Asher awoke, dazed and confused on a large, comfortable bed. The world was still blurry and he felt like everything was spinning as he stared up at the ornate ceiling.

Taking a moment to collect himself, he finally noticed movement to his right and turned to find Elise's servant boy, Laurent, applying stitches to a large gash on his forearm.

Finally everything came back to him and Asher realized he had fainted after sustaining the additional injury. Considering how badly beaten he'd been, and how tired he was from travelling all day, it wasn't much of a shock to think that the additional blood loss was enough to knock him out.

Even now, he was too groggy to feel concern as he lazily watched the young boy work to sew his injury closed.

His head was pounding and his mouth felt dry. He wanted to ask for water, but the amount of energy it would take to speak felt like too much to bother, so he continued to stare until Laurent took notice.

The boy cocked his head when he spotted the now conscious servant looking his way, but returned to his work to finish the last few stitches before wiping the area down and wrapping it up. Then he went to sit in a chair by the bed.

Asher waited for Laurent to say something. He figured the boy would explain what happened after he fainted, or ask if he was feeling alright at the very least. Instead he was met with that silent stare.

He found it hard to fall back asleep and stared out the nearest window until light started shining through. Laurent had fallen asleep by then and Asher was finally able to sit up without his vision blacking out.

He tiptoed passed the servant boy and found a glass of water on the end table. Gratefully he gulped it down, then found a plate of breakfast ready the next second.

Magic really was a wonderous thing.

He ate his food slowly, not wanting to upset his still queasy stomach, and examined the work on his arm. The stitch work wasn't quite expert looking, but it definitely would do the job. Perhaps he could learn a thing or two from Laurent after all?

"Hey." He nudged the boy once he was done eating, and the child shot to his feet, wide eyed and frightened, but once he recollected where he was, he calmed down.

Asher pointed to a second tray that had been magically conjured for him. "Your food's getting cold."

The boy blinked and stared at the tray of biscuits and sausage. Then he tilted his head and pointed between Asher and the food.

"No, I didn't make it. The castle did." He tried to explain. The boy frowned and Asher sighed. "I already explained this to your master earlier."

The boy, still frowning, eventually shrugged it off and accepted the meal. Meanwhile Asher sat back down on the bed and stretched his good arm. "Can't you talk?"

Laurent's mouth was full, so he shook his head instead.

"So you're mute?"

The boy nodded.

Well at least he wasn't intentionally giving Asher the silent treatment. Unfortunately that meant they had little to do in the way of conversation. If he was unable to speak, there'd be no way for him to explain what happened after the incident.

None the less, he had to find Leon and show him that he was okay. The Prince was probably beating himself up over this. Asher felt awful that he had caused it as well. He thought if he pushed the Prince away, then he'd put more effort into wooing Lady Elise. But that's not how it turned out at all.

He should have just agreed to stick to the Prince until the two were better acquainted...Or comfortable....

Groaning in frustration, Asher fell back onto the bed as he realized his biggest mistake.

Leon wasn't comfortable being alone with women!

That's why he had been so insistent on keeping Asher by his side. Why didn't he see it? Why did Asher have to be so damn stupid?! Leon wasn't even being discreet about it!

Laurent jumped to his feet when he noticed the servant smacking himself on the head. Quickly Asher sat up and waved him off. "I'm fine. Stupid, but fine. Look, I need to find his majesty. Can you tell me where...Oh, you wouldn't know either would you?"

Asher was going to ask where they were at but remembered that Laurent had spent the entire night looking after him. So he knew about as much as Asher did regarding their whereabouts.

Oh well, he could still at least check the beast's room.

Standing a little too fast, he stumbled until his vision returned, then started down the hall, only to feel the servant tug on his sleeve. Asher looked questioningly down at him as Laurent pointed at his tunic, then back into the room.

Finally he realized his clothes were tattered and bloody. With Lady Elise and two knights in the castle, he should probably put more effort into how he looked since he was representing the Prince now.

Knowing that the castle's magic would help out, he walked up to the armoire in the corner and pulled out the first set of clothes he found.

Previously he'd only ever dressed in whatever he'd packed, but since he didn't have his luggage with him now, he had no choice but to rely on the magic, and learned for the first time what it felt like for an enchanted castle to dress him.

In a flurry of movement, a small tornado seemed to spin around him as the cloths flew around his body and his own outfit faded away. He had no idea what was happening, but one moment he looked like a dirty, beaten street rat, and the next he was dressed in a white tailcoat with red shoulders and gold lining.

Curious, he checked the standing mirror in the corner and found that he could potentially pass as a prince himself now!

That is, if it wasn't for the massive bruise that covered half his face, painting his skin with ugly shades of brown and purple.

At least it wasn't swollen.

"I should have done that ages ago." He turned, checking himself out, then remembered what he was doing and strutted out into the hall.

Remembering his way, Asher boldly headed towards the Prince's room, careful not to swing his arm too hard as he walked.

Knocking, he waited to see if anyone would answer or if the doors would open on their own. When they didn't, he leaned forward. "Your majesty? Are you in there?"

He didn't hear anything at first, and wondered where he might be this early in the morning? Then he wondered if the Prince and Lady Elise had possibly shared a room last night? The very thought had his throat dry all over again as his heart dropped.

No. That's stupid! Leon wouldn't be comfortable doing that with a woman so suddenly.

But, he and Asher had done similar things...

"Asher?" Came the Prince's voice, knocking the servant out of his escalating paranoia.

"May I come in?"

Asher waited for a response, but instead, the door swung open to reveal a depressed looking beast, still in his night clothes.

Leon's eyes looked Asher up and down, then paused on his face before zooming in on the man's injured arm. Remembering himself, the creature gestured for him to enter. "Are you feeling alright?"

"Yeah. Laurent is pretty good with a needle." Asher replied, stepping passed the monster and waiting awkwardly. "Uh...Sorry for making a scene last night."

"No. It's alright. I was being...Stubborn." The beast looked away sadly. "I'm the one that should be sorry."

"It's alright. I don't mind sticking by your side. I was so focused on getting the curse broken that I forgot to take your thoughts into account."

"But you were right." The beast lamented. "If it weren't for this curse, your arm would be alright. And until this curse is lifted, I might....I might hurt you again."

"No you won't. I know you didn't do it on purpose."

"Exactly." The beast rebuffed. "If I didn't do it on purpose, then how can I be sure it won't happen again? I need to focus on breaking this spell as soon as possible. No matter what. So... I've decided to get closer to Elise, as intended."

Those words somehow made the servant feel even worse than before, despite the fact that that was exactly what Leon needed to do. Yet, he wanted to scream. Instead he went stone faced as he asked, "...Are you sure?"

The beast refused to meet his eye. "Yes."

Asher didn't like it, but if he fought against it now, he'd be a total hypocrite.

"Can I ask you something? Why didn't you tell me about the other women that were waiting to court you? I could have went to retrieve them a long time ago."

The beast flexed his claws. "I didn't want the other nobles to see me like this..."

Apparently the Prince did care about his reputation. It was probably less shameful for a commoner to see him like this than a fellow prince or duchess. High society could be cruel and judgmental.

"What if Ebony returns?" Asher asked, suddenly feeling stupid. "If the curse isn't broken by her next visit...She won't kill Lady Elise, will she?"

Before, time wasn't an issue since he had believed all they needed was to get married and the curse would be lifted. But falling in love could take some time, and Lady Elise had been in such a hurry to get to the castle that Asher had completely forgotten to take the witch's reaction into account.

"She can't. Part of the agreement was that if I could find a potential bride, then the witch couldn't kill them."

"Then why worry about me?"

"That's different. You're a servant. Since you're part of the staff, you'd be cursed like everyone else was. And if you tried to say you didn't work for the castle, she'd just kill you as a random passerby."

"So only women will be spared?" Asher wondered, worried for Laurent and the guards.

The beast shrugged. "I've never had a chance to see what her reaction would be if more than one visitor arrived here. There's a chance, and I warned her about it last night, but she seemed confident that her guards could handle themselves."

"If she say's so." He caved, shaking his head. "Anyways, call on me if you need anything. I know Elise doesn't want me hanging around, but if she makes you feel uncomfortable or anything, just say the word and I'll be right by your side!"

The beast finally looked back at Asher and smirked. "And what would you do then?"

"Hold your hand?" Was the servant's reply, because he really had no idea what he'd do if it came down to that since he didn't know how to fight. But, giving moral support was something he could definitely do.

The beast let out a laugh, causing the servant to join in.

"Alright. I'll keep that in mind." The Prince grinned.

Asher then bowed as he prepared to leave, but couldn't stop himself from wincing at his injuries. The beast stepped closer, then retreated for fear of harming him again.

"Are you sure you're alright?"

"Never better." Asher grunted as he stood straight. "If you'll excuse me, I agreed to learn from Laurent, and he's probably wondering where I ran off to."

With that, he left the room, ignoring the concerned gaze of the beast as he did so.

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