𝐍𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑 𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐆 ;; 𝒶𝓊𝒷𝓇𝑒𝓎 𝓍 𝓀𝑒𝓁 𝑜𝓃𝑒 𝓈𝒽𝑜𝓉𝓈

↳ 𝕚𝕞𝕡𝕣𝕖𝕤𝕤 𝕙𝕖𝕣 ・❥・: ̗̀➛

"She's pretty," Kel automatically answered.

When he didn't add anything else, Basil's eyebrows furrowed together. "Is...that all?"

He was about to nod before shrugging. "I don't know her that well, but she is very pretty. She has long pink hair and pretty blue eyes... And she also has a nice voice. And a nice laugh. I want to talk to her more so I can find out more about her."

"Then go talk to her."

"But I don't know where she is!"

"She's a maid, isn't she?" Basil's next words drowned out before he said them. They both had turned to the castle, and it was a large castle that towered over lots of land. There were plenty of places a maid could be in.

"Where would a new maid be?" Kel asked Basil and himself.

"Maybe the lower levels?" Basil suggested. "I don't think a new maid would be allowed to go far into the castle since they could get lost easily."

"That's a great idea! You're the best, Basil!" Kel grinned at him before rushing into the castle. Searching the lower levels would be a lot easier than searching the whole castle. Plus, he was a pretty fast runner, so if he ran through the halls, he would be able to find her!

So, he ran—which caused him to slip on wet ground.

"Didn't you see that the floor is clearly, Your Highness?" a voice asked from behind him. Aubrey held out her hand to help him stand up.

"Of course I saw did!" Kel said, trying to have a confident smile. "I just ignored it!"

Aubrey hummed. She didn't look like she believed him, but she didn't press the issue either. She had a mop in her hand, and she told him, "Are you going somewhere now? I need to get back to work."

"I can help!"

That only deepened her frown more. "No offence, but have you ever cleaned in your life?"

"Of course I have!" He didn't. There was always someone to clean up after him, so he never saw a need to. He wasn't going to say that in front of Aubrey, though. She might judge him.

"Well, I'm just mopping, and I don't have another mop you can use—"

"You're off-duty!"

"What?"

"You're off-duty," Kel repeated. "You don't have to work right now. I'm cleaning now. Give your mop to me. You have to. Prince's orders."

Aubrey hesitated, but she gave the mop to him. Kel smiled, but when he had the mop in his hands, he wasn't sure what to do with it now. He had seen maids mop before, so he tried to imitate what they did. Once he was pretty sure he was doing it right, he risked a glance at Aubrey, but she only stood a bit away from him and watched in silence. Since she wasn't saying anything, he assumed it was a good sign.

However, he only relaxed when she said, "You're not too bad at this."

"I've mopped before!" Another lie, but she didn't have to know that.

Aubrey hummed, and she had a smile on her face. He forced himself to look away and continue mopping so she didn't think of him any weirder than she already did.

"So, do you have any reason for coming here, Your Highness?" she asked.

"I wanted to talk to you," he replied.

"Really? Don't princes have other things to be doing than talking to maids?"

"I don't. Well, other than talking to Basil, but I already talked to him today."