I'm about to cry

Cause you're standing in front of me

I don't know where I am

But I know that you're with me, dear love

We can cross the blue, black seas

I will hold your hand forever and always

Wide strides and a stern face, the princess returned to the palace two days later. She didn't return with her brother. He could come back to the palace that she owned only afted he apologised to her. Disobedience sickened her.

Princess Sarocha flicked her volumnious hair with her left hand just as she reached the bottom of the stairsways but something seemed to stop her in her tracks. She pursed her lips gently before turning around and heading towards the back of the palace.

Her guards followed her all the way to the dongeon. Before she went down the dark hallway that led down into the dongeon, she signalled one of the guards to hold a lantern from the wall.

The dongeon keepers were astonished to see the princess down there. The princess had no business there and the place was dark and damp and smelly, all of which the princess detested.

She scanned each room she passed until she reached the far end. There, she stood and watched. She could see the silhouette of her maid lying on the very uncomfortable excuse of a resting place that was made of nothing more than a pile of sacs filled with hay. She felt anger, she felt disgusted but most importantly, she felt guilt. She hated seeing the younger girl in such a condition. She wouldn't admit it out loud but she had regretted having said she wanted the girl in the dongeon for three days. But then again, the girl had brought this upon herself. Bad actions had bad consequences.

It had been two days and some hours but the princess was ready to free the girl. And she could do so by asking the keeper to unlock the iron bars. Her eyes however, landed on the pile of plates of food in the corner. Her heart was starting to pound in trepidation. She quickly turned to the dongeon keeper, "Why is she not eating?" she enquired, quickly darting her eyes back at the pile again and the glasses filled with water now confirmed her worst fear, the girl hadn't been drinking too. People could survive days without food. And it wasn't the same case with water.

"O-Open this right now." She ordered.

Needless to say, Becky was unconscious. The princess went completely pale as the girl remained unresonsive when she tapped on the girl's face lightly. "Check her pulse" The princess commanded, rushing to pull the girl up to a sitting position. She didn't know what to do. One guard hurridly pressed his fingers on the side of Becky's neck. "She's okay, your highness," he declared. That action seemed to bring consciousness back as the girl stirred and opened her eyes a little. But it didn't last long. It seemed she had been going in and out of consciousness for a while due to lack of water for an extended period.

She was rushed to her room as it was nearer than the physicians' chamber. Becky was tended to by the palace physician and some of the other maids. For the moment, she was given some fluids and she was stable. The physician told Irin that Becky needed rest and that she needed easy broth soon. Irin listened earnestly and nodded her head when needed to. She was kneeling on the side of the bed Becky was in. Nobody in the room dared to ask why the princess was still in the maid's chamber, standing silently in the space between Becky's and Irin's bed with her arms crossed. As for Becky, she was completely exhausted but she was very much aware of the princess's presence. She really went on a full on fasting to demonstrate her grief but now it was blowing up on her face. She couldn't tell what the princess was feeling. It was too much for her to deal at the moment so she decided it would be best if she closed her eyes and pretended she was in a terrible dream.

"Your highness, would you want me to get you a seat?", Irin enquired, sensing the princess did not seem ready to just go out.

"Go get some broth, girl."

"Y-Yes, your highness." Irin bowed and went for the door.

It took close to 15 minutes when Irin and some others came rushing in with Becky's food. The other cooks in the kitchen did not believe Irin when she told them the princess was indeed inside the maid's chamber. Now, they were seeing it for themselves. The princess, with a calm face, turned towards them to acknowledge their arrival. They collectively bowed and entered the room awkwardly, putting the food on the table that was put beside the bed.

"What on earth are you waiting for? Wake her up and feed her", came an impatient order from non other than the princess.

Irin hurriedly got her pillows from her bed and helped Becky sit up on the bed. Becky only had one spoonful of the broth before declaring she wanted it no more. She kept hers eyes low at all times and avoided looking at the princess.

The princess knew for obvious reasons that the girl was angry with her but she did not like it when she felt ignored in her own palace.

Meanwhile, Irin literally begged Becky to drink at least some more to which Becky refused.

"I've lost appetite. I feel dizzy I want to lie down." Becky said in a low voice.

At that point, the princess's patience was thrown out the door.  "All of you get out" The princess commanded, much to everyone's surprise. Immediately, everyone started to defuse. Irin also had to reluctantly leave. She was sure the princess wouldn't kill her friend but at the same time she was also worried.

"Get all of them away from the vicinity. And you can also go back to your room." She turned to one of her guards and said.

The guard bowed and left.

Now it was just the princess and her maid.

"You're dehydrated. You need fluid. You haven't drunk enough." The princess spoke, as she walked up closer to the girl, her arms still crossed over her chest.

"I'll-I'll have it later." Becky managed to say, all the while avoiding eye contact.

Her answer seemed to have angered the princess further. "Are you trying to kill yourself? Because trust me I can put a bullet in your head right now. That can save us both lots of time."

Right then Becky's eyes wearily landed on the flintlock pistol that was in the Princess's leather belt holster.

She wanted to cry all of the hurt she was feeling out but in all her dizziness, she was not able to process her emotions.

When Becky finally looked up to meet the princess's eyes for the first time. The princess immediately regretted what she had just said, seeing the hurt in the younger girl's eyes. 

She didn't have the aptitude to console anyone, did she?

"I-I am sorry. I'll never put you through something like that again." The princess admitted, almost scaring herself. She did not intend to apologise like that. That had come out of nowhere.

Becky just couldn't believe her ears nor was she able to tear her eyes away from the ones that were also set on hers. Was she hallucinating?

"Please drink it up" the princess spoke softly after a while.

Becky was so overwhelmed with emotions she couldn't comprehend. But she nodded her head. Her nose tingled, the same sensation one got when they're about to cry.

They could both hear footsteps leading up to the room and soon Lady Nam appeared, followed by the head maid.

"Oh, you're really here." Lady Nam stated with a bit of surprise because never in a hundred years would she imagine the princess visiting a maid in their room.

"Mami, can you feed her some broth. It must be getting cold." The princess asked, completely ignoring her cousin.

The head maid got herself a stool and sat close to the bed.

"What is wrong with you? You left without informing me. I could have come with you, you pea head." Lady Nam chided.

"You haven't left yet? I told you to leave my palace." The princess said, her eyes fixed on Becky as she drank off the spoon. The girl definitely looked a lot skinnier now that the princess was really paying attention. Her hair was a mess. Her face was also absolutely grime as if she had put her face down on a dirty, wet floor, oh wait, she was in the dungeon. Then the princess inspected the girl's clothes. It was absolutely gruesome to look at. "Mami, she needs a thorough bath. And change her beddings too."

Lady Nam followed after the princess as she walked out of the room.

"You know what?" Lady Nam started. "I am sure Mami does not appreciate it. She is the head maid here. Couldn't you have made some other maid take care of Becky?"

"I don't trust anyone else here."

"What does that suppose to mean?" Lady Nam asked but she never got an answer back.

"What about your brother? Where is he? Did you talk to him?"

The mention of her brother caused the princess to turn around, stopping her cousin in her tracks. "That fool costed me quite a fortune. He hasn't earned anything on his own and yet he feels entitled to spend whatever little wealth he has." The princess was now staring deeper into Nam's eyes. Lady Nam had to lean back because of the intensity. "Try as he may, he can never stop me. I'll always get what I want."

_______________________________________________________________________________

It was late, Irin got back after her shift to check on her sick friend.

"You look a lot better now", she giggled and commented. Becky smiled and took a little sip of water from the cup beside the table. "I feel better now" Becky replied, coughing softly after.

"Your food will be here soon."

Speaking of food, there was a knock on the door. Irin opened it and it was none other than the head maid, who was in a foul mood for some reason. "I'll take it from here" Irin said, taking the tray from the head maid. The head maid gave an exasperated sigh and left.

"I think our head maid really does care about you, Becky. She might not look it, but she does." Irin said as she kept the tray. "Do you need me to feed you?"

"No, I can eat myself."

Irin sat on Becky's bed, dangling her feet down. "I kind of want to get a few days off you know. I miss home"

"I know. As much as the palace is cleaner and more beautiful, it gets tiring" Becky supplied.

"So Becky, do you think the prince knows what his sister did to you? He'll be furious, you know."

Becky sighed. "Irin," Becky paused a while. "I deserved it. I shouldn't have said anything in the first place. I really did not want to do anything to upset the princess."

"Yeah. You can be really careless sometimes. But you know, I think she really does care about you."

Becky put away her spoon and looked at her friend. "You think so?"

"I mean, yeah. She even came to check on you down in the dungeon as soon as she came back."

"What do you mean she came back?"

"Oh, you didn't know. She had been away for two days." Irin paused a little. "Um.. did she scold you or anything today?"

Becky blinked several times. She wanted to tell Irin that the princess actually said sorry but who in their right mind would believe her. So, she settled with "A little".

_________________________________________________________________

The princess was back at her room after a little stroll outside in her garden. It really gave her some peace and quiet without Nam constantly nagging her. She had enough time to reflect on some of the things. In all honesty, it scared her to death thinking about how everything would have turned out had she not been back at the palace at the right time.

In her large wooden table, she could make out the letter that had been the culprit of all of her anger a few days ago. She took the envelope and held  it, contemplating whether she should open it. She had been having too much to deal with the past couple of days and she didn't want to add to the frustration. She just couldn't bring herself to open the envelope. It still hurt and she hated feeling that way.

And then, her thoughts led her to something embarrassing she did earlier. Why in the world did she apologise to a lowlife again? She realised she slipped out of her character. She couldn't let that happen again.

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Lmao guys, I deeply apologise. I have written it a month ago and completely forgot to post because I thought I already did. Omg I am so confused right now. Good news is next chapter is also ready. I will keep it for Christmas 🤶

And yeah, get this, Princess Sarocha apologises to no one and she always gets what she wants 😹

Have a lovely day.