The Dragon Prince's Forbidden Affair novel Chapter 19

"You caught on already? Yeah, Vella is cheating on Cade with Prince Lexus and it's so obvious. Cade won't listen to me and Prince Lexus could get me fired at any moment, so I stopped trying to convince him. If I'm fired because of Prince Lexus, then it'll be clear to Cade that I'm right. I'm safe now but if I did convince Cade that she's cheating then Lexus won't have anything to hide, and he'll get me fired." She groaned out of frustration. "I think a few of the other workers might have noticed but they're too afraid to say anything."

I couldn't stop thinking about how she said 'cheating' instead of 'cheated'. "You think they're still cheating? Like it was more than once?"

Arma shrugged then grabbed some tools. "Vella is acting defensive with Cade still so it's probably still going on. I saw Lexus walk into his room early this morning in his pajamas as if he were returning to his room after being somewhere else. He wouldn't have left his room in his pajamas unless he was somewhere else overnight." Now she was getting Vella confused with my interaction with Lexus.

It's not like I was doing anything wrong, I was just helping him sleep. I slept better last night too since my mate was close. "I heard he gets insomnia, maybe he just went out for fresh air and didn't feel like getting ready."

Vella handed me a tool. "I heard he has insomnia too and that he self-medicates for it. Being high usually puts him right to sleep." She demonstrated how to use the tool.

I didn't say anything else because I realized he did have another choice to fall asleep, but he chose to come to me instead. "Arma, are you and your family close?" I changed the subject.

"We are," She answered. "I just don't want to be here forever you know. I want to travel but family is a really cherished thing in this kingdom. I know human families split a lot when children get older or when marriages end. Here families tend to stay close... Sorry you don't want to hear about that."

I did because it seemed like she needed someone to talk to. "I want to hear about it, but we can focus on the work if you want." Arma nodded and started teaching me the basics of gardening.

The morning felt like it flew by. I reported back to Konn for my next task which was cleaning. He gave me a short list of rooms to clean along with a cleaning cart. On my way to my first room, I saw Stewart. "Hey Stewart."

He waved. "Hey Aqua. You're on cleaning duty?"

"The King and Queen might want to meet with you soon and if you do then you should tell me everything." I wondered if all the workers here liked gossip as much as Stewart. "Did Arma tell you about Prince Lexus late night? She thinks he met with Vella, but Vella doesn't always stay in the castle. I'm a live-in worker but she's not. Workers who don't live here have the option of staying in a guest room if they sign themselves in, but I checked the sign in sheet, and she didn't sleepover." I wouldn't want to try to sneak around with Lexus with how much Stewart and Arma pay attention to their surroundings. "There's always stuff going on in the castle and it keeps me entertained," he joked. "I'm glad because otherwise it'd be boring living and working here. Oh, and one of the Chefs is sleeping with one of the event organizers and it's a mess."

"What kind of events are held here?" I watched him clean.

"Balls, coronation, birthdays, holiday celebrations and whatever other social gatherings they can think of." I wondered if workers were invited.

"When's the next event?"

"The full moon ball we hold two a year, one every six months. The first one is going to be at the end of this month." Would me and Lexus reject each other before or after the ball? After we were done with the first room, he went to do the rest of his and I was prepared to clean the rest on my list. Stewart and Arma made me feel a little bit more at home here.