Chapter 138: Not Be Grateful
Rose ignored the twist in her stomach as the maids prepared her for the crown prince. She was a little surprised he would call for her so soon even though she just saw him last night. At the same time, she wasn’t all that surprised.
The maids attending to her were different from the ones who usually helped her get ready. No sign of Edna; Rose hadn’t expected anything less. She had already prepared herself to see less of the maid.
The good news was that there were barely any conversations. The maids clearly wanted to do their job and be gone. When they were done, none of them said a word and just silently withdrew from the room, leaving Rose all alone with her thoughts.
She redid the sash on her pretty robe; it had flowery patterns on it. She was pretty much dressed the same as usual: hair down, a silk nightdress, and the smell of flowers. She had noticed the oils and perfumes they used on her all smelled like flowers. It also wasn’t limited to a particular kind of flower. She didn’t hate it, it reminded her of spring.
What she found a little worrisome was that it didn’t matter the maids; they all knew what to do, which slightly bothered her. Was she not the only kept woman the crown prince ever had?
Rose decided she was worried about this because it meant if there had been someone before her, then surely he intended to let her go, as there would be someone after her. She hoped this was the case.
She snapped out of it and stood to her feet. At this point, she would be late, and Rose preferred to wait than have it be the other way around. At least it gave her some time to prepare herself.
According to the maids, Mister Henry had given them the orders. She had pretended not to notice their disgruntled reaction about having to get her ready for the crown prince. There were a few whispers every now and then, but none directly spoke to her.
Rose had a feeling the fear of what happened to Martha was why they weren’t as rude to her as they usually were. Or perhaps, Martha was their ringleader and now that she had been dethroned, the colony had scattered. Rose tried not to worry about that too much, as their treatment of her wouldn’t change how she felt about the castle and her desire to leave.
She got to the crown prince’s chambers and guards reacted to her presence immediately, opening the door for her. Rose whispered her thanks simply because it would be too awkward not to. Of course, the guards didn’t respond and just shut the door behind her instead.
Rose sighed and took a step further into the room. It was a little warm, enough for her to lose the robe — not like it did much of a job in the first place. The fireplace crackled and Rose wondered if the windows had been closed.
She made her way to one of the windows, the one closest to the bed, and sure enough, it was closed. She struggled to get it open, the heavy curtains were in the way. She managed to part them and push the windows with a grunt, leaning out the window with a satisfied smile as a cool breeze hit her face.