“It’s ok, Madeline. We’ll talk to the Head Mistress and get you another job, no one has liked working for Lady Venus since she has arrived!”

Oh, Ok!

I nodded and once again accepted that I had become this ‘Madeline’.

It wasn’t like I was happy though, as too much has happened in so little time and I honestly did not think I’d lose a friend today.

“Just sleep on your usual bed then, don’t sit there and act all pitiful!”

If it had been a normal day, I would have gotten angry at the maid, but today, I let one of the other maids take me to a bed and tuck me in…

I liked her…

“Geez, don’t go wasting your time on her Cleo, she’ll expect it all the time!”

I didn’t like that maid though…

Putting my head in the pillow, I brought my legs up to my chest and tried to go to sleep.

It had been a while now that I felt insecure, that my life was not in my hands. Even as the Crowned Princess, I seemed to have accepted it and maybe even gotten a bit used to it…But now, I felt like there was no tomorrow and that it was dark and gloomy…

I didn’t know what would happen tomorrow, I didn’t know where I stood, and I realized…That I no longer had protection…

My thoughts were many, but I was still able to fall asleep, perhaps because I was drained or because I stopped questioning things that I couldn’t answer right now…

I only vaguely felt like I was dreaming yet continued to do what I was doing.

Walking around the garden, I heard Diane continue to nag me to return back as I’d been out in the sun long enough.

“Ah, don’t worry so much!”

“Princess…”

There it was, that defeated tone. I turned to her and gave her a flower, “Here, this Princess is giving you a flower, so you should feel special!”

“Princess! I can’t possibly…”

I smiled to the hands of Diane going up and waving in a sign of disapproval to my actions, then interrupted her, “You don’t want it?”

I turned around and started walking then, still holding the flower. I was waiting…Waiting for Diane to race up to me and start nagging again or try to appease me and state that she was wrong…But…

Stopping in my tracks, I didn’t hear anything…Nothing at all!

Turning around, I saw that I was now in front of the maid quarter closet, seeing buckets, mops, clothes and other things and frowned…

After a strange moment of wondering what was going on, I turned around, looking for Diane…

“Diane!?”

…But she was gone…

***

Life as a maid was different, I was up early, but I had to work almost straight away!

Strangely enough, we all changed our clothes due to the death of…Me. Usually the maid’s uniform was a light color, never to stand out against those of noble class. But now we were mostly in white or baby green.

Actually, it was really freaky how many people changed to mourning attire for me…Even the King had changed clothes and even looked heartbroken!

I never knew hey…I had no idea that so many would go to this extent…But, come to think of it…I was known as a Crowned Princess, so most of them probably had to do it whether they wanted to or not…

Even though I had turned into this ‘Madeline’, and that I was asked to work elsewhere, I was already working as the sun rose up into the sky.

Earlier, I had gone to the lavatory to put dirt on my face, to help prevent anyone from recognizing me but that idea seemed to have backfired and now I had dirty chores to do…

For a whole week, I had to succumb to this type of fate…Probably because I was dirty, they gave me dirty jobs…

Of course, I understood within a few hours that this ‘Madeline’ had been demoted from her rank and was now one of the lower maids once again. I suppose they were lenient, as I was able to get away from the vixen, I mean Madeline was able to get away from the vixen, so losing a rank for basically quitting, wasn’t too bad in my eyes!

Yet…What had really happened to Madeline then?

Did anyone not notice someone else taking her spot? Was she invisible or something? Certainly, there was something strange about this situation that someone was going to notice!

I really felt bad for the person that I had overtaken but…Nothing was happening…It truly was like she had fallen off from the face of the planet!

…It seemed obvious though, that a few maids had been changed from the vixen, so I’m glad I wasn’t the only one!

For this whole week, my mind was constantly coming up with ideas to get out of the palace, but most of those ideas had to be forgotten!

Not only that, but I also found out that Diane’s death was real and for a couple of days in this week I was put into a numbed state of loss…

What I figured, since it hit me so hard, was probably because I hadn’t accepted that she was really gone yet.

I couldn’t believe it though, I had even forgotten about Theo because of all these troubles!

What kept me going though, was the jobs weren’t anywhere near the vixen or weasel, so I was able to continue thinking of strategies, at least for now.

As…It seems that the wedding, that got postponed due to…My death…Was going to go ahead again soon.

I’ve had to do a few things for arranging for this marriage, but I’ve still been able to lose myself into my thoughts…

How am I to get out of the palace!?

I’ve done some research and maids seem to be in some type of service for five years. Now that I thought about it, Diane was allocated to me but had already worked in the palace for a year, so she had only a year left before she could have left this place!

If only…

Which puts me at another loss, because apparently ‘Madeline’ still had three years left of servitude before she could decide to leave the palace. If only I had been able to look around first and find out who was just about ready to leave!

But, of course, not long after I thought that I hit my head, thinking myself an idiot!

I wasn’t about to kill anyone, just so I could take their place!

Since then, I’ve been glad that there was at least one person that I could become…Because if I hadn’t been able to become Madeline, then what would have happened?

Would I have been thrown out of the palace?

…That…

Could that have happened? Did I just loss my best chance to leave?

To be honest, I still felt like I needed to find another identity, even though I probably have passed that point now! But, wouldn’t this ‘Madeline’ come back soon!? Yet, if she does come back and I get thrown out of the palace…Isn’t that something to be happy about?

…Nonetheless, I couldn’t keep worrying when I still had so much to think about!

Even though ‘Madeline’ had three years still to go, I wanted to leave the palace now!

So, not only was I trying to investigate and keep an eye out on a missing maid, I was looking as well for exits to the palace!

So busy!

A few more ideas had come to me, like that of coming to the palace by accident…That I could find some normal commoner clothing somewhere, and go up to a guard and state that I didn’t belong here, then state something like, I was with ‘my father’, or something, and had ‘gotten lost’. So, with that in mind, I could only attempt to do this when there is some type of gathering or meeting at the palace. If there was no man or someone to claim me, then the guards would immediately see my plan…But then…Would I be kicked out of the palace?

…To be honest, I was wondering a lot on ideas to leave, yet…Was it really that hard to get kicked out in the first place?

If I go up to a guard and punch him…What would he do? What about being lazy and not doing my chores? What if I chopped of a flower or two? Fall asleep in the garden?

But…Something did stop me from doing some of these acts and that was that there were obviously rules and then certain ways to get disciplined…

So…I could only move forward to find a better way to exit the palace without being dead or found out and taken back into the palace again!

The first gathering…Was the wedding…So, I did not completely disregard this idea, I just wasn’t able to use it yet!

Another idea was to attempt to be someone else, but I didn’t match anyone that I knew!

There were consorts and concubines, but I didn’t look like any of them, most of them being older…But then…I also remembered that they never leave the palace, so it was probably the worst idea I’ve had!

Many ideas were practically a flop, perhaps only usable to help me when the wedding is on, so I will only attempt to use it then and only if it suits better then anything else.

I had come up with the idea of dressing up as a man, maybe I could become a guard and learn which one goes out of the palace and use that but…I then remembered that I was in the inner court and that the inner court had many guards and that this idea might be just as stupid as the last!

If being in the inner court was such a problem, my next biggest problem was getting to the outer court, or whatever it was called!

The next idea came to me out of the blue, which was to go as far as to pretend that I was going to die…

They normally don’t like people dying in the palace for some reason, so would I get out of the palace if I drank some poison or something? Could I act it out instead?

Obviously, this type of idea needed extra work for it to be successful!

So…By the time the wedding was going to be held the next day, I had come to a few conclusions.

‘Madeline’ was not well off, she was low ranked and sometimes verbally abused by others. I desperately wanted to get out of the palace but wanted to make sure that if I do it, it works! I also found out in the last few days that I would most likely be killed, if I used my idea of stating that I was going to die…So, that idea was a flop! Honestly, why do they poke people with sticks and stuff when they are ‘dead’!?

Let’s see if the person’s really dead or not and stab them with a knife!

Really, I wished I had never gotten the idea in the first place, seeing all those lifeless corpses be treated like that made me vomit!

Oh…And the smell…It was terrible! Yuck!

Then, what I didn’t see with my own eyes, I had asked around about people that die, and this was the conclusion I came up with.

If I were to go as far as being taken out of the palace, I still wouldn’t get freedom, they would either wait ‘til I recover or kill me!

The next conclusion was that it would be difficult to get out of the palace pretending that I wouldn’t belong here on the wedding day. Not only was the ceremony where the vixen would be, meaning I might not even see the ceremony, but I wasn’t really prepared to become the vixen’s maid to get this chance…

Considering that the maid ‘Madeline’ was still missing, and that a couple of servants had asked to be demoted and serve elsewhere, I simply did not think that it was a good idea to work under her…Including that of the Prince that she was marrying.

I simply did not think that it would be worth having this one chance to leave, that I wasn’t sure about, and have the chance of losing my life in the process! Especially when I have this sinking feeling that the real Madeline has actually been killed…

So…I was coming up with ideas where I did not have to work for the vixen, but to be close to the ceremony and try to ‘get lost’ at some point…But that plan was still not complete…

Taking the small time that I had off, to quickly wonder closer to where I use to stay, I tried to find Theo.

Walking into the familiar area, hiding myself often in among the bushes, I couldn’t help but remember Diane.

Over there, she nagged at me for treating the Crowned Prince so indifferently…And there, Diane had laughed because I had attempted to climb a tree in my Princess attire…

Again, I wondered why she had suddenly died and felt unhappy that I still had no idea on what the reason was for her sudden death.

She really had been my only human friend. Someone that generally cared about her health and well being. She had wanted the best for me and the Crowned Prince, having talked a few times about our…Children…

On the two times that I had been sick, I remembered that she had stayed at my bed for nearly the entire time, making sure that I got better as soon as possible and…

Feeling a sense of loneliness envelope me once again, I closed my eyes and stopped any tears that threatened to slip down from my eyes.

I still had Theo…He’s still here…You’re not alone Oliver…

Taking out the small, silent noise container, I put it too my mouth, even though I was still partially hiding, and waited.

Hearing his bird whistle in reply, I knew that he was still here!

My god, I never knew how much I missed him!

I had thought about what I was going to do with Theo, yet the best idea I could come up with was to send him out for my father once again, at least then he wouldn’t get lost looking for me!

But…I changed my mind…

I’ll show him a new place and hope that he knows to go there too…

Ah, I wanted to cuddle him like crazy and talk to him!

I hadn’t talked to anyone since becoming a full-time maid and talking to Theo was simply something I couldn’t pass up on!

Blowing into the small, noiseless container again, Theo finally found me, and I smiled at him flying towards me…

My dearest friend!

When he landed on my hand, I immediately hugged him, unable to let him go for five minutes.

Every now and again, I would mumble something to him, and he would get closer to my face and either rub himself on me or ‘kiss’ me.

It looks like he missed me just as much as I missed him!

It wasn’t like this normally, as this was the first time that I hadn’t been where I should have been, as every other time he was the one that went elsewhere and not me….

Ah, my dearest friend!

Knowing that I couldn’t stay any longer, I quickly walked away, watching very carefully for anyone that might see that I wasn’t supposed to be here.

Before I left though, I saw a few gardenias at my old window…

They weren’t all fresh either. One was nearly wilted into nothing, another half way wilted, another just a bit and the freshest one looks like it was picked just this morning.

Suddenly, I felt like crying.

Why…Why is he picking gardenia’s every day?

I was supposed to be dead and it’s been over a week, how long will he do this for?

Letting out a sad, small smile, I heard Theo’s small chirp and quickly kept going…

Really, that man…

Why doesn’t he just do as he normally does and spend time with his other wife? Why pretend to mourn over someone like me, who was a commoner and never really gave him any reason to like me?

Was he an idiot?

As I was in my thoughts, I nearly got caught and found myself breathing heavily and hiding away once again!

Putting a hand to my heart, I put my head against the wall and closed my eyes.

The days are no longer any fun…

Being a maid full time, even though I still get to hear secrets and what not, it was different to choosing to do this. I now didn’t have my status, nor that of an actual room to myself…I couldn’t just stop being a maid…

Swallowing and opening my eyes, I whisper another few quiet words to Theo and look out of my hiding spot.

I still had to find a good place that was easier to get to for Theo and me to meet, I couldn’t be caught yet!

After I felt like it was all safe, I quickly dashed out and zoomed across to the next courtyard, slowing down to a normal walk when I was in the safer courtyard.

Breathing out a breath of relief, I then traveled down the wall and found a spot that didn’t look so open, “Theo…Here.”

Putting him down on a branch, I put my finger out to him, “We can meet here from now on, ok?”

Theo moved his head to the side and lifted up one of his feet…

“Right!” I touched one of his claws with my finger and nodded.

For the next five minutes, I told him to fly away and used my special whistle to get him back again, quickly wanting him to get used to the area…