“Chungah!” I heard my grandmother yelling for me.

“Yes?” I yelled back.

“Can you run some errands for me?” she had come into my room.

“Sure, what did you need done?” I sat up straighter. Finally, something to do!

She ran off a list of things and I was out of the door after that. I headed towards the food stalls, where I bought some ingredients for tonight’s dinner and asked for them to be delivered to the house. I went around, looking for some placemats. When I finally found them, I saw some castle guards roaming around, looking around the place as if searching for someone. They looked at me up and down and then went off their own way. I sighed, continuing my errands. When I was almost done, the same guards came up to me, bowing. I quickly bowed back and they looked at each other before speaking.

“The castle is in dire need of another maid for the princes. We have been searching for someone to fill that spot. Would you consider it?”

“I… uh...” I couldn’t answer straight away. “Why… me?”

“You seem to be a very hard worker. Are you busy at the moment?”

“Well, I was just running some errands for my grandparents… do you think we can go back to them and talk about this?”

I led them back and a few minutes later I was packing my stuff and headed towards the castle after bidding my grandparents goodbye. I was given a room and was told to report to the throne room in the morning. Waking up feeling more refreshed, I changed into the maid’s uniform and headed out. I greeted the king and queen, who were respectful as I was to them. They let me start my first of what would become my daily routine: waking up the princes, helping them dress, and then doing whatever they felt like doing, as long as I was behind them. I went to the room that they shared and nodded to the guard nervously, who smiled.

“It’s okay, no need to be nervous! Just greet them with a smile,” he said. I felt a bit better as he opened the door for me and I entered the quiet room. Their bedroom was huge, almost the same size as the throne room, which was the biggest room in the castle. Why share a room when the castle is so huge? I shook my head to get rid of any thoughts and then headed towards one bed, where a pile of blankets was heaped, with a foot sticking out of it near the bottom. I carefully grabbed the blanket and pulled it away, revealing the handsome face of Moon Joonhwi, the eldest prince. He slept on even as I poked and shook his body. Just as I was going to give up and move to the next bed, I felt a sudden grip on my wrist and looked down to see Joonhwi grabbing onto me. One of his eyes opened.

“Who are you?” he muttered sleepily.

“What is it hyung?” I heard another voice in the room. The pile of blankets on the other bed moved around and out popped the youngest prince, Moon Minwoo, who was equally as handsome as his brother, but now had ruffled bed hair and half open eyes. They became fully open and he burst into a smile when he saw me.

“Ah, you must be the new maid!” he said excitedly, getting out of bed as Joonhwi released his grip on me, settling back down in bed. “What’s your name?”

“S-Seo Chungah,” I stammered and he bowed. I immediately bowed back and he looked at my wrist.

“Ah, hyung, you made her wrist turn red!” he said and I held up my wrist, which was indeed red. Minwoo gently grabbed my hand to look at my wrist.

“I-I’m fine Your Highness--”

“Minwoo. Call me Minwoo,” he said, seriously inspecting my wrist, which was losing its red color. “Doesn’t seem that bad. He could’ve broken your wrist if he was fully awake.”

“Pardon?” I was shocked but he just laughed.

“Just kidding. Hwi hyung, time to wake up,” he said, poking his brother’s cheek. “I’ll go get ready. Try your best with him alright?”

He left to the bathroom with his name on it and I was left alone with Joonhwi. When I turned back, he was already sitting up, looking at me with disdain.

“Just because you’re new doesn’t mean I’ll go easy on you,” he said, getting out of bed and heading towards the other bathroom. As I waited for them to finish up, I was given their clothes. Minwoo came out first, I handed him his clothes, and he said a polite thank you before closing the door. Joonhwi came out, took the clothes without a word, and shut the door again. Minwoo came back outside, smiling brightly.

“Chungah, how do I look?” he spun around and I couldn’t help but smile.

“Very handsome, Your Highness,” I said and he pouted.

“I told you to call me Minwoo didn’t I? It’s a royal order, follow it!”

“My apologies,” I bowed my head as Joonhwi came outside. He didn’t say a word and just headed out the door, making me and Minwoo follow him out quickly. We were headed towards the throne room and I knew I wasn’t allowed in unless given permission so I stopped outside as they entered. However, Joonhwi grabbed my arm and forced me inside, making Minwoo throw him a look.

“Mother, father, what is the meaning of another maid?” Joonhwi demanded.

“You cannot just have guards around. You need someone to help you with other things. Guards are only there to protect you,” the king said as Joonhwi sighed.

“What’s wrong with Chungah? I think it’s nice you went all the way out just to get us another maid,” Minwoo said, pulling me closer. My heart skipped a beat at his sudden gesture but he seemed perfectly calm about it. “You should learn to appreciate the things mother and father go through for us Hwi hyung.”

Joonhwi didn’t say anything else, just bowing his head swiftly and leaving the room.

“Ah, wait!” Minwoo followed after him. I bowed apologetically as the king and queen sighed.

“I’m sorry to cause you all this trouble You Majesties,” I said, head still lowered.

“No need to worry Chungah. The only reason why we hired you is to take care of them in a way that we can’t,” the queen said gently. In a way that they can’t? I was curious but she didn’t say anything else.

“You are dismissed,” the king said and I walked backwards until turning back and exiting the room. What did she mean by that?

A/N: Do feel free to leave comments, I'll try updating this story regularly to the best of my ability! :)