Standing beside the milling area, Erza watched as the wagon drove away out of the mansion’s grounds. The princess was riding in it with Lenora as her companion and the young woman’s grandfather, Sir Alchon, as the driver.
Erza’s knees started to tremble upon reflecting between the many emotions that created havoc inside her.
Loyal to the promise that she made with the princess, she couldn’t in her conscience betray her. However, she believed strongly that Princess Lianne would only be safe inside the Regaleria Mansion. She believed that she would only be happy in the King’s arms.
With this in mind, she rushed towards the kitchen door and strode directly inside the mansion’s foyer with her intent to find Lord Jared as soon as possible.
In the ballroom, Ruen was sitting on a cushioned seat in a table that wasn’t visible to any guests.
He had made sure that no one would bother him with formal greetings and out-of-work conversations with the present officials of Regaleria that he commanded Lord Jared to find the most comfortable yet discreet location in the ballroom hall.
General Cain was pleased with such a decision. He wouldn’t want all of the guests’ attention transferred to the royal presence. With the objective of seeing the princess first, he marched speedily towards the guests’ rooms, but he was quick to a stop at the intersection of the hallways when he crossed Erza’s path.
“My Lord,” the young maid greeted, hiding her surprised reaction as she bent her head down.
“Where is the Princess?” Cain didn’t waste time and asked.
Erza felt a quick skip of her heartbeat as the Lord inquired. Her hands tensed as her mind grazed on the possibility of him finding the princess’s present escape. Acting as if nothing happened, she lowered her head even more, and politely explained to the man in her front.
“My Lord, the princess is in her bedroom as of this moment. Unfortunately, she doesn’t want anyone to disturb her rest. She wanted me out of the room also, but reminded me to be wary of unwanted visitors.”
Cain brought his eyebrow up in disbelief. Discontented with Erza’s words, he walked past the maid and continued on to the path he was earlier, but the maid’s quick reflexes caught the Lord back, stopping him from his tracks.
“My Lord! With all due respect, please let the princess be for now. I am quite sure that she’d feel better later and come back to the ball. It is my utmost job to protect her privacy even for someone as respectable as you Lord Cain, the General of the Royal Battalion.”
Cain hissed and let out a deep, disappointed breath.
Seeing the maid bowing her head with total submission but at the same time having a strong resolve of protecting the feelings of her master, he could not argue anymore. “I admire your courage to stop me, girl. You do protect your master quite well.”
“Yes, My Lord. Princess Lianne is the most important above anything else for me. So, please I beg you. Give her time and space,” Erza replied in a soft tone. She couldn’t believe that she was able to go against such a strong and fine gentleman and lie to him on his face.
“Very well.” Cain released a sigh. “Give my message to her then. I will be waiting for her at the main table. I want to talk to her before this night is through.”
“Yes, My Lord. It will be done,” replied Erza with a polite nod of her head. Deep inside though, she knew she couldn’t do such a command.
***
Eighteen minutes later, Lord Jared appeared behind the King who sported an unreadable expression on his face. He gently tapped his shoulder and stooped low enough for him to clearly hear the news. The news, the majordomo thought, would most likely enrage the King.
And yes, immediately after the words left Lord Jared’s mouth, Ruen’s heartbeat raced and an incensed expression painted his face.
“Stay here,” he commanded just as he stood up. “Let Cain know nothing of what is happening. If he further asks, give an alibi. I don’t want him following the princess and causing problems on my way.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.” Lord Jared tipped his head low. “I have thought that you wouldn’t want to use the royal carriage so I have prepared a common mode of transport for you.”
Ruen nodded once. “Good.” And then he left on his own, in a hurry, and with the intent to catch the princess on her way to who knows where.
Just as nobody knew that the King of Regaleria arrived at the party, no one also knew that he had taken his leave.
Even Cain who was now preoccupied with the highly important guests he had invited showed not a single care when Lord Jared informed him of the King’s leave. He was even more at ease, pleased that the King left. In the first place, his presence was an eyesore to him and he definitely didn’t want to share the princess’s attention.
***
Lianne was sitting on a rectangular wooden box at the side of the wagon. She was still wearing the cloak that Erza provided her – and a handy one for that matter – as it not only provided her great comfort against the cold wind, it was also an item to cover her face from possible prying eyes.
Lenora was one but the young girl didn’t have the courage to ask her why she wanted to leave the Soulisse Mansion in such a hurry. As young as she was, she knew that living a life of luxury and royalty did not come by easy. She was sitting across the princess and only had silence to offer, but she didn’t fail to notice the occasional tears that had fallen from the princess’s face. This made her heart sank real good and she wanted to console her.
The shadow of the hood provided Lianne a safe haven of hiding her sorrow. A feeling of regret slowly crept into her heart; regret of not being able to give the King a chance to explain, maybe fix whatever that needs to be fixed and move on. But, in the end, she blocked it out.
She just wasn’t strong enough to face the man she had treated so indifferently just because of a lie. The truth could never save her now, and what was much worse, the pain in her heart clenched tightly.
‘I have never thought that leaving him would be this painful,’ Lianne voiced out in her thoughts as her eyes kept staring at the pile of small boxes laid in her front. A feeling of longing had managed to wrap around her heart, but then she shook her head and clasped her hands tightly, trying to keep her resolve as strong as possible.
‘No! This is the only way. This always has been the only way,’ she finally conceded, thinking of no other choice present but to leave and leave for good.
“Ah, Your Highness?” Lenora interrupted, keeping her voice as soft as possible.
Lianne quickly dried her eyes with the back of her hand and then slowly lifted her face to see the young woman’s genuine concerned expression.
“I…I am just thinking. If it isn’t rude to you, I want to ask.”
“What is it Len?” the princess asked.
“I ah… I wanted to ask where you are headed? My grandfather and I would be happy to drop you in the Reg-”
“You can drop me off somewhere at the boundary of the town, Len, please,” Lianne interjected.
“Huh?” Lenora was surprised by the princess’s request. “Wouldn’t you want to go back to Regaleria Mansion, Your Highness?”
“No,” Lianne stated. It was the only reply she could make.
She turned around to avoid Lenora’s hesitant gaze and maintained a long, blank stare at the dark road behind them.
The dense forest looked like a sea of black, almost mocking the princess’s unknown future, but she found the darkness comforting.
Minutes later, however, Lianne noticed a carriage fast approaching them. She could not clearly define the transport and because of this, she instantly froze from her seat, her eyes widened and her pulse quickened thinking that it could be the Soulisse guards or much worse, the royal carriage pursuing them.
“Sir Alchon, please drive faster!” Lianne immediately shouted to Lenora’s grandfather without a second thought. She grabbed the side of the wagon so tightly it almost broke her fingernails.
“Your Highness?” Lenora, although confused, took the princess’ free hand and sandwiched it with her own. “Are you okay?”
Lianne didn’t answer her question, however. The instant their skin contacted, she felt the cold hands of her young companion and realized that Lenora was feeling cold. She took so much effort into assisting the princess that she didn’t care about her own personal needs.
“Oh, Len!” Lianne released a gasp. “Your hands are so cold! Why didn’t you tell me?!” Her worry of the carriage was instantly gone and was replaced with her concern for the girl.
“I’m alright, Your Highness. Please don’t worry,” Lenora replied with a warm smile. “It is you that I am worried about. Whatever the reason you have for your unease, please calm down.”
Lianne was moved by their conversation that she didn’t notice the carriage already catching up with them.
From up close, she can evidently see that it was only an ordinary carriage with bundles of hay tied neatly up the rooftop, a fact that she was immensely relieved about. It seemed it was just some random carriage hurrying back into town. She felt greatly at ease with that thought.
The driver of the carriage proceeded to pass the wagon ahead and continued on their tracks.
Lianne stared completely at it without any suspicion until it came into an abrupt halt right in the center of the road a few meters away from them.
Both she and Lenora watched as two men hurriedly stepped down the carriage. One man seemed to look like he was fixing a wheel at the back of the carriage and the other one just stood right beside the door.
When the wagon was nearing them, Sir Alchon, who was kind of heart, immediately stopped the horse.
“Good evening good Sirs! Do you need a hand in there?” Sir Alchon offered.
The man who seemed to be fixing the wheel obediently replied, “Good evening to you too Sir! Ah, no, fortunately, our situation here is under control, but thank you for the offer.”
Lenora intently watched his grandfather converse with the man, while Lianne only seemed to take a little peek on what was happening behind her cloak as she didn’t want the men to see her face.
What happened next however gave her an instant shock.
The carriage door opened and out came a man.
But this was not just any man.
Lianne noticed the familiar royal attire first. She had seen this very recently inside the Soulisse mansion half an hour earlier.
Then, her breath was caught on her throat when her eyes drew to the man’s face.
King Ruen took a quick but composed step down the carriage. Understandably, the other man who was just standing beside the door simply bowed down in response to the royal presence.
Lenora, Sir Alchon, and the other man as if fixing the wheel took notice of the King and also in reflex bowed their heads low.
Lianne, who was under a battle of emotions, didn’t make a curtsy. She continued to look, her body frozen on the spot as Ruen walked towards her with his stern gaze directed on her alone.
The princess’ felt a flood of heat ran to her face.
Every step he took increased her panic even more. Her hands trembled, her lips quivered. Her head felt like it was spinning while her cheeks flushed a deep red. Her heart drummed wildly against her chest.
She painstakingly tried to control all of these reactions inside her body and tried hard to calm down.
‘How? How did he know?!’ Lianne thought to herself.
She darted up and stood towering above Ruen who had now planted himself directly in the entrance of the wagon as if guarding her way of escape.
Their eyes met in a fiery battle.
‘What a waste of time sitting. Now, I definitely couldn’t run away,’ the thought crossed her mind.
“Lianne, come with me,” Ruen said straight to the point, allowing no room for argument. He held out his hand and gave her a daunting look to make his point clear.
Lianne knew there was no other way but to accept his offer. But by heaven’s sake, she hopelessly didn’t want to be drowned by his gaze.
She ripped her eyes away from him and took in a deep breath as she took the cloak off her shoulders. She then turned to look at Lenora and handed the garment to her.
Lenora, in turn, was surprised by the action.
“Yo…ur Highness, why?” she stuttered.
“Take it, Len. It is my way of saying thanks,” the princess replied with a small smile. “It appears that you need it more than I do. Your travel is still long.”
“Ah… uhm. Thank you, Your Highness,” Lenora replied, hesitant to lift her head more knowing that the King was still present near them.
“You take care, alright?” Lianne stated. She crouched down to meet the young woman at eye level and gave her the most genuine smile she could make.
Lenora returned the gesture. “Yes Your Highness, you take care too. If you want, you are very welcome in our house whenever you want to visit.”
Lianne nodded and then stood up. She squared her shoulders and lifted her chin up before attempting to climb down the wagon.
She didn’t take Ruen’s offering hand the whole time. She just acted as if he was invisible.
Ruen, on the other hand, wasn’t surprised by her actions and merely followed her behind keeping himself silent as they both approached the carriage.
“Thank you Sir Alchon.” Lianne said when she reached the old man.
Sir Alchon hurriedly pulled his hat and pressed it against his chest. “Ah, no worries Your Highness. It is my pleasure to serve you.”
“Please take care of Lenora for me and have a safe journey back to town,” Lianne stated.
The old man nodded once. “I will, Your Highness. Thank you.”
Still acting as if the King behind her was invisible, Lianne continued to the carriage and climbed up inside. She kept her face routed to the small window on her side as Ruen entered and claimed the opposite seat in front of her.
The moment the door closed, however, she knew she couldn’t act like she was alone anymore. Ruen’s gaze was as heated as it was when they shared a bed and as angry as the boiling lava in a volcano.
And she felt it. She definitely felt it right to her core.