The Prince and His Slave [REWRITTEN]

Chapter 17 - [Thanks]

Arius

From the look on the maids' face, I could tell that she was reluctant to be here. Tabia, who was still with me, was the one who spoke up first. "Namare, you will stay with me until we figure out what to do about the child."

Namare looked shocked. "Wha–"

"The Prince has agreed to protect you and your child," Tabia continued. "Ideally, Ramose will smarten up and be a man about this situation."

She fell down onto her knees. "Thank you," she said, her voice cracking.

Chione bowed too.

"You will stay with the rest of Tabia's maids," I said. "It is better that way then returning to the servants quarters."

Namare nodded.

"And if anyone asks, this was entirely Tabia's decision," I clarified. "Because once my uncle returns, if Aziza goes to him and he finds out that this was my choice, he may choose to undermine my decisions. So Tabia will be the one who confronts Aziza in the morning."

"Understood," she said.

I hesitated as I crossed my arms. "And... you may not wish to talk about it but the question needs to be asked... did he force himself upon you?"

The girl hesitated but then shook her head. "No," she said. "I agreed to it."

"You have no reason to fear me," I said. "Be honest."

"It is the truth, my Pharaoh," she said. "I am embarrassed to say it but I fell for his words."

I let out a breath and then nodded. Despite the situation, I was relieved. Possibly because if I found out that he had raped her, it would be my duty to punish him. At least I didn't have to do that.

"Come," Tabia said as she headed for the door. "You should rest."

Namare stood up, thanking me once more before following Tabia out the door.

I turned to Chione before letting out a short laugh.

"What's so funny?" She asked.

"Nothing," I said as I scratched my head. "This entire situation is just so ridiculous that I felt the need to laugh."

She smiled sympathetically.

"But at least... for the most part, it is sorted out," I said. "At least now you have no need to worry about doing something you don't want to do."

She continued to smile, now happily. "Thank you for that."

I nodded, "it's fine."

Chione

I fell asleep with ease that night. I felt that things had worked out well.

The next day went by as usual. I woke up early the next morning and helped Arius with his morning ritual. However... I couldn't ignore the fact that Arius seemed unbelievably stressed.

On top of all that had happened, I had also heard the news that the Pharaoh was coming back soon. I figured that it was because of this that he looked so stressed... on top of all the other things, of course.

When I arrived at his room that night, he greeted me with a smile from his desk. He had chosen to eat his dinner alone in his room again. Clearly he had a lot to do.