{"id":18936,"date":"2026-01-23T12:46:39","date_gmt":"2026-01-23T12:46:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/?p=18936"},"modified":"2026-01-23T12:46:39","modified_gmt":"2026-01-23T12:46:39","slug":"the-maid-the-king-wanted-chapter-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/the-maid-the-king-wanted-chapter-1\/","title":{"rendered":"THE MAID THE KING WANTED CHAPTER 1"},"content":{"rendered":"
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THE MAID THE KING WANTED<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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It was already too late when I finally understood that my acceptance into the palace was never just about work. When I was chosen by the prince to serve as a maid in the royal palace, I never imagined that the king desired my presence more in his private chamber than in the courtyards where maidens worked. I thought I was there to sweep floors, wash linens, and earn a living. I never knew fate had woven something darker and more complicated around my destiny.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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From the very first week, I became the most disliked maid in the palace. I came there only to work honestly and send money home to take care of my sick mother. Yet whispers followed me everywhere. The maidens discovered that the prince treated me differently, and that alone was enough to turn their hearts against me.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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I never truly understood why I was so hated. I was new, poor, and unimportant\u2014or so I thought. I was brought into the palace personally by the prince, and that alone made me suspicious in their eyes.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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The first time I ever saw the prince was in the market square. That day, the sun was hot and unforgiving. I was hawking cocoyams with a basket balanced carefully on my head, shouting prices with a tired voice. My mother was ill, and I needed money to buy her medicine. My father passed away long ago, leaving us with nothing but stubborn hope.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Suddenly, guards surrounded me.<\/div>\n
\u201cBeautiful maiden,\u201d the prince called.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\u201cMy prince,\u201d I trembled, lowering my eyes. \u201cI hope I have not offended you?\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\u201cHow do you know I am offended?\u201d he asked calmly. \u201cBecause I am.\u201d<\/div>\n
Fear rushed through me. \u201cI am sorry, my prince. Tell me how I offended you, and I will correct it.\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\u201cYou offended me,\u201d he said, \u201cbecause a maiden as beautiful as you should not be hawking cocoyams under the burning sun.\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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I swallowed hard. \u201cMy mother is sick, my prince.\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\u201cIs it your duty to care for your sick mother?\u201d he asked gently, then paused. \u201cWhere is your father?\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Tears gathered in my eyes, and I could not speak. He noticed immediately and frowned.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\u201cI did not mean to reopen old sadness,\u201d he said softly. \u201cBut you should have come to the palace for help.\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\u201cI do not know the road to the palace,\u201d I replied. \u201cAnd even if I did, no one would allow me close to you. Please, what can I do to appease you?\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\u201cCome and work in the palace,\u201d he said. \u201cWhere I can see your pretty face every day. I will take care of your mother if you accept to work as my maid.\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\u201cAs a maid, my prince,\u201d I said quickly. \u201cEven as a servant, I will gladly come if you save my mother.\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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That was how everything began.<\/div>\n
I never knew that a poor maiden, the daughter of a struggling farmer and widow, could attract such attention. When I arrived at the palace, murmurs followed me.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\u201cSince she came, the prince treats her differently,\u201d they whispered.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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What they did not know was the secret between the queen and her son.<\/div>\n
One evening, the queen had given the prince a royal necklace and said, \u201cThe day you see the maiden you want as your wife, place this necklace on her neck. Let her wear it always. When I see it on her, I will understand. But do not tell her your intentions. I will watch her character first.\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Unfortunately, the secret did not remain secret.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Wantoh, one of the palace maidens, was deeply in love with the prince. She overheard the conversation while pretending to clean nearby. For two long years, she tried everything to win his attention. Then I arrived\u2014a mere maid\u2014and suddenly the necklace she had dreamed of was no longer on the prince\u2019s neck.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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The day he placed it on mine, my hands trembled.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\u201cFor your beautiful smile that brings peace to my heart,\u201d he said, \u201cwear this necklace. It carries good fortune.\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\u201cI am only a maid,\u201d I protested. \u201cI am not worthy.\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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He smiled and placed it on me himself. \u201cIt represents royalty, loyalty, and trust. Promise me you will never remove it.\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\u201cWhy, my prince?\u201d I asked.<\/div>\n
\u201cOne day,\u201d he said, \u201cyou will understand.\u201d<\/div>\n
That was the day Wantoh\u2019s hatred for me became fire.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\u201cHow can Shiyla just arrive and receive what I have waited for?\u201d she said angrily to the other maidens. \u201cWhoever helps me destroy her image before the prince will be rewarded when I become a princess\u2014and later, queen.\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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But there was a greater danger none of us could ignore.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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The king.<\/div>\n
The king was known for his wandering eyes for beautiful young maidens. Every maiden knew it, even if no one dared speak openly. One evening, he summoned me to his chamber. I thought I was called to arrange his bed or tidy the room.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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But his words told a different story.<\/div>\n
The queen was away that night.<\/div>\n
The king looked at me for a long moment and said softly, \u201cCome closer.\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Fear crawled through my bones. He spoke of my beauty, my obedience, and how loyalty should be rewarded. His intentions were clear without being spoken aloud.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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My heart raced. I realized then that my presence in the palace had drawn dangerous attention\u2014attention that could destroy me if I made one wrong move.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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That night, I learned that being chosen is not always a blessing.<\/div>\n
Sometimes, it is a curse dressed in royal silk. I was brought by the prince who asked me to be loyal to him and not allow any man to touch me but now his father the king was luring me to himself.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Episode 1<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

THE MAID THE KING WANTED It was already too late when I finally understood that my acceptance into the palace […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18936","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-maid-the-king-wanted"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18936","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18936"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18936\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18941,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18936\/revisions\/18941"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18936"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18936"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18936"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}