Once upon a time, a man married a woman. However, he fell ill and died soon after, leaving his daughter with his new wife and stepdaughters. Jealous of the beautiful girl's appearance and kindness, the stepmother put her to work, cleaning the castle and treating her as a slave. One day however, the prince of the kingdom announced he would be having a ball to find his new wife. Thrilled, the stepmother dressed up her daughters and left the poor girl at home. Wishing on a star, that she could go to the ball, the beautiful girl was greeted by a fairy who granted her wish. She was rushed to the ball where she danced and danced with the prince. But she was warned, that when the clock struck midnight, the spell would wear off.

This is not that story.

The feeling was awful. Absolutely awful.

Eren felt lonelier than he had been in weeks. He still couldn't understand why Levi was so upset and over that simple secret. It was bound to come out at some point. It was only a matter of time. So why was he so upset?

Eren wanted to ask him personally. He wanted to know just why Levi was being more awful than usual. However, Eren was still terrified. The thought of getting anywhere close to Levi frightened him. And it had nothing to do with the curse itself. Eren feared of Levi's temper. Of him yelling and getting angry, of him accidentally doing something he would regret.

So Eren stayed quiet and reluctantly accepted his position as the new castle maid.

Day 1.

Eren became acquainted with the cleaning closet. It was Petra's duty to show him to the small room. And after all the apologies, she managed to carry on the conversation properly.

"Rags and mops and brooms and buckets…," she sighed, handing Eren a few rags, stuffed inside a bucket. "Oh Eren…"

"Petra, it's really alright," Eren said. "I'm alright."

"But it's still unfair. Levi shouldn't do this to you."

Eren shrugged to hide the flinch at the sound of Levi's name. He pulled a rag from the bucket Petra had handed him.

"Where do I get water for this?"

The look on Petra's face became even sadder than before.

Day 2.

Eren was given instructions from Mike. He was to start with the first floor of the castle, move to the second once finished and then the third. Which certainly wasn't hard.

"Levi said he wants the floors scrubbed. In all the rooms. The shelves emptied, cleaned and put back in order. And to wash the windows."

"There are a lot of windows," Eren said, dragging around the bucket of water he had filled. Mike shrugged.

"Those are his orders," he replied.

Eren rolled his eyes and dipped a rag into the water.

"Fine. I'll take care of it."

Day 3.

Eren cleaned the first floor's floors. He scrubbed, on his hands and knees, the entire night and well into the morning, making sure the marble and wood shined. There was much more than what he had expected. But he was determined to get through the first floor at least. It was his main goal of the evening.

Day 4.

Eren started cleaning the actual windows on the first floor. And the moment he finished, he hauled his heavy bucket of water up the stairs to clean the second floor. It sloshed all over the carpet, not that he cared much since it would dry just fine.

He cleaned the windows and the floors that weren't covered in carpet.

Halfway through his day, Irwin snuck up onto the second floor, purely to give him a few slices of banana nut bread, baked by Petra. Eren took it without complaining and curled onto a divan for a break.

"Thanks," Eren sighed, wiping his hair from his face.

"It's not that big of a deal. I figured you could use a little energy."

Eren smiled, to show his gratitude again, and bit into the fresh bread. He sighed. "It's still warm. It's so good."

He happily hummed, taking another bite of the bread as Irwin sat down by his feet on the divan. Irwin hung his head a little.

"Have you seen Levi?"

The question caught Eren off-guard. He swallowed the piece of bread in his mouth, the name making him shudder. He slowly shook his head.

"No…I haven't…Have you?"

"Of course."

"Did he…ever…," Eren bit his lip. Why would Levi ask about him? Levi had no reason to. He had no reason to care.

"He hasn't said anything to anyone," Irwin replied. Eren looked up at him and sat up straight. He held the bread close to his chest, leaning forward to better hear Irwin.

"Why was he so upset about me knowing?" Eren asked softly. "About his curse? When everyone in this fucking castle knows?"

A rather thoughtful look came over Irwin's face. He rubbed his chin with his hand as he thought about the answer. Eren scooted a little closer, desperately awaiting his response. He needed to know. He needed some type of closure. Why was he being punished?

"I think—and I'm not for certain—it was something he wanted to tell you himself. Of course, being around all of us you were bound to find out on your own. But I think because you acknowledged it before he was ready for you to know upset him."

"But that doesn't explain why I'm cleaning this fucking castle!—"

Irwin turned, leaning in to face Eren. Eren gasped, suddenly distracted by the now shorter distance between him and Irwin.

"I…I…I…," Eren mumbled.

"I believe Levi fears you," Irwin said. "Well, he fears his feelings for you. So in order to prevent them from flourishing, he's trying to distance himself from you. By any possible way."

"Oh…," Eren breathed. He looked back up again, catching Irwin's gaze. He blushed from the pure intensity of the man's blue eyes. "But…"

Eren gasped as Irwin placed a hand under his chin, preventing him from looking away again. His lips quivered and the moment Irwin moved in closer, Eren quickly bit them nervously. Irwin pressed his head against Eren's and Eren was sure he would faint from the close proximity. He swallowed hard, his hands shaking as he tried to hold on to the slices of bread he had been given.

"But?"

"B-But..I…I should clean," Eren said breathlessly. "Before…I get too tired…"

Irwin smirked and dropped his hand, patting Eren on the knee.

"I won't keep you then," he said, getting to his feet. With a smile, he ruffled Eren's hair and started to walk away. "I'll see you later."

"Uh huh…," Eren nodded, his hands still trying to clasp the bread in his lap. He waited for Irwin to leave the room before exhaling deeply, his body feeling completely numb.

Day 5.

Eren saved the library for last on the second floor, wanting to enjoy his time cleaning the bookshelves and fireplace (as much as he could enjoy himself, he was still doing meaningless chores). He found stacks of books set out over the table and chairs; the places he used to sit with Levi for hours on end. He sighed, sitting in one of the armchairs and picking up a book.

He flipped through it, looking at the drawn pictures. They weren't spell books, that he was sure of. He could vaguely make out a few words and they weren't spells or too foreign.

He truly did miss his reading nights with Levi. Sharing those intimate moments in the early hours of the morning before rushing off to go to sleep. It suddenly started to make sense why Levi would hurry away before dawn. Because that curse struck every morning, as the sun rose.

Eren slid back, holding the book to his chest. He blankly stared ahead, not looking at anything in particular. Not the dirty table or window or even the ashy fireplace. How was it possible to even miss Levi? He knew he should give up on the prince. It was pointless.

The door to the library opened and closed. It snapped Eren from his daze and he sat up straight, closing his eyes. The footsteps were light and airy, a little sporadic. He quickly settled back down, relieved at the light echoing, opposed to the heavy, deliberate steps Irwin would take.

"Eren?"

He looked around and saw Petra walking up to him, her wings flat and leaving a thin trail of dust behind her.

"I just cleaned the floors!" Eren teased, gesturing to the sparkling fairy dust.

Petra gasped and slapped his arm playfully once she was close enough. Eren stuck his tongue out at her.

"I thought you were in here suffering," she said, sitting on the edge of the table. "You're fine."

"Did you bring me a snack?" Eren asked, eyeing the plate she had in her hand. Petra smiled and offered it to him.

"Sandwich today."

Eren happily took the plate from her and snuggled back into the chair.

"Thanks."

"You're welcome. How's the cleaning going?"

Eren shrugged as he chewed. "Fine, I guess. This is the last room on this floor," he said through full, puffed cheeks.

"Don't chew while you talk. You'll get food everywhere," Petra sighed, placing a napkin on his lap. Eren picked it up to wipe his mouth.

"You're like my sister."

"Is that an awful thing?"

"Not…as much as it sounds. It's nice. I never thought I would really miss her this much. Or Armin."

"Have you considered writing them? Or…well…talking and having one of us write the letter for you?"

"What? No!" Eren cried. "Then it's not private!"

"How about I teach you? Or get Hanji to then?"

"Oh…," Eren considered, "that's actually not a bad idea…"

Day 6.

Eren finally finished the third floor of the castle. He triumphantly threw his mop down, flopping on to the bed. He even cleaned Levi's room (the prince wasn't in there of course). He stretched out on the bed, pleased with his work. Closing his eyes, he decided a short nap would do him some good.

He fell asleep briefly before hearing the door to the room open. Followed by a low chuckle. Eren opened his heavy eyes, meeting a pair of bright blues.

He quickly sat up, trying to shake off the light feeling of lingering sleep. Irwin laughed, leaning against the bedpost.

"Sorry," Eren said. "I just…I…finished and I fell asleep…"

"It's alright," Irwin replied."I only came in here to change shirts."

Eren's eyes widened at his comment. Raising an eyebrow he glanced over at Irwin. The man held a different shirt in his hands but had yet to remove his current one. Looking away, Eren nodded and scratched the back of his head.

"Oh…yeah that's good," Eren muttered. "There's no point in wearing a dirty a shirt all day…"

Flop.

The sight of Irwin's discarded shirt on the bed quickly caught his attention. Eren dared to gawk at Irwin pull on his fresh shirt, a rosy color coming to his ears and cheeks. Gasping in shock at his own boldness, Eren turned away again.

"Fuck…"

"Hm?" Irwin hummed, scooping up his dirty shirt.

"N-Nothing," Eren quickly replied.

Irwin shrugged and walked across the room, to put away his shirt. Eren raised his eyes again, catching a better glimpse of the royal guard. Broad shoulders and muscular arms were the only things to register in that quick moment.

"Are you alright? Your face is all red."

Eren hadn't noticed that Irwin was staring back at him. Eren shook his head.

"I'm fine," Eren nervously breathed. He started to fidget as Irwin walked back over to the bed. And he thought he would faint when Irwin actually sat down by him.

Irwin pressed a firm hand to Eren's head, moving it down to cup his cheek.

"You feel warm."

"I…I'm okay," Eren shuddered. "Really."

"Are you sure?" Irwin asked, slipping his hand into Eren's hair. He took a gentle grip in the brown locks, resting his other hand dangerously high on Eren's thigh.

Eren immediately gasped, squirming in Irwin's hands. His cheeks were on fire by now and his heart was pounding in his head. Irwin was too close. And the feeling was making Eren woozy.

Irwin tilted Eren's head back, using his messy hair as leverage. He lowered his head and Eren closed his eyes out of nervous fear, still shaking all over as his heart raced. Irwin's lips brushed against his; not enough to be a real kiss but Eren still caught his scent.

"You should take it easy and get some rest," Irwin whispered. "You can't end up getting sick again."

Eren nodded. Irwin let his hands fall away, pushing himself off the bed. He let Eren crumple into a shivering heap on the pillows.

"Good then," Irwin said. "I'm sure Levi won't mind if you retire early then."

After escaping Irwin, Eren actually took the man's advice and made his way to go lie down for a bit. He really was tired, having cleaned the entire castle. He dragged the mop, bucket and washrags down stairs and to the storage closet by the kitchen. He noticed, outside, that it was still dark. So he knew somewhere Levi was still up, lurking around the cold castle.

So he knew he had to be cautious, so he wouldn't run into—

"But Levi!"

The voice boomed from one of the parlor rooms. Eren was halfway up the stairs when he heard the unfamiliar voice. He paused, straining to listen.

There was a muffled reply, probably from Levi. The door to one of parlors opened, Levi appearing first. He looked annoyed (no, he always looked annoyed) while the man behind him appeared rather frazzled.

"Levi, you just turned twenty. It's time for you to get out of the castle. Come to my ball. Pixis will also be there, and as royalty it is your duty—"

"I don't have a duty as a royal to show up to your shitty ball, Dawk," Levi hissed, turning around to face the man. "I'm fine staying exactly where I am."

"Why are you so stubborn?" Dawk frantically shouted back.

"Levi…"

Levi had his mouth hanging open, his retort coming. But at the sound of Eren's voice he stopped and turned. Wrinkling his nose, Levi stood up straight, adjusting his shirt even.

"What?" Levi snapped.

"There's going to be a ball?" Eren said. "You should go. There's no point in just…staying here all the time. Like he said. Go to it. Have fun. You may as well."

Levi's eyes narrowed.

"This kid speaks such truth, Levi," Dawk said. "Please reconsider and come. You could bring him along too."

"Tch. He's a simple servant. He has no place at a fucking ball," Levi said, pulling away from Dawk and walking toward the stairs. "However…if you're so interested, take him with you for a while. If I'm going to go to this ball, the ballroom should be sufficiently cleaned. And this shitty brat here knows exactly how to clean."

Eren clenched his fists, storming down the stairs.

"Now just wait!" Eren shouted, pointing an angry finger in Levi's direction. "You can't force me to clean someone else's castle! That's not fucking fair at all! I cleaned yours! I deserve a fucking break!"

Levi slapped Eren's hand from his face. Eren angrily held his own hand, rubbing his red fingers and pressing them protectively to his chest. The hit was harder than he expected. And from the sudden worried look in Levi's eyes, harder than intended too.

"A-Are you alright?" Levi mumbled. "I didn't mean…to…"

"I'm fine," Eren quickly replied, not wanting to listen to the apology. "It doesn't hurt that much." Eren pulled further away from Levi, looking back at Dawk with a slight smile. "I don't mind helping to clean your ballroom. I guess…it would be nice to finally get out of here for a while."

Notes: The holidays were looooooong but I'm back! :3 Going to start updating regularly again! I also had a question about the kingdoms. Levi is over Maria. I realize that I originally had him over Rose but I changed it. I will definitely go back and actually change it in the story (instead of making a note about it x3 ) AND I PROMISE THE ERERI WILL COME I AM JUST LEADING UP TO IT