With his hands in his pockets, Theodore walked in the shadows without anyone’s notice. He was curious as to who would have informed Queen Morganna about Lucy and the elderly maid’s frequent visits to each other.
Instead of using the corridors, Theodore walked on the top of the roofs of the castle, jumping from one place to another without moving a single plate of brick from its place. He then came to stand in the patio of the Queen’s room who seemed to have someone in her room.
“You did a wonderful job today. I am sure Lady Samara is more than pleased that you have been watching over her daughter this closely,” stated Queen Morganna. “Truly my granddaughter had turned her worried with the way she has been behaving.”
“It is my duty to protect the princess, milady,” the maid’s voice sounded familiar and Theodore, who was hiding behind the large wall wondered why.
“It is good to see that I assigned at least one decent maid to her. As promised, you shall be rewarded for this. Doesn’t it feel wonderful?” Queen Morganna chuckled.
“Yes, my Queen,” the maid deeply bowed.
“You can leave now and make sure Lucy doesn’t do anything she is not supposed to do. At least until she gets married,” the Queen dismissed the maid by waving her hand before turning to look at the fireplace that crackled unusually louder than usual.
The maid left the Queen’s room with a satisfied smile on her lips, heading towards the servants quarters so that she could now have a sound sleep. But before the maid could reach her room, someone placed their hand on her mouth and pulled her to another isolated place of the castle.
The maid turned alarmed, trying to flail her arms and trying to get away from the stranger who had dragged her before releasing her into a dark corner of the castle. She turned around to face the person, ready to shout for help before her eyes fell on Theodore.
“Y-you? What do you think you are doing?” It was one of Lucy’s favourite maid Amice.
Theodore offered the maid a smile, “My apologies if I startled you. I wanted to talk.”
Talk? The maid looked confused at Theodore while her heart continued to beat quickly. “You could have just asked me. What is it that you want to speak about?”
Theodore should have known this was from where the information was leaking into the Queen’s ears. “I was wondering how you were doing because of what happened to Ruby.”
A flash of guilt crossed the maid’s face and she pursed her lips. “We are all trying to cope with it as best as we can.”
“I feel terrible for you and the others. She was a good woman, someone who was not only dear to Lady Lucy but also you, wasn’t she?” questioned Theodore.
The maid couldn’t meet Theodore’s eyes and she looked away, nodding her head in agreement to Theodore’s words.
“You must be very sad. You should make sure to drink water to replace the lost ones,” Theodore advised her. “Poor Ruby. I was hoping to chat with her about something today, but it seems like I was short on luck. To think that we are one day alive and the next day we aren’t,” he shook his head while clicking his tongue.
“Yes, that is right. I have a lot of work tomorrow and should sleep early,” said Amice, ready to take her leave as she started to feel uncomfortable.
“Oh yes,” Theodore nodded his head. “I was hoping I could mourn the woman’s death along with you. She was after all, close to you and the princess, wasn’t she? How long has it been since you started working in the castle.”
Amice gave him a tight smile, “Must be since the princess was small. I must really go,” she said, noticing the daunting way Theodore watched her. When she was about to leave, Theodore asked,
“How much money did Queen Morganna offer you to tail and report what Lucy and Ruby does together? Or was it Lady Samara?”
The maid turned worried by Theodore’s words and feeling the fear crawl up her spine. She turned around, ready to run back to the servant’s quarters when Theodore pulled her arm and pushed her against the cold wall. When she opened her mouth, ready to scream, Theodore said,
“Scream and you will not have a tongue to talk with.”
Amice looked at Theodore in fear and her heart started to pound against her chest, almost as if it would jump out of her throat with the way Theodore’s smile and sympathy had fallen down from his face.
“W-what do you want from him?” asked Amice and Theodore’s hold on the maid’s neck tightened.
“What I want? There are a lot of things that I want,” replied Theodore before taking a step closer to the girl and smelling fear radiating from her. “I am surprised you would sell out your fellow maid whom you grew up under for a mere number of coins.”
“I-It was m-my intention. I d-didn’t mean to do it,” she tried to shake her head.
“You do understand that it is because of you that an innocent soul was sacrificed today. You were such a good friend and person, what happened to you?” questioned Theodore, his eyes watching the girl who looked frightened.
“It was L-Lady Samara who wanted to keep an eye. I didn’t know she would kill Ruby for it,” blurted the maid and Theodore only clicked his teeth.
“I don’t know why, but I find it hard to believe. Greed changes everyone doesn’t it?” Theodore asked her.
“Let’s take that quality that you have been infected with. It wouldn’t be good to have you infect the princess.”
Amice’s eyes widened and she pleaded, “Please, please! I didn’t mean to hurt anyone, I was doing what the lady said was good for Lady Lucy.”
Theodore nodded his head before letting go of the maid’s neck from his hold. The maid was about to release a sigh of relief when Theodore said,
“Tell me how the after life is,” and he snapped her head.
