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Chapter IX

It had been a week since Violetta's party, and the prince seemed to be making himself scarce. Either he had a lot more work to do than I thought, or he was going out of his way not to see me. Though I wasn't exactly complaining, I did find it kind of strange.

"He's avoiding me!" I exclaimed, flopping face first down into my pillow. I let out a groan at the sound of Abbie's laugh and sat up, hugging the pillow to my chest and throwing her a glare. "I'm serious!"

"He's a prince," giggled Abbie, taking the pillow from me and fluffing it back up before placing it back on the bed. "Now, stop messing up my handiwork! If I didn't know any better, I'd say you miss him!"

"I do not!" I huffed, resisting the urge to stick my tongue out at her. "Nobody's around! Evanon's away on business, and I almost miss going to lessons!"

Lady Louise was away visiting family in the countryside, so I didn't have to attend any lessons, but things were just so boring around here.

"I'm around," she said, giving me a mock pout before turning around to rearrange the pillows on the chairs. I rolled my eyes at her and, despite her earlier warning, took my pillow and threw it at the back of her head. It bounced off of her hair, and she stiffened. Giving her a triumphant grin as she turned around, I gave into my childish side and this time, did stick my tongue out at her. "What did I say?"

"Sorry," I said half-heartedly, catching the pillow when she threw it back at me. I fluffed it up like she had before and then stuck it back in its spot. "See? No harm done!"

"Right," she said, proceeding to mutter a few things under her breath before going to work again.

"He's probably with her," I continued, sneering in disgust. "Violetta! She's so dense!"

"Or he's working," Abbie said, looking at me and placing her hand on her hips. "Honestly, what is it with you? One minute you're complaining that you're sick and tired of him, and the next, you're complaining because he isn't around enough!"

"I'm not complaining!" I protested.

"Oh really?" She grinned. I fidgeted with the stone on my necklace, crinkling my nose up.

"It's not that I like him," I finally answered, "it's just that I can't stand her."

"Hmm."

I was about to throw the pillow at her again when I heard a knock on the door. Abbie tilted her head and gestured to the door, and I nodded for her to open it.

A young woman walked in and stepped into the room, giving me a curtsy. I gave her a friendly smile. "Hello."

"Oh!" she exclaimed, her eyes widening as she flushed slightly. So she was human. Suddenly, as if remembering something, she quickly reached into her apron, fumbling with a folded piece of paper that she extracted from the pockets and almost dropping it in the process. She thrust her arm out to me, paper pinched between her thumb and index finger as if it would burn her. "A note, Highness."

"Thank you," I said, taking it from her. I could barely nod my head before she had sprinted out of the room and shut the door behind her. Sighing, I walked to one of the plush chairs and flopped down, grimacing when Abbie shot me a death glare for messing up her pillow arrangement. "I'll fix them in a second," I told her as I unfolded the heavy paper, running my fingers over the tight crease to try and flatten it, and found that it was inked in a familiar elegant script.

Office.

~M

I frowned at the curtness of the note and crumpled it. Even in writing, he was so severe.