That evening, I told Luke about how I let it slip that I had a boyfriend, but emphasized that I did so so that people wouldn't get the wrong idea and would know I wasn't a free woman. I think he was secretly a little happy, especially since Coleman didn't know that said boyfriend was him.
On Monday when I entered the dining hall for breakfast, there seemed to be something buzzing in the air. I grabbed my food and sat down next to Sherry, who excitedly grasped my arm.
"Cassie!" she said, her eyes wide. "Have you heard?"
"Heard what?" I asked.
"Apparently, Mindy and Gregory discovered that Missus Lucille is interviewing new people for hire," Sherry said anxiously.
"She is?" I asked, playing somewhat dumb.
"Yes!" Sherry said.
"Maybe she needs to fill a position," I shrugged.
"But all the positions are full already," Sherry said excitedly.
"It's true," another servant by us piped in. "And she is interviewing a lot of people."
"Maybe she just wants to get the right person for whatever job it is?" I suggested. "I mean, aren't the standards here supposed to be high?" Of course, I immediately thought of Lord Mercucio's pristine staff and determined that question to be an absolute joke.
"I don't think so," another person near us said. "I'm worried—are they going to fire some people?"
I listened to speculation about the state of our jobs for all of breakfast until I got up to clear my plate by the kitchen. After I set my dishes in the trough, I heard an unexpected voice call out, "Cassie!"
I whipped around to find none other than Lord Mercucio himself walking towards me with many pairs of eyes turned to watch him.
"Mercucio...hi. What are you doing here?" I asked as he approached me.
"I'm here with Mr. Johnson," he informed me, pointing out a middle-aged man in a blue button up shirt surveying the room carefully. "He's our chief of staff."
"Why is your chief of staff here?" I questioned.
Mercucio then eyed me up and down and smirked. "Cute little number you've got on there. Is that French?"
My face screwed up irritably. "It's my uniform, alright? And besides, it's not immodest or anything, so I'm not playing the slutty maid role if that's what you're thinking! Look." I lifted the sides of my skirt to show off its length. "The skirt is even at the knees!"
"Alright, alright," Mercucio chuckled. "We just have more updated uniforms at the François Household." He looked around the room and whistled. "But boy, this sure is a room full of lookers."
I rolled my eyes, though he wasn't wrong.
"Are you headed to Coleman's room?" Merc asked.
"I am."
"I'll walk with you while Mr. Johnson assesses or whatever."
Merc and I left the dining hall and began making our way to Coleman's room.
"So why exactly are you here again?" I asked.
"Well, Queen Klara's not happy with her staff, and since we have some of the best staff in the country, she asked me and our chief of staff to come and advise on the situation. She asked me because this whole situation is certainly beneath the Marquis François, or as I like to call him, 'Dad.' Besides, I always enjoy a visit. And I get to see you in your natural habitat."
"This is not my natural habitat!" I protested. "That being said, it's good to see you."
"We still have to fix your Instagram," Mercucio said. "Don't worry—I didn't forget about it."
"I appreciate that," I said.
"I must say, it is good that Queen Klara is finally smartening up her employees. While the staff as a whole may be almost as beautiful as the gorgeous royal family, the service here could certainly be better. Besides, I sometimes feel very insecure with how good-looking the servants are compared to myself," Mercucio went on. "I mean, have you seen the manservant Coleman keeps around?"
"Lucas Prescott?" I clarified.
"Yeah, him. He's a good-looking guy—I'd never have someone like that hovering around me," Mercucio tsked.
I grinned. "Yeah, he's cute."
"What would your boyfriend think if he heard you say that?" Mercucio teased.
I smiled. "I think he'd survive."
Luke was very busy all day, thanks to Mercucio and Mr. Johnson. I wouldn't get to eat with Luke at lunch, sadly, as he was wrapped up following around Mr. Johnson. Mercucio, on the other hand, invited me to bring my laptop and come eat with him and Prince Coleman while he showed me how to improve my Instagram, much to Coleman's chagrin.
The two were eating in the Prince's room, so I just had to bring up a couple of extra lunches for Mercucio and I.
"Hello, your highness," I said, nodding at Prince Coleman. "Merc."
Mercucio laughed, and Coleman scowled. "Your highness," Mercucio said to Prince Coleman dramatically.
"Shut up," Coleman snapped. I placed down our lunch plates and sat at one side of the small table, with Prince Coleman around one corner and Mercucio around the other.
"Did you redownload Instagram yet?" Merc asked me.
"I did."
"Good. Let's open up your account and clean it up."
I opened my profile, and Mercucio kept instructing me to delete pictures while Coleman silently ate his lunch. "Trash." "Delete." "Get rid of it." "No." "Ugly." "No." "Bye."
We got to a picture of Lydia and I standing together holding dripping ice-cream cones with summer tans and sun-kissed freckles laughing and beaming. Lydia was an inch or two shorter than myself with light auburn (borderline strawberry blonde) hair with a cute smile and small frame.
"Delete," Merc said.
"No!" I protested.
"No?" He asked. "Why?"
"Because she's my best friend!"
"So?" he asked.
"So it feels pretty crappy to delete a picture of her now when I get some followers."
"It's not about her," Mercucio said. "She's cute, but the photo doesn't go with your aesthetic."
"What aesthetic?" I yelped. "Nothingness?! Emptiness? Blank space?"
"We haven't gotten there yet," Mercucio said.
"I don't want to delete this picture with her. Besides, we look cute in the photo!"
I could see Coleman craning his neck out of the corner of my eye, but I withheld my phone from him.
"Well then let's just call her now and I'll explain to her why her photo has to go."
"Lydia's busy during the day," I said.
"Doing what?"
"She's at Cornell studying Agricultural Engineering."
"Agricultural engineering?" Coleman butted in, sounding impressed. "And what did you graduate in again? Writing?"
I shot Coleman a glare.
"Well try to give her a call anyways," Mercucio said.
I sighed. "Fine." I pulled out my phone and dialed Lydia, and to my surprise I caught her after a few rings.
"Hey Cass!" Her cheerful voice said. "You caught me at a good time! How's it going? How's the boyfriend?!"
"It's great, it's great. I actually have someone here who wants to talk to you. I'm putting you on speaker phone."
"Wait, someone wants to talk to me?" Lydia asked as I put her on speakerphone.
"Hi Lydia! It's Lydia, right?" Merc said. "I'm Lord Mercucio François."
Lydia didn't say anything for a couple of seconds, until she finally asked, "Who?"