The Royal Romance 2

Chapter 3

Riley still feels a sense of shock looming over her. She grabs onto a chair for balance and stares at the maid with wide eyes.

"Tell me what happened," she says, trying to contain her anger and maintain a calm voice.

"Look, that night, one of the noble ladies came to me..." The maid sits in the chair opposite her, legs shaking. "She told me she wanted to play a practical joke on her friends and asked if I'd help. We're supposed to help the guests in whatever way we can! You don't know the kind of trouble the nobles can cause for us if they're displeased." She looks at Riley with saddened eyes. "She told me that we were going to play Cupid because two of her friends were desperately in love, but too shy to act on it. So I had to deliver a love letter to Tariq saying it was on your behalf, and mention that his room assignment had changed to your room. She said that if we only were able to put the two of you together, true love would do the rest."

Riley takes a seat and tries to let it all sink in. "You didn't think it was a weird request?"

"Trust me, that's not the weirdest we've gotten. And it sounded harmless at the time... but when I heard about the scandal and saw the photos that came out..." Tears start to pool in the maid's eyes, and Riley starts to feel saddened for her. She knows what it's like to be ordered around.

"Hey... it's okay. I understand you were doing your job."

"Thanks for the sympathy, but I still helped hurt you."

"You can make it up to me by giving me more information. Do you remember what the person looked like?"

"I... I didn't get a good look at her face. The lady was wearing sunglasses and a scarf on her head."

"And that didn't seem suspicious?"

"Not really... many of the nobles don't want to be bothered by the paparazzi, so they'll dress that way to avoid photos. Other than that, I didn't see anything." She starts to mess with her fingers in a nervous habit. "I'm sorry I was tight-lipped about it earlier. I was shocked to see you'd returned. You deserve to know, even if I was afraid to come clean."

"Thanks." Riley places her hand on the maid's shoulder to reassure her. She begins to relax a little, and Riley lets out a deep breath. She's a little closer in this investigation thanks to her.

"I should go now, but I wish you all the luck in clearing your name. It never should've been smeared in the first place." The maid stands and wipes her pants to remove wrinkles. Glancing up at Riley, she grins and sighs. "Goodnight, my lady."

"You should be careful. The people behind this conspiracy are dangerous. You shouldn't freely talk about this to anyone else."

"Oh..." Confused, she turns towards Riley in amazement. "Thank you for the warning. I won't speak to anyone else about it."

"Stay safe." Riley gives her a big smile back, and the maid bows while exiting.

When Riley hears the door close, she can't help but feel a pit in her stomach. Her eyes well up with tears, and she can't seem to control them. They begin to flow down as she walks over and falls onto her bed. She couldn't be more embarrassed, not only about the scandal, but about the fact that pictures of her in her underwear are roaming around for the world to see.

Later that night, Riley brings herself together and recaps the maid's confession with Bertrand and Maxwell.

"A noble lady requested to deliver a love letter to Tariq on my behalf and tell him his room had changed..."

Bertrand strokes his chin and looks out the window. "Was she able to identify the lady in question?"

"No." Riley looks away, trying not to let the tears flow again. The one person she wants here with her can't be... She just wants him to hold her in his arms and tell her everything will be okay... Liam...