Esper wiped the sweat that formed on her forehead from all the cleaning she had been doing in the stuffy rooms. She was trying to hold off on cleaning the dungeons as long as she could. She wished she could just not do it, but she knew better.

Her brother’s chambers were deplorable. Their floors had their drinking cups everywhere, along with their clothes. The servants would usually be the ones to clean the rooms, but her father and brothers made sure it was only her doing the task.

Changing their bed sheets was the most horrid part. She did not want to know what the stains they sometimes had in their beds were. They went to the taverns all the time. Esper didn’t see why they just could keep their ‘fun’ there. The king never said a word, though, so it wasn’t like they would stop. Reputation was a big thing to the king, though, so it didn’t make much sense for the king to allow this when everyone knew what the princes were doing.

Esper sighed as she made Mallick’s bed. She was finally done with everything except the dungeons. Her body felt hot and sticky from all the work she had done and exerted her body. She just wanted to sleep.

She knew she had to head down to the dungeons now. She knew there were more cleaning supplies down where the dungeons were, so she didn’t need what she had in her hands currently. Esper felt her stomach twist with nerves as she made her way down many flights of stairs. The further she went down, the dimmer the daylight became.

The halls were now lit with candles evenly spread out against the wall. Esper kept her head up as she saw guards up ahead by the doors leading to the dungeon.

Her skin went from warm and sweaty to feeling cold with the hairs on the back of her neck standing. She felt like she was trapped in ice and slowly freezing to death the closer to the guards she walked.

The guards stood in their stiff positions with straight faces that were not allowed to break. They had to keep their character, or else they would lose their heads. Guarding the dungeons was one of the biggest responsibilities behind guarding the king. If you fail. You died screaming.

Esper approached them, trying to hold onto her brave face and not show fear in front of the guards. The guard’s eyes fell on her, and she straightened her posture.

“I’m here to clean the dungeons on Prince Malik’s orders.” She informed them.

One of the guards nodded, and they both moved to the side so Esper could get through the heavy door. Esper slowly walked in and felt a shiver go down her spine. She swallowed her nerves and went to retrieve the cleaning supplies.

The first cell she got to was one where a man had been executed a day or so ago. Her brother, Lake, claimed that the man had disrespected him. Esper guessed the man had not even truly disrespected Lake or that it was something very minor, like forgetting something. Lake usually just looked for an excuse for an execution.

There were blood stains in the cell, so Esper guessed the poor man was probably beaten. She did not know who the man was. She had just heard about the incident from the whispers in the castle. She wondered if he had a family he was brutally taken from. If he had children. All because her brothers are bloodthirsty monsters.

Esper grabbed a cleaning brush and a soap bucket and began aggressively scrubbing the blood stains on the floor. She felt nauseous looking at the blood stains in the cell. The soap mixed them with the blood. The brush now had dark red on the bristles. She repeatedly splashed the brush in the water bucket and continued cleaning the floor and wall. Before she moved on to the next cell, she had to change the water, which was now a light red.

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Esper had to go outside in order to get more water along with soap. With the guards knowing she was cleaning, they always left her room by the door to go in and out as needed. She worked each cell cleaning blood from the floor and sometimes the chains in the ones that had them.

One of the cells had a prisoner occupying the one across from it. She felt like dying when he began to talk to her.

“Want to get on your knees for me, sweetheart?” He had a sickening grin on his face.

Esper ignored him and avoided eye contact. He may have been behind bars, but she was still scared. She had goosebumps on her arms, along with the hair standing up on the back of her neck.

When Esper was done, she quickly made her way to another cell away from that creepy man. He continued to whistle at her from down the hall. That seemed to annoy one of the other prisoners.

“Shut the fuck up!” a familiar voice yelled.

Esper followed the voice as she had one more cell to clean. When she approached the cell, she saw the one prisoner who was able to get under her father’s skin without being beheaded on the spot. Arius Tressilian.

When Arius saw her, his face flashed with recognition, and he slightly tilted his head. “Hey, weren’t you that maid in the room when I arrived here?”

“I- I don’t know what you were talking about.” She stuttered as she felt her face get warm.

“Hm. You’re the one Ceron has his eyes on. Are you his lover or something? His ugly ass face couldn’t face away from you.” Arius chuckled.

Esper blushed. “He’s just one of the knights. He isn’t allowed to have a lover.” She defended pathetically.

“Men are weak creatures when it comes to beautiful women,” Arius said, making Esper pause.

Did he just call me beautiful? Esper thought.

“Do you even know who Ceron truly is?” Arius almost seemed like he was taunting her. This confused her. Ceron was just a knight of the king.

“What are you talking about?” she asked, looking at Arius curiously.

“He isn’t who you think he is, love. He has been lying to you, so you don’t suspect who and what he is. The whole knight thing is a distraction.”

“And what about you?” Esper asked with an edge in her voice.

“I haven’t hidden who I am. I made it obvious, and I am sure Ceron told you who I am.”

“How do you even know him?”

“We go back, I guess you could say. That’s why I say he isn’t who he wants you to think he is.”

“I don’t believe you,” Esper whispered. It made her stomach drop to even think that Ceron had been lying to her.

“Whatever you say, love.” Arius chuckled.

Esper went quiet and tried to go faster so she could get out of there.

“So, who are you exactly? Just a regular maid?” he asked.

“Something like that.” She shrugged as she began to clean the cell across from him.

“You look like the king.” He mentioned that after getting a better look at her face,

Esper just ignored that comment and continued to clean. Arius continued to observe her, and she began to feel shy and kept her eyes on the floor.

“I know the king has a daughter, and you look just like him. So why is the princess down here cleaning these bloody walls?” Arius pondered as he observed her reaction.

Esper sighed. She was surprised he was able to figure it out so quickly despite her never admitting it. She didn’t see the point in denying it since he was only a prisoner. Her father wouldn’t care if a prisoner knew who she was. It would be insignificant in his mind. Especially if he planned on killing Arius.

“It doesn’t matter.” Esper sighed.

Arius was confused as to why the king’s daughter was down here doing dirty work, especially on those worn rags. If anything, he would have thought a princess would be married off by now as she looked like she was of age.

He watched her as she cleaned and noticed a big scar stretching from her shoulder to collar bone as her dress slightly sagged on her shoulder.

“That’s quite the scar.” Arius let out a whistle.

Esper froze. She immediately saw that her shoulder was exposed and immediately yanked the fabric back into place to cover it up. She cursed herself for not noticing.

“What happened?” He asked.

“Nothing.” She snapped.

Arius huffed. “If you say so, princess.”

Esper had finished, so she quickly got up and began to walk away when Arius called out to her.

Esper paused and looked at him.

“Come back and see me.”