Lianne wasn’t comfortable staying in her new room.
Half an hour after Prince Ruen left, she hastily went back to her own servant quarter only to her disappointment.
She had found that it was already occupied by three male servants of the palace.
It would seem that Garlow had made it sure she will not be able to go back to her old room, and because of it, she didn’t have any choice but to stay at the new chamber that night. Surely, on the morrow, she will be able to persuade Erza or the other servants to let them share their own rooms for her.
Her first night inside the chamber however wasn’t as bad as she had thought to be, but it was a definite change of her comfort.
The gown she had worn at the ball was hung at a nearby sofa chair. Truly, it was a beautiful dress. If not only for the man who gave it, she would have wanted to keep such a masterpiece. Now, she w
“Princess Lianne!”Erza exclaimed as she placed a hand on the princess’ shoulder.It was already late afternoon when she and the princess headed back to the mansion from the greenhouse. The sky was gloomy and it looked like it was about to rain.“Erza? Why are you looking so anxious?” Lianne replied, perplexed by the maid’s unusual behavior.“Uhm, princess, the Duke of Olga is here,” she voiced out as she stared with worry directly to the exit of the east garden’s rose bush.“What?” Lianne quickly exclaimed.Her senses began to numb as she saw the old man standing right at the exit of the garden a few meters away from them.She wanted to avoid him stat, but the fact that the Duke had already blocked the exit made it difficult.She hastily looked for oth
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 h
After Lianne expressed her feelings, she walked away, wanting to be as far away from the prince as possible, but with only just a few steps, the unthinkable happened.Ruen stretched his arms and speedily pushed her out of path.She hit the ground with a heavy crash, lying flat on the moist soil with her face almost kissing the ground.Though astonished as to his actions, Lianne quickly jumped to her feet and hissed in anger. She turned to face the prince, ready to start a battle of words. He must have been crazy to push her like that, but even so, he certainly deserved a good bashing from her.It was only a split of a second before she could react, however. When she realized what had happened, it was already too late.Ruen plummeted down from her very front as she stood shocked.His left hand looked numb and unusually flexed, while his other hand clutched a l
The prince woke up early morning on the fourth day with the defervescence of his fever.Present in the room was Sir Culdran, his doctor, and his assistant, Lady Faye, and two other maidservants taking out the used linens from his room.The exhausted doctor immediately approached the prince and checked on his status, then Lady Faye followed, bearing a welcoming smile upon seeing the prince awake at last.“Your Highness, good morning,” Lady Faye greeted softly. She bowed her head and waited for His Highness’ answer.“Lady Faye...good to see you,” Ruen replied, voice weak but with depth, “you look so tired.”Lady Faye smiled in response as he stated the obvious.“Your Highness, I am truly relieved that you are healing well with your injury. It has been days when you were unconscious.”&ld
It took a lot of strength to restrain herself from slapping Ruen’s face when Lianne was able to escape his hold.Though it would have been her only meager revenge, to her confusion, she couldn’t bear to slap him the second time after what he did to her in the library for stealing her very first kiss.Lianne gave him a sharp glare as she stood at the bedside wiping her moistened lips to dry what was left of his ardor. Though she hated it, she couldn’t deny the mounting heat within her caused by his kisses.Her face turned in a deep shade of red and Ruen could clearly see it.“I was wrong to even let my guard down. Even though you’re injured, you still play your games quite well,” she spat the words out.Ruen gave no expression of remorse, instead, he reached for the glass flute that she left behind in the pillows and handed it back to her.
The kingdom accordingly was surrounded by sorrow; of course, with respect to the late king. He was after all the King of Regaleria.Despite the fact that the man was a power-hungry, greedy, abhorred human, it was his due right to be given credit for the progress and fame Regaleria had acquired.Princess Lianne was in her balcony, sitting and staring at the scenery she had been accustomed to since she was relocated to the new chamber. The area was shaded by the length of the mansion’s roof as it was almost sunset, something that the princess was pleased about.An hour ago, a maidservant gave her her afternoon tea. It seemed that the Head Servant was busy in the preparations for the next day’s dawn procession and burial of the late king at the Royal King’s Grave that she herself wasn’t in attendance of the princess.When the servant entered the princess’ room, Lianne notic
It was early in the morning when she woke up upon hearing the whinnying of the horses stationed in the front of the mansion.It was almost sunrise she thought when she saw the fiery sun slowly climbing up the wall of mountains on the east side of the mansion. She put on her white robe and then walked outside her balcony. She had already anticipated then what she was about to see.There were millions of people gathered outside the fortified entrance gate of Regaleria. Few selected dignitaries were at the tail of an enormous glass block adorned with gold, silver, and high-priced stones.There was a chimera sitting at the facade of the block and surrounding it were blood roses and ferns. Of course, inside the glass block was the dead body of the King wearing another viciously adorned velvet robe.So typical of Garlow, she thought and then moved on to survey the people standing behind the glass block.
The semi-concrete roads of the town were almost void of residents.Lianne and Lenora passed from one store to another only to find that the stores were either closed for the day or the vendors were with the procession.The town looked like it had gotten through the battery of time.Some of the structures had cracks on the edges, some had their paint fading, and others covered by moss. When they reached the plaza of the town, Lianne saw a statue of the late king build in the center of the fountain. She cringed at the sight of it.“This statue would become memorabilia soon enough, but never will this be brought down. His son wouldn’t allow it,” the princess whispered low whilst staring at the statue forty meters high.The plaza constituted of a natural wide lake. It was surrounded by mainly red oak trees and pines that grow to high lengths.Th
POV: LianneOne week admission in the hospital was considered a short stay for a man who sustained a gunshot wound in the left upper chest. The cardiologist doctor of Since Hospital said that it was a miracle for Ruen to have a near-miss...only just a couple of millimeters away from his heart. It was a miracle truly. One that I was thankful for.I was leaning against the railing in the open balcony of Ruen’s rest house. The evening was cold, but I took it upon myself to gaze at the beautiful sea of stars in the blanket of darkness. I really missed this place, and I am happy to be back here again.I was wearing a peach-pink evening gown with crystal beads on the strap shoulder, neck, and waistline formed into a bouquet of flowers. He bought the gown for me from a well-known designer. The fabric used was a soft chiffon and it had a one-meter trail, enough for me to manage in the Since Mans
POV: RuenThis was exactly the best time to kill this man. My fingers had been itching to do it since I was on the plane.He produced a lopsided grin and pulled Lianne even closer to his side.“A gun too huh? No sword?” he jibed. “Put it down now.”I clenched my teeth, my body trembling not of fear but with the need to pummel this man’s face to death.“I will not until you let her go.”“Oh, so you’re making bargains now?” he replied with his nose cringing. “As if you have the upperhand. Do you really think I would give up on this game of fate? It has already been decided. I will win this and you...will DIE!”As expected of a dirty cheater like him, Cain fired a shot.My quick reflexes kicked in an
POV: LianneIf anything. If anything at all. I wanted for that wish to be granted.That was the last thing I remembered before I snapped back into reality. Cain was still staring at me and my guess was, he doesn’t even know that I just came from a trance.I didn’t feel the pain in my left lower torso anymore. Only the pain in my heart. It lingered onto me like a bee ready to pollinate a rose. I am no rose though, but I had thorns. And right now, my thorns were all directed to Cain.Sudden anger flooded through me. Now that I remembered that vital information about my death, I didn’t have any reservations about my feelings towards Cain anymore. Screw that brotherly love for him. He needed to feel my wrath.I shifted my eyes to look at the monitor screen of the dungeon. Ruen looked fatigued. I’m sure if I were in
My feet automatically stepped in to investigate the room further.It was mainly dark. The only light fixture I could see in the ceiling was unlit. It was a decent-looking room with an acceptable size. I first thought it was a recording room, but it was actually a monitoring room, with all the weird-looking gadgets, sound and equalizer systems, and a handful of tiny buttons laid in a slanting table a couple of feet away from where I stood, dumbstruck.The room was a spectacle to behold, especially with the 12-inch flat monitor screens stacked way up into the ceiling. I deduced they were video surveillance monitors.One... two... three... four... wow... there were actually sixteen monitors all in all. Each one showing different areas of the mansion. One showing the pool area. Another showing the front portico. The others showing the dining and the kitchen areas, the outside garden, hallways, and more hallways including the
There was an uncontrollable, overwhelming urge to rip Cain’s flesh when Mr. Rafael’s spies confirmed that Lianne was taken to the Soulisse Mansion. Ruen was sitting on a couch beside a rectangular viewing window of the private plane, holding the phone tightly until a small break of the touch screen’s side appeared — a poor substitute to accept his arising anger.The plane had been en route to Since for nearly twenty minutes since lift-off from the Fortville City Airport. Another twenty of it later, it would reach its destination.“Yes, I need them to be ready in an hour. I’ll be there soon, ” Ruen commanded in a firm tone. He was talking to the leader of the special protection team of Mr. Rafael, Holt Montgomery, who was at the receiver’s end. He was thirty-six years old, eight years older than Ruen, but the man had great respect for him.It had been years since Ruen had se
POV: LianneI woke up wheezing, fighting to replenish the air in my lungs. I felt my chest heavy like it was being stepped on by an elephant weighing a hundred times heavier than me.‘Take a deep breath, ’ I commanded myself.I sat upright and scanned the room once again only to find that, yes, I was still in a bedroom inside Cain’s mansion.‘What was the mansion’s name again? Ah yes, Soulisse Mansion.’It wasn’t surprising that like Regaleria, this mansion had stood the test of time. It was good to know that a part of my past still lived in the present day however negative or positive the memories I had with them.The food the butler had prepared was still readily available on the table, but he was nowhere in sight. Maybe he left when he saw me or thought he saw me sleepin
Soulisse Mansion (Past)POV: Lianne"But the beauty of this place cannot compare to you, Lianne," I heard Lord Cain say to my surprise. He was wearing the Regaleria’s general uniform while I, just a simple peasant dress.I found us standing inside a garden pergola surrounded by heavy shrubbery of different flowers here and there: hydrangeas, pink and white mountain laurels, yellow forsythias, and bushes of long-stemmed roses all blooming beautifully.It was indeed a magnificent sight, especially when traces of snow could still be seen on the soil and on some leaves. There was the sunset too, as what I could assume, that made the garden look even more breathtaking. It was hands down a perfect place for romance.Cain closed the space between us and regarded me with warm eyes.‘Too c
POV: LianneCain was kissing me lavishly from head to toe. Touching my body like he was soaping me thoroughly. I couldn’t open my eyes but I knew that it was him when he sluggishly uttered my name.“Lianne... be mine.”Yes. I did shake my head to disagree, but he only proceeded to explore more, kissing my body, licking every curve that I had. I felt him knead my breasts that were devoid of a brassiere and I felt his tongue swirling inside my mouth when he forcibly opened it.I gasped at the sensation.I wasn’t supposed to feel good about it, but how could I be insensitive to his touch when he was sending waves of pleasure all over me?Like Ruen, Cain’s touch was burning me, coaxing me to submit, making me weak. With our first encounter in the king’s room days ago, I should be pan
POV: Lianne“Li? What’s the matter? You look sullen, ” Jen asked me directly as soon as I returned. They were all staring at me, confusion clear on their faces, and I had a feeling they knew something wasn’t right.I needed to lie to them again. If there was such a thing as a white lie, then this was definitely it. Before that platinum-haired man drags me out of this airport leaving my friends stunned and afraid of my welfare, I had to do this now.“I uh...I’m so sorry guys. I really need to stay here. There’s some emergency I need to go to, ” I said with heaviness in my heart. Jen stood up and took both of my hands, looking at me with understanding.“Go ahead Li. Don’t hesitate to leave us. I knew already this would come. We were actually waiting for you to say it.”&ls