Maid For The Prince

Chapter 4

If you could describe Dawn's mood over the last few weeks, it would definitely be "giddy". She was positively floating on air as she went about her duties at the palace. Something that wasn't beyond the notice of May, who was very curious as to the suddenly elevated mood of her roommate. She nagged at her about what was up with her but she gave no real answer. Dawn just smiled and walked away. After a while, May gave up with her inquiries but resolved to understand the source of her improved mood. But Dawn kept that secret close to her chest. How could she tell anyone?

Prince Ash, the most handsome and eligible bachelor in the empire, liked her.

It played over and over in her mind, as if her soul was trying to tell her that it was real, even when she doubted her memories. He liked her just as much as she liked him.

Her private elation improved her work by leaps and bounds. Especially when she caught sight of her sweet prince. When she was cleaning his office, passing by him in the hall or when he was training, she relished seeing him. And he always seemed to know when she was around, as he would always turn to her and give her the briefest of smiles. It was hard not to blush when such a man pays you attention but she did her best to hide it. There were other things as well: brushes of the hand. A hushed whisper near her ear. A gentle caress of her backside. All of those little things reminded her that he did indeed care about her. Unlike with Conrad, such advances were both welcomed and appreciated. But still, she felt a bit terrible deep down. She didn't regret how things were between them but she felt selfish. Because she wanted more.

But she wasn't the only one.

Ash was in a similar state of mind. He had to keep himself in check when she was around. Every fiber of his being wanted to jump her every time he saw her. He wanted to tear her maid uniform to shreds and make love to her like a woman like her deserves. But he had to hold back. As much as he desired Dawn, he respected her in equal measure. Still didn't stop him from touching her every chance he got. And when he did, he saw flashes of crimson sweep across her face. That was enough to make his day all the better.

Still.........he wanted more.

But what could he do? They were both so busy with their respective duties. Very little time to talk, let alone anything more intimate. It was frustrating for him and her, he assumed.

As he stared out of his office window and looked upon palace grounds, his mind raced. How could he meet her without arousing too much suspicion for either of them. Just then, his eyes drifted to the east wing of the palace. He didn't know why. It was a sight that he had been used to since he was a boy. But today, something told him to look in that direction. And just like that, an idea popped into his head. The idea slowly morphed into a plan. A plan that would take a few weeks to pull off but the end results would be worth it.

If he couldn't run into by accident, he'd plan it out on purpose.



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"Miss Jay, Miss Sara, Miss Nancy, you have the offices on the 5th floor," announced Prof. Oak as he was almost done handing out the duties for the day. The trio in question seemed satisfied with their assigned jobs as they happily chatted away. The morning was mostly uneventful, save for May pestering her roommate about the reason for her improved mood but Dawn cheerfully refused her each time.

"I'm gonna find out one day."

"You keep saying that like it's gonna happen," said Dawn.

"I always get what I'm after in the end," she said proudly.

"In that case, May, you can have the east garden," prof. Oak said with his grandfatherly smile.

May gasped. "But I wanted to work the ballroom!" she whined.

"Consider this a light punishment for digging too deep into Miss Dawn's personal life."

"Miserable old man!" she playfully spat while sticking out her tongue at the older man.

"I love you, too." he turned his attention to Dawn. "As for you, Miss Dawn, you will be tasked with cleaning the special quarters. May, if you will....."

"Yeah, yeah professor," she commented. "I'll handle it."

"See? You can behave. Now, everyone! To your duties!" he announced, causing everyone to begin to disperse.

"Aww! You're so lucky!" whined May as she and her roommate began to walk off.

"Special quarters? I don't think I've heard of that," Dawn muttered to herself.

"Of course, you haven't," said May, "It's a part of the palace that not many are even allowed to go. It's called the special quarters but it went by another name a long time ago: the mistress's quarters."

Dawn was stunned to hear that information. "Mistress? The emperor has a mistress?"

Her roommate gave a hearty chuckle at her question. "Hells no. The emperor wouldn't even look at another woman. It's a hold over from the last family who ruled the empire from about 300 years ago."

"Oh really?"

She nodded. "The last royal dynasty were really open to having mistresses. One of the old kings had like, 20 of them. Once the Ketchums took over, that tradition totally stopped. 'For love. Not power'." Dawn of course knew the motto of the house of Ketchum but she was still fascinated by this little bit of royal history. "After that, most of the mistress quarters were repurposed into guest rooms and the like. But a few of them are maintained as they were back then for historic purposes. One of those is where you are going today. It's in the eastern part of the palace."

"Ok, I understand that but why did you sound so jealous?"

"Because it's the easiest job in the whole job in the palace."

Dawn raised an eyebrow at this comment. "How so?"

"You'll see when you get there."


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