Yandere! Prince x Fem! Reader

꧁One꧂

Rain poured from the sky, loudly crashing on the roof of a small cottage on the edge of the forest. A few drops leaking their way into the building and making quickly a puddle of water. One drop separated from the gentle stream of water making its way through the thin roof, flowing before falling from the ceiling, a tapping noise ringing out throughout the tiny room it fell in as it dropped onto a woman's head. In return said woman's eyes quickly shot open and she flinched. Sitting up she grunted before wiping the water from between her eyes, grumbling annoyingly to herself about the cottage's structural problems.

The mumbling was cut off as a loud banging at the front door sounded, catching her attention. She rushed to put on a blue kirtle over her smock, shuffling to her door while quickly braiding her hair into two braids that rested over her shoulders and along her chest. Letting out a breath as she swung open her door, a messenger boy wearing red garments standing in front of her, clutching a satchel filled to the brim with letters and packages.

"The king and prince require the presence of all women able to bear an heir at the palace in 3 days for a ball!" The boy loudly mentioned as he handed a parchment to her, which repeating the same details as he had said.

The woman gave a polite nod to the boy before he quickly walked off, returning to a short brown horse. She closed the door, going to the kitchen to prepare her morning porridge and bread, all while reading the letter. The letter had her name written in the top corner, making her tilt her head. How did whoever write the letter know of her uncommon reading ability and ability the bare children? Surely the king didn't know of her specifically, she was just a woman living barely in the kingdom territory.

She shrugged it off as she set the now-folded letter on the table. She grabbed the small pot and poured cracked wheat into it along with yesterday's milk, putting the pot the hang above a fire that crackled, still going from the night before. She covered the pot with its metal lid before blowing gently onto the dwindling fire and setting a couple of pieces of firewood on it to keep it going. As the fire began to grow, she stood back up and got a metal cup, filling it with a pail of water she boiled to be clean a few days ago. Sitting at her table she began to drink the water while staring off, keeping a mental track of how long the porridge had been cooking.

After a few minutes, she went over to the porridge after setting down her cup, lifting the lid gently and stirring it to make sure it was the correct consistency she wanted. Seeing it as she moved to a shelf and grabbing a bowl, scooping two globs of the meal into the bowl before setting the lid against the fireplace and sitting back down and beginning to eat. She was quick to finish the food, wanting to finish her chores early in order to go into town. She dropped her used dishes on the counter before slipping on a pair of pattens and walking outside with a pail of grain in hand. Making her way over to her chicken coop she began to toss the grain all around the coop.

The few chickens who were already outside beginning to quickly peck up the food from the ground hungrily. As she began to walk over where her cows were placed the rooster crowed, after finding the food, alerting the chickens inside the coop who ran out to get their daily feed. Turning the corner of the building her cows slept in she saw one laying on its side on the ground, the other standing at a trough drinking water. She knew this was coming eventually, the cow had been sluggish and growing older for a while. She sighed as she set down the pail after pouring much of the grain into the trough for the cows' feed, walking over to the dead cow.

She frowned and ran a hand along with its head, saying her goodbyes. She rubbed her forehead in annoyance as she stood, walking over to pet the only other cow who now ate gratefully. She grabbed the empty bucket and walked back to her cottage, leaving the bucket by the back door before going inside. Fixing her hair was not so rushed this time, even deciding to add a ribbon to the ends of each braid. Ribbons were exotic and expensive, so hopefully, they would help her catch the attention of a wealthy man in the town.