The Hunt ✓

46| 👑Perks

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"Your Highness. The last one's here. Eun Seong Ri from the town." My jaw drops when I see who is overseeing the arrangement of palace maids. His eyes stare blankly at me before he turns angrily to the guard.

"What is she doing here?!"

My eyes lower anxiously while fingers cling on to my robe.

This wasn't good. As I expected, he doesn't seem to like my presence here. Just the look in his eyes tells his dislike for me.

The guard standing beside him drops his head down with his hands crossed into a bow before he speaks.

"Your Majesty. She's part of the maids posted to your chambers."

My face drops flat with shock with his last declaration.

Not only am I working in the palace, but I was also included in the maids assigned to serve him. He's going to think I did this on purpose....as he thinks the worst of me already. But why am I bothered so much by this?

"I requested for trained maids-"he begins but his guard interrupts him with a bow to justify his actions.

"Yes. Your Highness! But it was a special request from the town's librarian. We couldn't refuse him as he's crucial for the palace."

Immediately he ends, three guards march from the entrance and walk up to the Crown Prince.

"The librarian wanted me to give this to you" One of them adds. The Crown Prince steps forward and rips the scroll from his hands.

  Not waiting for a second to pass, he rolls it down quickly and starts skimming the words.

From his expression, he seems surprised to see me. But he signed the acceptance form?

  I turn to look around in thoughts before I stare at him from where I stand.

He takes a short glance at the stamp below the signature after he gets to the last word on the scroll. The librarian's words are imbrued with black ink covering only the center of the paper. The edges have no words and are completely blank.

His words from reading the last sentence echo through his ears. He dropped the paper slowly turning to me with a furious stare.

Moon Bin quickly rushes to his chambers holding his sword. He pauses on his tracks when the corner of his eyes locates a familiar face while he walks to the Crown Prince. He takes a short glimpse of the other maids in line.

Seeing me standing with the other maids, it is enough to tell him what I was there for. With the puzzled look gradually diminishing from his face, he smiles at me and steps up to the Crown Prince with a bow.

 The Crown Prince carelessly folds the scroll in his hands and throws it to Moon Bin when he starts smiling at him. He ignores his thrilled expression and turns his attention to me. I am expecting a normal silent reaction but he speaks instead.

  He lifts his upper lip to start talking but he stops for a second and orders for the chief court lady to come over. Slowly tuning his irritated gaze at me, I drop my head anxious.

"You know quite how to manipulate people, even older men."

The fifteen maids standing beside me lift their heads in shock gasping silently to avoid letting their surprised response out when to he Crown Prince is present.

They begin staring at me whispering to each other in sequence to the last girl at the back.

His degrading words sink deep into my heart wrecking it into a million pieces.