Our new servants

“Welcome back,” I say. “Prince Artias and I discussed and chose you two to become our personal servants. That is if you two want the position.”

Larisa and Corina share a glance and nod together.

“Great. Do you have a preference of who you would like to serve?” I ask.

They look confused. Larisa speaks up. “Do you want us to choose, Prince Zenovia?”

“I am curious as to whether you have a preference. Don’t worry, this is not a test,” I assure them.

They think for a few seconds. Larisa is the first to talk. “I don’t have a preference.”

Corina fidgets in her place a little and quietly speaks up. “I would like to serve you, Prince Zenovia.”

I smile at her. “It is settled then. You will serve me, Corina,” I say.

“Really?” her face lights up. I nod.

“And you, Larisa, will serve me,” Arti says.

“What would have happened if I said I wanted to serve Prince Zenovia as well?” Larisa asks.

“We already made a choice of who we want to serve us. Before you start thinking that there were some hidden criteria by which we made our choice, it was a rather simple and funny reason. We might tell you later,” I chuckle. They look curious but say nothing.

Arti and I stand up from the table. “You and Larisa go on. Show her the quarters she will be staying in,” I say.

Arti nods and walks towards the door. Larisa looks at Corina concerned but follows him out of the room. Once they leave, I start walking towards the door as well.

“Follow me,” I tell Corina.

Corina does and we start walking through the palace. I reached the room I was looking for and knocked on the door. “Come in,” comes from the inside. I step inside. In the room is my mom and Sabrina. They instantly notice Corina’s state.

“Who did this to her?” Mom asks indignantly.

“Some of the girls from the orphanage. They were also candidates for the servant’s positions,” I answer.

“She is the one you picked then?” Mom asks.

“Yes, Mom. This is Corina,” I reply.

“Mom?” Corina mutters quietly before it dawns on her who I was talking to. Her eyes widened.

Mom smiles. “Sabrina bring the scissors and fix the girl up, please. Come take a seat in front of the mirror, dear,” Mom gestures at the chair in front of the table with a big mirror mounted on it.

Corina nervously sits down. Sabrina comes back with the scissors and a comb and starts working her magic. She was at it for almost half an hour. In the end, Sabrina had to cut Corina’s hair even shorter up to her shoulders because some of the uneven strands were shorter than the general length. The result was better than I expected. I was expecting the result to be good since it was Sabrina who was working on Corina’s hair. With that done, we leave say our goodbyes, and leave the room.

As I was leading her to my new bedroom, which had her own quarters adjacent to it, I spoke up. “Your hair looks really nice. Sabrina knows what she is doing, doesn’t she? Your hair will grow back out eventually, so you will have your old hairstyle back.”

Corina blushes and nods. “By the way, how should I address you?”

“When we are in private just call me Zen. It is what my mom, brother, and sister call me. When we are in public, we will need to be formal, so call me Prince Zenovia or Your Highness,” I frown a little. I don’t like being called ‘Your Highness’.

“I understand,” she says.

We reach my room. It is bigger than Arti and my shared room. It has a huge double bed. There are sets of expensive-looking rugs on the floor. There is a big desk by the window. The window is looking out towards the backyard of the palace. I can see the training grounds, park and the forest from it. There are also drawers and wardrobes of dark wood. There is also a fireplace by the wall and a comfortable sofa in front of it. The room looks fantastic.

There are two doors, other than the entrance door, in the room. One leads to a spacious bathroom with a shower, sink, and bathtub. The other door leads to the servant’s quarters. It is a much smaller room. It is also nowhere near as finely decorated as mine is. Still, it has a nice single bed, a wooden desk, and a wardrobe. Even though it is not as fine as mine is, it looks cozy and not cheap. There is a door in here that leads into the corridor.

“This will be where you will be staying. I hope you like it,” I tell her.

She looks in awe at her room. “I never had a room just to myself.”

“You are my responsibility now and I will not let you sleep anywhere unsuitable,” I say.

“Thank you, Zen,” she looks at me appreciatively.

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