Prince Julius stormed into his bedroom chambers, ripping off the ivory cloak that trailed behind him and hurling a cluster of red roses at the foot of his bed.

Collapsing onto his feathered mattress, he belatedly realized the presence of Lilith, who, in her peculiar way, concluded her bathroom duties, mop in hand and bucket swishing with purpose, awkwardly shutting the door behind her.

“Ah, Lilith dear, I think I’m dying” Julius drawled. He almost felt bad for the amount of times he forced his maid to listen to his quarrels—until he reminded himself of her adept skill in mercilessly teasing him. That Lilith was indeed a menace. But Prince Julius was both to worn and heartbroken to care.

“Your not dying, my prince” she said, taking a seat at the edge of his bed. "Just as you weren't dying last week, and the week before that."

“Oh! But it is true!” He cried, his hand pressed against his heart beneath the silky satin of his shirt. “I feel my heart giving out now!”

Lilith let out a weary sigh, tucking her golden curls back as she inched nearer. She was like a concerned sister some days, and an accosting mother the next. “Tell me what worries you?” She asked imploringly.

There was no trace of mocking in her tone, so Prince Julius decided it was fine to tell her. “My dear Lenora. My sweet, sweet, beautiful Lenora rejected me. I laid my heart bare, and you know what she did? She called me a foolish prince in front of all the nobles in the gardens!” Julius’s voice kept rising and rising until it was a mix of shouts and whispers. “The shame! Rejection! Can you fathom it? I don’t believe I will ever come to love again!”

Lilith took the embroidered covers of the princes bed and draped it over his long body. “There there” she said, as if the boy her same age was a child. “The same thing happened with Elise. And Carmen. And oh—what was her name—“

“Luisa.”

“Yes, her!” Lilith placed a cold hand to the princes fevered brow, that was hot and clammy. “You will get over it, and I will tease you about it like the rest.”

Prince Julius recoiled from Lilith’s touch, his gaze wounded and flustered. “I will not get over this” he said. “I am destined to be left forever heart broken, and I would appreciate it if you would just go and clean some chimney’s.”

Lilith gasped, then got up and began walking out the dim room. She had no time for rude princes who squandered their days pinning after heartbreak, like a sad excuse of a ballad. “One must acknowledge”, she said, “That some people need a good slap back to reality. On the face. With a tram.”

“Oh just leave me to my sulking already” Prince Julius exasperated.

Lilith left, knowing that in a day or two his temper tantrum would cease, and she could bring up all the words his hopeless heart had said. She smiled to herself thinking that, and went back to mopping.