Chapter 7

Belle's POV.

Belle’s bad luck just wouldn't end. Asides the fact that she was just killed by her ex- fiance, and woke up as a maid in a foreign land..

She also realizes that the other maids don't like her for whatever reason. And the only one that seemed to like her, Miss Stella, has been missing since she was called after pulling her out from the Prince's bath.

Then counting her run in with that Alpha Prince...twice in one day!

And now, even though she's supposed to be staying clear from the prince, the second matron had just somehow decided that she was a 'good pick' to join the entourage of other servants serving in the small banquet that was being held to host the Prince's potential mates.

Belle had tried to protest, ask for anything else, but no. The older woman's mind was already made up.

For someone like Belle, who hasn't worked these kind of jobs a day in her life, carrying a tray full of soups down that long hallway was a hard task. Her muscles and legs hurt.

But even at that, she had managed to keep up, reaching the hall successfully after almost stumbling twice.  That's why it is strange to her that when she finally reaches the oak doors, is when she conveniently catches her foot on  something and falls to the floor, the marbles plates shattering loudly against the tiles.

She freezes, her heartbeat loud in her own ears. The Prince, she knows he is is in there, he would for sure here about this accident.

Accidents that somehow always seem to happen around him.

And when he does…it surely won't end well for her.

Shame creeps up her spine.

She glares at the girl standing next to her, Rose, who is smirking, and conviniently has a leg out.

That witch!

"What are you doing?" She hears the chamberlain bark, as guards and servants rush to clean up the mess before it draws the attention of the royals.

"I-" she stammers, upset with herself. Belle Layton has faced clients, boardrooms, a swarm of reporters without stuttering.

But now, just the thought of embarrassing herself before the Alpha Prince is enough to get her tongue tied.

She huffs, pushing herself up. "I-It's not my fault! Someone tripped me!"

The chamberlain narrows his eyes. He looks at her with disdain, the soup stain on her maids dress, and her hair that's not properly wrapped.

"And who," he raises a brow, "would do such a thing during a royal gathering?"

She frowns.

The other maids already don't like her for whatever reason, accusing them would just make things worse.

But at the same time, this isn't her fault...

Her eyes dart toward Rose, who's looks... pitiful. Her eyes are blown wide, hands pressed against her chest.

Belle almost rolls her eyes.

Of course she would put up an act.

She turns back to the chamberlain. "She..." Belle starts, pointing at Rose, but she's cut off when she gasps softly.

"I would never!" Rose shakes her head. And God it looked so convincing. "We were all walking carefully. But she's been clumsy all day."

A few of the other maids murmur in agreement, making Rose's story more believable.

Belle jaws drop at them. Not even one of them is going to take her side? Tell the truth?

Just what exactly did this Isabella do that makes them hate her this much?

She turns back to him. "That's not true!" she says, voice rising slightly. "She put her leg out, I saw..."

"That's enough" The man cuts her off for a second time. "You have caused a disturbance at a royal event," he says angrily. "And you are obviously careless and incompetent, it's your fault!"

She gapes at him. At all of them. Never in all her twenty four years of life has she felt such helplessness before.

Things were always handed to her easily. People liked her, wanted to be around her, people wanted to please her.

They would've never have doubted her word.

And it hit her for the first time how very different her life was going to be from now on, until she found a way back home.

How powerless she was, even among other staffs/maids.

"But I said I was tripped..." She says it quietly this time, her fight dissipating.

"And I say you will hold your tongue," he snaps, stepping closer. "Or do you intend to make a greater spectacle of yourself before the Prince?"

The Prince.

That's right. The Prince had promised to punish her if he sees her again.

She sighs and shakes her head, her chest tightening in humiliation. She looks down at the remaining mess on the floor.

"Take her away,"the chamberlain orders, turning to the guards. "And instruct the kitchen not to send her here again!."

Her head snaps back up. "Wait, I can just go by myself.."

But nobody is listening to her. Two guards step forward, each of them grabbing her arm. They're just about to pull her away when they feel it.

That strong musky and coffee smell, sliding from beneath the door, filling the space.

The guards holding her goes still.

The chamberlain is one breath away from coughing out.

The maids look uncomfortable, their smirks turning into fear as they looked between each other.

Belle looks the most scared, her breath catching, because if the Prince really is coming... then she is definitely in a lot of trouble now.

She wishes she could just disappear.

The doors creak open a second later, and Darian walks out looking breathtaking in his formal attire.

Despite the fear, Belle's ears turn bright pink. She looks away from him, ashamed at how often she let the Prince's presence sway her.

But the Prince looked far too attractive, it was unfair.

Some of the other maids also had similar reactions too, looking away, trying not to make it so obvious that they are blushing beneath their reverence.

Darian's brows are pinched together, upset about how rowdy the staffs are being today.

His gaze drops to the stained floor first, before they lift slowly and lock on Belle's frame.

He sees red.

Not because of the mess, not because of the distraction, not because he had to leave his throne to come check what was going on.

But because they were touching her.

Guards or whoever they were, it didn't mean they had a right to lay their filthy hands on her.

Only he could do that.

His smell changes into rage, his pheromones filling the room in harsh waves, causing the men to choke and claw at their throats.

Belle is still turned away from him, partly from fear of his pheromones, partly because she is about to be punished.

Her heart pounds as his eyes pin her in place, the heat licking up her body as she feels his gaze pierce through her back.

She prepares to hear her punishment,

But what she doesn't expect however, are his next words...