Meanwhile, Çuiren was confined in her room, a guard outside of the door. She sat by the window, wondering how severe her punishment would be. But between the broken and disposed of bowl, and an accusations of assassination…
Her hands tensed as she held them behind her back not to put them near her face, just to be on the safe side.
Perhaps she was just paranoid. She was aware that was a possibility. That the thought of realising His Royal Highness could have ulterior motives made her too sensitive.
Çuiren hadn’t been a slave for very long. She understood that was why she hadn’t picked up on that possibility. Or perhaps she didn’t want to see it. She wanted to be treated well.
She frowned.
How could it be that something like this happened right after she had decided to do the best out of this situation?
She had managed to get herself sold to the Palace, and it hadn’t been the easiest feat. In fact, it had been a struggle to get here. It might not be glorious achievement, but did she really have any other ones?
The people back home had always said Çuiren had two features: she was a pretty girl, but she was stubborn like a mule.
Perhaps that was exactly how she had ended up in this situation. Ended up a slave. Too pretty to keep in a small village, and too stubborn to give up despite it.
From the small window she had seen U’il-šanad walk through the courtyard and into the Palace. She had only know it was his because of the pink fabric that peeked from beneath the beige fur coat, the gold crown and his long dark hair.
All she could do after that was wait, and hope she made the right decision.
She tensed when she heard a knock on the door.
“You.”
She turned to the door, which opened wide so she could see the guard from before.
“Did His Royal Highness decide what punishment I deserve for my mistake?”
The guard looked like he didn’t know how to say it. Perhaps her punishment was worse than she thought?
“Please relay what His Royal Highness has said.”
“The Youngest Blood Prince… His Highness said to clean the servants quarters.”
That was considerably lighter a punishment than she expected. Though how many rooms were there? She would have to work hard if she were to finish them all in an afternoon.
“But…”
Was there more?
The guard scratched his cheek.
“Sir, please tell me. What else is there?”
“You only have an hour.”
Çuiren startled.
Everything in an hour?!
Seeing her wide eyes and the way she seemed to pale, the guard got more flustered.
“You don’t have to clean them all!” he hurried to add. “Just clean for an hour.”
“That’s it?”
“His Highness asked for nothing else as your punishment. After you’ve done that, he’ll consider it forgotten.”
“But—!”
“There’s no use in arguing with me,” the guard said as he hurriedly waved his hands. “I’m just a bodyguard. I don’t make any decisions. I’m not going to argue against His Highness either. Just do as he said. Clean for an hour. That’s all. No limitations, so if you know any useful magic, you can use it too, he doesn’t mind.”
Çuiren opened her mouth, but no words came out.
When she didn’t say anything, the guard stepped out and closed the door. She heard him leave too, meaning there shouldn’t be any more guards watching her…
What… what was going on? Only Nükiž could possibly know that. That is, if the deity could even understand the Prince’s reasoning.
It took Çuiren some time to collect herself and try to understand what just happened. She decided not to think about the Prince’s motives for his orders, and just do it. It was a single hour.
When she stepped out, an elderly man approached her. She froze in her steps. She recognised him from a few days prior. How could she not recognise the man who had examined her from head to toe to tell the Prince she was healthy?
Why was the imperial physician here? What was the Prince thinking?!
The physician bowed. “Apologies, but may I take a look at your hands?”
Çuiren opened her mouth to protest.
“His Royal Highness heard you picked up the pieces yourself and he wanted to ensure there would be no scars on his servant’s hands, I am told.”
“Oh,” she only uttered softly before presenting the hands she had so carefully avoided to touch anything with.
The physician used a handkerchief to hold her wrist and another to examine every part of her hands and fingers with suspicious amounts of attention. Çuiren narrowed her eyes, watching him.
He made her palms face up and she startled when a sudden chill seemed to enter through them as a light covered them. The physician stroked his long beard as he studied the light. He then nodded slightly, snapped his fingers and with a small poof the light disappeared. He gave her a fresh leaf of something.
“Take this.”
“…may I ask why?”
The physician smiled a little. “It’s nothing major. I noticed traces of some dirt that’s not very good for you. That’ll keep you from getting ill.”
“…”
Was this His Royal Highness’ kindness? Or was this some strange plan to harm her?
She looked at the leaf.
“You don’t have to take it, but you may have a fever for a few days if you accidentally consume the toxin. But if you eat it, make sure to chew it properly to make sure it’ll be the most effective.”
After saying so, the physician left, leaving Çuiren at a loss for what to do.
This only left her even more confused. What was this Prince’s aim? What ulterior motives did he have? Or was he genuinely just kind? Was he as unintelligent as those maids said, or was he instead very clever?
Had she perhaps got herself in even worse trouble by being taken in by the Youngest Blood Prince instead of the Crown Prince…?