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Chapter 11 My Bracelet

My eyes flew open before the sun was fully up. I remembered instantly where I was, and my interaction with Prince Theo weighed on my mind.

I took a few deep breaths, trying not to let his constantly irritated state get to me. I had slept well, had good dreams, and had a lot of energy pulsing through my veins. Why would I let his pessimism ruin my day before it had even begun?

I glanced down at my pillow and saw the flower that Prince Warren had given to me and instantly felt a rush of

adrenaline.

No wonder I’d gotten a good night of sleep. The blooms were slightly faded from the vibrancy they’d had when he’d first picked it and handed it over to me, but the fragrance still filled my lungs when I inhaled, and I thought it might last another day or two.

I quickly put the flower in the top drawer of the night stand and hopped up, ready to prepare for the day. Lots of hard manual labor lay in front of me, but I was mentally prepared for all of it.

After a few hours, I had almost finished wiping down the entire wing. Almost, because the ceiling was too high for me to reach. While I was pondering what I should do to get

myself up there, I had an overwhelming feeling that someone was watching me from behind.

I looked down the hallway and saw a tall, lean form coming toward me, and immediately, my heart knew who it was.

Quickly, I sprinkled some water on the floor so I’d have an excuse to speak to him. “Be careful, Your Highness!” I called. “The floor is wet here!”

“There you are!” Prince Warren greeted me as he approached, staying back from the area I’d just dampened. “I had wondered why you weren’t outside with the animals. So… you were chosen to be my brother’s personal attendant, huh?”

Something was slightly off about his tone. He was saying kind words, but he didn’t exactly seem happy about the news.

“This is my assignment, for now,” I said, keeping my head down. “It was… an accident… sort of.” I couldn’t quite explain to him how I happened to be at the pavilion at the same time that Prince Theo was expecting his attendant there.

“Well… congratulations.” His smile looked forced for some reason that I didn’t understand.

“Thank you,” I said. “But honestly… if I had a choice….” His eyebrows raised, and he took a step closer to me, as if he knew I was hesitant to say what I was trying to get out, which was true. “I wouldn’t have chosen to be Prince Theo’s attendant.”

I wasn’t sure whether it was a good idea to share my displeasure about one prince with another prince, but looking at Warren’s face, I knew I could trust him.

“Really?” His tone suddenly changed, and I thought I heard a bit of lightness to his voice. “Well, it looks like you’ve got quite

a bit of work to do, cleaning up this wing of the castle. You know, a personal attendant isn’t meant to be a maid.”

I felt my cheeks redden as I thought about how I had gone

| into Prince Theo’s room last night and ended up getting myself into this predicament. But at least I had something to do. “I don’t mind a bit of hard work,” I told him.

“Perhaps I could help you? I’ve never done much cleaning, but I can give it a try.” He flashed a kind smile to me that made my heart skip a beat, and I wondered if he could hear it.

to help me clean!” I had to turn down his offer. “That wouldn’t be appropriate

Warren laughed, and the sound of it made my cheeks flare up again. “You’re not asking me, silly,” he reminded me. “I’m volunteering-as a

what I could ask him to do. “Well, I

hand in his pocket as he studied the problem. He gave me a nod and smiled again. “I think

the ladder and a duster with a long pole, he moved over to the corner and climbed up, stretching to reach

his sleeve moved back

throat as I

away as a gift all those years ago, I could see some wear on one of the beads. I remembered scraping it on a rough tree trunk when I was climbing in

to stare, I looked away, but I couldn’t lose this opportunity to satisfy my curiosity. It had to be

said, “That’s an unique bracelet you have there, Your Highness. Where did you get

He held it up so

my rib cage again. “From… whom?” I was fishing for information now. I needed to know what he remembered. Was there any way he

the ladder and moved it to another

another web above him.

nice. Do you have fond memories of

I had to avert my eyes, grabbing the mop and sliding it across the floor as if I were focused on my

“I-I was just curious.”

him for today before he got suspicious. I had to pretend like I didn’t know where it had

wasn’t as if I could just blurt out to him that it had come from me, that I’d been the girl who saved him in the woods all those years

anything else, an annoying voice hit my ear, and I suddenly wished I’d mopped the entire floor with the slickest soap

Look at her, girls. She’s supposed to be one of Prince Theo’s bride candidates, but here she is again, doing the dirty work that

to be

feet away, her arms folded, her friends gathered at her shoulders, all of them looking down their noses at me. Sophia bowed down to greet Prince Warren, “You Highness, please do not

and then climbed down off of the ladder. I couldn’t quite read his expression. Was he irritated or

a whore!”

Warren frowned. “It’s not lady-like

be spreading rumors and speaking unkindly about others.

said, “Come along, ladies. Let’s get back to

went off, still making snarky comments about me, and I got the distinct feeling that she didn’t like me being so close to Prince Warren. She

going to be making more trouble for me soon. I could

gone, I turned to Prince Warren. “Thank you for sticking up

hand touched me briefly on the shoulder. “You’re quite welcome, my

felt a tingle of electricity roll

his sentence. When he pulled away,

He was so different from his brother, so

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7.