"You're late."

Clara cringed at his harsh tone, but was expecting it nonetheless.

"I apologize, I had some matters to attend to."

"You're my maidservant, you have no other matters to attend to." Clara raised an eyebrow at this, unamused by his words.

"I happen to have two jobs, my lord." She sneered.

Technically three jobs, but what does he know. She thought to herself with a mental eye roll.

With a clenched jaw, the Prince waved his hand, motioning for her to get to work.

"Well, what do you want me to do?" she crossed her arms.

"Wash my clothes."

"I already did that." she shrugged.

"Fold them?"

"Done."

"Make my be-" His eyes trail on his bed that has already been made. "Never mind."

"So..." she trailed off.

"Go bring me dinner then, I'm hungry." he returned his focus on the papers in front of him, as he wrote down some things.

"Okay, but I'll have to make it first."

"Don't we have other cooks?" he raised an eyebrow

"Well yes," she nodded. "but I've been assigned to be your personal cook."

"I don't understand why all of a sudden my father decided that I need a babysitter." he rolled his eyes.

"He knows what he's doing." she sighed. "And for the love of god, please stop complaining."

"I'm not complaining!"

"Sure." she smiles sarcastically. "Now come on, let's go."

"Pardon?"

"You have to come to the kitchen with me." she said.

"Why on earth would I do that?" he scoffed.

"Oh uh," Clara stumbled on her words, her face flushing, realizing she couldn't tell him he's being tracked by an assassin. "there is...a rat!"

"A rat?!"

"Yes!" she nodded, "Can't have you here when there's a rat, right? Besides, there are lots of beautiful maidens in the kitchen."

Clara hated how he agreed to come after her last statement, something didn't settle easy with her after that.

Ahead of Clara and Victor was a very long -and most likely tense- walk to the kitchen, because it was quite far from the royal chambers.

Unbeknownst to the prince, Clara was looking around them with every step, making sure they were not being followed. Victor thought she was glancing at him, and a smirk made its way onto his lips.

He continued to watch her; how she walked with authority despite having none, and how she held her head high without a falter. It surely intrigued him.

And annoyed him.

He felt like she was challenging him, and he didn't like that he felt like she was getting the upper hand somehow. She radiated power, the same thing he should have as a prince.

"Cleo," he fought back the smile that threatened to show when he saw her tense and let out a frustrated sigh, muttering something under her breath. Before he could continue his sentence, she spoke up.

"If you keep calling me Cleo, I'll have no problem with calling you a royal rodent."

"Wouldn't be the first time would it?"

"And certainly not the last." he didn't fight back the chuckle that left his lips, making Clara's lips twitch upwards the slightest bit.

"How long have you worked here?" he asked after a long silence.

"I used to just help around the castle when I was younger; it wasn't until two years ago that I began working as an official cook. Altogether, it's been five years, almost six."

"How come I've never seen you before?"

"I tend to be invisible to most." she shrugged.

"I find that hard to believe." he scoffed, an amused smile gracing his features. No way would someone as outspoken as her be invisible.

"I actually tend to be quiet if no one annoys me." she raised an eyebrow. Then she hurried her steps, opening the kitchen door for the prince, smiling sarcastically at him.

"After you, your highness."

Victor rolled his eyes but walked in nevertheless, followed by a chuckling Clara.

All movement in the room ceased to exist, with every eye falling on the handsome prince. The older cooks carried on with their work, meanwhile the younger maidens fussed about their hair and straightened their clothes and posture, wanting to catch his eye.

Clara's eyes met with Hazel's, who raised her eyebrows, gesturing to the prince standing in the room, looking around.

"What is he doing here?" Hazel whispered, kneading the dough in front of her. Despite her admiration for the prince, Hazel made no effort to clean the flour from her face and apron, knowing she'd probably end up getting more on herself.

"Long story short, I'm keeping him away from the assassin." Clara whispered back, getting started on cutting the meat, her hands working smoothly, feeling comfortable with a blade.

"What!?"

Thankfully everyone was either too busy or distracted by the prince to hear Hazel's exclamation.

"Remind me to cover your mouth next time I want to tell you something." she laughs. "I couldn't leave him alone, so I made him come here."

"So," Hazel wiggled her eyebrows. "will we hear any wedding bells soon?"

Clara gagged jokingly, and a woman looked at her weirdly. "Sorry, I accidentally inhaled the smell of the meat."

Hazel burst out laughing at Clara's nervous face, and Clara soon joined in, as they worked together to make that day's dinner for everyone.

"You didn't answer."

"Zee, he keeps calling me Cleo." she deadpanned.

"Aww he already has a nickname for you!"

"And I call him the royal rodent." she laughed, shaking her head.

"You did not!" Hazel gasped. "Cee, you're going to get yourself thrown in the dungeon."

"Good thing I'm keeping him alive then, right?" she winked at her friend.

"Oh! Julian came looking for you earlier." Hazel informed her friend.

"He did?" Clara's smile widened, feeling heat rise up on her cheeks. Hazel giggled at her friend and nodded happily. "What did he want?"

"He had brought you flowers." she exclaimed with an excited squeal, making Clara's blush grow deeper.

"I saw him earlier today though." she furrowed her eyebrows. "Why didn't he give them then?"

"I think he wanted to give them to you in private, when he's not being intimidated by Edwin."

The girls giggled at that, knowing how Edwin tends to be overprotective, and loves teasing Julian about Clara.

"I guess you're right." she smiled shyly, thinking of the blonde knight as she washed her hands after cutting the meat, wanting to move on to vegetables.

"What are you still doing here?" Hazel nudged her. "Go find him!"

"But I still have work-"

"I'll cover for you until you come back." she interrupted.

"What about Prince Victor?"

They glanced towards him, seeing him busy with making the women giggle, their cheeks all dusted pink.

"I don't think he'll be leaving anytime soon." they snickered. "No more excuses, go to Julian!"

With a small grin, Clara walked out of the kitchen, not noticing Victor's eyes trailing on her.

It didn't take long for her to find him since he was walking her way, seemingly also looking for her.

"Julian!" she called, grabbing his attention. Julian looked over and a wide grin formed on his lips, mirroring Clara's.

"Clara, I've been looking for you." he walked closer to her.

"As have I." she smiled. "Hazel told me you wanted to speak to me?"

"Oh, yes I have." he nodded shyly, pulling out the bouquet of flowers from behind his back. "I didn't properly congratulate you."

"Julian..." she breathed out in awe. "they're gorgeous!"

"I could think of something more gorgeous."

Clara's red face could challenge the redness of the ruby on the king's crown. Julian had a blush of his own, dusting his cheeks and ears, making his light blue eyes stand out more.

"I can't thank you enough." she smiled up at him.

Julian took a flower from the bouquet and placed it behind her ear, admiring her with such an intense gaze, as if their eyes could see nothing else.

"And you thought the flowers were beautiful."

Clara laughed lightly, averting her eyes, feeling incredibly shy and flattered, her heart was racing at the way he looked at her.

Clara then took a smaller flower and reached up to place it behind Julian's ear.

"Now we're even." she whispered so softly, that if it weren't for their close proximity, he wouldn't have heard her.

Their moment was interrupted by a sudden scream coming from the kitchen. Alarmed, both Clara and Julian rann back to the kitchen, bursting through the door.

"What happened?"

"What's wrong?"

Molly walked over to the two knights, a sheepish smile on her face.

"No need to worry." she waved them off. "Charlotte accidentally cut her finger."

They sighed in relief, having thought the girls were in danger before.

"Is she alright?" Clara asked, concerned for her friend. Molly nodded, smiling at how Julian was looking at her with admiration.

Hazel was not far behind, grinning at the sight of Clara and Julian, both having a flower behind their ears, and noticing how Julian stood behind her protectively, just smiling softly at her.

"She's perfectly alright, she was just distracted and got scared of the blood."

"I guess this is my cue to leave now, I have to go back to patrol." Julian smiled at Clara and she returned it.

"Thank you again for the flowers."

"It was my pleasure, m'lady." he whispered the last part in her ear, making her eyes widen and swat his arm, a bright red blush on her cheeks, as both were laughing lightheartedly.

"Just because of that, I'm going to make you take this back to Edwin to take home." she handed him the bouquet.

"Oh you are a cruel woman." he shook his head with a mischievous grin, his eyes twinkling in amusement.

Clara laughed and shrugged, reaching up and giving him a peck on the cheek, making their blushes deepen, before she grinned at him and walked away to her spot next to Hazel as she began to work.

Julian stared at her for few more seconds, his eyes meeting Hazel's, who was wiggling her eyebrows at him, making his blush even deeper, and his smile wider.

With a final shake of his head, he chuckled and left the kitchen, going back to his own job, thinking of a way to get the flowers to Edwin without him hunting him down.

The prince had watched the entire exchange, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"So she has a heart after all..." he mumbled to himself.

His eyes trailed on the flower behind her ear, and he noticed that she still had rosy cheeks from her encounter with the knight.

How could a knight impress someone more than him, the prince?

That he struggled to understand.

I AM SCREAMIIINNGGG!!! I LOVED WRITING THIS CHAPTER SO MUCH!!! MY HEART IS GENUIENLY BURSTING!!

Why can't I find a Julian :'( 

I really hope you guys loved this chapter as much as I did.

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Thank you for reading <3