Physician to the Dragon Prince

CHAPTER 5 – Do you know my name?

CHAPTER 5 – Do you know my name?

Emma’s POV

I looked at him with my clenched fists. I knew that he could feel my furious gaze towards him. He had an impeccable ego and ruthless attitude which suited a murderer. Eventually, we all returned to the dungeon. The newborn baby and her mom along with three other women went to the common room. The common room must be a more comfortable place for them. I wondered if he had some compassion in his heart of stone, that he offered the common room to her.

We went to the dungeon and I rested my head on my mother’s lap. The dungeon had some extra space now because they had allocated duties to some women and they slept in their respected areas according to their duties. My mind kept pondering when we would get our freedom from this ruthless prince, return to our village and live our free life. We were nothing but servants here without our consent and I couldn’t speak against him because he threatened me with my mother’s death penalty all the time.

“Mother, are you sleeping?” I asked while I rested my head on her lap.

“Not yet, Emma. Can’t you sleep?” she responded with a soft voice. I could hear the light snoring sounds of women. Most of them were sleeping since it was close to midnight, but sleep refused to come to me that easily.

“Mother, did you see how father died?” My voice was trembling, refusing to accept the fact that he was dead. My whole world had been destroyed by the ruthless prince.

“He was stabbed by the Prince. I saw him taking out the sword from your father’s chest,” mother explained, her voice choking with sobs that echoed through the dungeon walls. Soon my sobs also joined hers but I quickly muffled them. They screamed to come out and reach the deaf ears of the prince so that he would never wage another war to s*******r innocent people. What is the point of having a kingdom which was won through bloodshed and the tears of innocent people? I bit my lip to fight against the sobs and scream that longed to come out. I didn’t want to appear as a weak girl who just cried for her father’s death rather than contemplated the way to end the last breath of his cold-blooded murderer with my own hands. I looked at the dungeon walls which had dry blood spots of innocent people and soon the sleep slowly welcomed me to its embrace.

“Emma, wake up!” I heard an unfamiliar voice from above. I opened my eyes and blinked a few times before realizing that I was sleeping on the floor of the dungeon.

Looking up, I realize that it was Agatha calling out for me. What is she doing this morning in the dungeon?

“Emma, hurry up. It’s already late. Come with me,” she informed.

“Why do I need to come with you?” I didn’t have the slightest idea that I was about to start serving the Prince.

“You are going to serve the Prince from today onwards until His Grace says so. You are lucky that he is still sleeping, otherwise, you will see his wrath,” Agatha replied and I stood upright.

“Do I really need to serve to your murderer so-called Prince?” I sighed and asked mockingly.

“Do not speak to His Grace like that. If someone hears you are speaking like that, I am afraid that you won’t be able to see the light of day tomorrow.” Agatha’s face contorted into a serious look, making me realize the severity of the situation.

We came out from the dungeons and she took me to the maid’s quarters which she had brought me to yesterday. Everything in the room was neat and tidy. They always wore their blue uniform every time. Do they provide only one type of clothing for them? What a poor prince! He couldn’t afford the cost of extra clothes for his servants but was excellent at capturing and killing innocent people. Just thinking about the bloody prince made my blood boil in my veins.

“Quickly take this set of clothes and get dressed. I will wait here, be quick.” She pushed me to freshen up and get dressed in the same blue dress they were wearing.

“I am ready. Do we really need to do this?” I sighed and asked her pleadingly.

“Come with me. We will go to the kitchen and prepare His Grace’s breakfast.” Agatha was walking fast and I had to run behind her to catch up. She was truly healthy and fit enough for her age. We headed straight to the Royal Kitchen.

The kitchen was located after the maid’s quarters. At the corner of the maid’s quarters, there was a staircase to descend and after the staircase, we turned to the right, and there stood the kitchen.

It was much bigger than the Euthoria Castle’s kitchen. Everyone was working hard like ants. They moved around speedily and sometimes, they looked like they were going to collide with each other. Based on my estimation, there were probably more than 200 people are working there. They all seemed like prisoners from different kingdoms. I even noticed a few familiar women from Drutitopia too.

“Come here, Emma. Observe the way I prepare the breakfast for His Grace.” Agatha proceeded to quickly move her hands and fingers expertly, proving that she was excellent at her job.

“What does he usually eat for breakfast?” I asked while my head moved to the rhythm of Agatha’s hands almost inadvertently.  

“Oh Emma, you should learn to speak correctly to His Grace first, before you learn to prepare the breakfast for the Prince. Do not speak to him like you usually do. The prince is not as bad as you think,” Agatha advised, placing two boiled eggs on the serving dish.

“I do not bow my head to a murderer,” I insisted with my rough voice.

“Girl, if you keep speaking like that I am afraid that you will have to serve His Grace forever.” Agatha shot me a pitiful look.

“Does he eats this much food for breakfast?” My eyes widened in surprise when I noticed that there were three dishes on the tray. Of course, he needs to eat, otherwise, how will he get the strength to kill others. Murderer!

“Emma, do not question anything related to the royal family, understood? Keep that in your mind. If you forget, write it and paste it on your palm,” Agatha warned with a grim voice as she passed me the tray.

“Are you sure that I need to take this?” I questioned with a fake smile and Agatha nodded. I assumed that she was happy that she had been released from the Prince’s duties for a short period. Don’t worry Agatha. Very soon, you will be called to report for your duties once again.

We walked towards his chamber with the heavy tray. I was amazed and curious about how Agatha endured her job all this time.

When we stood in front of the giant doors, we heard the voice of the so-called His Grace.

“Come in,” he invited.

“How does the Prince know that we are here?” Agatha gave me a questioning look. I pouted my lips and shrugged my shoulders, unaware. Who knows? I don’t have any idea.

We entered his chambers to see the curtains closed. He was still sleeping on his bed with his duvet covering the lower part of his body. He was this white shirt and probably something else for his bottoms.

“Good morning, Your Grace! We brought your breakfast” Agatha announced respectfully.

“Keep them on the table and you can go,” he instructed, turning to the other side of the bed. My heart skipped a beat happily, eager to escape. Agatha nudged me with her head to place the tray on the table and I obliged.

We both turned around and headed towards the door.

“I didn’t ask you to go, I only asked Agatha to leave the room. You stay here to help me.” He didn’t even open an eye to look at us. How on earth did he know that I was here and I was leaving the room?

“Agatha, send the Royal Physician up after about an hour. I need him to brief her on her new duties,” he mutter, still half-asleep. I cursed him under my breath.

“I will, Your Grace.” Agatha bowed and left the room.

He is sleeping! What should I do? The sound of Agatha’s shoe soon faded away and I cast my eyes down towards my shoes. There was still no word from him. I roamed my eyes around his room, it was dark due to closed curtains. I turned my body to inspect his room to realize that it was a huge room.  Why should one person need such a massive room? Is it because he needs to shift into a dragon inside this room? Will he eat me also?

“Who will serve my breakfast if you keep roaming your eyes around my chamber?” I got startled by his voice, making me look at him. He was gazing at me with his blue eyes, drilling through my soul, hunting my soul.

“Who will help me with my morning bath?” He stood up from the bed and walked towards me.

“B…bath?” I shivered a little bit. Agatha didn’t utter a word about such a thing. In fact, she only informed me that I needed to serve him breakfast.

“Should I remind you what I said clearly last night? You will be here with me as my servant until you learn to respect me.” He approached me slowly and I gulped nervously, bowing before him slightly.

“Forgive me, Your Grace, I didn’t know that I would help you in every aspect. Shall I ask Agatha to come and teach me about this?” My gaze lowered towards the wooden floor. He gently placed his index finger under my chin and tilted my head up until my eyes met his.

“No one should come between us. I will tell you how you should do things,” he whispered with his husky voice. What is he talking about? What did he mean by between us?

“Tigress, do not tire your brain about what I said. Now come with me,” he instructed, removing his coat and shirt slowly.

My throat went dry with his action, “wh…what are you doing?”

“I am sure that you don’t take a bath wearing all your clothes, well, so do I. Come, help me bathe,” he said sarcastically and entered his bathing room where a wooden bathtub was present.

“You need to fill this bathtub with warm water every morning before I wake up and you need to help me while I bathe,” he instructed before starting to remove his trousers. I quickly swirled around, looking away. Doesn’t this person have any shame?

“Help you while you bathe? What do you mean?” I requested clarification.

“Well, you need to scrub my body, give me my towel when I am done, and prepare my clothes to wear after my bath,” he explained. Oh, great. Now I had to do this too?

“Are you done?” I called out, my back still facing him.

“Yes, I am waiting,” he replied and I turned to face him. I didn’t know that he was so close to me and when I swirled around, I bumped straight into his chest and was about to fall.

“Aaaah!” I screamed. I anticipated the pain of my back hitting the floor, but it never came, so, I peeked one eye open and looked around.

He had caught me in his arms and I held on to his shoulders tightly, his half-naked body is brushing against my fully clothed body. A flash of heat and a strange feeling suddenly ran through my body. Our faces were inches away and his hot breath was almost fanning over my lips. My chest was moving up and down rapidly while his hands were still wrapped around my waist with his tight grip. What is happening to me? Why do I feel my legs shaking?

“Don’t worry, Tigress. You are safe with me. I won’t let you down,” he whispered, gazing intently at my lips that were shivering with his touch. I licked them to moisten them since they had gone dry with our interaction.

“F…forgive me, Your Grace,” I apologized and quickly straightened myself. He just looked at me, his lips curving into a sly smirk.  

“Help me bathe then, Tigress,” he requested and sat in the tub. My body was frozen as I looked down at him from above, embarrassed by what was to come.

“Take this and rub my body.” He gave me a brush to scrub his body. It was a soft scrubber made of a comfortable piece of cloth. I took it with my shaking hands and lowered myself to his level. I looked away and started to rub his shoulders, the sleeves of my dress getting soaked with water.

“If you keep looking away, how will you rub my body properly Emma?” His voice was so smooth, luring me to look at him. But, instead, I decided to just concentrate on brushing his body. Then, all of a sudden, he grabbed my hand and yanked me towards him, drenching the upper part of my dress.

“Your Grace, what are you doing?” I struggled to release my hands from his grasp but he didn’t budge. Then suddenly he let me go and closed his eyes. What is wrong with this man?

“Bring me my towel, Tigress,” he said with a sigh. I took his towel and gave it to him before looking away. My dress is almost wet, it’s like I also had a bath with him.

“Your dress is wet, it’s like you also had a bath with me,” he uttered and I turned to face him in utter shock.  

“Do you have some sort of mind-reading ability?” I was curious but I wanted to know because if he did, I needed to be very careful. But, he just smiled in response.

“I am hungry. Shall we have breakfast?” he suggested and I nodded agreeing with him.

“Did you have your breakfast, Tigress?” he asked while sitting on the chair.

“No, I will have it later,” I replied, offering him the plate of food.

“You can have it with me. Come, take anything and eat for your hungry tummy,” he offered with a smile.

Goodness gracious, he is so handsome! His wet hair was slightly stirring due to the breeze from the windows.

“Your Grace, thank you for your kindness. You have your breakfast and I will have mine in the maid’s quarters,” I decline, looking straight into his eyes.

“You know what? Disobeying your prince is a big mistake,” he reminded, standing up from his seat and walked towards me. He pulled me to a chair and forced me to sit on it.

He offered me a plate, “now eat anything you want.” What should I do now? Is he showing me compassion so that I will stop showing my hatred towards him or is he genuinely offering me his food?

“Do you know my name?” he asked during breakfast and I shook my head.

“I am Radur Dimmot, the Red Dragon Prince!”