The next morning I examined myself in the mirror. My bangs didn't look awful today, my hair was pulled back into a cute ponytail, and my clothes were a royal blue shirt with skinny jeans and keds. My palace tour started in fifteen minutes.
I tucked my phone into my back pocket and made my way to the front of the palace where the other tourists were. A large group of people ranging from young to old stood in the main entrance, the tour guide standing out with his red polo shirt.
"Hello." I approached the tour guide and glanced at his name tag. Ernest.
"Hello. Are you here for the tour?" Ernest asked, flipping through his clipboard.
"Yes. I'm Cassie Carmichael."
"Ah, there are you are." He checked off my name on his papers. "We'll start in a few minutes."
I stood about awkwardly as we waited for the tour to start until a name pricked my ears.
Prince Coleman.
Being the notorious eavesdropper I was, I started to listen in on the conversation of a couple of girls near me, either in their late teens or early 20s.
"You really think we'll see him, then?" Girl A was positively giddy, and her accent indicated she was from Aregano.
"I don't know, but wouldn't it just be dreamy to run into the Prince himself?" Girl B sighed blissfully, she too Areganan.
"Oh, he's just so handsome! But still, we keep taking this palace tour and haven't seen him yet."
"Well the palace is still pretty to look at." Girl B shrugged.
"I do like the gardens," conceded Girl A.
Gardens. It made me think of Ethan. I hoped I'd run into him during that part of the tour.
"Alright, we shall begin the tour now," Ernest the tour guide announced. We began walking through the palace, and Ernest regaled us with the rich history and stories behind the building, the furniture, the decor, and even the country's founding itself. Apparently Aregano's first king was a British man named Edward deCourcy who had bought the land and brought with him several hundred settlers.
"Is that Prince Coleman's great grandfather?" Girl A asked.
"King Edward is King Collin's great-grandfather, and Prince Coleman's great-great-grandfather," answered Ernest. "Ah, and here we arrive at the portraits."
A huge wall lined the portraits of royalty spanned out before us. While I was eager to learn more about whom each portrait belonged to, Girl A, Girl B, and a few other young women rushed to the end of the hall, where Prince Coleman's portrait inevitably hung.
"Here is the painting of King Edward deCourcy." Ernest gestured toward a huge painting on the wall, and I scanned for a resemblance to Prince Coleman. He certainly was painted as handsome, though I couldn't see the likeness. As we continued down the hall, admiring the paintings of kings and queens, we finally reached near the end.
"Here are our current monarchs, King Collin and Queen Klara." While the resemblance to the Prince had slowly grown as we went down the hall, the likeness of him to his parents was stunning. Prince Coleman had inherited his his father's facial features and broad shoulders, and his mother's jet black hair and her striking green eyes.
Granted, it was only a painting, but the artist had done an excellent job.
"And finally, last but not least, a portrait of our crown prince, Prince Coleman, when he was 21."
"Vow!" a girl with a thick accent exclaimed. I couldn't quite place it...German, maybe? "He ees very handsome! How old ees Prince Coleman now?"
"Twenty five," Girl B answered, staring dreamily into the eyes of Coleman's painting. "He's twenty five."
"Uh, that is correct," confirmed Ernest. "He turned 25 in May."
"And does he still look like vat?" The maybe-German girl pointed to his picture.
"He does." Girl A nodded. "He's very handsome. Mr. Tour-guide, will we get to see Prince Coleman by any chance today on our tour?"
"No. The Royal family never comes out for the tour."
I did a mini fist-pump. Looked like I'd be dodging a bullet today.
We continued on through the tour when we passed by a hall I knew all too well, blocked off by a velvet rope.
"This hallway leads to the room of one of our royal family members," Ernest said. "We will not be going down this hall today, but you can see from here the beautiful crown molding." For some reason, I felt smug knowing that I had walked down that hall many times.
"Whose room is down there?" Girl A asked eagerly.
"Prince Coleman's room," I answered without thinking. Her eyes widened.
"Is that true?" she turned to Ernest.
"Um...yes. How did you know that?" he asked me.
I chuckled awkwardly. "Lucky guess?"
"Can we please go down that hall?" pleaded Girl B.
"I'm sorry, but that is absolutely prohibited."
"Please!"
"No. We are moving on." Ernest got behind the group and shooed us forward. After we had all gone several paces away from the Prince's hall, he headed back to the front and began leading us all and started chatting away.
"I can't believe you actually took a tour of the palace," a deep voice suddenly whispered in my ear. I jumped up and spun around. There Prince Coleman stood, leaning down to reach my height. He smirked and brushed his black bangs to the side.
"Prince Coleman?!" I hissed. "What are you doing here?"
"Um, I live right down that hall. Have you already forgotten?"
"No, I mean why are you on this tour?"
"Thought I'd drop by," he said.
"Since when have you ever dropped by a tour?!" I snapped, still whispering.
"Why does it matter that I'm here now?"
"Why does it matter to you that I'm on this tour?"
"Tell me you didn't pay for this. This tour guide sounds terribly boring. His voice just drones on and on." Prince Coleman let out a yawn.
"Ernest is fine. And yes, I did pay for this. So what?" I challenged.
"Cassie." Prince Coleman rolled his eyes. "If you really wanted to go on this tour so badly, I could have shown you around myself."
I rose my eyebrows.
"Well, what I mean is, I could have arranged for someone to show you. Stupid little maid." He averted his gaze.
Ernest turned around. "Alright, here we have—" His eyes widened as he took in Prince Coleman, his mouth trying desperately to form words. The other tourists whipped around to see what Ernest was looking at, and their eyes drew to the tall, handsome man beside me.
"Oh my gosh!" shrieked Girl A. "Prince Coleman?!"
Author's Note
Ah! I've been so excited to post these upcoming parts! This day in Cassie's life (it's a Saturday...she hasn't even been in Aregano for a week yet!) is a very fun one. :)
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And as always, thank you for reading!
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Maid For You
Romance"GET OUT!" After kicking an egotistical, rude (albeit gorgeous) jerk out of her store, Cassie thinks she's seen the last of him. Too bad he's a prince. And that she's his maid.
