The Alpha Prince's Purchased Maid
Chapter 43: My Lady’s Unreasonable Command

Chapter 43: My Lady’s Unreasonable Command

“The king will be making his appearance with the Duchess Isabella so I thought that it would be best to present them with a gift that they would both admire. Someone close to Duchess Isabella gave me a valuable clue that the Duchess is very fond of a particular flower. Please have a look at this,” Lady Regina said as she held a small piece of paper towards me.

I slowly approached her and while keeping my eyes down, I carefully took the paper from her hand. The moment that my eyes lowered to take a look at the paper, I found out that it was actually a photograph of a flower. It’s mix of red and purple color along with the shape made it look unique. I had never seen a flower shaped like this before and perhaps that was why the Duchess was attracted to its exotic beauty.

“The flower is called Hermiosa and it can only be found in the wild. This special flower cannot be cultivated and must be picked from up in the mountain only. Unfortunately, I don’t have much time left because my meeting with the King and the Duchess is tomorrow. Surely, you can help me out with this, right?” she asked before she smiled sweetly at me again.

Although she phrased it as a question as if she was asking me for a favor, I knew that it was a command and that I didn’t have choice or a say in the matter. This was the command that she had chosen to give me as My Lady, and it was my responsibility to accept it.

“Yes, My Lady,” I replied as expected of me.

“Brilliant! I knew that I could count on you and that you would never disappoint me. Get me that flower and I will make sure that you will be rewarded. What about some new riding gears? You can use it when we go riding together...” Lady Regina suggested as she got up from her seat and approached me.

Before I could react, her hands clasped mind in between her much softer ones. Her hands felt soft, and she skin looked so fine. Her nails were long and shapely with beautiful light pink nail polish. These are the hands of someone who had never done any labor work before in her life.

“I will do my best...” I whispered softly.

“I’m sure that you will. You should leave immediately. Sophie will lead you to the car,” Lady Regina said before she waved both of us away.

I followed Sophie hesitantly out of the room to the front of the palace where a large SUV car was waiting for us. Instead of getting in the car with me, Sophie shut the door to the back seat right after I got in. I turned around in panic to see her waving at me as the car quickly drove off. I was the only one in the car apart from the driver who was seated in the driver’s seat.

Where are we going?

“Umm...where are we headed?” I asked in a shaky voice.

“You’ll find out soon enough...” the driver replied emotionlessly.

The driver did not bother to make any conversation with me all along the silent and slightly awkward ride. I killed the time by looking out the window at the scenery that passed by outside. It was a while before we exited the walls of the palace and for the first time, I got to see the city beyond the palace walls.

Wow...

Everything looked so big and tall. The buildings all looked new with reflective glass in various shades of silver and blue. There were many tall skyscrapers, even taller than the city center from the town that I came from. There were many cars on the roads and many people were out and about dressed in colorful clothes that seemed very fashionable. The city was bustling with life and it’s busy and modern vibe contrasted with the medieval feel that I got from within the palace walls. It was like I had appeared in a completely different country and time dimension.

So, this is what the capital city of Locovia really looks like. My eyes widened at the sight. I didn’t get a chance to marvel at the exciting sight for too long because the car quickly took a sharp turn that led us up the mountain. After that, the entire way was uphill, very bumpy, and there was nothing except for wild grass and tall trees on either side of the narrow road.

“We’re here,” the drive announced as the car came to a stop.

I looked out the car’s window at the forest in front of me. There was nothing else but trees of various sizes everywhere. The car door opened in front of me, and I came face-to-face with the driver.

“Get out,” the driver ordered curtly.

I quickly got out of the car before he would yank me out. The driver did not seem like a friendly man at all, and I found his stare very cold and intimidating.

“Umm...what am I supposed to do here?” I asked in a timid voice.

There’s nothing here but the forest. Am I supposed to go in there and look for the flower that Lady Regina mentioned?

“Find the flower for the lady. I’ll be back to pick you up at sundown,” the man said before he climbed back into the car.

I blinked in confusion at the suddenness of his action. A lump formed in my throat as I stared at him. The man didn’t even spare me a glance before he closed the car’s door and drove off. My feet were glued to the spot as the reality of my situation sank in.

I’m left all alone in this place.

I turned around and looked at the vast forest that seemed to surround me. It wasn’t like I was scared of the wild. Luckily, I was quite used to the wild because the orphanage was located out of the city and was surrounding by the woods. However, the woods back where I came from wasn’t a large and deep forest quite like the one in front of me. The tall trees with their dark green leaves looked scary and spooky.

--To be continued...