Leon froze instantly as he realized what that meant. Meanwhile Asher was blushing head to toe as he heard the low whisper of the phantom servants coming from the wall behind him.

"She's back..." The beast breathed.

"Maybe she's not?" Asher offered. "Maybe she just returned the castle's magic and skipped her visit?"

This didn't comfort Leon as he backed up and unwound his tail from Asher's leg. He watched the beast pace the room, somewhat panicked as he started mumbling to himself. "I knew she was due to come back but this is too sudden!"

"What are you going to do?"

The creature's head snapped in his direction and he quickly approached the servant. "You need to hide!"

"Again?!" Asher exclaimed, unhappy with the suggestion. "Why? Just tell her I'm one of your servants or something."

"You don't understand! That's the problem! Look at what she did to all my other servants!" The creature held his arms out as he indicated around the empty room, and Asher was reminded that the Prince could not hear the whispers.

Then again, just because Asher knew they were still around didn't mean he wanted to join them. The beast was right, so the servant nodded. "Good point."

"Just...Stay here. I'll let you know when it's safe." The beast turned and hesitated before stalking out of the kitchen.

"What about you though?" Asher called after him. "What if she tries something funny like before?"

He really didn't like the idea of leaving Leon alone with that perverted nanny. Not that he'd be able to make much of a difference, but still!

The creature paused. "She always does. It'll be no different from her other visits."

"That's why I'm worried!"

This time Leon turned towards him, his face hard as stone. "And what are you suggesting I do about it? If I don't comply, she can do much worse than just turn me into a beast, but as long as I meet her, she'll let me retain some illusion of choice."

Asher didn't like the hopelessness in his tone, but before he could stop him, the Prince had vanished down the hall.

A weight seemed to fall on his heart as he realized he was powerless to help. As much as he'd like to run in and chastise the woman, she'd probably turn him into a frog before he got a word out. So the servant decided to return to his baking, only to find that the magic in the kitchen had completely cleaned away all his ingredients that he had been cooking with.

Fair enough. It wasn't like he'd need to cook tonight anyways. If they wanted cinnamon rolls, he could just....Wait. Was that how it worked? Could he ask for a specific menu item for the castle to generate? Or did it create random dishes every day? He made a note to ask Leon later as he mulled over what to do next.

Sitting in the corner he waited for the beast to return, not knowing how long his encounter with the woman would take and feeling worse by the minute. He considered cleaning, but yet again realized the castle had instantly taken care of that and found himself less grateful for the automation as he no longer had any tasks to distract himself with.

Time passed  and he poked his head down the hall just a bit to find nothing of interest. He tried listening in case he could somehow hear whatever conversation the two were having off in the other end of the castle, though he knew that was also futile.

Kicking his feet at the ground, he circled the kitchen table and seriously considered sneaking out anyways. If he was careful, he could get lucky and find an opportunity to sneak up and take a frying pan to the witch's head!

Asher started running imaginary scenarios of how he could play the hero despite being so useless right now. Logically, the only way he could help was by doing what he's been doing all along, and that was helping the Prince find a woman to marry and break the curse.

"I don't suppose any of you have a suggestion on what I can do?" He asked the walls, knowing he looked like a mad man.

There was an unexpected murmur among the voices before a string of clear words were heard. "Go to the waiting room."

He didn't think the voices would actually offer anything, and he stared wide eyed at the bricks before snapping out of it and leaving the kitchen.

It wasn't the first time that the voices had spoken to him directly. Back when he first arrived they had clearly tried to chase him away, yet now they were doing the opposite.

Did the servants approve of Asher's intentions now, even though last time he had stubbornly demanded a job? Were they aware that this time he was back in the castle to do more than menial tasks?

Whatever their reasoning, he was glad they had told him to leave at that time. Otherwise he'd have waited until Leon reappeared, which, judging by the state he found him in, would have been hours later.

The beast wasn't in his bedroom but instead was found slouching in the high back chair located in the downstairs waiting room. There was a second empty chair with a table and some half eaten snacks sitting on it.

Leon was staring at the floor with his knuckles against this brow, deep in thought.

"Is everything alright?" Asher wondered, causing the creature to jolt to his feet, and he stared the servant down.

"I thought I told you to wait until I came to get you?!" He snapped.

Asher shrugged. "The other servants said to come here."

A confused look crossed Leon's face. "Other...Servants? She brought them back?"

Oh boy. This was going to be hard to explain. "Sort of? I mean, they were technically already here, except for when they weren't. I mean...I guess they're invisible now? And in the walls? I don't know exactly how it works, but I can hear them talk every now and then." He had kind of explained this once before, but it seems like his words weren't taken seriously last time. That, or Leon hadn't listened.

The beast let out a deep sigh as though his brain was already overloaded on information and not willing to accept this new story as he sat back down.

Asher approached, swinging his arms casually. "So...That wasn't as long as I expected. How did it go?" He noticed the beast's shirt and pant's weren't undone like last time, so it seemed like she hadn't tried to make a move today.

"She was brief. Made a point that she could turn off the magic at any time if I tried to attack her again. Then she left."

"That's it?"

The beast snorted. "You wanted her to do more?"

"No. I just wanted to make sure you were okay." Asher sat down in the chair that he presumed the witch had used. "Why didn't you come get me as soon as she was gone?"

"I wanted to think things over for a bit."

"Like what?"

"Like...." He blushed and glanced away. "Like what I said earlier. I didn't....I'm sorry if you found it disgusting for me to suggest..."

"Oh. No, don't worry. I didn't find it disgusting at all." He waved it off, earning a disbelieving look from the beast. "Really! I...Uh..." What was he going to say to follow that up? That he had been caught in the moment and looked forward to being fondled by a seven foot tall monster-man?

He'd die from embarrassment.

The beast stared intently, waiting on Asher to complete his sentence, but by this time the servant decided to change the subject. "Hey! Since I don't have to cook anymore, how does the food service work around here? Do you just shout your order into the air and it appears?"

The beast knew exactly what he was doing, but went along with a roll of his eyes. "No. It automatically generates whatever I'm in the mood for without me asking. If I'm not in the mood for anything, it creates random dishes instead."

"Oh. Well that's less exciting." Asher muttered, let down by the fact that he couldn't ask for specific foods himself and was subject to whatever the Prince wanted. Then again, that was how things normally would be anyways. Actually, as a servant, he'd have been stuck with the table scraps.

Best not complain.

"Anyways. Since Ebony has paid her visit, I should probably head back to town and get on with finding someone for you before she comes back."

"You want to leave already?" The beast remarked, then eyed the window as it grew dark outside. "Now?"

"No, not now. In the morning obviously. That way I can hopefully be back before tomorrow night." Asher explained, knowing there was a good chance it would take longer than that to find someone willing to follow him all the way to the castle, but he didn't want to worry the creature. "Also because I want to properly rest before I leave. We've both been doing chores all day so I think that's fair."

"Will you stay in my room tonight?" The beast suddenly asked.

"Is that a request or an order?"

"...A request."

The servant was flattered that the Prince was giving him a choice, then blushed crimson when he realized what he might be insinuating. "Wait, if this is about what you asked before-"

"No! That's not what I mean. I just want company. You don't have to do anything. I just don't...I don't want to be alone right now."

Once more the beast looked like a kicked puppy and Asher's empathy had him feeling bad. The monster was really acting different from the arrogant grump who had told him to sleep in the stables before.

Closing his eyes, he agreed, much to the beast's relief.

Just like he explained, a food platter appeared on a table in the beast's room and as he ate, Asher went to confirm that the previously shredded clothes had been repaired and hung back up.

Relieved that he really didn't have to worry about doing chores anymore, he turned to find a second plate of food set aside for himself.

"Did you put this here?" Asher asked, pointing at the tray of potatoes and roast.

The beast speared his own food with a claw, shaking his head as he finished a mouthful.

Asher took note and decided that the next time the castle shut down, he'd put effort into making non-liquid foods that were less troublesome to eat.

Sitting down in the opposite end of the room, he started picking at the meat, then began taking full bites as the flavors overwhelmed his taste buds.

He was just about done when he noticed the beast watching him with a perplexed look. Asher quickly wiped his mouth sheepishly. Once they finished, the servant finally witnessed exactly how the creature had been getting dressed with the castle's magic.

All he had to do was tap a claw against the wardrobe and it would open in a flurry of flying clothes, all circling the beast like a strange colorful tornado, then the remainder would return, leaving Leon in a new pajama shirt. One that went all the way down to his knees.

It had happened so fast that Asher still didn't understand how it worked, but he let it go as he sat in a chair beside the beast's bed for the night.

"Do you want me to read you a story?" Asher joked, but it went over the creature's head when he waved him off.

"Just sit there until I fall asleep."

"That's it?"

"Do you want to do more?"

"Sitting it is." Asher quickly replied, realizing he had to be more careful with his words unless he wanted to offer himself for more mature things, and right now didn't seem like a good time. Not while the guy was so vulnerable.

 After that, he watched the beast, waiting for his breathing to even out. He found that the creature looked much less monstrous as he slept. His whole face seemed to soften up, making him look more like a gentle, slumbering creature of some kind. 

Soon Asher found his own eyes were becoming heavy and before he could help it, he too drifted to sleep.

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