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Hearing the sweet little voice speak behind her made Anna halt in her step. The little voice repeated itself in her ears, leaving Anna’s already big eyes to go bigger as the realization hit her.

Did Gemma just speak??

Turning around to look at her, Gemma was back to laying on her bed, and her gaze was fixated on the book she was playfully sketching on. Only when Anna turned around did the little one raise her head from the book to look at her.

“Did...did you say something?” Anna asked with a hopeful glint in her eyes, waiting for Gemma to say just anything in response, but unfortunately, the little one just stared blankly at her, tilting her head to the side while her lips remained shut.

From her reaction, she seemed clueless and didn’t look like she understood what Anna had just asked, leaving the little hope that built itself in Anna’s heart to quickly dissolve into nothing.

If Gemma didn’t say anything then, who did? Or was it her head playing tricks on her again?

“Never mind that,” Anna brushed it off with a smile, “carry on.”

Gemma only responded with a nod of her head before returning her gaze to the book. With a sigh, Anna finally exited her chambers and the moment she shut the door behind her, Gemma’s lips curved into a smile.

.....

“I must have imagined it.” Anna convinced herself as she made it through the corridor. Maybe her anticipation to hear Gemma speak for once made her mind automatically think she did.

Or maybe not?

Her slim brows pulled themselves together in silent contemplation. She walked past a few maids, getting lost in her thoughts and wasn’t expecting to bump shoulders with one of the maids, but it seemed intentional because the maid was harsh in her attempt as though she had planned to bump into Anna.

It made Annalise stumble back a bit, visibly taken aback by the shoulder bump and the glass on the tray she held fell to the ground, shattering in pieces as shards of broken glass were now laying on the ground.

“Oh no!”

Ignoring the maid who had rudely bumped into her, she went down on both knees and began picking up the shards of glass into the tray.

Behind her she could hear a maid giggle, “look, if it isn’t the devoted maiden of Euphrasia, or Viscarrian maybe? I’m confused.” She whispered to the second maiden who had escorted her, but made her whispering loud enough for Anna to hear.

“It’s not easy to be a maid in two different palaces, and most especially His Highness’s personal maid.” Said the other, but Anna continued to ignore it as she carefully picked the broken pieces into a tray.

“I heard she serves most of the men in the palace, as far as I know, none of his highnesses are keen to women, she must have used some sort of magic spell, it’s possible she could be a witch.”

“She’s not even that pretty, I wonder what his highness even sees in her, there was a time he could barely stand her and now.....who knows what she might have done to him.”

“Are you blind? She dresses more nicely than us, and that bracelet she wears costs a fortune, she must be serving as a seductress, don’t you think?”

The more they kept speaking, the more Anna’s blood boiled like boiling water that was about to spill from a pot.

She’s had it with these maidens!

“Pardon.” She got to her feet, turning around to look at them and they didn’t hesitate to meet her stare.

“I also have something to share with you,” she began as she took a step towards the two maidens who eyed her from head to toe.

“Which is?”

Anna smiled while rubbing the corner of her lips with the base of her index finger. “I heard that his highness claims you both are a complete eye sore to his gaze, which is why he never sends for you.” She began, leaving the detestable looks on the maidens face to fall.

“W_ what?”

Anna nodded, “believe me, I’m his personal maid so I’m most likely to hear this sort of thing,” she tapped one of the maidens on her shoulder, gaining her attention.

“You’re Cyris right? Your case is even worse than hers, basically you’re nothing more but a jobless, backbiting, bitter.....”

“How dare you?!” She raised her hand to slap the human who dared to insult her to her face but to her surprise, Anna had caught her wrist before the slap could reach her face and instead, the maid was the one who received a hot slap from Anna who was no longer smiling.

The sound of the slap resonated through the corridor that the maid who had escorted her little friend, froze at her spot after witnessing her getting slapped by Anna.

The maid who got slapped couldn’t even scream as the unexpected slap landed on her left cheek. A bit traumatized from it, she looked at the human who had the effrontery to raise a hand at her and this time around, Anna was the one pointing fingers.

“Don’t ever test me,” she warned with a serious glint in her eyes, “there’s a reason why I keep quiet but it’s not because I’m foolish, trust me I know when and how to use my hands when it comes to dealing with senseless people like you.”

“You..!!” The maid barely knew what to say, she hadn’t recovered from the shock of being slapped, nor did she know the ever so quiet Anna was capable of retaliating this far.

“I have met many jobless people like you who know nothing other than to run their useless mouths and say bitter words just to instigate someone. Well, you’ve messed with the wrong lady and this slap serves as a warning to the both of you.” She pointed at the two of them, making it super clear.

“Don’t ever cross paths with me else you won’t like the outcome of what an ordinary maid is capable of doing, do you understand that?” She was nearly raising her voice at them, not minding if they’d be heard or not.

“You slapped me?!”

“And I won’t hesitate to do it again, like I said you would hate to get me angry. So mind the words that come out of those mouths of yours, else I’ll help you shut them up myself.”

“That’s enough.”

The deep voice that spoke behind Anna made her flinch a little, and as she turned around to see who it was, Roshan was unhurriedly heading towards her direction.

The look on his sculpted face was stoic, making him look fearful and beautiful at the same time as he walked like a king. He only stopped walking after stopping beside Annalise who lowered her head, a bit taken aback by his presence and was obviously not expecting him to show up at a time like this.

Was she in trouble?

“Your highness.” The maidens bowed, while the other maid who was slapped instantly feigned tears.

“M_morning your highness.”

Roshan’s expression didn’t falter at her condition and he exchanged glances between Anna and the maids before letting out a sigh and shoving his hands into his pocket.

“You.” He directed that word at Anna who met his stare.

“Me?”

“Hitting a maid is not allowed in the palace.”

Anna lowered her head based on the seriousness in his tone. She knew the rules, but it wasn’t her fault either. Regardless, she chose to swallow it.

“Forgive me your highness, I’m ready to face whatever punishment I deserve for my actions, but I’ll admit that I have no regrets for what I did.” She retorted politely, not backing down, but his next words left her surprised.

“Leave my palace.”

“What?” She met his indifferent stare. Meanwhile the maidens who were watching couldn’t hold back a triumphant smile as they watched his Highness say those words to his personal maid.

Anna didn’t understand why he was saying these things to her, not until he turned around to look at the maidens who instantly hid away their smiles.

“Didn’t you hear me?” Those final words snapped from him like a whiplash, causing their faces to fall ashen as he directed that question at them.

“Us?”

“Do you need another slap before getting your brains to work properly?” His words were like a scimitar against their ears and their hearts dropped.

He was actually kicking them out!!

“But your highness...”

“I haven’t been dumb to all the rumors spreading in the palace, but like they say, ignorance is bliss.” He returned his strict, piercing gaze to the trembling maidens who lowered their heads.

“I witnessed everything, and watching you getting slapped wasn’t giving me enough satisfaction but getting rid of the negative things in the palace shall begin starting from today.”

“Forgive us your highness, we didn’t mean any of what we said, where should we go??” They immediately went on their knees, begging for forgiveness but Roshan was unfazed.

“You should have thought of that before daring to slap her in the first place. Now leave my sight and get out before I throw you out myself.”

“But..”

“Guards!” At Roshan’s call, two guards showed up at the corridor in less than a minute and they bowed their heads after standing in his presence.

“Your highness.”

“Get rid of them, and make sure you search their belongings before letting them leave.”

“As you say your highness.”

Anna, who was dumbstruck by everything happening in front of her, watched as the guards took the pleading maidens away. It attracted gazes as most people showed up to see the embarrassed maidens being taken away.

Once they were alone, Annalise finally shifted her gaze to Roshan who stood before her, he gave her head a gentle pat before uttering proudly.

“Good job.”

A!nna smiled in relief, seeing he wasn’t actually upset with her and she mumbled, “for a moment there, I thought you were angry with me.”