During the next few days, Audrey observed the east wing of the palace from afar. She mentally noted when servants would routinely drop off bits of food. After she was certain that no one was around, she walked into the room with an intimidating, muscular man trailing behind with a large plate of food. He was tall and imposing, so the boy couldn’t help but stiffen in alarm.
“Let’s eat together!” Audrey smiled enthusiastically and expectantly towards the second prince, who sat perched on a pile of clothes as if it was his bed. She noticed that the clean garments she dropped off were added to the pile and she frowned. “Those clothes are for you to wear..”
As the three of them sat together, the boy became more wary and hostile. He even refused the food she brought despite his grumbling stomach.
Is it because of Caleb? Is he too scary?
She motioned for Caleb to leave, and he quickly left the shabby place to watch from a distance as a guard.
Audrey tried to talk in a reassuring tone. “His name is Caleb and he only answers to me. He is not as scary and mean as he looks.” She paused. Unless you hurt me.
The boy didn’t understand her words and still refused to eat, so Audrey shrugged and ate first. She had brought her own plate of food and waited to eat with him so she was famished. He still didn’t trust her since his stomach had ached yesterday, but hunger clouded the boy’s logic as he hurriedly began to stuff his mouth. Each bite filled his taste buds with joy and he widened his eyes at how flavorful this cuisine was.
Before he could stuff another piece of the savory meal, Audrey reached out to stop him. The boy flinched and tried to pull away rather harshly. Still, he was too weak to fend her off and she held on tightly. “Eat slowly”
Audrey pointed towards his food, and beckoned him to follow her as she showed him how to chew slowly. As the boy reluctantly followed her slow movements, he realized that he could taste his meal better and appreciate the flavors more. Once he finished, he found that his stomach didn’t ache and he was much more filled.
“Now it’s time to clean you up.”
As if on cue, Caleb walked in and brought in a big earthenware pot filled with clean, warm water. He then left and returned with two smaller pots. One was filled with water, and the other was filled with weird objects the boy had never seen before.
Audrey was conflicted. She didn’t know how to ask or let alone convince him to step into the pot so that she could properly clean him. Taking a bath in the past was taboo and only done once before marriage as a tradition. Therefore, Audrey had always washed herself in secret. The second prince was most likely going to protest profusely and refuse to shower. But he smelled so awful that Audrey almost couldn’t take it anymore.
She cursed in Korean, which sounded very similar to the Hellenn language. The boy froze, and Audrey felt like she made a mistake.
He seized her wrists and squeezed, surprising her. She looked down to see his scrutinizing stare, the bits of gold swirling in his dark eyes. Now that the sun was shining through the window, she saw how his eye color was the only feature she could see clearly because he was covered with filth from head to toe.
“You speak… in Hellenn…” Because the boy hadn’t talked in so long, his voice squeaked and cracked with difficulty. His throat seemed to be sore and he touched his Adam’s apple. Audrey noticed immediately and handed him water to drink.
“!!!”
She was shocked that he knew how to speak in Hellenn. Now that Audrey thought about it, it made sense since his mother was Hellenn. They were isolated in the east wing palace together, so it would be practical for his mother to teach him her mother tongue. She had heard that his mother died recently, so the boy probably started to starve as soon as she passed. Although she learned the Hellenn language for future use, she never expected it would come in handy now. All of her hard work seemed to be paying off.