A Dove's Tale

Chapter 67

It didn't take me long to finish in Prince Gilbert's room. I glanced down the hall when I exited, but I didn't see any guards. Prince Chevalier said they'd be there, and they'd be discreet, so maybe they were just around the corner? Wherever they were, I trusted him, and I moved on to Prince Silvio's room. Today, it was vacant. The bed was messier than it had been yesterday, and several pieces of jewelry lay forgotten on the table, like he left in a hurry.

Like Prince Chevalier dragged him out of bed and forced him to leave.

Is that what happened?

Whatever the case, I didn't have to deal with Prince Silvio being a spoiled brat again this morning, and I was okay with that. Getting into the rhythm of work was helping me relax, but I wasn't sure I was ready to handle him yet. Maybe after I had a little more time to calm down. Assuming, of course, that Jason didn't come to tell me I needed to go home. Imagining that scenario wouldn't help anything, though, so it was better for me to just stop thinking and work.

Handing everything over to Prince Chevalier was so freeing. Why hadn't I done that earlier?

Prince Keith's room was empty, too, but it had been yesterday as well. I hadn't even seen him since the ball, and he'd been hard to find, as if he was hiding most of the time. Not that I could blame him. I'd wanted to hide most of that night, and I wasn't shy like Prince Keith. The other princes were probably overwhelming to someone like him, except maybe Prince Licht. And Prince Yves. He respected Prince Licht's need for quiet and solitude, and I thought he would get along well with Prince Keith. Unlike-

"Ivetta, your handsome and charming escort is here!"

Unlike Prince Clavis.

I sighed as I set the last neatly folded towel in its place on the towel rack in the bathroom. Prince Clavis was a handful, but he also knew what I'd been dealing with, and he was probably just here to cheer me up. He wouldn't cause me trouble. Prince Keith, though-

I could easily envision the shy Prince Keith falling victim to a prank in his own bedroom.

"Prince Clavis, it's rude to enter someone's room without their permission," I chided him, hurrying out of the bathroom to stop him before he got any ideas. He was standing in the middle of the room, his golden eyes taking it all in, and his grin told me he was already plotting.

"But you do it all the time, Ivetta," he replied, his sparkling golden eyes landing on me.

"I'm a maid."

"And I'm a prince. Now that we've got that out of the way, are there any fun secrets Keith is hiding in here? Oh, look, his luggage."

I grabbed Prince Clavis' arm as he took a step toward the unsuspecting luggage. "Prince Clavis-"

"I didn't realize you missed me so much," he said brightly, turning back to me with a wide smile. "It's also rude to use someone else's room for a romantic rendezvous, but if you insist-"

I rolled my eyes and swatted his hand away as he reached out to brush my hair back behind my ear. "You said you were here to escort me?" I asked, tucking the wayward strands back myself.

"To the library, yes, although if you'd like to change the destination, I'm open to suggestions."

"The library is fine," I said firmly. "I just finished, so we can go right now."

He shrugged and led me to the door. "Well, I guess I can prank Keith later."

"Please don't prank Prince Keith. If you have to prank somebody, stick to your brothers."

"Hm, you're right. I haven't gotten them all yet. Let's see," he mused, leading me out into the hallway. "I got Licht with the pit trap, and I nearly got Leon with the flour. Jin, Yves, and Nokto are out today, and Chev never falls for anything. That leaves Luke. Now, how can I get Luke?"