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It didn’t matter how often I looked at myself in the mirror, I could never quite get used to the image of the castle maid looking back at me. Who would have thought one simple misunderstanding could have turned my life completely on its head. One day I was a student, and then the next day I suddenly found myself serving Liberty’s royal family and enduring Prince Keith’s thoroughly agitating holier-than-thou attitude. Not far behind him was his frantic and uptight butler, Luke, who seemed to think he needed to chastise me two fold for every instance his prince did.
The maid’s uniform alone was enough to illustrate their opinion of me; I didn’t need them to tell me how common or out-of-place I was in their presence. The one bright spot in the whole situation came in the form of Catherine, Liberty’s princess and Keith’s little sister, though the two were so opposite I would have never guessed their relation had I not heard it from Cathy herself. She was such a lovely and sweet young girl that I always looked forward to the times when I could spare a moment from my chores to speak with her.
Keith and Luke had tried cut off our blossoming friendship from the get-go, but Cathy was not having it for a second. Although she seemed quiet and soft I could tell she had a bit of fire in her as well, and not even her dominating brother could tell her what to do.
So, I trudged on and took everything that they threw at me with a defiant air. I think I even surprised myself at how much I learned and accomplished in a manner of days, but nothing pleased me more than when I saw the look on either the prince’s or his butler’s face when I had accomplished a nearly impossible task. Each job gave me one more opportunity to prove myself better than they assumed.
I was in the dining room one day, wiping down the tables when I paused to fix my hair. I had come into the habit of wrapping it up into a bun to keep it out of my face while I worked, but as the day drew on it would usually start to come loose so I would need to re-wrap it. I sat my cleaning supplies down and plucked out the pins and combed out my hair with my fingertips to untangle the strands.
I was just winding my hair back up, hairpin in my lips when I heard the telltale sound that I had been caught doing something wrong. At least, it was in Luke’s opinion, seeing as how that’s what it usually meant when he cleared his throat like that in my presence. I turned and glanced over m my shoulder to see him and sighed audibly.
“Fwut?” I asked around the pin.
“You were supposed to be in the kitchen half a hour ago and here I find you doing your hair in the dining room!” he said in that agitated tone I’d come to know all too well. “Do I even need to tell you how unsanity that is?”
“Woulf yuh razzer I do ish in zah kitzen?” I asked, incredulouss.
“Excuse me?”
I groaned loudly and pulled the pin out of my mouth, letting my hair fall in disarray over my shoulders and face.
“Would you rather I do it in the kitchen?” I repeated. “I was just fixing it to keep it out of my way!”
“You always have a response, don’t you?” Luke sighed, rubbing the space between his eyes with his fingers a moment before heading towards me and grabbing hold of my wrist.
“Hey!” I declared. “I was in the middle of something!”
“Be quiet,” he insisted, pulling me out into the hall before he would let go of my wrist. As I turned to express my irritation with him, he pushed my my shoulders forward, forcing me to put my back to him.
“What are you –?”
“Could you keep silent for one moment, please?” he retorted and made me turn my head forward once more just before I felt his hands wrapping up in my hair. Within a few quick minutes, all the hair had been piled neatly up on my head and the pins inserted to keep it firmly in place. I reached up, feeling the back of my own neck and patting my hair curiously. “Well, don’t mess it up, now!”
I turned and looked at Luke a little baffled. I was certain I had never been able to get my hair together so cleanly with not a strand out of place all my life and here he had done it in a matter of moments. I suppose it made a little sense he’d have some experience with hair styling, considering how well-kept his own seemed to be. He looked back at me, his eyes darting left, then right as his cheeks began to flush under my scrutiny.
“Don’t stand there staring. You need to get to the kitchen. We will be serving dinner soon,” he said, sounding on the verge of stammering, but still managing to get the words out whole.
“Right,” I said. “Thanks, Luke.”
It was actually kind of cute how surprised he looked, but considering we rarely shared words that weren’t on the verge of shouting, my calm demeanor likely startled him. I wasn’t sure where the change had come from, myself. Maybe I was just that impressed, but I headed towards my kitchen duties feeling at least a little less frustrated.
* * *
Much to my pleasure, I was put in charge of baking the desserts rather than doing the dishes like I typically was. I enjoyed baking a lot, and though I’d never had to make so many different types all once before, I was more than up to the delicious assignment. I was just going about the meticulous task of frosting the red velvet cake when I heard a cheerful voice.
“This all looks so beautiful!” Cathy’s presence seemed to make the mood of the kitchen lighten even more. She was standing admiring my work and I smiled proudly, especially happy to earn her praise.
“Would you like to try one of the coconut cream cookies?” I asked, setting down the frosting tube and offering up the tray I’d arranged them on.
“Oh, I shouldn’t spoil my dinner,” she said reluctantly, though the gleam in her blue eyes said she was only trying to be proper.
“C'mooon,” I prodded. “Just one won’t hurt. You know I won’t tell.” I watched the smile spread conspiratorily over her lips and she quickly snatched one up and took a dainty bite. She closed her eyes and hummed deeply.
“This is amazing!” she said and I giggled.
“Isn’t it? They’re my favorites!”
“Alright, people! We need all the appetizers and main courses ready to go within the hour!”
Cathy tucked the rest of the cookie into her mouth quickly upon the sound of Luke’s voice on the far end of the kitchen. I chuckled at her puffed out cheeks and she giggles lightly as she tried to savor the taste before having to swallow it before the intrusive butler discovered her secret.
She had snabbed up another cookie and was looking out into space thoughtfully as she took a bite. We both listened as Luke issued orders to the kitchen staff.
“He tries really hard to be authoritive, doesn’t he?” I asked.
“Mmm,” Cathy said with a nod. “No one really takes him seriously, though.”
Oh? So it wasn’t just me, then?
“He’s really much nicer than he acts sometimes. It’s just a shame he seems to think he needs to be a bully to be effective.”
“Yes. He might actually be attractive if he didn’t screw up his face like that all the time.”
Cathy glanced at me, slowing her chewing a little. “You think so?”
“Well….,” I began vaguely, turning my eyes away before glancing at Luke. “To some…I’m sure. He’s so baby-faced.”
Cathy giggled and I shot her a disgruntled look before I noticed that Luke was headed our way. I was gesturing on my own face that she still had some cream at the corner of her mouth when he walked up and then immediately turned my attention back to my cake.
“Princess, what are you doing here?” he asked, his tone a great deal gentler than one he ever used with me. I could practically sense his eyes flickering to me as if to accuse me of luring her in though I had not done anything at all. I ignored it and absently continued with the frosting.
“I was inspecting everyone’s work,” Cathy said, folding her hands behind herself and projecting a perfectly royal image.
“That’s commendable of you, but I assure you I have everything under control,” Luke said. “Your brother would not approve of you being in here.”
“My brother does not have any say in what I do,” she pouted. As if to prove a point, she snatched up a third cookie and took a bite before sauntering past him. “And I deem these cookies magnificent!”
I dusted my hands off on my apron as I watched her go, grinning crookedly as Luke waited until she’d gone before turning his disapproving eyes back on me.
“Why do I get the feeling you’re responsible for her increasingly defiant behavior?”
“Because you blame me for everything, Luke,” I said, emphasizing his name in a sing-song-voice as I plucked up some strawberries and began to place them on my cake. He looked at me flatly.
“I do no such thing. I only ask you to responsible for yourself.”
“Are you kidding me?” I asked, waving a strawberry at him. “I could have just walked away from this from the start, you know? But I am taking your highness’ reputation into account, though I really don’t know why I even bothered!”
“We practically had to arrest you to even get you here!” he argued, stepping towards me. I stood up straight and tall, not planning to be intimidated. It was a little difficult to be, anyway, despite how much he raged at me. As I’d told Cathy, Luke was a baby-faced young man, so when he got angry he looked like a young boy throwing a tantrum. He was also the same height as I was, shorter than the prince by at least five inches, so he was not able to tower over me in the same way.
As such, I could understand how hard it must have been for him as an apprentice butler, trying to command even a fraction of the respect his master received.
“You know what, Luke?” I challenged. His brows furrowed, his lips practically pouting as he seemed to ready himself for a fight. I reached over and grabbed something up in my fingers. “You need a cookie!”
He blinked rapidly in confusion and then looked at me as though I’d just insulted him.
“Are you treating me like a child?”
“No, I’m trying to give you a cookie,” I emphasized. He continued to stare at me, untrusting, and I sighed with my entire body before pressing it towards his lips. He caught my wrist and fought back. “Just try it for goodness sake!”
“I don’t want it!” Luke said, wrestling with me as I continued to try and get the cookie towards his lips.
“You’ll like it! Cathy liked it!”
“I don’t like sweets!”
“Who doesn’t like sweets?!” I asked, incredulous.
“If you like it so much – you eat it!” he said, shoving it back my way.
“I’m not allowed to eat it! I’m just a commoner, remember?” I strained.
“Trust me, I can tell!”
“Hhhnngh!’ I growled, determined at the very least to smear the cream all over his sour face if I could not get the cookie in his mouth. Somehow I managed to get the upper hand and threw my weight forward, causing Luke to stumble backward against the counter, clattering against some empty pans. I had pushed forward with such force, I crashed into him, the cookie flying out of my hand somewhere unknown and leaving me with my arms flung over his shoulders and my body flush against his.
I felt Luke’s body stiffen against my own and I stood still, suddenly aware that we were posed in an awkward, almost robotic embrace with our arms stretched out on either sides of one another.
Luke made a strained noise that I’m sure I only heard because of my proximity. I was the first to move, bringing my arms slowly back and resting my palms tentatively on Luke’s shoulders to press myself back. The first thing I noticed was that the flour from my apron had dusted itself over Luke’s nice black vest, and as my eyes traveled upward, the next thing I noticed was his mouth was hanging open a little.
“Luke…,” I said quietly, trying to think of the proper way to apologize before he decided to start scolding me. I finally looked up into his eyes and saw that he was entirely frozen and nearly as red as the strawberries I’d just been holding moments before. Bits of what used to be a cookie were stuck in his hair. I pulled back a little further, reaching up and starting to dust off his vest with my hand. “I’m so…so sorry.”
The feeling seemed to pull him back to reality and he looked down a little numbly at himself, reaching up and knocking the crumbs gradually away from his hair. I felt rather guilty by the fact he looked more distraught than angry with me.
“Here… Let me go get some water and we’ll get that all cleaned off,” I said, but when I tried to turn to do so, his hands caught my elbows and held me there.
“Why are you so wild? Why can’t you just do what you’re told and stop creating a rift in everything?” he asked and I found myself unable to respond, struck by the desperation in his voice. “I don’t….! I don’t know how to deal with you!”
“I’m…sorry…?” I offered and let out a shaky breath, eyes wavering. What was going on, I thought. Had I really upset him so badly without knowing it? I wasn’t trying to make anyone’s life harder. If anything, I thought they were trying to make mine more miserable.
He started towards me, stopping right in front of my face and my eyes went wide, startled. Then, suddenly, his hands at my arms pulled me forward and he pressed his lips firmly against mine. I was so surprised, I didn’t know how to respond and just stared. The kiss was a little harsh, unpracticed at best, but when he pulled away, the look in his eyes made me feel as though my entire body was about to go as red as his cheeks.
“That was inapp–,” he began what I could only assume was an apology. I didn’t let him finish it.
I leaned in and kissed him lightly, a tender press of the lips that I allowed to linger a little bit once before placing another there. He fell right into it almost instantly, if a little shy in how he returned each one. We stood there, our lips locked with no movement at all for a time and I listened to his breath coming a little more ragged than normal. When I pulled back a bit, he followed me until our lips finally parted. I giggled a little bit, finding his flushed face and pouted lips extremely cute. He blinked a little as he heard me and cleared his throat, straightening up and released my arms.
“I should get that water,” I said.
“No,” he said, glancing away when his voice cracked a little bit. “I will just go change.”
“Okay,” I said quietly, biting down on my lip as I watched him try to pretend that he wasn’t moved at all by what had just happened. He began to saunter away and I had to admire how convincing his posture was, though that soon gave way as my eyes wandered lower to admire something else with a tilt of my head.
I straightened up when he suddenly turned on his heel and returned towards me, calling my name.
“Yes?” I asked curiously.
“I…”
I raised my brows and he faltered a bit, eyes darting about before landing on the tray of cookies, which he grabbed one off of.
“I forgot my cookie.”
“Oh, of course,” I said with a small smile. He turned again to make a hasty retreat, glancing once back at me, but immediately turning back when he saw I was still looking. I couldn’t help myself. “I thought you didn’t like sweets, Luke!”
“I like coconut!” he replied, his exasperated voice echoing in the kitchen before he left.
Did I find Luke attractive? If you’d asked me a few weeks ago I would have said absolutely not.
But as I took a bite of one of the coconut cream cookies, I decided that it would be in my best interest to just let myself give in to his boyish charms.
Or, at least, it would making things so much more interesting.