as hard as possible to get you the money to pay for the treatment of your 'fake' illness. All I need is a place to sleep." Ofcourse I didn't say 'fake' aloud, lest she chop off my head.

" How much did you get ? One silver ? Two? Let me see , where is it ? You said you were working." She asks curiously.

Actually, getting even a coin is not that easy , one coin is a lot and when I said I was working, I didn't get any work that could earn me a coin,, all I could get as payment was some food .

" I have none for now but I'll soo... " she cuts me.

" That's it ! There's nothing you will be able to earn out there  , tomorrow prepare yourself because I've found some dress for you , when you get there they will give you the servant's clothes to put on. Don't worry about them , they are always large enough not to expose you . Your hair... I have also found a girl's fake hair to put on your head , I've found someone who will fix everything on you so don't worry about that .

I know you are wondering why am not sending Anna or Elizabeth there , well , it's because they need to take care of me here, you know.. with my state of illness. And I can't send Anthony there because of how manly he is . So the only hope is you . Try your best to win that position.  In fact am doing you a really big favour because imagine staying around the palace , around the admired crown prince.. "

I don't respond in any way. Anger eating me up inside.

" And by the way , do not tell anyone about this. It's between you , me and your uncle , not even your cousins should know . "

" Why are you still frowning ?  Am giving you a future , a place you will be able to eat and sleep for free! While you get all those basic needs , you will help me treat my illness by giving me the money they'll give you , we're going to kill two birds with one stone, you have no idea how much my daughters wanted to go, But I denied them a chance and gave it to you."

'You are the only one killing two birds with one stone; sending me away and getting the money for free! There's no we!' I scream at her in my head.

" Make sure you show a good impression, make sure you be the one who will be chosen , if you won't be chosen then don't come back here, find another place to go because if you can't help me that means you don't cherish our family."

'Oh so that's another plan , to send me away if not chosen!?' I wonder looking at her blankly.

"Sleep well . " she says closing the door in my face.

Why am I even worrying? It's not like am sure it's me who will be chosen! I'll do what she wants me to do ,, go there, do nothing impressive, then I won't be chosen. I'll come back here and tell her I did what she wanted me to do but it wasn't successful.

I'll continue staying here until the day I find a place to go , no matter what she does I'll not go away! This is my uncle's home! The day he brought me here he told me that it's now my home and here is where I'll stay !

I head in my so called house , which is abandoned at a distance from others , it's dark as always. But however dark it is , I would never get lost to the direction of my poor beddings. I lay my head down not wanting to think about anything else.