An Unexpected Guest

My eyes felt heavy, and my body felt like it was floating in space. I felt calm yet apprehensive.

I sensed something that scared me.

The fear of loss?

Or am I being abandoned?

But I didn't think about it too long; perhaps I already knew where that feeling came from.

Not long after, I felt like I was being watched. It stared at me for a long time; however, I couldn't see who it was.

Perhaps my surroundings were just dark, and there was no light.

Oh yes, I had my eyes closed.

I had forgotten.

Suddenly, I heard a beautiful humming sound, and all my anxiety disappeared as if it were the sound of the harmonica that the older woman always played in her room.

She always played it before going to bed or sitting in the backyard.

The strange thing is, I know I had just closed my eyes after they had gone to their rooms, so why did I feel so sleepy now?

Is this what they call half-asleep?

...

...

...

...

I felt a gentle breeze blowing softly against my skin; it felt comfortable.

I opened my eyes slowly, and the sun was already setting. I immediately stood up from the sofa.

Then I paused. I was confused about where I was standing. The room that was once full of dust and cobwebs was now clean with new furniture.

Then I thought again; I turned my body towards the sofa I was lying on earlier; it was still the same sofa I was sitting on this morning.

It's not new furniture, and it's just the furniture in this mansion that has been cleaned.

The mansion wasn't filthy; it just looked noticeably abandoned for centuries.

I then walked into the next enclosure, looking for the rest of my servants.

Because I had arranged to wait in the room earlier, but no one woke me up while I was sleeping.

It felt strange, too.

As I walked from one enclosure to another, a thought came to my mind.

How is it possible to clean this place in just five hours? This place is enormous since it's a mansion, and the rooms here are more than ten, excluding the fifty rooms for sleeping. I only have sixteen servants, and the rest are not maids but cooks and delivery boys.

After searching the whole place, I finally stood before the mansion's front door.

I took a deep breath before turning the knob.

My face was already sweaty, even though I didn't run.

After opening the door wide, I still didn't see them, but I could hear voices and laughter coming from the southeast of the mansion.

Are they all there? I thought.

As far as I remember, there was a small hut surrounded by tall dead grass in that area.

I stopped walking when I saw lights coming from the direction where the voices could be heard.

When I reached there, I saw a man sitting in the middle of the crowd.

How many was my servant again?

I asked myself as I saw more than dozens of people there.

The place was also clean, with a table full of food and drinks as if they were celebrating something.

From the crowd of people, I saw one of my maids. If I'm not mistaken, her name is Debi.

However, it seemed that they were serving food to the man who was being swarmed.

If there were guests, shouldn't I have been there to greet them?

But why did they leave me lying on the sofa?

As soon as I got there, all eyes were on me.

I was dumbfounded.

"What's this?" I asked firmly. Not wanting to get angry right away, I wanted an explanation first because, in my understanding, this was very disrespectful to me as the head of the household.

Most of the faces there I had never seen before. After I raised a question, they all looked towards the man sitting on the chair.

From afar, I saw my handmaiden, Ms Hazel, approaching me. Her face was somewhat worried.

"Mr White, he is the Prince," whispered her.

"The King child?" I spoke it out loud.

Their faces turned ashen.

I remembered reading the royal family's genealogy a few days ago in a book in that older woman's room. I had brought it here and read it in the carriage.

It was pretty scandalous, if I may be honest.

King Louis III had over twenty children out of wedlock and only one legitimate child by the queen, but she was female and could not inherit the throne. If he is the son of the King and is male, he must be the son of his mistress.

If I remember correctly, the first and second queens were beheaded in the public square.

But I had to put that aside and focus on the one before me.

"Mr. White, he is the prince of our Capital, and he is also your best friend, is he not?" she asked nervously.

"So, if we have a guest, shouldn't I be the one to," Before I could finish my sentence, it was interrupted by the man who called himself a Prince.

"King's child? You don't have to be so cold to me. Aren't we friends?... I told them not to disturb you; forgive me," he explained as he stood up from his seat, slowly approaching me with a smile.

So that's how it is, I thought.

"I was surprised when I learned that you had moved and had not given me any news for the past two weeks. Besides, your letter did not include your new address, so I had to look for it myself. It was with the help of your headmaid."

He was quite the talker, too. Some might even call someone like him a chatterbox.

"I am surprised that you did not bring them with you. Why? Haven't they been in that house since we were little?" he continued.

As he asked me, I glanced at everyone who stood around us.