Taming the Dragon Prince

II: A Lowly Maid

As if being forced to act like a completely different person every day is not enough, wait until I mention the presence of the arrogant and presumptuous nobles. Princess Thalia grew up pampered inside the castle and since she's already 16 years old, the Queen; her mother, decided it was time for her to develop connections to the other nobles of her age. It was also my first time seeing these ladies as I was always glued to the princess and may I say I did not expect them to be this, extravagant.

"Greetings to her royal highness, princess Thalia of Grethan." The group of noble ladies wearing their most grand day dresses in hopes to impress the princess, greeted in unison as they bowed down in front of her. I can see that they were discreetly elbowing each other so that they are much more visible to the princess's line of sight, in closer view it looked like they wanted the princess to notice their family crest attached to their clothes. They're doing that probably because they want the princess to know how important they are, but knowing that the princess does not give a single damn about reputations made me snicker.

Big mistake. They heard my small attempt to laugh at their ridiculous stunt and they instantly dropped their giddy facade and became menacing in just a blink of an eye, scanning me from my frilly maid headwear to the very ends of my worn-out boots. They stared at me with utter disgust as if wondering why a pest like me had the audacity to stood next to the high and almighty princess instead of behind her.

"If you don't mind me asking, your highness, why is this maid still standing next to you?" The one at the middle, who I believe is the daughter of the duke, miss Rina Adphyne, asked in a very obvious tone that she dislikes being in the same room as a lowborn maid like me while the others stare at my stained uniform in horror. It was like it's their first time to witness a cloth be stained with bleach and their fear of the unknown is evident.

Princess Thalia, since she is oblivious to almost everything, even the intensity of their revulsion towards me, just smiled and even linked arms with me that only made them fume in anger, wishing that it was them to be this close to the princess instead of me. "Oh, this is Aerith, you must have already met her from before, she's a friend of mine."

"Err, hi." I bowed down, so incredibly low to make them see that I know my position as a lowlife and won't do anything to tarnish their image. If I get involved with this power-hungry ladies then my life in the palace won't be guaranteed, they'd make sure to erase me from my existence if it means getting me away from the princess.

"Come, let's eat!" I mentally clicked my tongue since princess Thalia who had no idea that the atmosphere between us and the fearsome ladies is already so awful, with her arms still linked with mine, dragged me all the way across the dining area before sitting down at the very end of the long table, lightly bouncing up and down on her cushioned seat.

"Umm, princess, can you please let go of my hand," I leaned down to whisper to make sure that it is inaudible for the others but they still managed to hear it and gasp in horror, hiding their bright colored lips with their feathery and gaudily colored fans.

"A maid dares to order the princess,"

"She should be fired!"

"No, she must be beheaded!"

"How rude of her!"

Spiteful remarks erupted from the ladies who had already settled into their respective seats, while I stood awkwardly next to the princess. I am very uncomfortable in this situation, princess Thalia is a complete i***t when it comes to social status and keeps dragging me to every social meeting she has. As a result, every noble lady who wishes to become the princess's close friend treats me as an obstacle that needs to be disposed of because the princess only sticks with me the whole time and basically ignores the ladies' futile attempt to get close with her.

"Princess Thalia, you should not get too close with an ignoble and filthy maid like her, she is only using you to gain privileges in the palace." Miss Rina made sure to add tons of aggressiveness in her voice, disregarding the fact that she wants to be on the good side of the princess and showed her true persona to everyone in the room. Not that it made any difference since almost every single one of them has the same stuck-up rich spoiled bratty personalities.

I had only looked down and bit my lip to refrain from acting out my emotions, but this is what I had to endure as a servant. The constant harassments and provocations that beset me since the day I officially became a maid, from both my fellow servants who envy me for being the princess's favorite as well as the disgustingly rich nobles who sees me as an obstacle. Seriously, I just want to get away from here. If only my mother did not give birth to such a lowly maid like me then I...

"Hah?!" A thousand times more aggressive voice surprised us out of nowhere snapping me from my swirl of thoughts, and what is more shocking is that the hostile voice came from the princess Thalia's mouth.

We all looked at her with dropped jaws since her usual voice is calm and soothing like those of an angel that descended gracefully from the heavens above but now it sounded like she's the current leader of an infamous bandit group.

"Are you implying that my judgment towards other people is imprudent? I let Aerith stand next to me because I think she is worthy to stand next to me, how dare you order me." Princess Thalia finally releases my arms and crossed her arms over her voluptuous chest.

After hearing the rude comments I received from the others, I am surprised that the princess would take notice of their bullying towards me and decided to take action to defend me. Miss Rina as well as the other ladies exchanged worried and embarrassed looks before clearing their throats to apologize to the princess.

"We are deeply sorry for our rude behavior, princess Thalia. It will never happen again." Miss Rina was the one who spoke up while the rest nodded in unison, keeping their line of gaze away from my direction. So now they are pretending that I do not exist, huh.

"You should not be apologizing to me, lady Rina." Princess Thalia adjusted to her seat while saying, "You should be apologizing to Aerith,"

What she just said made everyone in the room gasp in shock, when I said 'everyone' I mean all the other noble ladies and me since the servants who were standing 5 meters away from us was trained not to show any emotions when in the presence of nobles and royals.

"Y-your highness, I am the firstborn daughter of the dukedom of Adphyne, a close ally of the throne for centuries. Surely you must be mistaken to make me apologize to a lowly maid such as her." Lady Rina was careful not to raise her voice when speaking to the princess although it was obvious that she was itching to make her life a living hell but was unable to since princess Thalia is of royalty and she is a rank lower than her.

"Umm, I am fine princess Thalia. Lady Rina is correct, a noble lady such as her is not obligated to apologize to a servant like me." Despite my strong desire to watch miss Rina ask for my forgiveness, I remained calm and spoke up before this simple luncheon turned into chaos.

The princess glanced up at me from her cushioned seat before smiling back, "Well, if you say so! Then, let's eat everyone!" Her personality was quick to change as if she just wasn't upset about the ladies' harsh treatment towards me.

The servants who were 5 meters away from us began to approach the long table and serve the first meal on a silver tray. The atmosphere between the princess and the other ladies was heavy but it only took a minute for it to become lighter thanks to the princess's optimistic aura and talkative personality.

Seeing this, I stepped away from them to give room for their small talks but doing that only made lady Rina's attention land back on me. Her glare was enough to make me look away, I do not have time to deal with her I just want to go back wiping the kitchen floor instead of being here.

"Miss Aerith," Lady Rina's menacing voice called for me and I had no choice but to answer.

"Yes, lady Rina. What can I do for you?" 

For a moment, I swear I saw a smirk creep up on her face but her feathery fan was quick to hide it. "Can you please pour me a cup of tea?"

I was hesitant to obey, after all, I am only princess Thalia's maid. I was trained and raised to become befitting as her servant.

"Oh right! Tea!" The princess clapped her hands in excitement, this is her first time with the other ladies after all and having a warm cup of tea is perfect for their small gathering.

I sighed, mentally of course, sighing in front of these types of people would get me imprisoned if they deemed befitting for a maid who sighs if ordered to do something.

I went out for a while to get tea and when I got back, I served them all and the last one was lady Rina. As soon as I was about to put her tea on the side of her plate, she intentionally knocked it over. The hot and steaming tea spilled all over my skirt and seeping into my flesh.

"Oh dear, Aerith, you are so clumsy. Are you sure you underwent the proper training for maids?" Lady Rina lightly fanned herself with her fan that seems to me became much more annoying. I looked around the table and all the other ladies were snickering but since princess Thalia is an i***t, she did not notice anything.

I looked down on my only maid uniform and I can feel a stinging pain on my legs but my face showed no emotion, I just carefully placed down the teapot and cleared my throat.

"Aerith, what happened?" Princess Thalia worriedly asked and I turned around to face her direction before pointing at lady Rina.

"Lady Rina here thinks that it is fun to spill a hot cup of tea on my uniform." I deadpanned that earned various gasps from everyone.

Did they really think that I would back down from their senseless bullying and whimper away like a stupid moron? They must have been so used in bullying other people because they think they could get away with anything because of their status and wealth, but not on my watch.

"What?!" The princess's aggressive tone resurfaced and immediately glared daggers at lady Rina.

"W-what nonsense are you saying?!" Lady Rina who had nothing against the princess, projected her anger towards me instead. "How dare you accuse me of something I did not do!"

"Also," I added in a dominating tone as if I am not a lowly maid but a royal minister, caught the attention of everyone. "The princess will not associate with people like you so I advise never to visit her again, she needs honest and loyal companions."

"I see..." The princess nodded, "Then everyone, please go back to your homes. I will excuse myself now." She stood up and clutched on my arm, practically dragging me away again.

Before we exit the dining area, I made sure to look back at the noble ladies who were left back at the table and showed them my most annoying smirk, instantly gaining wretched expressions from them.

I may be just a lowly maid but I do not back down from any fight.