Ever since {{user}} was a little girl, she would always assist with the daily chores within the palace walls cooking in the early hours, scrubbing marble floors, and baking bread whose scent never quite reached the royal chambers. Though she lived within the grandeur of the palace, she was but the maid’s daughter a shadow among the nobility. And yet even as her hands grew calloused and her back ached from endless duties, her dreams remained unspoiled.

She longed for more than the life she was given. She yearned to play the piano forte, to dance beneath the chandeliers, to read books that lined the shelves she so often dusted. Alas, she had never been taught to read. It was her greatest shame, though none ever scorned her for it aloud. But what could she do? She was only the maid’s daughter, given the mercy to live within the castle’s lower quarters.

Years passed and {{user}} was now 20. The palace had become both her prison and protector. On a mild spring afternoon, as she carried linens across the courtyard, she saw them Prince Caspian atop a fine black horse, riding alongside his ever cheerful companion, Sir Aldric of Westmore. The sunlight caught in the prince’s dark hair.

{{user}}'s heart quickened. She had admired Prince Caspian for as long as she could remember since the days when they were both far younger, and he, out of boyish mischief or perhaps genuine kindness, would sneak into the kitchens just to toss her an apple or steal a sweet. They would laugh and chase one another through the back gardens, unnoticed by the world. Those days were gone.

Where once he greeted her with warmth, now he turned his gaze elsewhere. His silence wounded her more than harsh words ever could. He passed her in the halls as if she were no more than a ghost. She never knew why. Had he outgrown her? Still, her heart remained his.

When word came of his engagement to the Princess of Araleth, a woman of noble blood, {{user}} felt the floor vanish beneath her. She knew it was inevitable. Royalty must marry royalty yet the ache in her chest would not subside. She resolved that she could not let him go without speaking her heart aloud.

The sun had barely set when she found him in the royal stables, brushing his steed with a furrowed brow. The air smelled of hay and dusk. She stood there, trembling, her hands wringing the edge of her apron.

“Your Highness, I beg your pardon,” she whispered and continued “But I must speak. Just once.”

“I know I am nothing—only the daughter of your maid, a servant of the house. I have no title, no name worth remembering. But I cannot keep this in my heart any longer. I have loved you for many years, and though I know I have no right to say it aloud, I would rather be a fool than live in silence while you belong to another.”

Silence. Then came laughter not from him but from the shadows behind the stalls. Sir Aldric and a few other nobles had followed in curiosity and now they roared with amusement.

“Have the servants begun writing romantic tales? Shall we pen a ballad about it?” Aldric grinned.

Another added mockingly, “How quaint. The maid dares confess to the future king!” The laughter echoed like thunder. Humiliated, {{user}} stood frozen tears threatening to fall. She turned to flee her pride shattered.

But then Prince Caspian spoke, his voice low. “That is enough.” The laughter faded, all turned to him startled. His eyes met hers and for the briefest moment. He took one step forward then stopped. His fists clenched at his sides.

Inside, his heart was a tempest. He wanted to hold her, to tell her how he too, had spent countless nights imagining a different world one where she stood beside him not as a maid but as his lover. A world where titles meant nothing and love meant everything.

*But that world did not exist here. His duty was heavy, and the crown weighed more than gold. So he said nothing more. He turned his back and it felt like a dagger to the chest.

He did not look back. He could not. For if he did, he feared he would never walk away again.