It had been 4 years since Prince Pico's father died and he had to take over as king. The apple didn't fall far from the tree when His Highness began to rule. Pico became a ruthless and cruel leader in under two years. As commendable as his leadershi...
Author's note: When I came back to this book after a short break from it, I realized I published an unfinished part? So anyone that left off on the chapter on an incomplete sentence can go back to read the full version. Also this is Nene's design in this AU. Her hair is messy and she has bangs and she didn't really wear a headband being a homeless person. As you can see, she's still very cute. (At least I hope others think so. I spent a long time on this lol) ***
"Here you go," Pico said, handing Nene a maid uniform.
"This is different from the other ones, isn't it?" she asked, still taking it gratefully.
"I decided to make you head maid. You'll be doing the job of one, but as I said, you'll have cleaning access to rooms that other maids can't go in," Pico explained.
"I see," Nene looked back up at him. "Thank you, sir!" she said.
***
For someone without a home, this girl's skills were impeccable. She did work for this old man at a restaurant for a while. He was well paying. But he died. That was a year ago. Nene lost all the income from that job in that time.
6:00 PM
"I'll be going out for a bit to run errands, alright? If Darnell or Steve asks you where I went, tell them that," Pico told Nene. She nodded and went back sweeping. A little while after he left, Nene went to the throne room to tidy things up in there. She found other maids.
She gave them a smile to greet them but they just stared at her and started whispering to each other. This left Nene a little confused, but she got to work nonetheless. After a few more minutes of whispering was up, the two maids began to circle her.
"Something the matter?" she asked.
"I don't recall ever seeing you around. Are you new here?" one of the blonde maids asked. (Just imagine her)
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"That's right," Nene replied.
"When did you get hired?" asked the other.
"Oh, not that long from now. 2 days ago I think! Heh..." Nene answered with a nervous chuckle. The two other maids stopped circling her and stood before her, practically towering her.
"And how did you get hired?" the blonde asked again.
"I uh..."
"It's not that easy to get hired as a worker here. There are trials you have to go through, contracts you have to sign, and most importantly, the king has to see you as something other than garbage." the blonde maid explained. She stepped closer to Nene. "So... how did you get hired? And in that little time?" she repeated.
"It's a long story... I'd rather not-"
"Of course it is! I know what happened!" exclaimed the other maid. She pointed at Nene accusingly. "The rumor is true isn't it? The night after the festival... you coaxed him into hiring you with your looks! Dare I say you seduced him!"
Nene's grip on her broom went weak. She felt a mixture of shock, embarrassment and a bunch of other bubbling emotions that she could only describe as negative.
"You wretch!" exclaimed the long, blonde haired servant.
"I would never do something like that!" Nene exclaimed. Just because she had been a homeless girl with close to nothing in her possession practically all her life did not mean she was incapable of standing up for herself. She took a step closer to her accusers and put her pointer finger in their faces. "Who are you to jump to these bold conclusions? Let alone about someone you don't even know?" she demanded.
The rude young women looked at each other, a bit caught off guard. They thought for sure this peasant girl would start crying or something. The blonde then got an idea.
"I see...we apologize, really. You have a point there," she said. The other maid went along with it, catching the short devious expression she had on her face seconds ago.
"It's okay, I suppose...?" Nene replied, confused at their change of attitude. The blonde maid put a hand on Nene's shoulder and pulled out a map of the castle.
"In return, please allow us to help you with this," she said, handing her new co worker the map.
"With what?" Nene asked, taking it.
"With the chore that the king wanted you to do."
"I only remember him telling me to-"
"He told us to tell you," the maid interrupted. "If you go around the back of the castle, you will find a stairway to a room that he wanted you to clean. Best of luck!" she explained.
"Oh. Uh, thank you!" Nene replied, taking her broom and running out of the throne room. The rude maids snickered as they watched her leave.
"Gullible little village girl," cackled the blonde.
Little did our poor Nene know, she was on the way to the most dangerous room in the castle. A room where not even the highest ranked of guards are allowed in. She was going to the room of dark magic, where one of Pico's ancestors had made a mistake once, cursing the room forever.
