It was late afternoon when Lianne and Ruen went out of his private cabin. When they ascended to the main deck, they saw Captain Marxe already holding two green 12-inch long candles with intricately-carved flower petals on it.
“Your Majesty, you wouldn’t want to miss the festivities,” the captain proclaimed, his eyes beaming with excitement.
Ruen, who was now wearing a black overcoat, accepted the candles and then slid them under his coat into a wide pocket. “Thank you, Captain,” he said.
Lianne gave both of them a puzzling look. “What are the candles for?” She directed her question to the King, but he only gave her a smile.
“Let’s go, Lianne. It’s almost time,” Ruen stated as he offered his hand to her, acting secretive.
“Start what?” Lianne asked, but was then left in awe when she saw, from the deck, t
When Ruen glanced at Lianne while he was at the bakery shop, he saw her enjoying the lion float that was passing by. He noticed the commotion as the float arrived and saw that the platform flooded immediately with spectators because of it. He saw the little boy sitting highly at the top of his father’s shoulder; however, because of it, he wasn’t able to discern the face of the man that situated himself right at Lianne’s back.After he bought three chocolate muffins though and walked back towards the platform, he noticed her acting rather unusually. The expression on her face became tense and troubled. By the time he realized something wasn’t right, he already saw her being hauled out of the railing by the unknown man.Their eyes met and the alarm in her eyes was enough to instantly tell him she was in danger. He dropped the box of muffins into the ground and immediately took off to the platform like a madman on a ramp
Cain noticed her apparent distress and made a comment in a rather blunt manner, “You know I mean you no harm. Why do you look so stiff, Lianne?”Lianne shifted an inch away from him as he sat down on the bed beside her. He tried to hold her right hand, but she immediately pulled it out of his reach. He noticed she had come to be more averse with his touch ever since he had expressed his feelings to her and this didn’t sit on him well.“Cain, I might have misjudged you, but I truly don’t understand you. You have changed so much,” Lianne expressed, her heart feeling like it was being pulled apart. She remembered the innocent friendship they had together when they were younger. Those were precious memories in her heart, but right now, those memories were almost fading away.“I haven’t changed one bit, Lianne. I just showed you the real me. This is the truth,” Cain replie
Lianne was standing at the upper deck of the boat when they reached the port of Olga. She was wearing a new dress; a peach-colored off-shoulder peasant dress provided by the captain, all thanks to his many exploits.It was past six in the evening when they arrived and what greeted Lianne when she first laid eyes on the port town was a harrowing sight. There were many buildings that were destroyed. Houses were without roofs, a bridge toward the town square was collapsed, and many beggars were on the streets. It wasn’t what Lianne had expected it to be.Nothing at all.Cain came to stand beside her as she felt aghast by the sight.“Lianne, welcome to the City of Olga,” he said plainly. There was no hint of sympathy in his voice like he was already accustomed to the unwelcoming sight. But of course, this was the place where his father died, and the mission that Garlow had given.
Father Oveido moved closer to her, his gait uneven without the aid of his staff. Lianne felt hopeless with what was now an imminent threat, but she knew she wasn’t powerless. She had to fight for her freedom, and fight she will.She kicked her feet hard when the priest stood a couple of inches from her. She was able to hit his left knee, instantly sending a jolt of pain all over his leg. He winced in the pain but he smiled briefly and said, “You think this would deter me from doing what I must do? Struggle as much as you want, princess.”“You stay away from me!” she threatened, gnashing her teeth in anger.“I don’t think that will happen, ” he answered and then went behind the sofa.This time, Lianne wasn’t able to anticipate or even see what he was about to do next, but it was certainly clearer when she noticed the blade of the dagger drawn close
“How is she, Your Majesty?”Lord Jared carefully asked when Ruen finally exited his private cabin. He looked distressed and exhausted, wrinkles and a hard frown marring his handsome face.It had been five hours since they left the port of Olga, sailing back to Regaleria on the royal ship in the middle of the night.Traveling back to Regaleria as soon as possible was the best thing to do for mainly two reasons. One was that it was safer for the princess to be as far away from the cave as possible while the blood moon was still high and second, for the King’s sake, so that he wouldn’t burn the entire city down because of his raging anger.“She’s still sleeping, ” Ruen answered plainly, but he had a tense look on his face.“Do you need anything, Your Majesty? Coffee perhaps?” Jared offered knowing the King would probably pu
It had been four days since they arrived back in the mansion.When Lady Faye first saw the state the princess was in, she immediately gave the King an exaggerated line of sermon, to which the latter heartily accepted.It truly caused the governess great concern, with Lianne’s wound and enervated state mainly, but seeing the princess in a much livelier spirit than in the past, she finally conceded.Lianne had to stay in her bed the first two days for the whole day to rest and replenish the energy she had lost as strictly urged by the governess. She even made the princess drink a variety of vegetable cocktails in order to raise up the volume of her blood, but this time it was from the royal doctor’s prescription.As much as Ruen wanted, he wasn’t able to be with her the first two days either for matters of the court immediately needed his attention. Two of these in particular were the
Lianne was still lying under the general when she heard a faint sound of a knock. She wanted to scream for help, but her attention came back to Cain when his hand cruised down to her legs and into her buttocks.She gasped in surprise when he adjusted her position, spreading her legs apart so that he could fondle her more.“Please don’t!” she shouted in distress, her eyes now wet with tears.If she could fight back, she would have, like the time when she hit him with the cigar ashtray, but her hands could not hold of anything solid this time. Surrounding them were only piles and piles of soft feather pillows, and the table beside her bed was barely a reach away where a figurine of an angel could have done the job.“You want me to stop but your body is responding to me, Lianne. Can’t you feel it?” Cain excitedly proclaimed as he felt the heat of her skin. Effortlessl
“Lianne, look at me! Please, look at me!”Ruen adjusted his hold, anchoring an arm around her head so that her face would lift up.Lianne’s vision was blurred but she could clearly see the pained expression on his face. She had never seen this kind of expression from him before. Never. It was breaking her heart.“Please don’t look at me like that, ” she mockingly requested, sounding slightly raspy. “You don’t fit that kind of expression at all.” She gave him an apologetic smile and then coughed up blood.“No, don’t speak anymore. Rest! The doctor will be here soon.” He placed constant pressure on the wound on her back with his free hand. This, he did so despite having a deep laceration on his left forearm too.“Ruen...” she uttered in a weak voice. She winced abruptly when she felt the stabb
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