章節 31: "The King's New Maidservant-2"
The following day, the King had some emergency inspection duties with General Lum and the mercenaries. Even though the King wanted Ely to come, they would not be using a carriage, so it might be hard for her to join the journey.
King Maro rode his majestic black horse, and looked down at Ely, "Be a good girl and don't leave the palace."
"Yes, Your Highness… I will not leave the palace, I promise," she told him, "When will you be back?"
"Probably in three days at most. Or if not, maybe five days… it depends. If there is no trouble, I can get back earlier."
"I see… Please be careful."
And so, the King and his companions departed. As soon as Ely saw that they had already gotten far, she returned inside the palace.
She went inside her room and changed into a maidservant's clothing. It was an ankle-length, dull dark brown, linen dress having three-fourths length sleeves with an orange linen belt.
One of her ten maidservants tried to ask, "My Queen, why-"
"All of you… please help me out, okay?" Ely said, then sat in front of the mirror. She took the dye powder and the face brush. She started drawing freckles and dark circles under her eyes using the charcoal pen.
"We are worried about you," one of them said, "Why do you insist on changing your beautiful face into something… hideous?"
"I have something left to do," she talked to them as she glanced at them through their mirror reflection, "Help me out by acting like I am one of you."
"But if the head maid finds out about this, we might get thrown into prison."
"I will talk to the head maid, then."
"But my Queen… if His Highness finds out about this, we might be beheaded… Please take this into consideration!"
"Please, my Queen!" the ten maidservants kneeled down.
"He will not behead you just for this matter… Anyway, can you please tie up my hair into a bun and put on the gartered cloth?"
The maidservants couldn't do anything about it. They helped Ely put in her disguise, and together, they walked out of the bedroom.
On their way to the music hall, they bumped into Akali Tavern's band. Karla was the first one who noticed Ely.
"Oh my! Bethy? Is that you!?" she exclaimed, as she was excited to see their bandmate who disappeared after the nobles' event. "So this is where you were! We were all so worried-"
She was interrupted when Rainier suddenly embraced her!
"Bethy… I missed you…"
The maidservants widened their eyes, as they were so shocked that the Queen of Ballad was being hugged by a man! They were relieved that the King was not around, or else, he'd be dead meat!
Ely patted Rainier's back, then pulled away. "I'm sorry that I went away without even saying goodbye. It was… urgent."
"Even so, you should inform us, especially me, I am the band leader!" Nerion said in an angry tone.
"That was actually very irresponsible of you, Bethy," Vienna glared at her, "Anyway, if you hadn't appeared, we can do the performance without your help. Don't think that you're important."
Ely giggled, seeing that they hadn't changed a bit. Karla was still enthusiastic, Nerion still loved to call himself as the band leader, and Vienna was still a cold person to her. And most of all…
"Bethy," Rainier's light amber irises gazed at her ocean blue irises as he held her hands, "My… feelings haven't changed one bit. I was waiting for you."
One of the maidservants cleared her throat, and Ely noticed how awkward the situation was. She withdrew her hand, "I'm sorry, I-"
"Hush, don't answer. I know that you still yearn for your husband, so I will just stand behind you and admire you at a distance."
"My brother is really talkative when you're here, Bethy," Karla commented, and she gave a short laugh, "I'm sure he'll be more delighted if you can join us in the auditions for the royal wedding."
"Ah, about that… I'm sorry to say this, but I am… the King's maidservant," she explained.
"You are?" Vienna narrowed her eyes on Ely, and she smirked, "Stay that way. It fits you more, than to be a singer who stands in front of the crowd. You're too ugly to do that-"
"Vienna! That's rude!" Karla shook her head and she crossed her arms.
"I can help you with the arrangement, but I can't perform with you," Ely then patted Nerion's shoulder, "Band leader, what do you say? Can you count me in?"
Nerion knew that they needed her. So even though Vienna didn't want her to return, all he wanted was the best performance they could perform, "Yes, Bethy. Help us with the songs."
"Yay! Okay, let's go to the hall!"
Ely headed first to a far corner and dismissed the maidservants for the day, but even if she did, they refused to obey her. They knew that if the King knew that they left her side in broad daylight, they would suffer the punishments. Because of that, they were allowed to watch them in the whole song arrangement process.
Two days had passed, and Ely was done teaching them about the arrangements for their ultimate audition song. Their song was an original one; the romantic lyrics were composed by siblings Rainier and Karla, while the fresh mixture of upbeat and ballad music was decided on by Ely.
When the practice was done on the second night, Ely was led to a balcony at the end of the hallway. They both gazed at the beautiful quarter moon.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" Bethy asked Rainier as she smiled, "I often go here whenever I feel suffocated."
"Hmm? Why do you feel suffocated?" Rainier was puzzled, "Are you, perhaps… getting bullied by the maidservants-"
"No, no, no," Ely shook her head multiple times, "They're actually very kind to me."
"Then, is the King… not treating you well?"
Ely paused for a while and she asked the question to herself. She placed her hand on the railing and said, "The King is… very kind."
"Don't be afraid, Bethy. If ever the King wronged you, I will do my best to get you out of here. I promise with my life," Rainier then took Ely's left hand, and kissed its back.
Then, an angry, loud voice suddenly spoke, "What is the meaning of this?!"
The two of them stepped back, and when they turned their heads in his direction, they were surprised to see who it was.
Ely widened her eyes and uttered, "Your Highness…?"
And she already knew that she would be punished soon.
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