Working For The Prince (BxB)✔

Chapter 9 - Back To The Grind

Three weeks have passed since that day. 

After he had been kicked out, Asher was forced to ride home in the freezing cold with no cloak or furs. By the time he arrived he had a terrible cold and was bedridden for four days.

His grandparents worried that the time off would affect his job and offered to send letters back to the castle regarding his condition, but Asher had to explain then and there that he was once again out of work.

Since his grandparents no longer needed help around the bakery, Asher was stuck doing minor chores. He would clean when he could, make deliveries, and wait for the animosity to die down from his old reputation. There were still quite a few religious shop owners he hadn't applied for, but he already knew what their answers would be.

Anyone who was shunned by the church was not welcomed in those stores.

At least he wasn't a complete outcast. The village still tolerated him like any normal citizen, they just wouldn't hire him. Cas made it a point to openly mock Asher whenever he was in sight though, which didn't help make the ex-servant feel any better about his unemployment.

Theo luckily returned safely as well, but in much better condition than Asher. According to her, the carriage dumped her right outside the village and she had to walk the rest of the way to her cottage.

Her parents became extraordinarily protective of her after that and started insisting that she be escorted by a family member whenever she went out. 

Theo insisted on visiting Asher as he recovered from his cold and popped in a few times with some soup. Her mother usually accompanied her and the first time he saw the pair together he thought they were twins.

Asher always accepted the gifts that Theo brought, but then her mother would drag her away, not knowing the full story of why she disappeared that night and not leaving her daughter alone long enough to have a private conversation with the man.

Once he recovered he did try his luck at reapplying for some of his old jobs, but as expected, they all turned him down. It had been weeks yet he was still jobless. 

With nothing better to do, Asher stood by a fence post staring out into the forest and wondering how the beast was faring in his isolation. The castle would provide everything he'd need to survive, but if he couldn't hear the voices of the servants, then he must be awfully lonely.

Serves him right for being such an ass.

"No longer kidnapping women for the Prince are we?" Becky's voice chirped from behind as she spotted the downtrodden man. The two hadn't seen each other since he returned on account of Cas doubling his efforts to win her over and thus attaching himself to her like a leech. It looked like she somehow managed to escape his advances for today.

Asher sighed. "Nope."

"I figured. I heard the last one didn't work out at all."

This had the man sputtering in alarm. "What do you mean you 'heard?!'"

"It was that new girl that lives by the fields. She said you had escorted her to help your friend break a curse on him and that he rejected her help. I suppose she's not afraid to die if she's going around talking about it."

"Theo is telling people about what happened?" Aside from not having a job, most citizens ignored Asher so it's not like he'd ever had a chance to sit down and listen to local gossip. The only good thing about this was that she still didn't know that the beast was actually the Prince. But still...

He should have made her promise not to tell anyone what happened!

"Sort of. She left out a lot of details, but when she mentioned a castle I knew it was you and the Prince." Becky stood beside him and likewise glanced out over the forest. "I've heard a few other strange rumors too, like how no one is able to find the Prince's castle anymore. Everyone who goes in search of it comes back saying they couldn't find the roads. But...You and I went there, didn't we?"