A Piece of History

"And it's the last time I let you talk me into anything, assuming we're not dead soon," Devon said simply. She was getting tired of "Vincent will fix this." Vincent was the reason they were here now, the reason she could still taste blood and couldn't touch the side of her face without it nearly bringing tears to her eyes. Regardless of how much the prince may have done for Ronnie in the past, there was only so long that Vincent could continue pulling strings.

She sighed quietly. And even if they got out, William knew her face now and knew she had been involved in tonight's events. That would undoubtedly make her a target for future abuse.

Colt let her eyes close lightly, the bite wound on her arm stinging lightly as it started to heal. It wasn't normal though, it healed faster then it should have, if someone were to pay close enough attention they could see it physically healing shut. She sat in silence, hoping neither of them would see and question.

"I don't recall it being all that hard to talk you into it..." Ronnie mumbled, putting up half the fight then he usually would. He was upset that Devon had gotten so upset. Naturally, because he had gotten into trouble so many times, he wasn't really worried. But he was worried about how Vincent was going to take this whole thing. He was sure that William was giving him his own punishment and he was pretty sensitive, so he would blame himself and be crushed if Colt or Devon hated him for it.

"Yeah, well." Devon didn't have an actual retort to Ronnie's statement, so she crossed her arms over her drawn knees and stared out of the cell at the stone wall beyond. She wondered what would happen afterward. Would they simply be hanged? If not, and if Vincent somehow did get them out, what would happen after that? Would she be able to go back to working? What about Colt?

She groaned softly. Her head was too fuzzy to give these questions the thought they needed.

The three of them were kept in the cell for a couple days, getting bare bone rations and sun light only when the guard opened the door. Colt was quiet, speaking only when directly spoken to, and when asked she was worried about what would happen to her. She had no connections to the royal family. She had just met Vincent. And she sure didn't work there.

Ronnie became more worried as time passed, but he would never admit it to either one of them.

After two long days and nights the guard opened the door at a time that was not feeding time. Blinking through the light, Ronnie watched a narrow figure walk toward their cell. He quickly jumped up when he recognized Vincent in the darkness.

"Vince-" Ronnie cut himself off, gaining a look of almost horror as the princes gashes and bruises came into focus.
"Are you alright!?"
"I will be fine..." Vincent said quietly, his voice a bit scratchy. His face was covered in a couple day old bruises. Cuts tore their way across his lips, nose, hair line and lower jaw. Though he looked as if he had been tended to by a doctor.
He glanced past Ronnie, "how are you all doing?"

Colt had gotten up to look at the prince as well, quickly noticing how badly he had been beaten. "Not as bad as you it seems..."

The prince shook his head lightly, "I will be fine, I will heal quickly... "
"William did this to you, didn't he?" Ronnie growled, his fists tightening around the bars of the cell.
"Please do not worry Ronnie..." He nearly begged.

Devon looked up as Vincent opened the cell, then immediately squinting and turning her head at the bright light. Once her eyes adjusted to the brightness, she warily turned to look at Vincent.

"I take it he doesn't treat family too well, either," she remarked blandly. "Lovely. Are we being let go, then?"

"No not yet," Vincent sighed lightly, "but my parents will be returning this evening and I will be taking an audience with them to plead for your freedom."
"Will William be punished for hurting you?" Ronnie asked, almost not caring about what happened to them anymore.
Vincent shook his head lightly, "William is forcing me to state that it was a accident. And my parents think me not a liar so they will believe me."
"That's not right!" Colt protested, but quieted down when the prince gave her a extra soft and sorrowful look. Her heart dropped a little, knowing what he was going to say next.
"I can not guarantee your freedom or safety, Colt. I over heard that William is going to request you brought to his chambers later... And the only advice I can give you is to break free and run when you get the chance... Then keep running and do not give the guards a chance find you.." His voice was soft and quiet so no where but they could hear him. He felt so horrible for getting Colt into trouble, but his parents were not fond of outsiders and he knew it would end badly for her, specially if William wanted to talk to her privately.
"Do not let William touch you."
Before he could continue on a guard pulled him back out and he was forced to leave. It was not good for a prince to talk to prisoners.

Colt looked at the ground, blinking in shock. She couldn't believe this what happening to her. . .

Ronnie was equally as shocked into silence for the moment.

Devon watched Vincent as he was dragged back out of the cell. If nothing else, he seemed sincere, though she still was uncertain whether she could trust him or not.

"Well," she sighed after a long moment of silence. "Now what? We know well enough what he likes to do with the female servants and I doubt he'd be nearly so . . . kind to someone he won't see again, so . . ." She shifted uncomfortably. Thank god she passed as a male well enough to avoid this all.

Colt sighed deeply, "don't worry about me, I can handle myself. And though I would rather not kill anyone and be hunted down my whole life, I can if I really need to..." She seemed almost like she hated to admit it, making sure not to make eye contact with Ronnie and Devon.
"Just don't kill William, they would never stop hunting you." Ronnie suggested, then he looked back at Devon, "I think we will be alright though."

"Yes, well, I still don't feel great about letting her march off for whatever William has planned." The thought made Devon feel slightly sick to her stomach. Still, what could they do? Lashing out against William was a good way to be sent straight to the gallows, and even with Vincent's interference, she still wasn't sure they would be getting out of here as it was. She rubbed her eyes tiredly, trying to think.

"I don't want it to happen either, but there is nothing we can do..." Ronnie agreed, sitting back down and leaning against the wall.

After a moment of silence Colt looked over at her two cell mates again, "is he really that bad?" She shifted nervously in her spot. Even being a prince she didn't understand how someone could get away with something that bad...

"He beats the living hell out of anybody who pisses him off," Devon said, leaning against the wall and sliding back into a sitting position on the floor, "but the rumors are pretty awful about how he treats the women. I wouldn't really know personally, but it's not pretty, the rumors that get around. You'll need to get out as quickly as you can."

Colt swallowed her fears the best she could, her stomach knotting. She was glad they had gotten bare bone portions of food or she might have vomited from the anxiety. What if she couldn't get out? She could if she really had to. But that was the worst possible thing that could happen.
Soon, she sat back down as well and they were all forced to sit in the cell a while longer.


When the evening came by a guard came into the cell, plucking Colt out of it and locking the door behind him. And no more then a hour after that the same guard came back with Vincent to let the Devon and Ronnie out.
"My parents will forget the incident as long as you are both still punished. Though I am to think up a proper punishment, and if my parents do not like it, they will choose and it will be much worse." Vincent said happily as the guard unlocked the cell.

"You're awfully cheery about that," Devon said drily. "What constitutes a good enough punishment? Will forty lashes suffice, or do we need to be beaten into unconsciousness before it counts?" She shoved her hands in her pockets as she walked, trying to stand straight and look unconcerned even though she felt faintly sick. She tried not to think about what might be happening to Colt--or what might happen to them if Vincent wasn't creative enough.

"One thing my parents loathe more then looking bad, it finding new servants. So something simple as extra cleaning will be good enough." Vincent walked with the two of them, motioning for the guard to leave them.
"Also Colt will be spared as well, as long as she agrees to work for the crown. When did the guard summon her? I have not heard any commotion as if she has escaped. "

Ronnie paused, looking worried, "she's been gone for more then a hour... If she hasn't gotten away then that means she is still with William..."

"We have no real way of knowing what's happening with her." Devon shrugged listlessly. "I'd suggest we try to find her, except if she is still with him and we interrupt whatever's going on . . ." She swallowed, clenching her fists in her pockets until her nails dug into her palms. "What the hell is wrong with him?"

"We have to go help her," Ronnie growled, thinking about what could possibly have happened.
"No." Vincent said firmly, swallowing down his fear the best he could, though it was still pretty visible. "I will go, you two can not be around him so soon. Since my parents are back he will not hurt me again."
"But Vince-" Ronnie tried to protest but Vincent interrupted him with a hand motion. "You both should head to your chambers and rest, clean up and get ready for work."
"No I am at least going to go with you, even if I don't see William, I will hide around the corner. I got Colt into this, I have to help her out." Ronnie nearly shouted, losing his patience with his friend.

"Me, too," Devon insisted immediately. "I doubt he'd just let you go in there without attacking you, too, and you've already been hurt. I think he could come up with an excuse even with your parents back here, and Colt shouldn't have gotten involved at all. If anyone else is going, I want to help, too."

Vincent looked between Devon and Ronnie, losing every ounce of firmness he had in him. He was nothing but a big squishy puppy dog who wanted to please everyone.
"Alright. At least stay hidden unless something happens." He begged lightly.
Ronnie nodded and quickly turned to head down the halls toward Williams large room, the prince fallowing after glancing at Devon.

Devon took a deep breath to steel herself before following after the others. As she walked, she thought grimly of how her original goal had been to get out of the cell and then keep her head down for the rest of her life in the castle. Apparently, she no longer had any sense of self-preservation whatsoever.

Once they neared Williams room Vincent approached the door as Ronnie hid just around the corner, barely able to see the door.

Knocking on the door lightly, Vincent had to force himself to not turn and leave before he answered. And William answered much more quickly then he thought he would. And he seemed unhappy to be bothered but also not as angry as expected.

"What can I help you with dear brother?" William asked, his fake love for Vincent always put him on edge.
"The young lady with the other servants has been requested to the maids chambers. Mother and Father say she will work for the crown until death as punishment." He was trying so hard to keep his voice straight, but his brother was intimidating.
"So?"
Vincent didn't know how to answer.
"Who controls the maids and servants?" William asked, his voice growling a bit. But he was still unsure how to answer, he had gotten abused before for answering a rhetorical question before.
"I do. So she can go when I say she can," the older brother started to close the door but was stopped by his younger brothers foot. And he soon met a death glare to the young ones face.
"Please let her go..." Vincent asked quietly.
William quickly advanced on Vincent, grabbing him by the throat and shoving him into the wall. "Are you telling me what to do!?" He shouted, his temper was on a shorter fuse then usual.
Vincent gasped in fear and shut his eyes tightly, shaking his head quickly.

Devon pressed herself flat against the wall next to Ronnie and waited, listening to the conversation unfold. She flinched as she heard William's voice raise, then someone being slammed against the wall. She spent two seconds trying to convince herself to wait, then threw that all to the wind as she rounded the corner and rapidly approached William and Vincent. She still didn't know how she felt about the younger of the royal sons, but damn it all if she would sit by and let him be abused the same way she often was.

Ronnie wanted to run and save Vincent just as badly as Devon did. But he knew better, things would just get out of hand. When Devon moved away from the wall to save their prince he quickly reached out and grabbed her wrist firmly, pulling her back to the wall with him.
"No!" He whispered, "we have to wait. If we go it will be a million times worse.." He let go of her wrist, hoping she would just stay behind and wait.
William would kill them, specially after they just got out of trouble.

"I am sorry..." Vincent breathed in fear, keeping his eyes closed. When he felt his body released from his brothers grip he opened his eyes hesitantly and wash shocked to see Colt standing next to William, her hand on his arm.
"Don't hurt him, he's just trying to be a good friend..." Colt begged quietly. As if William actually had a heart he backed away from his smaller brother and he headed back into his room, "just go.." He growled as he shut the door behind him.

Vincent starred at Colt, shocked and amazing. She didn't have a bruise or cut on her, and why did he listen to her? He was so shocked he couldn't speak for a moment.

When the coast was clear, Ronnie moved around the corner to join them.

Devon stayed back with Ronnie under protest, gritting her teeth until her jaw ached. She hated feeling as helpless as she did, but Ronnie was right--she was liable to get them all killed.

When the hallway cleared, she went around the corner with Ronnie and approached. Like Vincent, she was also confused by Colt's lack of injury. "What just happened?" she asked lowly, looking between the other two. "Or is that a story we should save until we're out of here?"

"I have never seen anyone touch my brother with out consequence..." Vincent breathed again, still shocked.

"I'm glad to see that you are alright, but yes, lets not discuss this in the hallway..." Colt nodded.
Ronnie grabbed Vincent by his hand and pulled him away from the other prince's door and toward the servant chambers, where the two genders were split into two separate parts.

"I thought William was going to kill me, but he was actually kind of pleasant.." Colt explained lightly as they walked away.

"That's not a word I would usually use to describe him," Devon said, frowning. She shoved her hands into her pants pockets, eying the servants' quarters as they approached. She was so accustomed to bunking with the men that she didn't think twice about it, but normally she wasn't with three other people, either. She would have to be more careful than usual.

The group stopped where the hall split off to the different sides of the servants chambers.
"He did not lay a hand on you or threaten you?" Vincent asked Colt, still in awe.

Colt shook her head, "no, but I have a feeling he had more planned if you hadn't shown up. So thank you..." She let out a long and tired sigh. "But now I will be stuck in the palace like you three.."

"It isn't so bad as long as you have at least one friend.." Ronnie shrugged lightly, glancing around the hall. All the other servants were busy with their chores so no one else was around.

"There is a head maid who will help you settle in," Vincent added, his expression dimming again. "I am terribly sorry for all of this. I hope to find a way to free you. But my parents are furious with me."

The girl smiled, "don't worry about it. At least I don't have to worry about where my next meal is coming from," she laughed. "If little scrawny Devon can do it, so can I."

Devon rolled her eyes, but she was smiling slightly. "I just look scrawny," she said. "I do things around here half the others can't do."

She blew out a breath and shoved her hands in her pockets. "You'll adjust," she said after awhile. "It's terrible here, and everyone would give a limb to get out of here, but at least it's food and shelter, and if you just do what you're told and stay out of the way, you'll be alright."

"I'm more worried about what may happen if I get too board. Judging by how often Ronnie sneaks out to meet me and have a night on the town, I doubt this place is thrilling in the least..." Colt was smiling but behind her smiled was a real tone of worry. She did worry about how a lot of her extra energy would be spent up. And what would happen during the nights she so often spent roaming the streets.

"You can just sneak out with me," Ronnie suggested with a shrug. And before anyone could say a word more a large guard rounded the corner, nearly making Vincent jump out of his skin.

"My apologies for scaring you ma'lord, but Princess Victoria seeks your presence," the guard quickly explained with a quiet bow.
"Right... She may desire an explanation on my actions," Vincent thought out loud before smiling to the group. He loved his little sister and wanted to be the best big brother he could be. "I shall be off, but I will see you all soon, to make sure all is well."

Devon frowned, not entirely convinced, but she nodded. "Try not to get into any more trouble," she said, dipping into a bow out of habit before turning for the the servants' quarters. She hoped, with this last conversation between Vincent and Victoria, that this entire mess would be done with completely, and perhaps she could go back to staying out of trouble.

She doubted it would be so simple, but she could hope.

Vincent smiled to everyone, not out of happiness but to try to keep everyone in good hopes, and turned to leave with the guard.

Ronnie nodded and half heartily waved to the prince before he turned to head into the male servant chambers. He glanced back once toward Colt, she watched everyone walk away before heading into the female chambers. She was nervous about all of this, worried that she would do something wrong. She sighed to calm herself though.

Ronnie moved off to get cleaned up and changed.

Devon watched Colt go off, silently hoping she would be alright. She would have no particular friends in the women's chambers, and Devon wouldn't give herself away for the sake of mothering someone she barely knew.

She shook her head sharply and went off to change clothing. This set was in severe need of a wash by now.

Weeks passed before much else happened of interest. Colt vanish for a day and a night shortly after they all last saw here. There were many rumors going around as to where she went, but all of them were silly. Colt came back after with no explanation to anyone, but she did receive a punishment and got a few lashings and William forced all the other servants to watch to make a message out of it. He was getting tired of servants running off. Colt was embarrassed by the whole thing, but she was only whipped a few times, not nearly as much as William usually did.
It was very painful for Ronnie to watch his friend be hurt with out stepping in. But he had felt the lash before and didn't want to feel it again.

Vincent secretly helped Colt tend to the wounds caused by it, since there was nothing else she could do. He tried to keep his head down, but did request Devon to be switched off Williams service.
In time everything calmed down and everything seemed back to normal. Colt settled into the routine of things, but was always looking for some way to break the rules and get away with it. Just small thing to get a little excitement in her life. Like wandering the halls at night or going into places of the palace she wasn't aloud.
And soon a big fancy ball was going to be thrown for Princess Victoria's 14th birthday. So the servants were always busy trying to prepare for it as well as do their normal jobs. Ronnie hated it.

The following weeks were, thankfully, uneventful for Devon. She noted that she was no longer called to care for William's needs; whether that was a certain someone's influence or not, she couldn't guess, and she wasn't in the habit of asking.

She did her best over the days instead to be the picture perfect servant--at least while in view of others. She occasionally went with Colt on the girl's nightly excursions, knowing better how to not get caught by the guards and where some of the more interesting nooks of the castle were. Otherwise, though, she merely helped where she could and attended to her job.

The ball, of course, was a miserable thing, and the moment she got wind of it, Devon was put into a foul mood. The week ahead of the event was filled with preparations from morning until night. There were deliveries to direct, clothes to deliver, decorations to make and display, and a hundred things to clean in every room. A small group of servants were selected to cater the event, and given finer clothes for it--not out of generosity, but merely to reflect on the wealth of the family. Devon, to her great dismay, was among them.

"Fucking hate these events," she groused to Ronnie as they worked to prepare for the ball. "Far too much work for a spoiled girl's evening."

Ronnie never wore his proper clothing, half of it was always off or on wrong or dirty. But when he was forced to ware the fancy clothes there wasn't much he could do about it. But it was so stuffy and uncomfortable. At least it was for only one night.

The Ball was tomorrow so they were already having to finish setting up and they were going to have to work through the night to get it done. "Oh she's not all that bad..." He mumbled as he shined one of the round tables. "I mean this whole ball thing is stupid. Who in their right mind would want to dress up and mingle with snobby rich people and talk about how much the princess has grown..." He starred into his reflection in the shiny wood before he moved to another spot. The one thing Devon and Ronnie had in common was hating things. "She's 14... Not even of age yet.."

Colt popped up from the ground where she had been scrubbing a spot for the last 10 minutes, "I would love to dress up and have everyone tell me how pretty I am!" She laughed lightly. She hadn't been picked to be in the staff to be at the ball, even though she really wanted to be.
"You are lucky you get to go. I have to work in the kitchen that night..."

"The kitchens would be preferable." Devon reached for a pile of soft, rich linen tablecloths and shook one out in a fan of crimson fabric. "It's bad enough having a family of five treat you like dirt--imagine having dozens of people doing it. It's horrible. So many stuck-up rich people looking down on you and yelling at you for not having the right wine and stupid things like that." She shook her head before tossing the tablecloth over Ronnie's freshly-cleaned table. "And it'll go on for hours and hours."

"And when the night is finally over you have to tuck the family into bed and see everyone leaves and then clean up the mess.." Ronnie grumbled, moving onto the next table with his damp rag. He stepped over Colt as he went, who had just gone back to scrubbing her spot.

"Either way I would like it better then the kitchen... Most of the food here is too fancy and makes me feel ill just from the smell." She sighed heavily as the spot finally vanished. She stood back up and glanced around. The floor was spotless, she had been working on it for days.

"What's worse is that if something goes wrong, in even the tiniest of ways, we get punished later on for embarrassing the family.." Ronnie growled. "Vincent loves this crap. And he loves his sister.. He's been going on and on and on for days.."

"I've seen servants get publicly punished for screwing up," Devon added. She grimaced at the memory of the young man being slapped across the cheek by a nobleman, his skin splitting open from a fine, sharp ring. His crime had been simply moving too slowly and getting in the way--supposedly.

And of course Vincent loved these things. She barely knew him and could imagine him dressed in his most flattering finery, courting young women and dancing and blending into the crowds of nobles with ease. "At least the young prince won't abuse us. One of hundreds."

"I have never been abused by Victoria. Teased maybe... But she is like Vincent mostly," Ronnie mused as he stopped working to stretch his back.

"I haven't meat her to be honest..." Colt said, "I barely see any of the royal family besides Prince William... He asks me to do his chores a lot. I catch him starring at me, but he still hasn't laid a hand on me..." She spoke as if this was natural and was a bit shocked to see Ronnies shocked stare at her.

Devon paused in unfolding another tablecloth to look at Colt. "That's . . . probably not good," she said slowly. "He abuses everyone most of the time. I don't know what he's doing, but that just sounds wrong." She flicked the cloth over another table, smoothed its surface, and sighed heavily. The whole ball was filling her with dread, and William's odd behavior wasn't helping.

Colt shrugged lightly, what more could she ask for? She wasn't getting abuse by anyone at the moment. The head maid yelled at her from time to time for messing up. But she couldn't complain, everything had been fine since she was wiped. She still had pain from that and often had to change her blouse from the scabs bleeding on her back.

"He asks me a lot of questions though... Like where I come from, who are my family.. I give him generic answers." Colt started to explain before the large door to the ball room opened and startled her into silence. She relaxed when she saw that it was just Vincent coming in, and not anyone that would get mad cause she wasn't actively working right that second.

The young prince walked over to the group with a pleasant smile on his face. "Ello, I just heard who was working the ball tonight!" He said happily. "Try and have a good time!"

Ronnie groaned loudly and rolled his eyes.

Devon gave Vincent a disbelieving look. "You honestly expect us to enjoy ourselves while running around taking care of a million strangers and your family?" she asked. "If we all manage to get out of there without being beaten, I'm going to consider that a good time." She turned back to her work with a little shake of her head. Vincent was sympathetic, but he seemed to be remarkably out of touch at times. It came with the position, she supposed.

"If you smile it will help you," the brown haired teen stated firmly, "my parents love it when you all smile, specially at guests. They would be more likely to forgive you for imagine faults.."

"I would smile, but I don't get to go." Colt said with a little bitterness, crossing her arms over her chest.
Vincent chuckled lightly and grabbed Ronnie by the hand, yanking on him to try and make him dance to the music in his head.
"OH NO!" Ronnie shouted, trying to not dance with his friend with out hurting him to get away. But Vincent just laughed, "maybe I could get one of the dutchess's do dance with you Ronnie~"

Ronnie finally yanked away, "I don't want to dance with any dutchess," he hissed.
"Oh perhaps a duke?" Vincent laughed, putting his hands on his hips and watching Ronnie turn bright red before spinning around and storming out of the ball room.

Devon watched Ronnie storm out of the ballroom. "Well," she said lightly, "I guess I learned something about him today." She looked across the room, at a dozen more tables that needed to be polished. "And now we have to do the idiot's work for him because he got upset. Great."

Vincent laughed lightly, "I was trying to get him out of the room because William is looking for him, and this will be the first place he will look." He bent over and grabbed the rag that Ronnie had tossed onto the ground when he left. He moved over to the next table and started to slowly polish it. He wasn't very good at it, though he thought he was.

Colt shook her head a little, "I know for a fact that guy likes girls- what are you doing??" She asked the prince who just smiled at her.

Devon pressed her tongue into her cheek as she watched Vincent attempt to polish the tables. The effort was more of a token than anything; they weren't getting much shinier.

"You're being too delicate," she sighed, grabbing another rag and going for the table beside Vincent's. She set to polishing the wood, swipes fast and firm, leaving it smooth and clean in much less time. "As for Ronnie--I don't even know what goes on in that guy's head. I wouldn't be surprised if he was inclined the other way. I try not to think about it."

"I just teas him about it because he gets so upset. I am sure I will pay for it," Vincent watched Devon shine the table before trying to do it as she was doing it. After a coupe moments he stopped and his table still wasn't looking any better.
"You are all amazing. I didn't think it would be that hard."

"Or you're just dumb," Colt teased, grabbing the cloth from the princes hand and shining the table he was working on before, quickly making more progress then him.

"I could play a violin and compose music all day, speak many different languages, and beat anyone at a game of chess... Clean I am not so good at," He was still smiling though he felt like less of a human. He was always saddened by the fact that he felt like he didn't experience life like a normal person.

"Well, that's a lot of things none of us are allowed to do, so." Devon didn't bother hiding the tinge of bitterness in her voice. It was hard to feel sad that someone couldn't clean when he was allowed to do so many other things on top of being treated with basic respect. She finished the table and threw a tablecloth over it, movements now stiffer with tension.

Vincent could tell Devon was a little bitter about the whole thing and looked at the ground. He didn't mean it like that. Though he enjoyed playing the violin, he wad forced to learn everything else. He didn't really think himself so different from his friends. He was a slave in his own way, told what he could and couldn't do, how to act, who to talk to, what to ware, what to say. He was in a different type of prison.

"I am sorry," He nodded his head a little, putting his hands behind his back and heading out of the room, quickening his pace as he got toward the door.

Colt sighed a bit and watched him leave. She felt bad that he felt bad, but at least they could get their work done faster.

Devon watched Vincent walk off. In spite of everything, she felt the first trickles of guilt settle in her belly.

Guilty. Because she made a prince feel bad.

"Damn it," she muttered under her breath as she set to work on the next table. There was no time for this. There was too much work to be done before the ball and Ronnie had fucked off to God knew where. Her focus needed to be on being a perfect servant, not on whether the prince felt bad after getting in the way.

Ronnie came back to finish helping not long after William swung by to see how everything was coming alone. He made snide remarks about the work they had done before leaving and telling another female servant to go with him.

Ronnie silently helped finish the work, glaring at Colt when she tried to speak to him. They worked until the early hours of the morning to get everything finished. They only have a few hours of sleep before having to get back up and prepare for the day. Ronnie got pinned with the task of helping Vincent get ready and Colt went to the kitchen to start preparing the food.

Quests would start arriving in a matter of ours. All servants not in the fancy clothes could not be seen. So Colt was doomed to stay in the kitchen all night.