The earth was moist and foggy after a heavy rain that afternoon. Amidst hearing the servants’ precaution regarding the traps laid out by the King around the mansion, Princess Lianne didn’t give it much weight as she was too determined to escape.
She knew that as long as she was inside the mansion, though she vehemently refused to be controlled all these years, she would never receive her rightful freedom. To flee was the only option.
The track was downhill and rocky. The loosened soil in addition was threatening her pace of escape. There were large trees everywhere in sight and the moon’s radiance could only touch half of the forest floor.
‘Traps could be anywhere!’ she thought to herself, but the fear of it was naught compared to the terror she might face if she will be married to the old duke.
Due to the haste of her flight out of the mansion, the only possession she had carried was a purse of a good amount of coins she had been saving for herself and a black robe she wore to protect herself from the cold of the night.
She was wearing a moss green peasant dress she normally wears on servant duty at the stables and a pair of green leather sandals of which its straps were crossing up to the ankle.
She had expected Lord Cain will be quite furious when he finds out about her escape and that she took Arinna with her, but wanting to leave the mansion as fast as possible, she would have to need some help, and that the healthy stallion would be the perfect animal for the job.
It was half an hour ago since she left the mansion, and hopefully, nobody noticed her absence.
The time would be just enough for her to exit the town and run beyond the boundary of the Regaleria Kingdom.
She had already calculated the time intervals in her mind but all of it began to evaporate as a sound of hooves clattering and breaking of branches were heard not far from where she was.
Maybe two or three horses were present judging from the sound but it was already enough for Lianne to hastily scamper with her horse.
She could hardly manage to control the horse as they descend down the steep slope into a shallow river.
When she arrived near the bank, to her surprise, she saw a man riding atop a Calabrese horse just across the other side of the river.
His face was masked by darkness unable for her to recognize who he was, but thinking he could be one of Garlow’s knights, she quickly pulled the reins making the stallion turn sharply and began to run against the current of the water in attempts to avoid the man.
She could feel the smashing of the water hitting her cheeks as the stallion moved with increasing speed; however, the man was following speedily behind her to her disappointment.
‘No! You will not catch me!’ she screamed in her thoughts, but disappointment turned into panic when she realized the man who was following her was no knight, but the Duke himself!
‘My God! Why is he following me?’ she voiced out, heart pounding like crazy.
Arinna who was of pure breed was somehow engulfed by the enormous size of the horse the Duke was riding on, and that it was incredibly faster than hers, and in just a matter of seconds, his horse was already beside her.
The Duke’s hand hastily reached for her reins but Lianne jerked away. Though the forest had little source of light from the moon, she could see the Duke grinning arrogantly at her.
Again, he attempted to take the reins from her hand in order to stop the horse, but she again jerked away.
“Leave me alone!” Lianne shouted with anger.
“Hah! Impossible! You’re mine now!” Conrad responded.
‘Unbelievable! He’s got the strength of an adult man amidst his age!’ Lianne exclaimed to herself.
It was a battle between them that neither one would give up. When she reached a small clearing, unfortunately, a slight depression made her horse stumble down making Lianne fall on top of the horse to the ground.
It was a forceful drop but the princess was able to stand up quickly but only to be seized by the Duke’s hand.
Lianne’s horse struggled to get up and was able to stand back again and ran, leaving her poor owner behind in the hands of its captor.
“Ahhh!! Let me go!” she protested.
The Duke tightly twisted her arms on her back, making her cringe in pain. He looked as if he was enjoying restraining the enraged princess.
“You’re hurting me! Let me go!”
“Calm down wild princess. We will reach my carriage in no time,” the Duke proclaimed as he dragged the princess towards his horse.
“I will not go with you! I said let me go!” she vehemently demanded, trashing and turning under his hold.
“Hah! You have no choice! I am even thankful that you escaped the mansion on your own. You gave me such an easier task. This way, Garlow wouldn’t even know that I took you already. That sick old man… he was a fool to deal with me!” Conrad exclaimed as he stopped beside his horse.
“Garlow’s guards are already looking for me! They will be arriving soon!!” Lianne said as she struggled with his hold. Never had she imagined she’d be wishing for Garlow’s guards to help her.
The Duke caught a rope tied in his horse’s saddle and began to tie it around the princess’s hand, but she managed to forcefully kick his knee setting a good amount of jolting pain to his legs.
“Damn it!” he swore and writhed in discomfort.
This gave Lianne an opportunity for an escape!
She hastily ran out of his grasp and into the woods disregarding the deficiency of light along her path. She didn’t care where she was headed. The only thing that was in her mind now was to be able to escape from him.
However, without warning, she was strongly pulled out of her path by an unknown intruder making her shout in panic. The intruder’s hand quickly covered her mouth to silence her.
“Hmp–!”
“Shhhhh…” the intruder hushed in a calm manner.
She was pinned against a large trunk of an oak tree restraining her movement while the intruder stood still as if waiting for something to happen.
Their legs were intertwined with each other, and wide hands were covering her mouth muffling her cries.
She tried to focus her vision on the person in her front, but she could find no recognizable features as the night had perfectly concealed any distinct appearance, but judging from the built, the height, and the muscled arms holding her securely, another man has come to keep her hostage.
She could feel the rapid beating of his heart and the warmth of their proximity as he enveloped her inside his own cape.
“Keep still,” a low barely-audible voice said.
The princess was surprised by his demand and again, started to struggle but he kept her at bay.
She had already escaped from Duke Conrad’s filthy intentions but only to be taken advantage of by another man. What perfect chance it was! But oh no! Rape was not her option! Never!
She tried again with the last of her energy to fight him, even considering biting off his hand that was covering her mouth.
“Be quiet if you don’t want to be found!” Again, the mysterious man said, this time clearly.
All of Lianne’s fears were quickly changed into an unfathomable surge of security when she recognized the man’s voice.
‘How did you find me?’ she thought to herself, relief flooding inside her.
For a minute, they stood beside the oak tree motionless. Ruen could feel no struggle from the princess and have realized that she already knew it was him.
She could hear footsteps coming closer and closer to where they hid. She knew then it was from the Duke. It gave her a shiver at the thought of it, but Ruen’s presence made her feel secure and protected.
This was ever the first time she thanked the darkness that enveloped them for it had concealed them both well, especially her cheeks blushing.
Every minute of their closeness was an ordeal for Lianne. Though she would have wanted to push him aside, the thought of the Duke finding out where she was hiding made her realize to think otherwise.
She noticed the prince’s breathing was fast and deep as if he had just come from a jousting tournament or a marathon race.
Lianne then realized that he was following her all along. He was looking for her himself, and that if not for him, she would have been abducted.
“Damn! I swore I saw her running this way!” Lianne heard Duke Conrad’s voice in pure disappointment. “Shit! All this for nothing. I should have commanded my men to do this for me. Tsk!”
She heard his footsteps again fading into the distance and this made her feel at ease.
With the threat gone, thoughts of her escape filled her head again and this made her impulsively shove the prince away.
Unfortunately, the latter was quick to respond, grabbing her arm before she could even take a step.
“Let go of me!” Lianne said, throwing him a glare.
“What? No words of gratitude for my rescue?” Ruen replied, half-mocking.
The princess’s temper burst out because of this. “How dare you ask such a thing when you are the one who placed me in this mess!”
“Lianne,” Ruen uttered, ignoring her words, “come back with me.”
“No!” she answered in a heartbeat.
“Don’t you see? This place is dangerous! I’m not leaving until you come with me!” He pulled her arm to lead her the way to his horse but Lianne only forcefully yanked her arm out of his grasp.
“I said leave me alone!” she demanded, but her knees started to shake.
Ruen stared at her face shadowed by darkness. He could see her eyes glowing with hatred, but there was also another emotion there, something more fragile.
Unfortunately for both of them, he was also already at his limit too. He leveled his head into hers and said firmly, “You will come back with me. I’m not going to accept no for an answer, you hear me?”
“And for what?!” Lianne responded, giving him another cold glare. “Let your father control me again?! Chain me in his palace like I’m some kind of an animal? Marry me off with that man?!” She sneered as her eyes began to create tears.
Ruen, disquieted, gave no reply.
It was hard for him, but he admitted to himself those were already her fate if she were to come back in the mansion.
Although hesitant, he freed her arm and averted her gaze. She waited for him to respond but he just stood there motionless. There was guilt in his eyes, anger, and agony, but to her, all she could see was pure coldness.
“I’m so ashamed of myself, to think that I trusted you,” she said, wanting to pour her heart out now. “You promised me for heaven’s sake! But, I guess, it’s in your blood, huh?”
Ruen looked at her with surprisingly renewed determination, clenching his hand into a fist; something that she didn’t notice.
She looked back at him with resentment filling her eyes and easily said, “I shouldn’t have trusted you. I hate you.”