Eric took careful steps toward the bedroom. He had been patiently waiting, hoping for a change in the grand duke’s behaviour, but Kyren remained isolated, refusing to eat.
The knights’ persuasion had rely led to yelling and tantrums from their lord, prompting the second-in-command knight to step in.
He had allowed ample ti for Kyren to calm down, but now it was ti to act, particularly since an urgent matter required the grand duke’s attention.
As Eric pushed the door open, a sombre atmosphere filled the room.
"I said leave alone!" a shout echoed from a darkened corner.
"Your Highness... It’s ," Eric replied.
He didn’t need to introduce himself further; Kyren would recognise his raspy voice and stout silhouette.
"Get lost!" ca another angry shout.
Eric didn’t retreat. Bravely, he stepped inside, ignoring the command. As a serving knight, he should have followed his lord’s orders, but he couldn’t comply with this one—not in this state, nor under these circumstances.
"Are you deaf?" Kyren barked again.
"I have an urgent matter to report," Eric insisted, ignoring the grand duke’s rage.
"I don’t give a d*mn!"
"You must listen!" the second-in-command knight demanded, raising his voice. "Lady Raychard is in grave danger!"
A strong, hard feeling struck Kyren’s heart at those words. Instinctively, he leapt to his feet and charged toward his right-hand man, grabbing Eric by the collar.
"What do you an?" he asked, his voice trembling with alarm.
"She has been brought to the royal court," Eric replied.
Kyren froze montarily, then recalled her current predicant—the accusations... the pregnancy... the denial...
Anger surged within him again, and he released Eric, shoving him backwards.
"Who cares!" he shouted, turning his back on his subordinate.
"You need to listen to this!" the second-in-command knight urged.
Kyren didn’t respond. He crossed his arms and walked away from Eric, as if the knight’s words didn’t matter.
"Lady Raychard escaped her confinent this morning, but she was captured and brought back to the palace by Admiral Jas! You know what happens to runaway offenders!"
Kyren’s steps halted. His jaw tightened. The sa rush of emotion he felt when Eric ntioned Anna’s danger surged within him again.
Seeing him frozen, the second-in-command knight knew his words had hit ho.
"Right now, His Majesty has ordered everyone to leave the royal court. Only he and Lady Raychard are inside. No one knows what punishnt His Majesty will impose on her for running away. Admiral Jas sent us an urgent note, requesting your imdiate action before it’s too late. You’re the only one who can interfere! Please save her, Your Highness!" Eric pleaded.
Anna’s capture devastated the knights. Damon had returned, claiming his hangover was gone, but soon after, a knight from Neblim arrived with a discreet note from Adam, revealing that the princess had been captured and returned to the palace.
Damon nearly stord towards the royal court to save Anna, but Eric stopped him just in ti. The second-in-command knight could sense the knight’s anger and frustration.
After much insistence, Damon finally revealed how he had aided Anna’s escape with Helen, the royal governess, and how Adam found them and was ant to bring them to safety later on.
Naturally, he faced reprimands not only from Eric but also from his fellow knights for keeping such crucial information from them. This recklessness had put Anna in danger, and fear of the worst haunted them all.
However, Adam’s note offered a glimr of hope that the princess might avoid punishnt if Kyren intervened. The question was... would the grand duke do it?
Kyren’s fingers curled into fists. If Anna wasn’t guilty, why had she run away? Her actions clearly indicated betrayal, so she should pay the consequences of it!
"She made her choice! It doesn’t concern !"
"She was threatened! Soone wanted to harm her, so she had to flee!" Eric explained, omitting that it was Sarah who imposed the threat. "Admiral Jas even tried to take her to safety, but she insisted on returning for trial!"
Since Adam had assisted Anna, Eric felt it best not to ntion that his sister had threatened her. The main goal was to ensure that the princess faced no punishnt for her escape before the trial.
Kyren turned slightly. "Adam?" he questioned. "He took her side, too?"
"I’m not sure whose side he’s on. But he urged your attention to this matter. We all want what’s best for you," Eric replied.
"The best for ?? You still support her after what she did to ??" Kyren turned to face the second-in-command knight, his anger flaring.
"Bla all you want for not taking good care of her while you were gone. But I swear, she didn’t betray you! I believe His Highness Prince Kiev—"
"Shut up!!!" Kyren yelled, cutting off. "Don’t you dare ntion his na to !"
Eric felt his spirit sink. In Kyren’s state of anger, how could he convince him to save Anna?
With no other choice, the second-in-command knight dropped to his knees, pleading, "Your Highness, I beg you! If you don’t go, Lady Raychard will receive ten lashes for escaping! She’ll die before the punishnt is over! You know how fragile she is!"
Kyren’s heart ached. It felt like being stabbed by a rondel dagger. Even his hands were trembling.
Images of Anna flooded his mind; her smile, her tears, her sulking, followed by the haunting mory of their first eting—the gaunt, skinny girl covered in cuts and wounds.
Was he going to let the woman he had sworn to protect die?
"No!!"
Suddenly, Kyren scread and stord out the door, running like a madman.
Eric froze on the floor, surprised by the sudden outburst. Hadn’t the grand duke insisted that he didn’t care? What had changed him so quickly?
The knights waiting outside were equally shocked by Kyren’s burst of energy. The grand duke nearly toppled them over as he darted past them, moving like the wind.
"Your Highness!" Garin called, but Kyren ignored him.
The knights wanted to follow, but uncertainty held them back. Eric had repeatedly warned them not to stray and to wait for his instructions while he tried to persuade their lord to save Anna.
In just monts, Eric rushed out of the bedroom. The knights turned to him, their expressions full of beseeching looks.
"He’s going after Lady Raychard! Let’s go!"
The second-in-command ran forward, followed by his subordinates.
While it was likely that Kyren would intervene in his wife’s situation based on his action, no one could predict what he would do next once he had her. Would it lead to a good outco or a bad one?
Only ti would tell.
***
[At the royal court, monts before...]
King Kyden crumpled the paper in his hand and tucked it away in his surcoat. The queen had written it in simple Ro’an language, yet the main ssage was clear—it was about Anna and her return to the palace, as Helen had reported.
The note’s discreet arrival at the last mont underscored its importance.
Just then, the royal court’s doorkeeper announced Anna and Adam’s arrival. With the king’s permission, the main door swung open.
The admiral released his hold on Anna, allowing her to walk beside him as they entered. Despite being branded as an offender, the princess moved with boldness, confidence, and pride.
It felt like she was called for a formal audience, akin to an ambassador or noble, instead of facing trial as a guilty person. Even Adam, the admiral, appeared to treat her with respect.
Behind them followed Lord Jas and Sarah. The other ministers and nobles were absent, having dispersed for the day at the king’s order.
After greeting the Sun of Cassian, both of them stood before the king.
Lord Jas then stepped forward.
"Kneel, you sinner! You have no right to stand before His Majesty the King," he commanded as he glanced at Anna.
Adam’s forehead creased, but he held his tongue, recognising that such a demand was standard for an escaped accused.
Anna complied, slowly descending to kneel. As she held her skirt with her bound hands to do that, the king spoke up.
"Everyone else, leave the hall!" he ordered.
"For what purpose, Your Majesty, if I may ask?" Lord Jas inquired.
"I wish to speak with Anna privately," King Kyden replied.
"I understand if you want to question her, but shouldn’t we proceed with the trial openly? This woman is cunning enough to escape. She might fool you with her words," Lord Jas insisted.
"Are you implying that I’m not smart enough to be tricked by her?" the king countered with a firm voice. "Would a helpless, pregnant woman outwit ?"
Lord Jas cleared his throat, looking slightly embarrassed. His sharp remarks intended to humiliate Anna had backfired.
"No, Your Majesty. I didn’t an that," he corrected, bowing his head slightly.
"Then leave. You may return once I’m finished," the king demanded.
At the command, the others retreated, leaving only King Kyden and Anna in the royal court. The door closed behind them, and the atmosphere turned somberly quiet.
Ti passed without a word from the king. Anna looked at the ground, bracing herself for reprimands or harsh remarks. The silence stretched on, making her anxious about what the king would say.
"Why didn’t you run away, Anna?" King Kyden began in a solemn tone. "Why didn’t you go to the sanctuary as Admiral Jas proposed? You had that chance laid wide open for you."
"You need , Your Majesty, and that chance you ntioned... I wouldn’t have had it if it weren’t for your rcy," Anna replied, unflinching at the king’s knowledge of her escape and Adam’s involvent.
Surely Helen would have reported everything by now.
"What do you an by ’I need you?’" King Kyden asked again.
"My blood... The cure for the Laradie plague. Isn’t that why you asked Helen to hide ? If I were on trial, there was a high chance I might be punished. Even if it wasn’t the death penalty, a heavy sentence could easily kill in my current condition," the princess explained. "If I deduce correctly, you haven’t obtained the formula of the pure serum, not even the formula of the standard drug. Without them, you’re concerned that you wouldn’t be prepared if the plague strikes back as it did a few months ago. So you need alive for the cure."
"Hah!" King Kyden scoffed. "I think you’re unaware of how the plague has reoccurred recently."
Anna’s interest piqued at the king’s statent. The contagious disease that had afflicted the continent terribly twenty years ago, now seemingly forgotten, had suddenly resurfaced.
She looked up, searching for the king’s expression.
With his hands clasped behind his back, King Kyden stood tall, continuing without looking at her.
"It was all due to the southern mage’s doing. He placed the catalyst in a cave near the border of Cassian and Dracor for testing. It was ant to be a secret weapon for the barbarians of the south’s invasion of the continent."
The king paused, allowing Anna to absorb his explanation. The princess’s eyes widened as she processed this information.
"That mage ca with Lord Brone Morro, but I guess you’ve never t him since he didn’t attend your proclamation banquet. Kyren explained this to in a secret letter directed only to before he departed to Ardel from Agathe Islands."
Anna’s jaw nearly dropped. So, it was the work of one of Brone’s n? She had never known...
"My brother and Admiral Jas defeated the army of the Barges in the war in your kingdom, so there’s no concern for that anymore," the king added.
Anna blinked, her mind racing with thoughts.
"Then why do you still ask the royal governess to conceal away? The letter Kyren sent was quite so ti ago, before the war in Ardel. By then, we already knew victory was secured. Surely, you still have your concerns. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have devised such a careful escape," Anna countered.
King Kyden let out a short, delirious laugh.
"You are indeed soone with a smart brain. I just couldn’t deceive you," said the king, amazed. "I was only testing you, and it seems you can read my strategies thoroughly. That’s why you’re so cunning, deceiving us with your ek appearance!"
"I didn’t deceive anyone! Neither Kyren nor you!" the princess insisted.
"Liar!" King Kyden shouted, his hands now at his side, fists clenched.
"I swear to God I didn’t!" she cried. "If you spare and my child, I will do anything for you, even if you want to drain my blood until the last drop!"
"I am not a monster, Anna!" the king exclaid. "Don’t suggest that I am! You know I must keep the secret of your blood from those outside. It’s not just out of promise to Kyren but to protect you from those who would exploit you! I may be greedy, but I’m doing this for the sake of my people, whom the Empress of Ro’an entrusted to my forefathers! That’s why I need you to stay alive!"
"I know. You are the most benevolent, kind, and fair king... the one your people look up to for salvation. So, I beg you, Your Majesty! As one of your people, too, though you already see as a sinner, please let prove my innocence and save myself!"
"How?! The petition for your trial has been accepted, and I cannot withdraw it! You have openly returned to this palace! The fact that you’re carrying a life within you clearly indicates you are an infidel to your husband! How will I cease the punishnt on you?!" the king reprimanded.
Anna sobbed. The accusation against her was so painful that her chest felt tight.
King Kyden sighed.
"If only I hadn’t accused you in front of Kyren and Lady Jas, I could have dealt with this myself! Now, it’s too late! I can’t even offer you an excuse to avoid punishnt for the escape! This is also part of my mistakes!" he acknowledged.
The princess looked up, her eyes hopeful and pleading.
"I know it’s hard for you to believe . Sir McQuinn told everything about Kyren’s condition, which made you think I couldn’t bear my husband’s child, but I truly believe this baby is his!" Anna argued.
"You’re talking nonsense, Anna! You already know about his situation yet still want to claim so?" King Kyden scoffed. "You are not a Roan princess and can’t break the binding spell! How could you possibly bear Kyren’s heir?"
"Let give birth to my child, and you may test the blood! You’ll get the results using the mana stones in the royal laboratory!" Anna pleaded desperately.
A loud bang echoed from the entrance as the main door was pushed open with force.
Both King Kyden and Anna turned their heads toward the source of the sound. Surprise filled their expressions as they saw a figure they hadn’t expected.
"Kyren..." Anna’s voice faltered as their eyes locked.
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