Princes & I

Maid & I

"Lie about that fact that you...." He takes a deep breath, phrasing it like an announcement. "Don't go to a school."

Embarrassed, I look him in the eyes, and he returns my stare with frosty triumph.

Ice Prince... more like Bastard Prince.

"Not everyone is a child of multi-millionaires." I bend down to start picking up my scattered books. As soon as Kenna regains her senses, she's quick to assist me in packing them back up.

"I'm sorry! It's all my fault, isn't it!!" The Clumsy Prince whines. He stands up and sniffles, yet does nothing to help but watch Kenna scramble to re-stack the books within my suitcase.

"Maybe," Picking up a folder containing my maths notes, I stand tall, looking the little boy in the eye. "If you'd help Kenna instead of wailing like an i***t, I'd forgive you. But since you're standing there like a sack of potatoes instead of actually kneeling down and moving your arms, i'll consider your apology null."

The silence is deafening, I can hear ringing in my ears. No one moves and no one speaks, as if they're rejecting the reality in front of them. 

"Y..." The little boy sniffs. "You're so mean..."

I tsk, setting the folder neatly inside a flap in my suitcase. "I am realistic. I am not an idealist. To me, the glass will always be half empty. To me, little boys who don't lift their dainty fingers to help poor maids such as the girl you just bumped into are a waste of breath in today's society. So yes," As Kenna finishes stacking the last book into the suitcase, she zips it up and puts it on its side. "If that's what being mean is, then I. Am. Mean."

Kenna, her head down, picks up my first suitcase and starts to exit the room, motioning me to follow her.

"Fuck... I thought homeschooled kids were nice." Jace mutters, quickly averting his gaze when I sternly meet it.

"Kindness is wasted on those who don't have the slightest idea how to return it." I eye all four of the brothers, their high and mighty statures all still in a slight state of shock due to my attitude. "Be grateful for the family you have."

"And what family do you have?" The Clumsy Prince asks genuinely, still a bit frightened of me after my lecture.

"I have... I have," Sucking in a deep breath, I just barely keep in the flood of water about to drip from my eyes. "My future."

Axel the Bipolar Prince tilts his head, bringing Ezekiel closer to his side protectively. "Your future?"

"Yes, my future." For the first time, I smile genuinely at them, beaming at my idea. "For my family I haven't met yet."

Returning my attention to Kenna, who gives me a sad but understanding nod, I follow her to the oak door and pass through it.

Little did I know, the family I had dreamed of...

***

"Are those all of your things, Miss Leigh!? I'm merely a maid and yet I have more belongings!" After that rather bold statement, Kenna quickly shuts her mouth, averting her eyes.

I sigh, flopping down onto the soft, silk bed. I thought my old bedroom was pretty big- but this is six times the size. You know that tab in Sims 4 where it lets you buy a custom room that's furnished already? Yep, this bedroom is probably the most expensive one out of all of them. The bed could probably fit five or six people in it, not to mention the walk-in-wardrobe, white bear-fur rug and rather large study area complimented by a grand bookcase and pristine pine desk. Fine gold curtains line glass french doors, leading to a beautiful porch that overlooks the garden.

Neatly folding and hanging my clothes in the wardrobe, Kenna eyes me while I'm flipping through my text books.

"Is it true, Miss Leigh?"

"Hm?"

"That you're homeschooled."

Meeting her gaze for a split second, I shrug. "I am, got a problem?"

She shakes her head furiously. "Of course not!!" Kenna breaks her attention from her unpacking to curiously observe the books in my suitcase. "Who teaches you?"

"I do." Quick and short, I start flipping through another book.

"No, like, when you were a kid, who taught you?"

"I did." Another book.

"You mean you taught yourself how to read!?"

Sighing, I set down my book to give her my full attention. "David and Addison paid for my primary education. Although when I reached high school, I dropped out."

"I didn't expect someone like you to drop out of school..."

"It's not like I wanted to, dimwit." I restrain myself yet again, trying to calm down quickly. "When I turned 14, they expected me to have started working already, which I had been. So..." I bite my lip. "I was able to pay the fees for all of Year 7, using my savings from my childhood as well. As soon as I got to Year 8, I'd already used up all the money I had on the Year 7 fees, so I had to withdraw."

"Your parents didn't pay a cent!?" Kenna bursts out, astonished.

"It was my fault." I return to my book. "I'd been selfish. I should've rationed out my food that year. If I had spent half as much on groceries then I would've been able to get through at least half of Year 8."

"They didn't feed you!?" She groans. "I don't know whether you're a modern-day superman or just too practical to function!"

I shrug again. "They paid for all of my things in my childhood, why should they pay for me when I'm fully capable of functioning in society? What do they get out of raising me?"

"They..." Kenna ponders to herself, struggling to find an answer. "They... Well, you're their child! Isn't it just common sense to take care of your daughter!?"

"Kenna." I slam my book shut, startling the auburn-haired maid. "I'm very grateful that you're assisting me, but I need to lay down some ground rules."

Hopping off the bed, I put my hands on my hips and stride towards her.

"Number one. You will never refer to Addison and David as my parents, or my mother or father.

Number two. Do not interrupt me during my study hours, which are 7:00am to 1:00pm.

Number three. I work from 2:00pm to 8:00pm, so while I'm away, don't touch my text books. At all. You can clean up my clothes and such, but never the text books."

"You're very busy, aren't you, Miss? Don't you have days off?"

I shake my head. "With my lack of mentors I study on weekends as well," Mindful, I start to stack my textbooks on the shelf of my new desk. "Although, I don't work on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays. So if you can, please run me a bath so I can wash after I've finished studying. I... it's reassuring that I have you looking after me, I guess."

Kenna beams gleeful as ever, bouncing over to grapple me in a tight hug.

"K-Kenna...!"

"It may be a bit weird now, but I'll be your family, Miss Leigh!!"

Taken aback by her statement, I'm frozen in what seems like a warm hug.

"I've never met Mr. David or Mrs. Addison, but they're pretty unlucky, missing out on raising an amazing girl like you." She holds me tighter so I can feel her heart beat. It's surprisingly moderate, like she's comfortable being around me. I relax in her grip, returning the gesture gratefully. "M-Miss Leigh!!"

She separates herself from me, hands gripping my shoulders. Water trickles down my cheeks. I rush to wipe my tears away, but fail to do so before Kenna notices.

"I-" She stutters. "I'm sorry! I know it's a bit forward since you don't have a good experience with family to begin with, but I thought that-!"

"It's fine." Sniffing, I smile at my bumbling excuse for a maid. "Thank you Kenna. You're... not as idiotic as I thought you were."

She returns my smile. "That's a compliment coming from you, Miss Leigh!!"

"Okay, you're really pushing it now, airhead." I laugh, ushering her to get back to unpacking.

"Ya know, you're sorta hot when you don't look like you've realised you've stepped in dog shit." A voice says from the door.

"Is it just me, or is it that all you boys are good at is entering a room unexpected and un-welcomed?"

Jace, who stood at the door observing me like a cat stalking a mouse, slinks into the room surveying the interior. "This is a bit... well..."

"Girly?" I agree, my eyes sliding towards the fluffy, pink bed quilt and numerous vases filled with roses and carnations.

"Not assuming genders or whatever, but yes, I guess so." The blonde shrugs, before flopping down onto my bed in a huff. "Theodore wants you to join all of us for dinner."

"I'm not part of your family, why would I join?"

"Elliot split the beans about your little... lecture. It's basically a lowkey apology for his idiotic son f*****g up the first meeting."

I sit on the end of the bed, folding my arms. "The blame isn't entirely his. I didn't ask to meet any of you, and it's not Ezekiel's fault that he had to meet bitchy ol' me."

Kenna gives me a sad look, but doesn't say anything.

"Yeah well, it explains a lot really."

"Explains what?"

He rolls his eyes. "A few days ago, Theodore forewarned us that we'd get a hard hit of reality in the next few days. I guess that's you, ay."

Before I can respond, there's a loud yawn and peaceful breath.

"The heck!?" When I realise what's happened, I jump in surprise. "He falls asleep that quickly!?"

"Surprisingly so." Kenna walks to my side and chuckles while shaking her head. "What would you like me to do with him?"

Groaning, I turn to keep unpacking my textbooks. "Just leave him, I need to start studying soon."

Kenna glances at the pink, vine-framed clock on top of the book shelf. "It's a Sunday, Miss Leigh. Could you not take one day off, for unpacking? I'd really like to show you the grounds!"

Cutting her off, I start to bury myself into a history text book. "Later, Kenna. I told you, I need to study." At her dismay, she frowns sadly.

Oh god, it's like I kicked a puppy.

"Later tonight, we can tour the garden like you suggested. I'm looking forward to it." Even though I'm not looking at her, I can tell she's got that stupid grin on her face.

"Yes, Miss Leigh!!"

***

"I can't take it anymore!!!" At my wit's end, I march over to my bedside, fists clenched and ready to scream. "Could you not find anywhere else in this house to sleep!?" Like a banshee from hell, I pick up the end of the bed quilt and hysterically heave it off the bed, taking a drowsy Sleepy Prince down with it.

"The hell!?" Coming to his senses, the blonde makes his way out of the bed sheets to face me while on his knees. "What's the big idea?!"

"Do you not even have a sense of where you are?" I seethe. "I've been trying to study for two hours and you won't stop talking in your goddamn sleep!! Who the hell's Bethany anyway?!"

"Hey!! Don't bring Bethany into this!"

"More like you want to get into Bethany, whoever she is! You've been muttering her name ever since I started my history notes." I scorn. Lowlives who do nothing but scroll through i********: for girls with a big ass and other... assets irritate me the most. Sometimes I'm glad I never got to go to high school. "Now that you're awake, I'm kindly asking you to get out of my room."

"Aren't you just a bucket of sunshine."

"Careful, I might just burn you to death." Scowling, I march back to my desk and attempt to return my focus on my notes. A heavy figure looms over me, his shadow painted on the wall. "Can. You not. Just. Leave?"

"I'm interested in you. So no."

Striking me by surprise, I twist my back to look at the fourth son. His eyes are darker than the snarky Ice Prince's, but there's that lingering sense of maturity about him that makes me feel like I'm not talking to a complete i***t.

"Look, bubble brain." Sinking my chin onto my palms, I growl at him harshly. "As of now, this room belongs to me. I've paid for it, and I'm gonna be living in it for a long time. You're not my friend, you're not my classmate, you're a stranger. Strangers don't go into other people's rooms."

"I like how you didn't add family in your list of collective nouns." At my expression, he smirks knowing he's hit the target. "Got some daddy and mummy issues? That's cute."

"If parental problems measure out how attractive you are, I'd pin it you've got some deep rooted issues too."

The blond slyly manoeuvres his hand onto my desk, licking his lips as he leans against the wood structure. "You just admitted I'm good looking."

"Huh?"

Whoops.

"Just now, you said I have deep rooted daddy issues, combined with the previous sentence-"

"Shut up! I didn't mean it like that." Cheeks burning, I shoot up from my desk, sending papers flying onto the floor.

"Aren't you hot headed?"

"Aren't you an arrogant-"

There's a knock at the door. "You may not want to finish that sentence, Princess."

"Did the temperature in the room just drop, or is that just you." I snarl in the direction of the one and only Ice Prince, Elliot.

"At least I knocked." He shrugs. "Looks like you two are getting chummy in here. Bed sheets messy and papers on the floor? Didn't know you were into the librarian type, Jace."

"As if you have room to talk, E. You'd nail anyone regardless of occupation."

I chuckle. "Never woulda guessed you swung that way." Undoing my short-ish brown hair from its place in a high bun, I slink my way over to the bathroom door, stopping when I reach for the handle. "But then again, what else did I expect from a total manwhore."

"Play nice, bitch." He spits, eyes staggeringly vicious.

"Want me to sit and wag my tail too?" Snickering, I open the door triumphantly. "I don't play nice. Maybe some day you'll realise that. And maybe some day you'll realise that wearing your hair tied up like you're in some indie rock band makes you look like more of a tryhard than you already are."

With that, I slam the door in both of their faces.

***

"I can't believe I just did that!" I splash my face with the warm water. While I was having my little confrontation with the Third and Fourth son, Kenna had successfully kept to schedule and had run me a perfectly soothing rose water bath. "Ugh, I was going to apologise about what I said to that Clumsy Prince. They're just so... so...!" Sinking deeper into the water, regret and anguish overwhelms me. "I should apologise for what I said, I provoked Jace first..."

"You're actually quite timid, aren't you Miss Leigh?" Kenna observes as she lays out evening attire for me. Since these 'family dinners' are so rare, Theo likes making them formal occasions so his sons can be shown in some sort of decency. "You're all big, bad, and remorseless in front of everyone, but when you're alone...."

Sinking deeper into the rose concoction, I blow bubbles into the pink tinted water.

"You're actually very childish aren't you?" She giggles. Letting loose, I freely pop and play with the bubbles that sit on the surface of the bath.

"And?" Pouting, I splash water over the fluffy, white clouds so they all pop at once. "It's not my fault that bubbles are cute."

"Of course not, Miss."

After 10 or so minutes of comfortable silence, as Kenna starts packing towels into a closet, I un-submerge myself to talk. "How long have you been working here?"

"Two years, Miss. Since I was 19."

I raise an eyebrow. "You're only 21?"

"Haha, yes."

"And you're not studying at a university or college."

I can basically see the sweat form on her brow. "N-no, Miss Leigh."

I sigh, slouching back onto the warm marble of the bath tub. "You didn't qualify for any sort of tertiary education, did you." It was stated, not questioned. Her obvious no comes as a muffled response and I shut my eyes as a mental face palm forms. "You don't have to be shy about it, I'm in no position to judge. Although I'm a bit baffled about how... uh..."

You didn't get into any sort of tertiary education at all!? No bridging courses or anything?!

"It's alright to pity me, Miss Leigh." She sadly stops stacking the towels and shuts her eyes, sighing. "I've never been smart. It's like everything I try to study or learn just expels itself from my brain in an instant." She knocks herself on the head, causing me to flinch. It's like she's purposely hurting herself because she's the way she is. "That's why, no matter how bad mannered or tempered the Princes are, I will always serve them. They are..." She smiles to herself. "The reason I am here."

"Do you like one of them?" At my question, her face flushes pink, showing she knows the type of 'like' I'm referring to.

"Oh gosh no!! I mean, they're handsome and all, but I have a boyfriend."

"I would've thought so, you're very pretty, Kenna." She flushes even redder at my compliment as I tilt my head back to look at the ceiling. "Did they give you this job?"

"Yes- more specifically, the First son did."

The first son..?

"He's a bit of a party animal, but he's a good person. Long story short, he was sick and hung over in a park so I took care of him, he said he would return the favour with anything I wanted, so I asked for a job." As she returns her attention to the towels, I prepare to leave the bath. "Although, it was the Second son who recommended me as a maid. He also allocated me as your maid."

The Second son... Axel? The Bipolar Prince had Kenna be my maid?

Turning away, Kenna hands me a towel, averting her eyes so I can wrap myself in the white, ironed cloth.

"Anyways... guess it's time for another battle."

"Battle, Miss?" Kenna questions innocently. I step out of the bath, letting the steam surround me like a hazy fog. I wring my hair out and let the water drip from the shiny brunette strands.

"It's dinner time."