Motheaten Memories [Yandere Prince x Enemy Princess Reader]

5. Lucky Shawl.

Y/N stretched her arms above her head and let out a yawn. She opened her eyes and looked around the dormitory that she stayed in along with a dozen other maids. It had been a week since she and Enicia had begun working at the Palace and they had adjusted well all things considered.

Their quarters were cramped, but not any more than their old home, the two women had to share a bed, but that wasn't anything new either. Y/N stretched again before she slipped out of bed, wincing as her feet came into contact with the cold stone floor. Sunlight poured through the windows set high into the walls of the chamber that was set partially underground, signaling that Y/N had awoken late.

The dormitory was vacant apart from her, a fact for which she was grateful as it meant that she could get dressed without having to look over her shoulder to see if anyone was watching. So far, she had been able to prevent the other maids from seeing her scars, although there had already been some close calls. She signed up for the early shift whenever possible to avoid people seeing her fully naked. 

Double-checking that she was alone she pulled her nightgown over her head and inspected her body before pulling her underdress on. Her forearms were covered almost entirely in burns, with small sections stretching above her elbows and others passing her wrists, she was just grateful that they didn't span to her hands as they would have been impossible to hide. More still were on her shins and feet, but those were much easier to hide with skirts and shoes. Still, the raw, melted texture of them made it impossible for them to be anything besides burns, so Y/N just thanked the gods that no one had seen them.

The most unusual burn of all sat on her wrist where she wore the bracelet that her father had given her all those years ago. The metal of the bracelet had been heated at the same time that she had received the other burns, resulting in the small imprint of a butterfly along with the chain being branded into her flesh by hot metal. It had been just as painful as the rest of the burns, but Y/N never hated them even though they did considerably mar her appearance, they reminded her of everything she had lost. Everything that had been taken from her by the Luccian king.

Realizing that she had spent much too long getting dressed she hurried to pull on her dress and the rest of her clothes. Since she was a lower-level maid she was not given a palace uniform but instead wore the clothes that she had brought with her. She pinned her hair up with a wooden hair stick she borrowed from Enicia and tied an apron around her waist that sat above her front-lacing corset and skirt.

Dressed for the day, Y/N exited the dormitory and walked down a narrow hallway before walking up a small flight of stairs and immerging into a larger hallway with windows that looked over the long road that led to the front gates in the distance. Y/N breathed deeply, allowing the cool sea air to fill her lungs.

The Palace was actually constructed atop a high cliff, with the Eastern side offering a glorious view of the harbor and the glittering teal ocean and pearly white shores. The temperate climate combined with the near-constant sunshine meant that there was not a single windowpane in the whole of the Palace. Instead of the small glass windows that Y/N remembered in her old castle, in the mountainous Vascini, the windows were large allowing the sea breeze to cool the entire structure.

Sandy yellow columns and tall archways replaced the thick stone walls and narrow doorways that were meant to trap the fleeting warmth in her old castle during the winter. Despite the vast architectural differences, Y/N was quickly learning her way around at least the servant's wing where she worked. Ficcioro Palace was so massive that she hadn't even set foot outside of the sections delegated to the servants.

Her morning chores consisted of washing bed sheets and hanging them out to dry. The laundry room was open to the air, separated from the courtyard where things were hung out to dry only by a row of columns. Y/N was industrious and managed to finish the washing assigned to her that was supposed to take all day not long after noon. She looked around and after finishing her work and saw that the other maids were busy talking and only did their work half-heartedly. Y/N sighed, she had noticed over the years that even the working class of Luccia wasn't very industrious. It had irked her, but now it was a good thing, considering that her incredible work ethic in comparison would get her promoted closer to the Royal Family quicker.

With all her work done, Y/N decided to wander around the Palace to try and learn her way around. This backfired as she soon found herself lost. Although she was still on the ground floor, she had no idea where she was. The halls she walked through seemed more ornate than before and the windows now had pale white curtains at their sides that fluttered like woven mist.

She was keenly aware of the echoing of her footsteps and was just about to turn around and try to find her way back to a familiar part of the castle when she was distracted by the sound of a distressed cry.

"Oh No!" A woman's voice cried, drawing Y/N further forward. "Oh No! My lucky silk shawl! How am I ever supposed to get it back?!"

"Don't cry my lady," a second voice chimed in as Y/N approached a large and luxurious courtyard and caught sight of two women standing beneath a tree with a transparent pink satan sash caught in the upper branches. "Maybe we can ask one of the orchard-boys to get it for us."

"B-But the wind might have carried it even farther away by the time you fetched him!" The first woman sobbed childishly, her overdramatic manner and ornate peach dress making it more than apparent that she was a noble lady.

Air-headedness aside, Y/N had to agree with her that the shawl did not look like it would stay in place very long. Not knowing what else to do Y/N rushed into the courtyard and started up the tree. She had worked for a farmer who needed help harvesting the first several years after she fled Vascini and her job had been climbing trees to retrieve high-hanging fruit that the grown-ups couldn't. Even though it had been years, she remembered enough to make a quick ascent.

"Miss-MISS!" The maid with the noble lady protested at the sight of an unknown woman attempting to climb the tree. "WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!"

"She can't be serious, climbing a tree in a dress?!" The noble lady gasped from where she sat, previously pouting, on the ground. "Oh, Issi, what do we do, what do we do?! She'll surely perish if she falls from that height!" She wailed frantically, pulling at strands of her dark hair.

What a dramatic, Y/N thought as she continued her way up the tree. She was now at a height where falling would seriously injure her, but the tree was so abundant with sturdy branches that she wasn't worried.

Growing level with the branch that snagged the fluttering shawl, and blocking out the wails and gasps from the two spectators below, Y/N reached out and snatched the fluttering cloth. She retracted her arm and hurried down the tree, only now one of her hands was occupied by the slippery fabric of the sash. This didn't affect her climbing at first, but near the end of her descent, her other hand slipped causing her to fall the rest of the way to the ground.

"Oof," she groaned as she landed on her back, the air had been knocked from her lungs but she wasn't any worse for wear. The two ladies thought otherwise and began to scream as though she had plummeted down from the clouds. Growing tired of their screams, once she regained her breath she stuck her hand clutching the garment into the air. "Here's you're shawl."

A/N

The plot's beginning to pick up momentum, and things will only get more interesting from here on out. ^~^

What do you think will happen next?

Until next time I'll see you on the other side

~J. C. Coltt.~