You began heading to the palace having no idea which direction to go. All that guided you was the view of the huge palace overhead. 'They really should have sent someone to at least show me where to enter.'

You wandered around for a while occasionally asking nearby people for directions. After a lot of straying off into alleys and running into dead ends you reached the palace. You let out a sigh of relief, then realized you had no clue how to enter. The palace was surrounded by a large wall similar to the walls around the city. Guards were placed at the front gate. What was the likelihood they would just let you pass. You stood there wondering what to do when you heard Chiyo calling your name.

"(NAME!)" She called out to you.

You turned around to her, "Chiyo!"

"You ran off before I could talk to you!"

"I can't talk, I'm trying to figure out how to get in there."

"That's what I needed to talk to you about," she said while she bent over breathing hard. "I was supposed to bring you here, you weren't supposed to leave yet."

Maybe you did leave a bit hastily. "Sorry," you replied.

Chiyo looked over at the guards and then smiled, "come on, I can get you in."

"Thanks," you sighed. Chiyo walked up to the guards and started asking them how they had been lately. 'Did she know everyone in the city?'

Finally, She started to explain to them that you had were a new maid for the palace. They let you pass and pointed you to the servants quarters around the western side of the palace. Prince Kouha stayed in a nearby wing separate from the main palace.

Chiyo waved to you and headed back to Seishuu Ri's mansion promising to come visit you. You headed to the servant quarters. Having to walk through multiple gardens made you wonder how big that place was. After a lot of walking you were finally about to reach the servant quarters which seemed to be it's own building. Only one of its walls were attached to the west wing. When you where nearly at the door, all of a sudden you felt someone jumping onto your back. You fell forward landing on your stomach.

"(Name)," someone said excitedly. "I've been waiting forever!" You looked over your shoulder to see Kouha sitting on you. You started to get up ignoring him just to be surprised by how light he was. He slid right off your back. "(Name), don't ignore me." The prince pouted. He looked so cute and you couldn't help but think it would be nice to have a little brother like that.

"Okay, Okay," you said patting him on the head. He quickly slapped you hand and glared at you. Suddenly you remembered he was older then he looked. Before you could say anything he was smiling at you again.

"You have to let me braid your hair!" He demanded as he grabbed your hand. "Right now!"

He pulled you to his room and sat you down on the bed then sat on his knees behind you. He started braiding your hair as you began to space out because of how calming it felt to have his hands run through your hair. You didn't even notice him trying to talk to you.

"(N-a-m-e), you promised not to ignore me," he complained. You felt a sharp pain against your head.

"Ouch," you exclaimed jumping up from the bed. 'Did he just pull my hair?' You looked over to him.

"I'm sorry, it was an accident." He said softly, but something felt odd. "Now come here and let me finish you hair."

You looked across the room into the mirror. The braids in your hair looked strangely familiar. You walked over to him and sat back down on the bed. He braided a few more braids then pulled all of your hair back and twisted it into a bun. Next, he pushed you up, off the bed towards the mirror. You admired yourself blushing, he had done a good job.

"Prince Kouha, your really good!" You turned around smiling.

He replied, "it's nothing." But he was obviously proud of himself. He looked over at you with a creepy smile. You felt a strange aura fill the room.

"Well then, if that's all, bye!" You said running out of the room, leaving him still sitting on the bed. You didn't know why you ran off but you felt a little afraid. You heard footsteps running behind you and him calling after you, but after making a couple of turns you couldn't hear him following you anymore.

You looked around to see where you were, only to realize you had lost your way for the second time that day. You were beginning to hate your bad sense of direction. You wandered around the wide open halls for what seemed like forever. Slowly your legs began to ache.

"I feel like I've seen that statue before." You muttered to yourself as you crumbled down next to it. 'I've just been walking in circles.' You decided to rest you legs when you saw a girl walking down the hall.

"Excuse me," you called to her. "Do you know where..." You paused, Where did you need to go? You spoke up again, "I'm lost."

She looked at you still sitting on the floor. Then asked, "Are you the new servant?"

"Yes, I'm (Name)."

"I'm Jinjin," she held out a hand and helped you up. "Prince Kouha's been looking for you."

"He has," you asked curiously. "Was there something he needed me to do?"

"I don't know, but I can take you to him." You didn't know why but you felt a little chill go up spine. Something didn't seem right.

"N-no, it's okay, but if it isn't too much trouble could you give me a little tour of this place so I don't get lost again?"

She nodded her head, "Sure, sure, I'm not doing anything right now." She showed you around the west wing of the palace. Although it wasn't the whole palace it took well over an hour to see everything. You apologized for making her give you such a long tour. She assured you it was fine, then she started to head over to Kouha's bedroom.

You followed her but before she knocked on the door you asked, "Why do we need to go to Prince Kouha's room?"

She looked at you seemingly surprised, "As one of his personal maids we need to be nearby incase he needs anything."

It made sense, but where had she been when you were in Kouha's room before. Had he sent her away before you went into his room? Why would he have done that? Although it seemed strange you followed her anyway. She knocked on Kouha's door and his voice allowed her in. As you walked in Kouha's face lit up. You turned your head the other way, walked over to the wall and stood next Jinjin and 2 other girls. You noticed all of them wore bandages but you ignored it.

Kouha ran over to where you were. You stared at the wall behind him trying to avoid eye contact. He reached out to you, then smacked you across the face. 'What?' The other girls started leeching onto him and begging him to hit them too. With what seemed to be a chance to escape you inched slowly to the door while holding your burning cheek.

"You three, leave." You heard Kouha command. However you didn't look back and swiftly went to the door. Kouha ran at you and grabbed your wrist. "Not you."

The other girls walked out and closed the door. You struggled a little implying you wanted to be let go, but Kouha kept a tight grip. He pulled you to a couch in his room and sat you down. "(Name), your mine so you have to listen to me, right?"

"Right," you agreed.

With a quite sounding voice he continued, "Well, I told you not to ignore me." He grabbed you chin and pulled you head up to make eye contact with his enraged face. "So, I'll have to punish you for being disobedient." He once again hit you across the face then started hitting you over and over." You tried to get up but he pulled you down. It was surprising that someone so small could be so strong. After he finished hitting you he pulled you up by your hair. "You can stay here for the rest of the day." He hissed into your ear. He then got up and walked out the door.

'What just happened?' Tears filled your eyes but you managed to keep them from falling. You wiped them away and approached the door. You turned the handle to find it unlocked. Did he think just because you were his slave you were going to stay there. You creaked the door open slowly...