The Destitute Queen || h.s. au

18. Louis

     Father never fails to piss me off. Every day, I ask him if I can attend a Royal Court meeting, and every day, he says "no". I don't understand why he's so adamant about leaving me out of those meetings. It's not like there's no chance of me ever becoming the King, it would only make sense to prepare me as much as he's preparing Liam.

Liam doesn't even want to take Father's place as King, it's not fair that he gets to be the ruler of Leria when he knows I want the crown more than anything. I don't care that Father doesn't want me to be at the meeting, I'm going anyways.

My mind wanders as I'm walking down the hall to the meeting room, imagining how well that crown would fit on my head, when I spot a group of young maids walking towards me. As soon as they notice me, they freeze and line up with their heads bowed down. I give them one quick glance but pay no actual attention to them until one of them stands out in the corner of my eye. I stop walking and turn back to them, shocked but intrigued at what I'm seeing.

Right next to the blonde one was a maid I've never seen before. She's short, with long, dark brown hair and grey eyes. But her appearance isn't what intrigues me, it's what she's doing. Or rather, what she isn't doing.

She holds her head high as the other maids have their heads bowed out of respect for me. I walk up to her while she looks me right in the eye, and I examine her from head to toe. She's obviously new here, I definitely would have known of her if she'd been here for a while. Ah, she must be the one in the dungeon that Father decided not to kill. Whoever she is, she clearly doesn't respect me. There's a rebellious fire in her eyes, masked by the innocent look she's giving me.

I can't help but smirk at this petite girl who refuses to keep her head down in my presence. This young woman has no idea what could happen to her if I were to tell Father about this.

"Hm," I chuckle, slightly impressed by how courageous she is to not only hold her head high, but to maintain eye contact with me without faltering.

"Is there anything we can do for you, Your Highness?" The annoying maid, Abigail, asks. I know I told Harry that not even I would lay with her, but Abigail and I know the truth. The poor boy has no idea that she has her sights set on him, even after being with me. It was only one time, nearly three years ago, but she has only recently gotten over it. She wouldn't leave my side for months, even though we both made it clear that it was only a one-time thing before it actually happened. Now, she's after my little brother like a vulture.

"Nothing from you," I coldly state. I decide to walk away, incredibly curious as to who the hell this new maid thinks she is. As soon as they think I can't hear them, they immediately start talking, causing me to let out a quiet laugh.

I'm going to forget about it just this once, only because this girl has been in the dungeon before and I wouldn't want to see her have to go back. Disrespecting anyone in my family is considered a high offense, Father has ordered executions many times all because a servant would have a bit of an attitude in answering him.

I run into the other new servant on my way to the meeting room, and I stop him from walking past me.

"You, what's your name?" I ask him, and his eyes widen.

"E-Edward, Your Highness," he bows his head.

Suddenly, I get an idea. "You're to be my personal servant from now on, Edward. You will stay by my side and do as I say, am I understood?"

He fervently nods. "Of course, Your Highness."

"I need you to do something for me, and I need you to be discreet about it," I tell him. He, along with all of the servants, knows what would happen if any of them disobey me or my family, so I know I can trust him. "There's a new maid who arrived at the same time you did. I need you to find out everything you can about her. Can you do that?"