The Forgotten Princess Rose
Chapter 111

Chapter 111: Chapter 111

Rose couldn’t help seeing the difference in status between them. She was his maid and he was her employer. Just by watching from the sidelines, Rose saw that though the soldiers sometimes joked around with Zayne near the time for dinner, they didn’t ignore the difference in status.

She felt comfortable around Zayne but was still mindful of his position. It was easy not to feel weird around Zayne as his maid since he didn’t make her feel like a servant. Rose hadn’t experienced some of the stories Janice told her while working for Zayne which she appreciated.

"Can you tell me what caused you to panic?" Zayne asked, needing to know if someone troubled her or if it was something common.

Rose hesitated at first as it was nothing to her but she did not want to lie to Zayne. "Some of the soldiers have been staring. Some of it is fine as they must be curious about why I am here but others stare and I know what it means. They have not approached me."

"Good. No one has to lose their eyes today-"

"You can take away someone’s eyes as well?" Rose exclaimed, stepping away from Zayne. How much of her body did she need to fear losing? "That should not be possible. How are you able to hurt someone in such a way? I have trouble cutting fruit so I cannot see myself hurting someone that way. I have failed."

This piqued Zayne’s curiosity. "You wanted to stab Graham?"

"And many of his customers who wandered near my room but you saw that I could not do anything. I do not have it in me to kill anyone. I would forever be haunted by taking a life and there is already too much that haunts me. Do you get nightmares?" Rose asked.

"Sometimes," Zayne admitted. "It will get to everyone at some point."

"I hope Graham doesn’t show up in your dreams. If he ever does, you can knock on my door to wake me. I will stay awake with you. I miss home. Your home," Rose corrected her mistake. "I could sit on the steps to look out at the sky. I cannot see the sky from my window as something above the window is blocking my view."

"You can come out to go on the balcony. I will not stop you," said Zayne.

"But I do not want to bother you. I think you have not been getting enough sleep. I can hear you when you are looking at maps and whatever papers you have out on the table inside. You should rest more," Rose said, fearing he might drop one day from exhaustion.

"I have been sleeping quite well," Zayne replied, amused that Rose had been paying attention to his sleep. He had believed it was one-sided.

"You have not. When I wake in the middle of the night, I hear you. Unless someone has been sneaking inside," Rose said, worried.

"No one comes into our room at night. From tonight onwards, if you hear that I am awake, come out of your room. Maybe you are hearing noise from someone else’s room. Should we make a bet?" Zayne asked, holding out his hand to Rose.

Rose didn’t trust making a bet with Zayne. "No. You will make noise and then go to sleep before I walk out. Then I will owe you. For the sake of your soldiers, you should rest. What if you were to become sick?"

"There is a doctor among the soldiers. Since the little bunny is concerned-"

"I am not concerned," Rose replied, but then bit her lip as she was concerned. "I will not be concerned for you anymore since you take it as a game. Should you faint, I will not run to your side."

"I don’t believe that. It is not that long ago that you shared that you cared for me as I care for you. You wouldn’t be so heartless. Also, I must be concerned about you not sleeping. With how hard you work, you must rest," Zayne said, noting how unhappy she was that her sleep was now questioned. "It is something we must both work on."

"You can wake me when you have trouble sleeping. No matter the time," Zayne offered.

Rose wanted to have someone to speak to at the late hours she remained awake but didn’t want to bother Zayne or anyone else. Zayne was already not getting enough sleep though he didn’t want to admit it.

When they reached the first floor, Rose saw Mary speaking with Finn but did not approach them as she did not know what to say yet. Instead, she walked outside with Zayne to pick up what she placed on the lines Mary had helped her to tie.

"Must we dance at the festival? I do not know how to," Rose said, using the festival once more to distract herself. "I don’t think I want to dance."

"Then you can just walk around and buy what you need. There should be plenty of food for you to try. Where are your ribbons?" Zayne questioned, watching as Rose tried to fight against the wind to keep her hair in place.

"They are inside. They are not helpful against the wind when it is like this or maybe my braids are bad. I had to teach myself," Rose said, moving her hair over her shoulder to check the long braid.

Rose looked up at Zayne who was unfazed by the wind. It was almost like the wind loved Zayne so it was not troubling his hair. There was never a time when Rose thought she would witness the wind being kind to a handsome man.

"The wind must be in love with you. Your hair is not blowing around like mine. At least it dried your covers and the shirts you wore during the ride here. Rather than the wind, I would love for the rain to love me. I want it to fall a little so I can enjoy looking out from the window," said Rose.

"I am getting the feeling that you used to run around in the rain," Zayne said. A little flower like her would enjoy it.

Rose smiled since she was guilty. "It was fun and helpful for days when there wasn’t enough water to bathe in the brothel. I just stood in one spot to enjoy it while others ran around. I was called crazy for a little while because of it."

"You have a special way of enjoying the little things in life. It would make others see things in a new light," Zayne said as he moved to help Rose take down the blankets.

"When you don’t have money, you must find other ways to enjoy life. I can hardly wait for tomorrow to see the town. There might be many things I want to buy but I must hold myself back. I only need to get something for Janice as a thank you for all that she has done. I already have a dress that I can wear," said Rose.

"You will need a mask. I have asked that we cover our faces like a masquerade ball. It might help us to not stand out as outsiders. Hopefully, it will not be hard to find you a bunny mask," Zayne teased Rose.

Rose didn’t mind what was said as she was more interested in what was a masquerade ball. The festival needed to come faster now as there was much for Rose to see and learn.