"Sister!" Soleia said, her body instantly straightening in surprise. Ralph let go rather unwillingly, and once she was free, she rushed as carefully as she could into Bellaflor’s arms.
"What has happened to your arms?" Bellaflor asked, her eyebrows knitted together as she examined Soleia’s wrists. She then sharply turned to Florian. "Did you do this?"
"I thought she was a thief!" Florian weakly tried to defend himself. In front of Bellaflor, he acted no more than a tortoise eager to hide in its shell.
"He thought I was a palace maid," Soleia said, her eyelids ticking with grievance. "And proceeded to harass ."
"He did what?!" Rafael jumped, only backing down when Bellaflor raised a hand to signal him. He glowered, standing right behind Soleia like a guard dog, occasionally turning around to stare at Prince Florian. If looks could kill, he would be six feet under already.
"She’s dressed in rags!" Florian tried to argue. "What princess wears clothes like that? On top of that, she is now a duchess." Then, he coldly snorted. "Though I suppose it is expected of the princess who is both unloved by her own father and her own husband―"
He stopped with a squeak when a particularly sharply pointed blood tentacle stopped re milliters away from his eye.
"Go back to your room, Florian," Bellaflor said with a sigh. "Why must you rile the dragon protecting its gold? Do you have nothing better to do in life, or should I tell Father to increase your training?"
Both Soleia and Florian shivered at the thought of King Godwin’s hellish training. Grumbling under his breath, Florian scurried away, not forgetting to turn back to glare at Soleia before completely disappearing in a matter of seconds. The ice he had left behind quickly lted as he was no longer supporting it, and due to the heating system of the palace.
"I’m so sorry, Soleia," Bellaflor said. "I thought you knew that Father took in a new crown prince candidate."
"What about Reitan?" Soleia asked. Her heart clenched at the thought of her brother. "I thought Father was training him for the throne."
"Reitan... His body cannot sustain the training," Bellaflor said with a sad smile. "His health had apparently been deteriorating very badly in the last year, and that’s about the sa ti Father began his search for a new candidate as heir to the throne."
"I... wasn’t inford," Soleia said with her head lowered. "I need to go see Reitan―"
"No, Princess, you need to rest," Ralph firmly said, stepping in. "You’ve hardly slept a wink in the last few days. You can visit the young prince tomorrow."
"But―"
"Sir Ralph is right, Soleia," Bellaflor said. "Get so rest. What are you even doing up so late? How did Florian even assu you’re a maid?"
Soleia recounted the events that happened, from her cleaning up her dusty old room to eting Florian in the laundry room. Once she was done, Bellaflor sighed loudly.
"I’ll handle this," Bellaflor assured. "You’re a princess. You shouldn’t be doing all of this yourself!"
Soleia could only weakly smile. "It’s alright, Bellaflor, it’s just a little bit of cleaning. I am almost done with it. Besides, Ralph will help ."
Bellaflor’s eyes widened. She then looked slowly at Ralph before turning her gaze back to Soleia.
"Right," she said with a slow nod. "If that’s the case, I shan’t keep you then."
Soleia and Ralph said their good nights, and left quickly to retrieve a new set of bedsheets once more. Once they had disappeared down the corridor, Bellaflor shook her head.
She muttered under her breath, "’Ralph’, eh?"
***
"I am so sorry," Soleia imdiately apologized. "I should’ve asked first if you were alright with helping before claiming you would. I can do this myself. It’s not going to take long."
"It’s quicker if there are two pairs of hands, Princess," Ralph said with a lighthearted laugh. "I am fine with helping. Delighted, even."
Soleia could only smile sheepishly, continuing to apologize profusely as they returned to her room, her bedsheets in Ralph’s arms. As they tucked the new linens over the empty mattress, Ralph chuckled.
"So, has Your Highness finally rembered my request the first ti we officially spoke?"
Soleia looked up from the bedsheets, her fingers continuing to smooth out the wrinkles at her corner of the bed.
"What request?" she asked.
"For you to address by my first na," Ralph said as he fit in a pillow and moved on to the next. "And only my first na."
"Oh!" Soleia’s eyes widened as she straightened. "I’m sorry, I didn’t an any disrespect―"
"There’s no disrespect, Princess," Ralph said with a laugh. "I greatly enjoy the sound of my na falling from your tongue."
His glib reply quickly sent a layer of scarlet over Soleia’s cheeks. She ward up quickly, tucking her head as far down as she could, hoping that her hair could shield her expression from Sir Ralph’s prying eyes.
She hadn’t even realized that he had already crossed the room, and just like that, his hand had moved under her chin, tilting her head up so that she would et his gaze. When she tried to shy away, he gently held her firmly in place, disallowing her to hide.
"Princess, it is my honor to have you call by my na," Ralph said. "Won’t you say it a little more often, since you always go on and on about repaying ?"
Soleia’s lips parted and closed like a fish out of water. Eventually, she settled for a pout.
"It’s improper," she softly said.
Rafael’s thumb trailed across Soleia’s bottom lip, gently brushing past. He enjoyed watching the way she stiffened at his touch, the red that blood on the apples of her cheeks turning brighter and more saturated in color.
Sadistic satisfaction rushed through his veins. He loved the look of shy embarrassnt Soleia often wore in front of him, as much as the snarky, witty lines she threw out whenever she was agitated; she was like a riled kitten in his eyes.
Ralph leaned in, his lips re inches away from her ear.
"It can be our little secret, Princess."
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