Damsel In A Red Dress (Tsukasa X Reader)

Chapter 8

My body flopped onto the mattress of my room as I snuggled my face into the rose-scented pillow. The reason behind the aroma due to the baths that Nene and I took together with many rose petals and rose oil. It was her favorite.

I groaned into my pillow from the long day. It was late at night now and finally, I was able to rest. But my heart didn't agree with me.

The one time I caught prince Tsukasa looking at me, it got me so flustered to the point where I also got caught looking at the prince. Throughout the whole night, we had caught each other red handed with our stare's. Would we ever talk about it? Never. At least I wouldn't. The transaction's through the ball had me looking like I had a fever.

The lessons the family had me take paid off. My feet did not die in vain! I had danced with a man my age with disheveled brown hair and an almost cat-like face. It was none other than the young prince's butler, Natsuhikou. From what the maids had told me, he was quite the ladies' man. But he had his heart set on the imperial palace herbalists, Sakura.

I had met the woman only once when she was introducing herself to princess Nene. She was beautiful, to say the least. Incredibly smart too. It was a formal introduction and she looked more of a noble than I was. Who was she? A marquess's daughter? A witch maybe...?

My eyes started to close upon my never-ending thoughts, and with the next second, they opened once more to the sight of the sun. They had kissed my pale face from the lack of sunlight throughout the night. I felt fine none the less. It was then that I realized that I had left my window open. My room was freezing, but when did I fall asleep?

I stretched a little before I slipped on a beautiful blue dress to match the temperature of my room. I decided that it was best to head to the kitchen seeing as I woke up early this morning and thought it would be nice of me to wake up the princess herself with some breakfast. I smiled and hummed to myself through the familiar hallways. I passed by the library door with the fond memories I had made in there with the younger prince. I had finally come to accept it. Yes, I was a sucker for men with pretty faces. And he was indeed a man with a pretty face. a foot collided with my own causing me to launch forward and fall.

"Hah. Oops." A maid who was snickering with a pile of folded washcloths in her hand looked down at me while I tried to regain composure. I hadn't even realized she was here with another maid beside her. I quickly dusted off the skirt of the blue dress.

"It's not your fault don't worry! I wasn't looking where I was going!" I smiled at her before I began to walk away. I was fine to leave the situation be, it didn't even bother me. But the maid had other plans.

She scoffed and harshly grabbed my wrist. Her tight hold caused me to wince. "Hey wait a minute." I decided it was best for me I took a better look at her face when her name came to mind. Tabitha. She laughed to herself and the other maid beside her when she started wiping at the air. "Just as I thought. You do smell like a dog! Like you should. Mutt." She pushed my arm to the side causing it to swing a little and I simply grasped at it from her grip. Her actions caused me to gasp in surprise and widen my eyes.

What a gorilla. Who was she to treat me this way?

Tabitha and the other maid giggled to themselves and began to walk away. But not without a sharp glare from me. Was I going to do anything about it? Probably. Not. I was too scared to do something about that.

My bright mood was blemished by the bullying this morning and I came into the kitchen with my head low. The light laughter and yelling in the kitchen quickly silenced upon my entrance. Was everyone at odds with me today? "I-I uh.." Everyone was staring at me. Just what did I do? "I need to deliver the princesses food..." My fingers began to fiddle with each other.

One of the chefs answered my question. She was large with braided pigtails. Taller than any women I've seen. "Other maids took her food to her room earlier this morning." She said flatly.

"Ah...okay. Thank you." With a few clicks from my shoes and the sway of my dress I was out of the room. My heart beat against my chest violently as I tugged at the cloth over it to try and stop it from sounding so loud. What on earth was that?

I breathed in and out slowly before making my way towards the princess's room. I was a little disappointed that her food had already been taken to her. But I was more terrified of their deadly stares. It was like they were eating away at my soul and it was suffocating.

I thought back to my conversations with the maids. They were simple and short. I had no qualms with them, so why did they have qualms with me? I whimpered in defeat. I couldn't find what I had done.

My eyes caught sight of a black haired boy who was stretching his arms high into the air. I couldn't help but stop in place to look at him. He was right next to the bush of roses. Soon, his butler came into view. Talking to the prince with a bright smile on his face. From what I heard, prince Tsukasa and Natsuhiko had been friends far before Natsuhiko became the prince's butler. I smiled in hopes that I could have that kind of relationship with Nene one day.

As I left once more with a new smile on my face for the day, Tsukasa glanced up at the window as if he missed something.

"What are you doing? Are ya coming?" Natsuhiko called out to him. He looked over to his friend before glancing at the window once more.

"Yeah. Sure..."
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Original release date: February 26th, 2021