Chapter 78: When In Rome...

Talia had barely walked into the main courtyard when she was immediately put to work by the head attendant.

"We need to scrub out the bathroom! The Grand Duke has gone to meet up with his father. When he gets back, the place must be spotless so he can bathe and clean up from his travels!"

One of the nursemaids took Devin from her so he could be bathed and dressed in more appropriate clothing.

Meanwhile, someone had pressed a bucket and mop into her hands and she was sent directly into what they called 'the bathroom'.

Talia stood there for a moment, marveling at 'the royal bathroom'. It looked more like a fancy spa and pool that could be found in all the fanciest hotels.

The floors and walls were covered in a rose-cream travertine stone, with a rectangular swimming pool at the center.

The swimming pool was currently empty as several servants were scrubbing it with something that smelled of bleach. There were other servants, scrubbing the walls and floors with the same bleach and soap mixture.

Along one side of the bathroom was a set of doors which led to the teak-lined wet and dry sauna rooms. They were also opened and being cleaned of mold and scum by other servants using some sort of lemon-scented oil soap.

"You there. Come and mop out the massage room." The attendant overseer pointed to a room near the patio area.

"But I—"

"It's filthy in here." The attendant overseer looked around with a grimace. "We can't have the Grand Duke bathing in such filth."

Talia nodded. The woman had a point. She couldn't just stand around while the bathroom was such a pigsty.

She took her bucket and mop over to the massage room and began mopping.

Cedric really did need to bathe and clean up properly, but there was no way she would have allowed Devin or Cedric to use this bathroom until it was cleaned properly.

The sooner the bathroom was cleaned, the sooner he would be able to take a real bath. She had tried her best to clean the blood and gore off his body but it was too hard to clean him while he was lying unconscious on the bed.

As she mopped, Talia's eyes took in the general grunginess of the place. It wasn't that there was clutter or trash lying about. The place was mostly empty of anything save what was needed in a bathroom.

It was just that everything was covered in a fine layer of dust and cobwebs, as if no one had been in here for a very long time.

Heavens forbid they get bitten by spiders while bathing. Ugh!

She quickly began to attack the spiderwebs in the corner and mopped up as much as she could of the floors. Then came the more tedious work of cleaning the walls of dead insect bodies and the turd droppings that stuck to the walls.

She was finishing up the last of the final polishing when Cedric walked into the massage room.

"What in heaven's name are you doing?"

Talia turned to him with a bright smile. "You're back! How was the visit with your father?"

"I'm asking you a question. Why are you doing scullery maid work?"

Talia dropped her rag and scrub brush back into the hot soapy bleach water.

"The bathroom needed to be cleaned—"

"Yes, but there are dozens of attendants and servants. Why are you doing their work?"

Talia blinked, not knowing how to respond. She had been cleaning up after Cedric and Devin on the train for awhile now and he didn't seem to think anything of it. So what had changed all of a sudden?

Cedric snapped his fingers and the head attendant came running.

"Yes, Your Grace?" The woman bowed her head.

"Why is she in here doing this work?" Cedric pointed to Talia.

The head attendant swallowed. Had this attendant girl somehow gotten on the Grand Duke's bad side and not allowed to take care of his personal effects?

"My sincere apologies Your Grace. I will remove her from your sight." She reached out and yanked on Talia's arm, dragging her away.

They didn't even have a chance to move when Cedric stepped in and batted the head attendant away with a careless powerful flick of the hand.

He lowered his body and picked Talia up.

"How dare you treat her in that manner. Do you know who this woman is?"

The woman looked at Talia, dressed in her attendant clothing, her hair disheveled, her hands red and puffy from working with the hot soapy bleach water.

"Your—Your Grace. She is an attendant."

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"Wrong! Wrong!" He shot the head attendant a terrifying look.

"She is my mate! Go get your best attendants to look after her, and then remove yourself from my sight."

He carried her to the massage table and sat her down on its cushioned surface.

"Yes—yes Your Grace." The poor woman was beside herself as she rushed off.

Talia covered a smile with her hand. "Cedric, you really scared her. It wasn't as if she did anything so terrible."

Cedric turned his glaring eyes back to her.

"Why did you just meekly go along with her commands? Don't you know your place in this palace? Didn't I put a ring on your finger as you asked so that you would be assured of your exalted position in my life?"

Talia pressed her lips together. What could she say.

"You are my mate. If they treat you in that manner, what do you think they will do to me?"

"They didn't know, Cedric. And I don't really look like the mate of someone in your position."

Cedric gave a harsh sigh. "You're right, and that is my fault. I should have clarified with the palace staff who you were first before leaving you to face them on your own."

"It was just that you had been so competent, facing up to the likes of Evelyn that I thought you could handle a group of servants."

"Cedric. This is different than facing Evelyn. She was downright rude and scared Devin. I had to protect him from her."

She smiled. "There was no animosity between me and the head attendant. She was just doing her job, and I was simply helping out where the need was greatest."

"Her job was to take care of you!"

"Cedric, it really isn't her fault. She thought I was an attendant because of the clothes I wore, so she put me to work as a good overseer would." She shrugged.

"And besides, this bathroom was filthy. I couldn't allow you or Devin to bathe in it before it was cleaned."

She reached out to touch him, but then stopped. Her hands smelled like bleach. She couldn't touch him with—

He grabbed her red puffy hand and pressed it to his lips, his eyes sad and sorrowful.

"Look at your beautiful hands. They're all red from all this rough work."

He lifted her chin and pressed a gentle kiss onto her lips.

"The entire time I've met you, all you have done has been to take care of me and Devin, even at great risk to your life. It's my turn to take care of you now."

He reached out and began unbuttoning the front of her attendant's dress.

She took hold of his hand, pausing his action.

"You're undressing me here? There is a lot of people here!"

"Darling," Cedric sighed. "This is a bathroom and they are bathroom attendants. What do you think people do in bathrooms?"

"But I don't feel comfortable with that many people in the bathroom."

Cedric looked into the bathing area. There were four attendants waiting with soap, oil, warm towels, and perfumes.

There was already a new set of clothes for both Cedric and Talia, and her hair stylist was also waiting on the side.

"These are not the cleaning servants, Darling. They are highly trained personal attendants to take care of us."

Talia grimaced. "It's not really necessary, Cedric. I can take care of myself."

"Darling listen to me." Cedric leaned his forehead onto hers.

"You are my beloved mate. You need to get used to being my mate. This means you have to acclimate yourself to the attendants who will be surrounding you."

"Why? I can bathe myself."

"They are not just bathing helpers, Love. They are also skilled fighters, trained to protect you should something untoward occur within the palace."

"Oh. I see." She sighed.

When in Rome…

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