The duke's daughter

Chapter 6

Several days later,

Claire hadn't seen or spoken with her father since their last encounter, nor could she leave the mansion, which only made her long more for her betrothed.

"Tell me, how many days have it been already?" She asked her maid, who was doing some embroidery.

"It's been 2 weeks exactly, milady." Her maid answered back calmly. "Ah, it is finally finished!" she exclaimed in excitement, holding out her work. It looked like a handkerchief that had the duke's family heirloom embroidered on it.

"It looks gorgeous..." Even when complimenting, she seemed uninterested, bored.

"Milady, you could give it to his highness once the hunting competition starts!" Her maid screeched in excitement.

"Tell me... what is your name?" It was quite a shame to ask, considering how long the maid worked for her. However, better late than never.

The maid blushed for a moment, feeling flattered that her young lady had asked. "I-It is Lupita, milady"

'Lupita? So Lupita it is'

"Really, that is such a lovely name. I am glad I asked." Claire smiled. She wanted to get to know her maids better. They were always nice to her, so the least she could do was make sure they felt at home.

She could notice the shimmer in Lupita's eyes as she tried to hold back her excitement to hug her. "Ahhh!! Thank you, milady!"

"Lupita?"

"Yes, Milady?"

"Why do you always look so happy? I am jealous." She smiled, but to be fair, she did really want to know, because now that she couldn't go see the prince, she was feeling down lately.

"Oh... milady." Lupita was quick to notice the sadness behind Claire's eyes

"Milady, there are so many nice things to do in life it would be a shame to deny it." She tried to lift the mood but to no luck it didn't really seem to work.

A sigh escaped Claire's lips as she looked outside the window. Snow was falling out of the sky as if it were a gift from God.

'It looks so pretty, it must be really cold outside...' Suddenly her thoughts wandered off to the stable boy who worked under her family. 'He isn't wearing any shoes!!'

Claire immediately grabbed her coat and hurried out of the room, leaving her maid perplexed by what was happening. "Wait Milad-!!"

While she dashed off the stairs, she put her cloak on, passing by servants that were slowly climbing up the stairs.

"What is going on?" A servant noticed as he saw her running in a hurry, but right after, Lupita stormed off the stairs too.

"Milady, please wait!! It is cold outside!!" Her maid rushed and screamed after her, concerned that the young girl might catch a cold since she wasn't wearing any thick clothes that were suited for the outside weather.

'Where is he?!!' She looked around near the horse stables. The garden that used to look green was now covered in a thick layer of snow, and the problem was that it kept snowing harder, making it very hard to see anything.

"Urgh I can't see him!!" She tried squinting her eyes, but the cold, harsh wind cut her face all while snow flew into her eyes.

There was no other option but to find shelter in the smelly stable. Surprisingly, it was quite big, and there were many horses, which shouldn't be that surprising.

She lifted the skirt of her dress, trying her best not to make it dirty from all the hay, straw, and discharge that lay over the floor. While exploring it more, she noticed other servants working there.

"E-Excuse me?" She spoke in a soft voice, trying to catch their attention. However, they kept working and were cleaning up the dirt. "Excuse me?" She spoke in a louder tone this time.

The middle-aged men glared at her, judging by their faces, it seemed like they were annoyed. "What do you want, young lady?" They stood up and made themselves bigger as they walked towards her.

"I-I was wondering if you have seen..." She backed away once she remarked that they were still approaching her to get closer and closer... It felt threatening. Moreover, she could see their perverted grins on their faces.

"Oh, what a lovely young lady." One of the older guys spoke up and took the lead as they kept getting closer.

"Such a pretty young girl shouldn't be here. Unless she is looking for... pleasure." Another man with a gray stubble beard grinned. Which showed his yellow-stained, rotten teeth.

Their eyes were filled with desire, as if she was meat for them to feast on.

"N-no... get back!! I am the daughter of the duke, you filthy men!!" In truth, she wanted to cry.

Honestly, why were they acting like this? It wasn't like she had asked something out of the ordinary. All she wanted to know was where that stupid stable boy was, but of course nothing worked out for her.

"Hey!! Marcus, Sebastian, Carel!! Stop it." A sudden, loud warning echoed, followed by the person quickly rushing in front of her. Protecting her from those unmannered men. He spread his arms out to make sure they couldn't even touch a single strand of her hair.