Page 48 of Maid for the Alien Prince

And there it was. The real reason I had not noticed Ges’ activities. I feared I wasn’t good enough to be a royal.

Camila sighed. “Many things have been happening here that you’re not aware of. He keeps it from you. The servants steal from you. True, they could do with the money more than anyone else, but it’s still wrong of them to take it. And if they feel like they can steal from you, perhaps they feel like they can steal other things from other people too.”

“You’re taking this too far.”

“Am I?” Camila said, glaring at me. “Then how about this: I did a little research into what is really happening at the palace. On your grounds, you have a dozen farms of varying sizes. Some are small, others very big, and each of them pays you rent to farm your land.”

“Yes, so? Do you think I should not charge rent?”

“A fair amount for rent, sure. But how about doubling or even tripling it since you arrived here?”

She might have slapped me for all the effect that piece of news had. “Doubling? Tripling?” I said. “What are you talking about?”

Camila nodded with more than a little relief. “I thought you wouldn’t know about it. It’s Ges. He’s charging your farmers high rent and when they can’t pay, he kicks them out of their homes and onto the street. These are families we’re talking about. Now he plans on bringing slaves to work the farms instead.”

She sneered at me. “Not even the royal family has sunken that low yet.”

She knew exactly how to hit me, and her comment knocked the air from my lungs.

“I will deal with this,” I said seriously. “I swear to you.”

But she wasn’t finished. “The biggest thief you have in the palace is not the servants. Added together, they don’t come close to a fraction of what Ges is stealing from right under your nose. He’s taking antiques, heirlooms, and I bet if you take a close look at your accounts, he will be stealing your money too.”

I couldn’t bring myself to believe that, but I would take a close look at the accounts to see if what she was saying was true.

Have I really been that blind?

On one hand, I wanted to destroy everything the royal family valued, including their name, but how could I do that without appropriate funds?

I couldn’t.

I would quickly become destitute and living on the street, struggling to get by as I had before, if I allowed the servants and Ges to take everything.

It was a bitter pill to swallow, but if proven true, Camila might have just saved my future, and countless others I might have otherwise been able to help.

Camila’s expression broke. She stood up and placed her hand on my cheek.

I pressed my face into it.

“I know you weren’t born into this life. I know everything I have told you has come as a shock. And I know that it will be painful to lose the one friend you thought you had, but trust me, things will get better from now on.

“Get rid of him, change the rules in how you run the palace, and you’ll feel better, brighter, and happier. You can continue your crusade against the royal family, destroying their legacy one good act at a time. But you can’t do it with a leech sucking your lifeblood from you.”

The one ally I thought I’d had, the one who had always been honest with me from the very start… might very well turn out to be the one stealing from me this whole time…

“You don’t have to do this alone,” Camila said. “I’ll help you. But from now on, you will check the books every day and make sure I don’t steal from you—”

I was shocked. “I know you won’t steal from me—”

“You’re too quick to trust. Your father did a good job in teaching you to be a good and kind Ulsen, but you cannot afford to be naïve. Especially not with the royal family as your enemies. You will check the accounts every day. You will question every credit that gets spent and demand that it is accounted for. This is not about being greedy or being a royal asshole. This is about good financial sense.”

I nodded. “I will.”

But still, I was hesitant to fire Ges, not right away at least.

“Look, I need him. He runs the palace, the estate, everything. Maybe if I tell him what he’s doing wrong, make sure he doesn’t repeat it again—”

“Can’t you see how rotten he is?”

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