There were only ten minutes before the filming started. Ti went by quickly, and Edie walked over to take her place on the set. Clyde was sitting in a wheelchair and was pushed by a eunuch. Prince Raines wasn’t in good health. He had suffered from asthma for years, and sotis these attacks were severe enough that they landed him in a hospital. His illness worsened over ti. Prince Raines sat there, panting, his eyes half closing.
Suddenly soone spoke to Mae, "Prince Raines wishes to see you."
The Prince slowly opens his eyes. He looks around. "Mae? Is she the servant who was slapped?" he asked—sounding a little disoriented.
"Yes, she’s co to thank you, Prince Raines," the eunuch answered. He took Mae by the hand and led her towards the Prince’s wheelchair.
"Bring her close so I can see her," the Prince said as he lifted his head.
The eunuch took Mae to the Prince, and she gave him the royal salute. She kept her eyes down, refusing to look him directly in the eyes. "I have to co to thank you, Prince Raines."
Prince Raines smiled. "Please stop kneeling and stand up. You do not need to thank !"
"Thank you, Prince Raines, but I....." Mae didn’t want to disobey his orders and quickly stood up.
The Prince frowns and looks at the eunuch. "Go to the pavilion and wait until Mae is finished," he orders. The servant didn’t say a word; he turned and left.
"There’s sothing else?" the Prince asked.
"Yes! I have sothing else that I would like to discuss with you. May I have your permission to speak freely?" Mae answered.
"Okay! As you wish, go ahead and speak," he ordered.
"My lady is having a difficult ti. She’s a very strong, young woman, but she’s struggling." Mae paused and waited to see if there would be a response from the Prince. He looked at her kindly and gave his head a half shake. She continued, "Sally is grateful for all you have done for her, but she needs you to stop helping her."
A little stunned, the Prince replies, "Why? What is wrong?"
"You and My Lady are the kindest and most caring people in the palace. Everyone else is so selfish and uncaring. They all see how you treat her, and it is inevitable. There’s no way of stopping them from spreading the word about My Lady, and her reputation is being ruined because of it. It’s only a matter of ti before your reputation will be affected too. If it hasn’t been already. Please! I beg of you to help her!" Mae pleaded with the Prince.
"Taking care of Sally hasn’t been easy for , but I do understand," the Prince said.
"You’ll do it then? I know how important My Lady is to you. Thank you!" Mae said.
Prince Raines was only in the palace because the Emperor took pity on him. He asked the Prince to play chess with him many tis. Therefore, the Prince was with the Emperor a substantial amount of ti. There was no way this conversation could have been discussed in front of the Emperor. He would have banished everyone involved from the palace or worse.
"Sally will have no protection from . Tell her, and she needs to be careful," the Prince replied.
Shaking her head in agreent, Mae said, "Yes, I have already many tis."
Prince Raines looks at Mae and asks, "Why do you not look at when you talk to ?"
For a mont, she was silent. "I’m not worthy of you, My Prince."
"Lift your head and look at ," he ordered.
Mae couldn’t disobey his orders, even though this was against the rules. She slowly looked into the Prince’s eyes. He studied her for a second. He asked her, "The scar on your face! Where did you...."
Feeling embarrassed, Mae imdiately put her hands on her face to cover the scar. "I got this from an accident when I was a little girl," she explained.
"I know there’s so special cream that you could use. It may help fade the scar," the Prince said with concern in his voice.
Mae was stunned into silence. Trying to find the right words, she said, "But Prince Raines, I am not of any importance, only to My Lady. I’m only a servant."
Prince Raines smiled. "Do you see what I’m sitting in," he asked. His words explained it all. Looking at the expression on Mae’s face, he was sward by an overwhelming feeling of sadness. "What you’ve asked of ! I will see that it doesn’t happen again," the Prince said, trying to reassure Mae.
"Thank you, Prince Raines. You’re a very compassionate man." Mae was fighting with every inch of her body to hold back the tears. "May I go back to My Lady?" she asked.
Prince Raines sighed. "Yes, you may go back."
As Mae was leaving, she heard the Prince whisper, "It makes happy to know that you’re looking out for , but don’t put yourself at risk."
Mae’s pace quickened. "Cut!" shouted Malloy. His eyes were glued to the screen from the intensity of the scene,
The co-director Bob shouted out after Malloy. "That was wonderful! Perfect!" He clapped his hands and jumped up from his seat.
Malloy nodded his head in agreent and looked at the photographer. "Did you get it all and lots of pictures?" he said with excitent in his voice. "I need the pictures for publicity. This is the first ti the fans will see Prince Raines and Mae together."
"Yes, I have many pictures. All you need to do is choose which ones you want to use," the photographer said.
Clyde walked over to Malloy and smiled. "So what did you think? The scene turned out quite well!"
"Yes! Yes! It was very intense. You two work well together," Malloy said with a pleased expression on his face.
Manley walked over to them. "It was so good! It didn’t even look like you guys were acting."
Clyde looked at Manley with a smirk on his face. "Very interesting!"
Manley lowered his voice and whispered, "Do you think it turned out so well because you’re interested in Miss. Lara? Are you trying to ease yourself into her life?"
Clyde grinned and replied, "Who knows what the future holds." The whole ti Manley and Clyde were talking, Clyde was watching Edie.
Manley placed his finger on his chin and said, "I think I know what you want it holds."
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