The Rules For Servants

"This is the servants quarter for women. Others are already in the hall"

Cora went to the bed on the right corner with a few pairs of clothes and black shoes on the floor.

"Take this," handing her the clothes in the bed and walking towards the door again.

She clutched the clothes in her hand. They took a left turn and after a few minutes, the old woman looked at her, raising her eyeglasses.

"This is the women's shower room. Clean yourself and be faster. Someone will get you in 10 minutes"

The old woman sighs before leaving but she stopped in the middle of the room; with her back facing her "The world is never fair"

She stepped inside the shower room as soon as the closing of the door rent the room; leaning on it for a second as tears gathered up in her eyes. All she knew was she needed to cry to pour out her frustrations.

After a few minutes, she stood up, glancing around the shower room. It has 10 cubicles and a small mirror in the sink. She didn't waste time observing the place and took a bath in an instant.

After she tied the cloth she had earlier on her head, she went outside the room. Her eyebrows furrowed when there was no one outside.

"I thought someone would get me? Is it not 10 minutes already?" she mumbled; wearing the black heels. It was uncomfortable to move as the uniform was a black buttoned bouffant dress with white collars that reached above her knee. A white apron was tied to her waist. It is her first time wearing a dress of that length. Most of her skirts reach her instep. She was mostly covered. And the new styled dress was making her uncomfortable.

A woman dressed like her was briskly walking towards her.

"Hey!" she faintly shouted. "Come on, we need to go"

Seira moves forward but she falls before she can take another step.

"Are you okay?"

"Uh.. Yes," she got up, not minding the stinging pain in her knees.

"Okay, okay let's go" the woman held her hand and pulled her to the hallway where she was from.

Seira furrowed her eyebrows when they kept on walking, more like running in the long hallway.

"Why can't we just run?"

"No, we can't do that. It is prohibited to run around here" said the woman without looking at her.

"Ms. Cora will surely scold me"

"I'm sorry if I—"

"No, it is not because of you. It was because of that damned—"

The woman bit her lip and took a deep breath "Forget that. We should get to the servants hallroom as soon as possible"

Seira held back herself from asking more. She focused on keeping up to the woman's pace.

Soon after, they reached an old, frail wooden door.

The woman twisted the knob and pulled her into the room. Women with the same clothes as her and men in a white shirt and black vest were in the room. The old woman whose name was Cora was standing in the middle with a piece of paper in her hand. Guards with the black bearskin cap

The scarlet tunic has a dark blue collar, shoulder strips dipped in white; black trousers have a red stripe down the seam of each leg; a black leather buff belt and gold buttons of the symbol like what she saw on the gate in Parverhill Fortress. A shield in the center and Eagle, a lion on the side with a crown on the top. They were different from the guards who escorted them yesterday.

The woman behind her walked in front, standing next to the old woman.

All of a sudden, one of the guards came to the front.

"Alright! Listen up!! My name is Vice General Garrett! I'm the Head of the castle guards!" he spoke authoritatively; with an austere expression. One looked at him and you'd know that he's not someone to mess with.

"From this moment on, forget the life you had before and dreamed of. Forget the notion that you have control of yourself cause you're all now a property of the palace. You belong here and only here as servants thus you're all living for the betterment of the royal residence! Treat your jobs as an honor and commit to every rule allegiantly!"

This is sick. Not because the people are selling themselves, it is unjust to remove the willpower of the servants especially that they are the leaders of the kingdom. And how come she became a property of the palace when she didn't sell herself in the first place. Well, she will be staying here for only one month.

"Are we clear on that?!"

The guard was rewarded with shouts of fervor, yeses, and nods. She mentally rolled her eyes. These people witnessed the cruel way of the guards to the other servant yesterday but they agreed to the guard like nothing happened. "Better! Welcome to the royal castle of Her Highness Emmett. As of today, you have only one purpose in life and that is to serve the royalties for the rest of your life!"

"The good for nothing King" the woman in her front muttered; shaking her head.

"They should've used the name of the crowned prince instead of that temporary king" reckoned by the others.

"Lower your voice, they might hear you"

Seira glanced at the woman talking and instantly became silent. She sighed. The current King of Adeosian Kingdom was the cousin of the crowned prince, Emmett Rehan Nathrezim. The short time the man sat on the throne, he already gathered criticism from the people for the reason she didn't know. For her, the man was fine although she hadn't heard anything that he implemented or did something for the people of the kingdom. She will choose the man who does nothing rather than a leader who makes her people suffer.

"For the rules. Listen carefully to the three main rules of the palace. No escaping or any form of running away! The second was disobedience was not allowed! The most important rule was not a single ounce of resistance!"

Seira furrowed her eyebrows.

"Break any of these rules and you'll be coming right back at me and I swear, it will not end well for all of you that you will wish to die! For the rest of the rules, I will let the head of maidservants, Ms. Cora discuss it with you" He then ended his greetings full of threats.

"Okay, good afternoon everyone. These rules will not get you tortured to death but punishment will be conducted to reprimand your erroneous actions. I advise all of you to strictly follow these rules. First, everyone must be in their quarters when the clock hits 11 at night. No matter what you hear, never leave your room. Be punctual and do your assigned jobs as flawlessly as possible. Your work will start at 6 and will end at 10. Tardiness will receive you 30 lashes and that's for the first offense. No shouting or running in the hall. Never speak unless spoken to and never made any eye contact with the royals and high-ranking officials. For the last, the person who would be chosen to be the personal servant of the prince should stay in this room after this meeting"

Seira clasped her hand together; silently praying that she was not assigned to the prince. Who would want to serve the Prince of Death? Maybe there was a lot as she heard the crowned prince was good-looking. Every woman in her town hoped to be a princess and met the prince but not her. She didn't want to be a personal servant of the prince who can kill anyone in an instant or anyone at that. Just this one, she hopes luck will take her side and give her peace in one month of staying at the place.