In the aftermath of the Autumn Festival, Cassie must face the wrath of her peers, but perhaps even more frightening, she must face Prince Coleman again. Fortunately, Cassie has a cute butler on her side...and a few new friends.
"I doubt Queen Klara cares about the love lives of two random servants," Luke scoffed.
"And you really think you two are just random servants?" Lucille asked. "You hold one of the highest staff positions here at the castle. And Miss Carmichael—she's obviously not just a random servant. She was the Queen Maiden. Of all the girls in this entire country, your sweetheart was Klara's Queen Maiden! Your girlfriend is going to the Winter Ball with Princess Calista's intended husband. You think she isn't going to be keeping tabs on her? Of course she is!"
"So what if Klara finds out?" Luke said. "That doesn't mean she's going to tell Coleman."
"She very well might."
"Then I'll cross that bridge when I get there!" He gave an exasperated sigh.
"You need to understand that you're playing with fire by dating Cassie Carmichael."
"Well then," Luke said. "It's a good thing I'm an adult and that I can make my own decisions, then. Cassie is my girlfriend. I like her. That's that."
I liked hearing him say that. Cassie is my girlfriend. In fact, I was grateful for his fearless defense of me in general, and yet Lucille was so against me. I felt angry at her accusations! She was right that Coleman liked me, but she didn't know the half of it! She didn't know that he'd rejected me. She didn't know my personal code of ethics and standards. She didn't know that I wasn't going to be intimate with anyone who wasn't my husband, and since the Prince would never even date me, nothing would ever happen between Coleman and I. She didn't know that I had always liked Luke and that I truly had disliked Coleman at first. She didn't know that I actually wanted to date Luke and that—hey, crazy fun fact!—it's possible to like two people at once! Perhaps there were times when I liked Coleman more than Luke, but just as often and if not more so, I liked Luke more! And now I liked Luke much more. Luke was my boyfriend. Prince Coleman? He was just a man that I used to like. Missus Lucille was just an old maid anyways—figuratively and literally.
"Fine, then," Lucille said. "You're right—you're in charge of making your own decisions. I just—you know I worry about you."
Luke's voice softened. "I know," he said. "I'm sorry for getting upset with you. I realize you're just looking out for me."
"Also, you have an upcoming calendar event you should know about," Lucille said.
"Oh?"
"Your father is visiting the palace in two weeks."
"Ugh," Luke scowled. "Geez, you know Prince Coleman's father is the King of the entire country. Why can't he just be happy with that?"
"Lucas," Missus Lucille's voice sounded strict.
"Seriously, though," Luke continued. "Does he need my dad too?"
"Luke, I know it's hard. I don't approve of everything my brother did especially in regards to his own family, but you realize King Collin was a very busy man. Your father practically raised Coleman."
"Yeah, well, King Collin also gave his son a 194cm frame and a throne."
"Lucas Prescott," Lucille chided. "Watch your tongue, he's still your Prince."
Luke sighed. "I'm sorry, Auntie."
"Just be careful."
"I'm always good around everyone else."
"I know you are," Lucille said. "Now, while I have you, I want you to look over a couple of documents regarding the new staff implementation plan."
I decided that that would be a good time for me to leave. I carefully slipped out of my heels so that they wouldn't click when I walked, and picked up the shoes and tiptoed out of the hall. Only when I had maintained a safe distance did I put them back on and head to my room for the evening.
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I finally collapsed onto my bed, cozy in my pajamas. I thought about the conversation I'd eavesdropped in on.
"Your father practically raised Coleman." I knew that Luke's dad had been Coleman's butler previously, but I didn't realize that he'd raised him. He must have been his butler for a long time. It made me wonder about Coleman's relationship with his father. More importantly, what it must have been like for Luke to have his father raising Prince Coleman? Clearly, Luke was upset about it. Moreover, it was suddenly apparent to me that Luke was in general very guarded with anything regarding Prince Coleman. No wonder he wanted to keep our relationship a secret from the Prince—what might Coleman do if he found out? Did Luke think he might take me away from him?
I decided I needed someone to talk things through with, and even though he was now my boyfriend, Luke was probably the last person I wanted to talk to about all this. I was sure he probably wouldn't have wanted me listening in on his private conversation with his aunt. And so, I called the person who I thought would be the most useful.
Prince Nikolas answered after three rings.
"Hello, Cassie," he said, his familiar thick Russian accent hitting my ears. "You called at an opportune time. I was just about to retire to bed."
"Oh, do you need to go to sleep then?" I asked. Despite our good conversation last week, I still felt a bit nervous about bothering Nikolas.
"I just told you that this was an opportune time, did I not?"
"Oh...right."
"And why have you called, Cassie?" he asked.
"Well, a lot happened today," I said. "And I kind of wanted to work out my thoughts, I guess, if you have some time to spare?"
"Like I said, this is an opportune time. I have all the time you need."
