The Maid's Tyrant Prince

4. The Forgotten Task

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C H A P T E R   4

T H E   F O R G O T T E N   T A S K

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I. . .I don't know anything about my character. 

Fear trickled down Rose's spine, settling into her limbs as she stood in the middle of her tiny room, her fingers clutching the letter. 

If you fail us, we will fail you. We will tell everyone who you really are. And we will enjoy your death.

Those words like ice in her veins. Who I really am? 

Rose stared at her unfamiliar palms, trying to imagine the life of the person who held this body before her. What were you really, Mishka? What is your secret? 

A secret so big it would be certain death?

Panic climbed up her throat like bile. Is that why Evan Ryzen wanted to kill me? Does he know this secret of mine? 

Rose opened the letter again, peering at the first two lines. 

This payment should be enough for your task. The item you need has been placed in the Crown Prince's chambers, in the vase on the entry table.

Rose closed the letter, shoving it into the pocket of her gown. I need to find this item. 

Perhaps it was foolish, even suicidal to consider going anywhere near Prince Evan's room after this threats, my Rose was overrun by her curiosity. If she was going to inhabit this body, she had to know something about it. 

With no way to find out who wrote this letter, and no way to question Prince Evan, she could only get one clue. 

If I get this mysterious item from his room, maybe I can figure out my secret.   

The door to Mishka's room began to open and Rose hurriedly shoved the cloak under the floorboard, slamming it shut. The strange letter and the gold were safely pocketed inside her dress.  

Julia popped her head inside with a small smile.

"Are you done sniffing your things, then?" she asked with a playful smile.

"What?"

"That's what you said, remember?"

"Oh right, that didn't work," Rose said flippantly, jumping to her feet. "Turns out sniffing doesn't get you very far."

"Oh. . .that's a shame." Julia's face fell. "I was hoping you'd remember something. At least you'd remember us, you know?"

Rose gave her a sad, tense smile. A part of her felt guilty every time she looked at Julia — she could tell she possessed the body of someone Julia cared for immensely. 

"I wish I could remember you the way you remember me," Rose said softly. 

To her surprise, Julia began to get misty-eyed. "We were the closest of friends. Since we were all but five years old. We arrived here together to work. We have always relied upon and supported one another."

Oddly, a sudden lump clogged Rose's throat and she glanced away from Julia. In her past life, Rose wasn't allowed to spend much time with people her age. Her only friends were children of her father's business associates and she was only allowed to meet them in her house, under the strict supervision of an army of staff members, and many times, her own father.