In a dark and forgotten corner, a lone figure of a man lay helplessly, hidden from prying eyes.
A heavy feeling, like a rock crushing his head, weighed down on him as he regained consciousness.
Slowly, he lifted his eyelids, greeted by dimly lit surroundings and the sound of slow, dripping water echoing from sowhere beyond the grim atmosphere.
The faint stench of mildew, thick with a musty, damp odour, like decaying wood and old stones, assaulted his nostrils, making him wonder where he was.
Mustering his remaining strength, he shifted from lying on the cold ground to an upright position, gazing around with a disoriented and confused expression. The fatigue that had overwheld him still lingered, causing his newly awakened body to tremble slightly.
Iron bars surrounded him on three sides—front, left, and right—with a stone-cold wall behind him, clearly indicating he was in confinent. This ominous sight took the newly awakened derian Prince by surprise.
"Prison?? Why—why am I here?" he croaked, his weak voice barely audible as his mind struggled to make sense of his situation.
He scanned the area again, realising he was trapped in a gloomy space that resembled a dungeon. Thanks to the torches hung on the walls outside his cell, he could see and understand where he was.
However, this apprehension only deepened his confusion. Despite the soreness in his body, he rose to his feet and looked around once more, but no one was there—not a single guard who would usually be on duty whom he could ask about.
Seeing that no one was around and feeling weak, Kiev sat down on the cold floor again and gathered his thoughts. He tried to recall what had happened.
His mind flashed back to the day’s events—from being summoned to the palace by King Kyden, to the judgnt of the Knights of Abinair’s case, Noah’s and the Knights of Gerhard’s clearance from their tarnished reputations, and his joyous wedding with Elis.
"Elis!" he called out her na, though he already knew she wasn’t there with him.
As he was worrying about her whereabouts, another important matter rushed to his mind.
"Princess Anna!"
He rembered Anryr arriving in a panic, pleading for his help to save the princess, who had vomited blood right after his wedding. He had fled from the throne hall in a frenzy toward the west wing, where Anna was, and recalled using his remaining mana just in ti to save her from worsening condition.
"Thank goodness!"
The brief panic that caught him quickly resolved as he recalled this. Yet, his mind reeled back to his confinent. What could have led to him being sent here?
He pressed his thoughts again, trying to rember what else might have happened that day, but nothing ca to mind. He had completely lost consciousness from the exhaustion of depleting his mana right after confirming that the princess and the baby were safe.
"They all surely know by now that she’s with a child," he muttered to himself, referring to Anna.
A sense of remorse washed over him at this realization.
He understood that the secret was no longer within his control to keep. The baby’s initial rejection of his mana had compelled him to beg for acceptance, which, in the end, had worked out much like the first ti in the forest. Surely, during those desperate asures, they had heard his pleas and learned of the princess’s condition.
A small sigh escaped Kiev’s lips. In this situation, bringing Anna back to Seta would be impossible. The knights, upon learning that their lady was pregnant with the grand duke’s child, would never allow it.
Furthermore, King Kyden would have a compelling reason to keep Anna in Cassian, as the baby would be a potential heir to the throne.
Even if Kiev won the duel against Kyren, the grand duke remained the father of the child, which would provide the king and his brother with additional strong justification to prevent the princess from leaving.
Just as he was already consud by these worries, another, far more important concern arose within him.
Eventually, the child in the princess’s womb would entirely reject his mana due to their incompatibility. The only mana suitable would be Anna’s own or that of her soulmate, should he be the father, which was not the case in this instance.
Consequently, Kiev had to take action for the child’s survival. Even if he couldn’t bring the princess back with him to Seta, he needed to locate her soulmate, the one who possessed her mana due to the binding spell.
"Perhaps if I explained the whole situation to the grand duke, he would understand. After all, this concerns his child," he voiced his thoughts aloud.
"But... how do I do that?" he said, glancing up at the bars. "They even sent here after I saved Princess Anna! How ungrateful! Did they think I was harming her or sothing?"
Kiev grunted in dissatisfaction.
"No matter what I do, they always see as a threat! How could I trust them to care for the only remaining direct descendant of the Ro’an Emperor if they can’t even discern my good intentions?" he said to himself.
The derian prince rose to his feet and took a few steps forward, gripping the cold iron bars.
If only he had his full mana now, escaping this prison wouldn’t be such a hassle. At any mont, he could cast a powerful spell or use his physical strength to bend the steel rods.
He clenched his fists around the bars and shook them, but they didn’t budge.
"D*mn it!" he cursed.
At that mont, Kiev felt a gentle, cold breeze brushing against his face. It was faint, yet his already awakened and alert senses detected its presence.
If there was a passing wind like this, it surely blew in from outside. There had to be a path leading sowhere out there...
The derian Prince’s ears twitched as he heard hard footsteps echoing on the cobblestone ground, approaching him. He turned toward the sounds, and soon two figures, fully cloaked and hooded, erged from the dark passage.
"Who are you?" he asked, squinting his crimson eyes at them.
The figures didn’t answer at first. Instead, one stepped forward and halted right before the prison bars.
"Are you the one who put in here?" Kiev demanded. "Let out, right now!"
A scoff escaped from the figure before him. From the sound of her voice, the derian Prince figured out that she was a woman, which surprised him.
"Still arrogant even when you’re helpless and behind bars! How pathetic!" she said.
Her voice seed familiar, as if he had heard it before.
"Have we t?"
"My, my! Now you notice? You didn’t even pay attention to in the throne hall. Of course, by the ti I arrived at the concubine’s chamber, you had already fainted," she replied.
Kiev furrowed his brow, recalling the monts in the throne hall and Anna’s chamber. He rembered several won there; Callis and Elis were with him in the throne hall, along with Queen Elda and her ladies-in-waiting.
Two midwives had also co to inspect Elis regarding the Knights of Abinair’s case before the matter was resolved. While in Anna’s chamber, he had t Jessy and redith, whose voices he knew well.
From her statent, it seed this woman had been present in the throne hall and arrived at Anna’s chamber after the healing. But for what purpose, and above all, who was she?
Considering the people he knew in those two locations, Kiev suspected she might be one of the ladies-in-waiting. Since he couldn’t see her face, he heightened his focus on her voice, convinced that this was not the first ti he had heard it.
"Are you here because you have sothing to tell ?" the derian Prince asked in a firm tone.
He found it unusual for won to be in the dungeon, as it was a place reserved for those imprisoned for serious cris.
The woman let out a soft laugh while her companion remained silent. The long cloak and pulled-down hood obscured Kiev’s view of her identity, and the dim surroundings did little to assist either.
"You should’ve collaborated with when you had the chance. I could’ve made things easier for you. But you chose the hard way," she said.
Kiev’s eyes widened at her remarks. A distant mory struck him of a mysterious letter that arrived while he was staying at the palace, followed by a eting with an unknown woman who wished to banish Anna.
"You’re that noblewoman! The one who wanted to use slander against and Princess Anna!" he exclaid.
"Hah! Now you rember! Throughout our other encounters, you weren’t even aware of since your eyes were only fixed on your maid’s wife or the concubine!" the woman, none other than Sarah, sneered.
Kiev glared at her.
"What do you want?!"
"What do I want?" the chief lady-in-waiting asked back mockingly. "I already got what I wanted. I just ca here to annoy you. How wonderful it is that everything goes according to my plan. You know... if you really wanted to have her by impregnating her without my intervention, you could have said so, and I would’ve supported you! But you and your sister insulted and mocked ! So, serve you right to get what you deserve!"
The derian prince’s expression shifted to confusion.
"Impregnating her? What the h*ll are you talking about?"
He looked back at Sarah, perplexed.
"Oh, co on! Don’t pretend you didn’t! The secret you wanted to keep so much is already out and known to everyone! You kept her pregnancy condition undisclosed because she’s carrying your child! Didn’t you have a nice, pleasurable night in the forest during that so-called dark magic possession incident?" the chief lady-in-waiting taunted.
The derian prince was rather taken aback that the woman before him was aware of the incident in such detail, which suggested that she possessed a degree of power and influence.
"Did you spy on and the knights?" he demanded.
"It’s the best way to gain information from a group of tight-lipped individuals obsessed with protecting soone who is not particularly deserving. I’m always clever and quick-witted about these matters. Anyway, congratulations on becoming a father. You certainly bedded her well, prince!"
"Are you cr*zy? Why would I do such a thing? Even though she’s my betrothed, I would never dishonour her like that! Besides, she was already pregnant before that!" Kiev countered.
"What??" the figure beside Sarah exclaid in surprise, then quickly covered her mouth, realizing she had inadvertently voiced her astonishnt.
Sarah glanced montarily at her assistant, Naise, feeling disturbed, but didn’t say anything. Then she redirected her dark-grey eyes towards the derian prince.
"Save your pretence for another occasion, prince. It won’t work with . Who else could have gotten her pregnant other than you? I know the Knights of Gerhard were watching her constantly, and how loyal they are to her. They wouldn’t even touch the hem of her skirt or allow any other n to co close. You’re the only one who had that lucky chance to ’taste’ her!" Sarah responded.
"How preposterous! I am a derian Prince! I wouldn’t stoop so low to do such a thing to get a woman! If I want her, I would duel for her with my life!" Kiev yelled.
The chief lady-in-waiting paused to think montarily. The derian prince’s fury seed genuine in response to her accusation.
Sarah rubbed her slender chin as she pondered.
"So, you’re saying you’re not the father of the child?"
"Of course not, d*mn it! What’s the point in getting her pregnant when it’s clearly stated in the official docunt signed by her father that she already belongs to ?! The only reason I didn’t force her to co with was that she begged for the duel, and I didn’t want her to cause trouble along the way if I did that!" Kiev retorted.
"Oh, dear! Then the child’s father... is it Kyren?!" Sarah asked, surprised.
User Comments
0 comments from readers