Chapter 56 - "Try To Breathe."

Not having anything to do at that moment, Paulina snuck over to the painting room she had been assigned to clean every evening. Seeing as there was no one there, she walked over to the end of the room where she could easily hide if someone was to come in, and she brought out the folded drawing paper of her incomplete drawing and spread it over the flat surface of a board as she sat down on the floor. 

She ran her hands over the paper to smoothen the creases on it while she looked at the spot where she had arranged the paints and brushes, trying to figure out which she could use without being discovered since she didn't know who really owned the items in the room. 

After a moment, she stood up and walked over to the place. She picked the items that looked worn and likely to be thrown out, and then returned them to the spot where she had chosen to do her drawing. She sat down, and soon she began to paint.

As Paulina painted, she thought of Princess Amber's mother, and she paused when a frown creased her brows. Would the late queen have wanted Amber to escape from this place, even though it might cost her life? She had stylishly asked one of the servants who had started to become a little friendly with her why there were no city walls and if slaves wouldn't easily escape from the kingdom. The maid scoffed as she told her that no one ever escaped from the kingdom unless they were exiled. If anyone was caught trying to escape, they were brought before the king and executed to serve as a warning to the others. 

She wasn't sure if this was how the late Queen would have wanted her to serve Princess Amber. Maybe what she could do was try to understand the kingdom better and why they operated the way they did, and then they would adjust. It wasn't like they had any place to escape to. Even if she managed to escape from here without being caught, Amber's father would be livid when he found out about it, and he wouldn't mind executing her either if he found her. 

This was the safest place for her, especially seeing as Prince Harold was watching over her. Princess Amber even seemed to trust Prince Harold. Perhaps she should just try to convince her mistress to desist from trying to escape and try to live with her husband?

Paulina's head snapped up when she heard a sound, and her eyes shot to the door. Someone was standing behind the door talking to someone else. Her heart skipped a beat when she noticed the knob turning, and she quickly gathered her painting items together as silently as she could and pushed them under the table nearest to her. She found herself a place to hide behind some completed paintings that had been covered with clothes. Once the door was opened, she held her breath and tried to stay as still as she could. 

"Let's do whatever you want to do later. I don't want to be distracted right now," Williams said as he blocked the doorway so that Susan wouldn't come in.

"But I'm bored. Come on, why do you always stay here alone anyway?" Susan asked as she walked in with William.

"Go to Princess Tyra," Williams suggested.

"She is busy reading one of those boring books she is always carrying around with her," Susan complained. 

"Then maybe you should read one too, or find something else to do. Just make sure you don't cause trouble or get into one," Williams warned as he shut the door in her face.

Even though Paulina had guessed he was approaching her direction, she still yelped in surprise when he suddenly stopped directly in front of where she had been hiding and looked down at her with an unreadable gaze. Imagine the embarrassment of being caught like this. 

William placed his index finger on his lip, silently asking her to keep quiet as he looked at the door. She stayed mute immediately, not knowing what could happen this time. 

The first thing Williams had noticed when he opened the door was a very faint scent that he was familiar with, even before he heard her heartbeat. If he hadn't heard the heartbeat, he would have assumed that the scent was probably residue from when she went in to clean the place. The same smell had lingered yesterday when he arrived, even though she had not been in. He wondered why the smell mask wasn't completely sealing it off. Or was it because he was sensitive to smell that he could still tell where she had been?

He had asked Susan to leave not because he was trying to hide the human from her, but because he really wanted to be left alone, and he also knew that the human might not talk to him like the last time because of Susan's presence. He wanted to know what she was doing inside there when it wasn't time for her to clean the place. 

After about two minutes had passed, he extended his hand at her without saying a word. She looked at his hand, confused about why he was giving her his hand, before she looked up at his face.

"Save yourself from leg cramps," he said before taking her hand and pulling her out of her hiding spot gently. He was extremely careful this time so as not to hurt her. 

"What are you doing here?" He asked Paulina, who looked like she was ready to flee.

"Clean," she squeaked out as she kept looking at the door. Maybe if he hadn't caught her doing something wrong, she wouldn't have been this scared and thinking about how to fly from here or even disappear.

He looked around, as if searching for something, before he said, "If you want to keep sneaking in here, you should at least have a backup plan. There are no cleaning materials anywhere," he pointed out. 

Having run out of lies to tell, she looked down guiltily. "I'm sorry, your highness," 

"What do you do here?" 

She was hesitant to tell him the truth because she didn't know how he was going to react to that. But he had saved her once, or maybe twice, since he had asked her to run that night and also protected her from whatever wild animal was outside and seemed to recognize him. Also, if he wanted to tell on her, he would have dragged her out by now. 

"P-Painting..." She stammered.

"Oh... you paint?" He seemed intrigued as he sat down on a high stool directly in front of a wooden board with a thick unrolled scroll used for painting. Paulina looked at it with envy, wishing she could paint on something like that. 

She nodded while looking down.

"Can I see?" 

She was hesitant again, but went to retrieve the paper from where she had hidden it and handed it to him with shaking hands. He took it from her and carefully unfolded it, looking at the piece like a judge ready to pass judgment.

She waited with bated breath, wondering what comment he was going to make on it. She guessed he must have seen a lot better paintings than hers. 

"Who is she?" He asked, pulling her out of her thoughts.

"Milady's... mother," she stammered. 

"She is pretty," he commented as he kept looking at the painting. "I'd like to see it when it's completed." 

"Really?" She asked, pleasantly surprised that he seemed interested in her painting.

"Yes. How long ago did you start?" He asked.

"A long time. But... I forgot to complete it and only found it when we were moving back here," she lied. There was no way she was going to tell the truth without telling him about how they lived in the mountains. 

He nodded at her explanation and handed the paper back to her. He had to admit that she was very talented and maybe even better than him. 

"What do you intend to do with it now?" He asked, looking at her with a scrutinizing gaze that made her uncomfortable and fearful. Everyone in this palace was scary, and even if he was nice, she could not help but feel scared.

"To... gggive it to—"

"Relax." He cut her off calmly. "Try to breathe." 

Paulina didn't realize she was about to have a panic attack until he asked her to breathe, and she did just that, inhaling and exhaling deeply. 

"How old are you?" He asked, sizing her up. If he were to guess her age, he would say she was 16. She looked small and fragile. But her answer surprised him. She was nineteen. Which meant she was even older than him by a year, yet he was at least twice her size. 

"I will arrange for you to accompany me whenever I come here.. That way, you can complete your painting," he said as he stood up and began to head for the door.