Taylor remembered one thing her father always told her.

“Whenever you see danger, run away from it. Your life is infinitely more important than whoever’s you are going to save, even if it is your own parents.”

Since young, her father religiously brainwashed these sentences into her brain. So why was Taylor going against those words of wisdom now? Why was she running towards danger instead of away from it? Taylor did not know, and in the panic she was feeling from the people around, she did not want to bother to find out.

Instead, she rushed up the stairs and pushed through the crowd forming at the entrance of the castle gardens. The wails of help continued, and Taylor was shocked to discover that a little girl was hanging from her balcony, almost on the way of falling into one of the thorny rose bushes.

Taylor rushed forward, eager to help. Before she could do so, a hand pulled her back, making her stumble to a stop. She looked up to see Jasmine glaring at her, her brown eyes darkened.

“Didn’t I tell you to stay away from anything that could catch the eyes of the people in the castle? Do you really think that you can hide from everyone if you help save the youngest princess? They will look for you and you will end up being exposed as newbie faster than you can explain yourself. Now, go back to the servants quarters and stay there!” Jasmine instructed harshly, keeping her voice soft so as to not alert anyone.

Taylor sighed, nodding in agreement. As she turned around to walk away, she heard the cheering voices as the princess was successfully pulled up into her room by some of the staff who ran there to save her.

She smiled to herself, basking in the happiness of the people around her. It made her forget about why she was there and how miserable she felt.

That is, until she accidentally looked up and saw a man staring at her, a frown playing on his lips. Taylor almost dismissed the man, until she registered the crown on his head and the familiar ring he wore on the third finger of his left hand.

Pretending as though she did not see him, Taylor calmly walked to the narrow, dark staircase, skipping steps to reach the quarters faster. Once she reached the bottom of the stairways, she took in a deep breath, calming her racing heart.

She had just stumbled upon the Mazian Crown Prince.

The rest of the day passed on in a daze for Taylor. Though a part of her was vaguely present in the conversations happening around her, her mind kept flittering back to the moment she met the man she was sent to spy on.

It felt surreal, to meet the man who she had taken such liberties to gain knowledge about. At first glance, Prince Henry looked like a man who had no secrets to hide. He seemed perfectly average, which made it extraordinary that he got chosen to be the next King, even though he is the third son to the throne.

Taylor could understand why her parents wanted her to spy on him. For someone who seemed to be completely ordinary to become king, it was unexpected. Prince Henry probably had some secrets that made him the first choice to be king, some very well-kept secrets, and Taylor was determined to find out.

In the middle of the night, as Taylor wrapped the thin blanket around herself tightly to fight off the cold hanging under the castle, Bethany called out to her.

“Gwen, are you alright? You seemed upset throughout dinner. Is it about what is going to happen tomorrow?” she asked concernedly, gaining irritated groans from the four other girls they shared the room with.

Taylor nodded her head, even though she was aware that Bethany could not see it. She would rather be sleeping than talking, but now she was interested in the topic of conversation. “Yes, I am fine. What’s happening tomorrow though?” she questioned inquisitively.

“You didn’t hear?” Bethany replied incredulously, before continuing, “The future King is coming down tomorrow, to interact with the staff. It is speculated that he just wants to see if any of us newcomers are spying on him for the Kelone kingdom, but everyone else just says that it is because he needs two more maids to protect his sister.”

“His sister?” Taylor asked.

“Honestly Gwen, where is your head most of the time? His sister is the princess that almost fell into the garden today. She is the youngest child and only Mazian princess. I don’t remember her name, but I’m sure we will find out tomorrow. Anyways, I heard the crown prince loves her very much and after today, he wants more staff around her to protect her in case anything else happens,” Bethany explained.

Taylor nodded, processing everything that she had just learnt. “So, the prince is going to check on us discreetly while ensuring his sister is protected at the same time. Interesting. Almost the kind of behaviour I’d expect from a future king,” she mumbled to herself.

Bethany frowned. “I don’t know what you are saying to yourself, but right now, I think we both really need to sleep, so goodnight!”

“Goodnight!” Taylor replied back, her mind still whirring around the information she learnt over the entire day.

In the distance, Taylor heard a girl grumble, “Finally!” and she smiled to herself.

Life was certainly going to be interesting from here on.