To Be A Princess (court life)

16- Prince Stableboy

Theo's POV

"I would rather be sick than marry the prince. I've heard he is a revoltingly rude and Ill-mannered man who treats his servants badly and has an awful temper." The lady I was dancing with stated quite rudely. She had this sense of pride as she stood, staring at me like a scolding mother would stare at a child.

I was shocked, astonished. I wonder how she would feel if she knew that I was the prince. That she was speaking treason in front of the man she was speaking treason about. I laughed at the thought. This woman infuriated me. If it wasn't for the fact that her dark auburn hair was so similar to that of Rose's, I wouldn't have even asked her to dance. How dare she be so hot headed as to suggest these crude things about me.

I most certainly am not revoltingly rude, I treat every noble lady and lord with respect. As for the servants, I do not care. Was this woman never taught how beneath us the servants are? They do not deserve to be treated with respect. Their only job on this earth is to serve me and the rest of the royal family. That is what I was always told, by my father and everyone around me. I am far superior to them, they do not deserve my respect. After all, I am the crown prince, my life is significantly more important than all those around me.

"Even Rose?" My subconscious mind joined the conversation. "After all, she is a servant too, a maid, remember?" My internal struggle ended as I sighed in realisation.
"No, not Rose. She is far superior to any man or woman on Earth, for she truly lives to her name. She is a rose, a fine rose, a beautiful rose." I internally replied to myself. Am I going mad? Perhaps. After all, I think I might have developed feelings for a maid.

Can you imagine?! Me? In love with a maid? The thought was almost laughable. I am a prince, for heaven's sake! The crown prince, destined to be King. But servants are so far beneath me that if I look down, I can just see them from my throne up in the clouds. They are down on the measly ground, the size of mere ants. My internal confliction was appearing again, as I struggled between what I had always been told since I was a young prince, and the feelings I had for Rose. Most of those feelings were now of grief, as I will never see her again. She was going on to some other job, somewhere. I don't know, I never really asked.

But, of course, all the other servants did not deserve to be treated with my respect, if they do not please me. I thought back to my night in the kitchens. I remember Ilene, working away frantically into all hours of the night, simply because I demanded an early breakfast. She was lovely to me. I also remember the time I yelled at her for my supper being slightly late and not to my liking. That poor woman, why did I yell at her?

After all these thoughts I regained my focus and attention on the arrogant woman in front of me. We pranced elegantly around the room, stepping left and right in time with the dance. She looked annoyed and highly offended. Perhaps I dented her pride. Women, you can never understand them.

"How dare you speak of the crown prince this way? He has every right to treat his servants the way he does."  I replied, my voice laced with anger and arrogance. She stared at me blankly.
"How may you possibly suggest that he has any right to treat anybody badly?"
"He is the prince, they are mere servants. They live to serve him."
Her voice bag an to rise, her hands squeezing mine tighter as she filled with fury.
"They do not live to serve him! That is there job, but they have lives too! Are you aware of that, sir? And servants are still people."
"Are you suggesting that servants are just as important as the prince?" I retorted, beginning to get outraged at his ridiculous lady.

"Yes."

The rest of the dance continued silently and finally reached its end. We did not speak, until she held out her hand for me to kiss as she curtseyed, as is the custom and I turned around. I did not bow, I refused to bow, especially to such a vulgar and pompous cow. Her face filled with outrage again as I smirked to myself and walked out into the gardens. She stormed after me.

"How dare you refuse to bow to me? The entire ballroom was staring! Oh, what an embarrassment." She screamed, her eyes filling with tears.
"Well maybe if you did not INSULT our future king?!" I roared, my voice coming out extremely loud. She gasped.
"You seem just like him. I heard he becomes extremely angry extremely quickly, and is vulgar. As are you, it would seem." She yelled back at me, her voice vexed with hatred. I was too angry to care about this lady's feelings.
"I AM NOT ANGRY!" I screamed ferociously.

She silenced.

I witnessed tears welling in her eyes and she turned around and pulled off her mask to wipe them away, her back facing me, she walked away into the garden. I filled with sorrow and regret. Here I am, a well-class noble man, making a lady almost cry. I am pathetic.
"Wait, I'm sorry." I called out. She turned round and then I saw her.

Rosalind. Rose. My Rosie.

My mouth fell open. The similar Auburn hair that drew me to her, was the actual Auburn hair I loved. I gasped as my mind filled with questions, then a sudden realisation. I had made Rose cry. Next, my mind realised that she had said horrible things. That was not Rose. That was not the Rose I knew. But, then again, she had spoken ill of the prince before but I didn't mind about it, because it was her that said those words. She stared at me in confusion, tears streaming down her beautiful face, and I pulled off my mask.

"Theo?" She muttered, her face filling with confusion. "Is that you?"

I nodded, walking over to embrace her in a hug. She jumped away from me.
"No. You are not Theo. You aren't the Theo I met in the stables. You are different. You screamed. You told me I was pathetic, you insulted me, you insulted the servants. They are my friends." She cried, her voice choking on her sobs.

And with that, she turned away from me and walked swiftly back inside, tying the mask back to her face.

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Rose's POV

It was Theo. Theo. Theo. My mind became a blur as I walked back inside. How could the sweet, loving stableboy that I met not so long ago, be the rude arrogant noble man I conversed with today? My mind could not fathom the idea. I didn't believe it. I didn't want to believe it. Nothing made sense. There was a puzzle with so many pieces missing. I couldn't understand it.

I felt heavy footsteps behind me and I sped up my pace.
"Wait!" Theo called.

But I did not wait.

I returned to the ballroom, only to find the adjoining doors opening to give entrance to the large dining hall. Everybody slowly headed in and looked for their seats. They were all labelled with small pieces of paper, our names written in cursive swirl. I sat at my seat and slowly ate my food, but I was no longer hungry.