Sin: Path of Poison

Chapter 5 Part 1

The following morning I woke up early, dressing myself before Nomi came to check on me. I sat quietly on my bed until I could feel someone approaching the tent. Just then I walked to the door and slowly looked out, as if in search of someone. Nomi's face lit up with a smile as she hurried over to greet me.

"Oh good, you're awake." She exclaimed. "Come, let's eat together." She escorted me to a nearby tent where several girls in maid robes all sat together eating a simple breakfast. I sat among them as they all took turns glancing over at me, unsure of how to react since the day before they'd all been told to take care of me. Several of them had also seen me eating with the masters as they served our dinner.

After finishing our simple meal she gently tugged at my arm. I hadn't noticed her excessively touching anyone else, so I could only assume she either took me as a close friend, tried to create a bond between us to get more information, or enjoyed whatever scent she smelled coming from my body.

Once again she took me to the tent I'd eaten in the night before. Inside, eating a light meal, were the same three from the day before. As I was escorted inside, the three stopped talking to look at me. I stood silently, waiting for whatever they had planned.

"We should introduce ourselves properly." Said the man in green, still wearing the same outfit from the previous day.

"Oh, sorry. I should have introduced myself yesterday." I let my fingers fidget slightly. "I'm Sing Ryn, please call me Ryn. I'd prefer not to bring any unnecessary attention to myself." I acted nervous saying my surname, hoping my backstory would prevent them from using it casually in the future.

In fact there was a daughter of a prominent merchant with that given name. She was a few years younger than me and still single, I met her once in passing. Loyal to her father, her eyes were mostly into the books of the business thus she didn't socialize much. It was also true that her mother had passed away a few years back, but her father hadn't remarried nor looked like he intended to when I was in the city.

"Ryn." The man in blue subconsciously repeated my name out loud as my eyes looked up into his momentarily.

"Ahem." The head guard cleared his throat. "My name is Blake." He offered, not including his family name. I bowed slightly acknowledging his name.

"In private call me Pierce, formally you can call me Prince Si." The man in green said with a smile on his face, he was waiting for a reaction. I knelt down on the floor, immediately putting my head down. Ah, so this was the Crown Princes' cousin.

"I wouldn't dare speak your name so casually!" I said in a panicked voice.

"Tss tss tss." He got out of his seat to come around and help me up. I stared at his chin, not raising my eyes to meet his, looking terrified. "There's no need for that, here, calm down a little."

Pierce exchanged a worried look with the man in blue. Maybe reconsidering if they should honestly introduce him or not. I steadied my body and slowly acted braver, raising my eyes up to meet his. He looked down at me, his smile widened as he saw my shoulders relax.

"I.. I should probably go, this, this isn't appropriate." I scrunched my face as if I was realizing what a block of wood I was. Still standing close, he reached out and grabbed my wrist. I stopped, pointedly staring at his hand. He quickly let go, realizing his unseemly action.

"It's okay, stay. We've already made the decision, hear it out first." He added, politely implying it would be up to me to decide.

"I'd like you to come back with us. You can work as one of the palace maids with Nomi. No one will bully you, I'll place you as one of my personal maids. Whenever you decide what you want to do you're free to go. I won't make you sign a contract to stay and serve me until you're twenty two." The man in blue said.

Most maids were handed over to the palace at a young age and would then enter into an agreement to stay until reaching a certain age. At that time they had the option to leave, most were married off. There were a few that were either asked to stay or wanted to stay and those terms would require a new contract to be drafted. It seemed like Nomi had entered into such a deal.

I suddenly realized they all thought I was much younger, probably somewhere between eighteen and twenty. I'd often disguised myself as someone in this age range, and I could easily be mistaken; however it caught me off guard this time since I wasn't specifically trying to change my age. Looking back though, I was either in oversized baggy clothing looking a mess or in these innocently modest maid outfits, it wasn't a far stretch to assume.

"What.. um.. who are you?" I asked with a suddenly concerned look on my face.

"The Crown Prince Sun." The man in blue replied. I hurriedly knelt back on the floor, placing my head down, remaining quiet.

Of course he was the Crown Prince, who else would have this elaborate of an entourage on a simple outing in the royal forest. But I had to act oblivious since I supposedly didn't know I'd stumbled over an entire wall and into the royal forest. At least the Head Guard recognized the utter stupidity of it all.