“What, your country can’t send anyone worthy?”

“This is just an insult to the country of Commorda!”

“Why are you here!?”

Steven looked at the woman being scolded, that had been blocked and forced to come to a secluded part of the capital Rangcew, in Commorda.

She was by herself with absolutely no help from anybody and Steven was hunched into a tiny corner of a shop. It had been cold the night before, and he still hadn’t eaten.

He felt like his world had already ended…

Before he could get into more of his depressed thoughts about how he got to this point in his life, he finally heard the woman, covered with a veil, speak. “Even if you refuse to accept it, I am still the Princess of Melya, therefore I have reason! Now leave me!”

 

Steven had heard of her before, she was apparently quite a nasty person…

“You have no guards here! What are you going to do to the four of us?”

“Ah, men, haven’t we done enough? You never said we’d touch her!”

“Shut up, Freddie!”

Freddie!?

Steven cringed to moving and feeling terrible to stretching his limbs.

Freddie was doing something stupid again!

For a small moment, Steven stopped, wondering why he should even save his brother when he was no longer part of the family anymore…He had been disowned now.

He was no longer part of the Otter family…

 

Just as Steven was in thoughts, not really paying attention, he heard noise and looked up to see the Princess using martial arts…It was obvious to see though that three of them were trying to detain her, which put her at a disadvantage.

Continuing now to get up, still in a bit of shock, he watched as the fight was practically one sided…It wasn’t once sided on the men’s side though, it was hers! She was like a professional!

Freddie!

Steven took a limp step and continued to his lost brother just standing there, while the ‘Princess’ dealt with the other three.

But before Steven could get there, the Princess then swiped her foot and tripped Freddie over.

“Wait, stop!” Steven yelled.

He saw the veiled woman stop and turn to him.

“A witness?”

Steven stopped for a moment, he was, yes.

“What are you going to do, being a witness to four men attacking a Princess?”

…What could he do? He was now a beggar…A starving beggar…

 

Steven…He used to not care about this stuff. He used to be the one that would…

Lowering his head, he remembered all the times that he had had put Cid into this type of problem.

“Nothing? Just like everyone else? Nothing?”

Hearing her words, Steven felt like there was something in them that he just…What is it?

He wasn’t able to pinpoint what exactly he heard from her voice…Probably because Cid hadn’t sounded like that.

Cid had been much stronger, even when being beaten…

That’s right, this Princess was safe and sound, doesn’t that mean Cid had it worse…

The Princess suddenly pulled on Freddie’s hair, making him yell out.

Once again, she had Steven’s attention. “Let him go!”

“Why?”

Steven stepped forward, “He’s…My brother.”

The Princess looked from one to the other, then Freddie called out to him. “Steven!? Is that you?”

Steven felt like doing anything for his brother right now would be the biggest thing he’d done in ages. If he could just keep Freddie from danger, perhaps he could find some forgiveness in it, maybe it might make him feel better…

Living like this, where he had nowhere to go, where he felt like he deserved this, was like hell.

Falling to his knees, wanting to show that he was sincere, Steven bowed his head, “Your highness. If there’s just one thing I can do, it is to help my brother out of this predicament. I’ll do it! I’ll…I’ll take his place. Please let him go…”

The silence was overwhelming to both Steven and Freddie.

 

The veil covering her face didn’t give anything away, she didn’t move…Until she finally let go of Freddie…

“Fine…I’ll let him go and not touch him. I won’t come back to finish what I started if…You come with me.”

Steven bowed his head more, in a defeated way. What did it matter?

If it saved his brother, what did it matter if he suddenly disappeared from the planet?

It didn’t matter…

“Then I will come with you.” Steven stated easily. He’d already accepted his fate.

He was probably going to die soon anyway, whether he leave here or stay. He was on the brink of starvation and felt dizzy with want for water.

Why had his father disowned him?

“Get up.”

“Wait no! Steven!”
Steven started to get up, then looked at Freddie with a small smile. “Make sure to get your cuts looked at.”

“Steven!”

 

 

Steven woke up, whether it was because of the dream or because of his head hitting the side of the cage, he didn’t know.

He’d already forgotten what he dreamed about while he sat there.

He’d been in the cage now for…Well, he wasn’t sure…

The wedding had happened two days before he was captured by the Princess, and on that very day she was true to her word and left Rangcew.

The Princess had not spoken a word to him…In fact, after getting back to her entourage, if you could call it that, she had disappeared, and he had not seen her since.

 

After a while of aimlessly looking out of a crack in the wall around him, he finally heard someone talking, “We are far enough from the border now, time to change transportation.”

Without further delay, more sun came into his part of the carriage and Steven closed his eyes to how bright it was.

“What is she going to do with him?”

“Shh, it’s best not to ask!”

Steven was quiet, watching the cage open and bringing him out forcefully, only letting him go after they hit the ground.

“Let’s go!”

 

Steven watched as it seemed all of them left in haste, leaving him and another there, right in the middle of the dirt road.

What change of transportation? Where was the other carriage then? What was going on?

Seeing the other person, who seemed like a maid, just in slightly worse attire then his own maids at his old residence, look at him, he looked back. She had been the one to give him food and water on this trip…In fact, he was sure he was no longer in Commorda now, they were probably now in the country that the Princess was from. This maid was nice though, just looking at her made him feel slightly better from when he was alone. Especially since she was so pretty…Her auburn hair was put into a bun, having a few strands lose, she had lovely green eyes and she was quiet. He already thought that she’d be snatched up pretty quick by a man simply because she was so pretty.

 

Steven, on the other hand, his long hair that he used to look after was all matted…His hair needed to chopped off now, it was that bad. He had put so much effort into looking after his hair all this time, only for this to happen. What was the point of it all!? Just another thing that he had wasted his life away with. So much wasted life…

Otherwise, he used to think he was handsome, but now, dirty and smelly…Standing next to someone so pretty, Steven lost a part of his soul. There was no point on ever trying to coax this girl, since she’s seen him at his worst!

“Your name?” She asked suddenly.

“Steven.” That was easy, he can do this!

“You may call me Celeste.”

Steven nodded his acknowledgement as she walked towards him with a small knife, startling him slightly.

He was let out of his binds, just some rope around his hand, and then she said, “Come with me.”

Steven slowly got up, thinking with complex questions, but did as he was told. He didn’t want Freddie to get into any trouble, and he already didn’t really care much about his problems so…What was wrong with just doing as he was told?

So, he followed after the pretty maid, who seemed to be walking on quite secluded narrow path.

The path had seen better days, that was for sure, but…He wasn’t very observant right now…Who cares…

 

Following silently after the maid, who spoke as much as he did, Steven pushed himself so that he wouldn’t collapse.

He had not been hurt while in that cage, but he was mistreated in other ways. He was dirty, extremely dirty and they had not let him out of the cage, instead a bucket had been there for him to do his deeds.

He had also not eaten enough, so he continued to lose weight, starting from before meeting the Princess.

“Have you been to Melya before?”

Looking up at the unexpected question, Steven paused briefly at her very pretty face, “…No…”

The maid sighed. “Being here won’t be easy, many servants have left. You’ll have to do things that you’ve probably never done before…”

 

Steven sighed, it must be his karma for doing what he did to Cid, who had become their maid, even though Cid was in fact married into the family to become his stepbrother?

It’s fate…

He’ll probably have to slave away, without pay, to make up for what he had done. It was almost like the Princess saw through his misdeeds and had become his executioner or something.

Where was she anyway? It was just him and the maid here…

“Where did she go?” Steven asked, thinking that she had been on the carriage still, that had left them some time ago now. Maybe she’s going elsewhere to talk to someone else?

“She’s already here.” Was all the maid said.

 

Steven saw that no more conversation was to be had and continued on, to finally see the smallest castle he’d ever seen…

It looked old and broken, but it was indeed a castle.

It was made of stone and had two very small high towers.

“It was the first castle in Melya.” The maid stated. “Actually, I wouldn’t be surprised if this was the first idea of a castle. I believe this was made this small simply because they wanted to see if it would work…”

Steven nodded, continuing to follow her.

“You aren’t to enter the stair way, ever…Whatever you may need or want, it’s all downstairs! I will take you to your room.”

“What’s upstairs?” Steven asked.

“Probably a broken bone for you if you ever go there…” The maid openly stated.

“Is there traps?” Steven asked. Wouldn’t that be interesting!? A castle full of traps! “Did they leave traps there too, when they first did the castle?”

The maid frowned at him, “No.”

“Then how do I get…Oh.”

That’s right! The Princess had known martial arts or something! She would be the one giving him the broken bones. Wanting to slap himself, Steven felt embarrassed…But it wasn’t the first time. He also thought that it probably wouldn’t be the last…

 

“Where do you sleep?” Steven asked her suddenly, making her turn to him in question.

“Where else would I sleep?”

So, it was another obvious question…

Steven felt like he’d made two silly mistakes very quickly. “Sorry. I’m not the brightest gem on the bracelet.”

The maid, once again, stared at Steven, “…What are you talking about?”

His father told him often that he didn’t think enough. He made mistakes often…

He had been brought up to be a businessman, so that he could take over the family jewellery crafting business, but no matter how much he tried, he always lacked something…

Steven shook his head, not wanting to admit his faults further.

It really was like he woke up after being put into that dungeon in the palace. He woke up to so much that he felt like his life was meaningless…Nothing…

The woman beside him watched the man become defeated and didn’t know what to do.

 

“Again, everything you will need is downstairs. You can help me with the laundry, help with making the food. We will have to go pick the vegetables and fruit ourselves…”

“How many servants are left then…” Steven asked, thinking this was a lot of work.

The maid once again looked at him, “…There’s nobody.”

“Nobody else!? Just us!?” Steven was a bit speechless, “She’s a Princess!”

Sighing and shaking her head, the maid just kept walking, “Everyone knows that the Princess of Melya is a nobody, it’s common knowledge.”

Steven walked with her, stumbling slightly but still really confused, “A Princess living like this! That’s not normal!”

Looking up at the maid, Steven then asked her, “Is she that bad?”

“That bad?” The maid asked. “At what?”

 

Steven shrugged, “Well, I heard she was cruel.”

The maid went quiet for a moment, “Are you asking if living alone here is because of cruelty?”

That didn’t make sense, nothing did! A Princess was someone living in a castle and had people to tend to her every need…If she was cruel, how can people walk out on her but not have someone else take their place? What was going on here!?

“Why do you care of the treatment of another countries princess?” The maid asked curiously.

Steven bowed his head in defeat. She was right, why did anything matter? Why had he suddenly felt like he was more active since coming here? Asking questions and being curious…

Weird…

Maybe seeing the Princess treated so poorly…

Steven couldn’t deny it, the fact that another was treated as such made his life almost bearable.

There was someone probably worse off than him, so what right did he have to feel like life was meaningless?

But it was…He had worked to become an heir, to only be dispelled from the family. He’d worked hard to help bring up his little brother, probably to never to see him again…Cid…That was probably his biggest downfall…How he had treated Cid and for so long…

 

“Feeling sympathetic?”

Steven looked at the maid and boldly stated, “Yes, she’s probably a better person then I am, and she’s a Princess. She should be looked after properly!”

He stared at the pretty face as it swallowed and looked away.

She looked…What the!

Why did she look like she was going to cry!?

Oh no, what did he do!? What did he say again?

“I’m sorry!” He said. Actually, his voice sounded different, it sounded…Normal. Had he been talking different lately? Suddenly his lungs were filling up with air, and he was talking louder…

“Don’t worry yourself. I am of no worry, it is just weird to find someone who…”

Steven put his hands up, “It’s selfish reasons. It’s because I’ve…”

Stopping and dropping his hands, Steven went quiet. What was he doing!?

 

“Because you?”

Steven shook his head, he didn’t want to say anymore.

He was so sick and tired of only thinking of himself. Look where that brought him! He no longer even had a family!

He wasn’t even in his own country now! Why the hell was he bringing up himself for!? Talking to the maid like they’d been friends!

Wasn’t he a servant now? Wasn’t he going to be working like…Like a slave!?

He really should learn his place and accept this type of fate that he deserved!

“Why are you like this?”

Looking up at the maid, Steven looked back down, “Just tell me what I need to do.”

The woman frowned but went ahead and showed him her normal routine…

 

***

 

The routine consisted of jobs that Steven had never really done before. He’d been quite lucky, he thought often while doing all the things that he had gotten servants to do prior to being put into a dungeon.

He knew nothing about these jobs, nothing! He never knew how hard it was to just wash something clean. He never understood the reason why food had tasted how it tasted, it just tasted like it did!

Some food has herbs and spices, some salt and pepper some all of them, but…He didn’t understand how they were all put together.

Cleaning, mopping…Shining the brass, cutting wood…Cooking, laundry, cleaning…Mopping…Picking and cleaning vegetables…

 

For a week, a routine started but not once did he see the Princess.

He thought he would be tortured or something but…

There seemed to be no room that was full of blood and smelt like died bodies. His imagination had truly run wild with what he may have found here…Only to find nothing at all…

It was confusing that there seemed no evidence to state the monster that the Princess apparently was. He had been sure that he’d find chains hanging from the ceiling and a blooded whip…If nothing else, he’d been sure to find at least those two things but…No…Nothing…It was instead, quite boring…

 

They had cooked for her, the princess, and the plate would disappear, but most of the time he would eat on his own. The maid was allowed upstairs, so she was the one that took the plate to the princess. She was also the one to bring down any clothes or any left-over dishes. She did everything upstairs all by herself, with no complaints, so Steven could only do without her sometimes…

She scampered off every now and again but would return to help him do other chores…

They rarely talked, having gotten used to the quiet, and Steven was often left to his thoughts.

He’d gotten used to feeling down in the dumps, like he deserved all this and much more. He’d left Cid in an abandoned blacksmith, with no way of escape once. He’d hurt Cid more times than he can count on his fingers! He just accepted this, all of it, like he was supposed to be there!

Not once had he even tried to run away…There was something he was grateful for though…As the days had gone by, he was feeling better and finally gaining more weight…He wasn’t just skin and bones anymore…He also had more strength and more stamina, which only meant that he was on the path of getting better from those days of hardly a bite to eat in days…