Unexpected help

The next morning, Valerie woke up feeling fresh and with a beautiful smile on her face. The chirping of the birds, the soft breeze kissing her, the soft rays of the sun gifting her a new day. She looked around the forest feeling so relaxed and peaceful. She use to carry the weight of what happened that night in her heart. The guilt and the sadness refused to leave her, no matter wherever she is. But now, she is finally free of her guilt as the queen recovered and she is finally free from the heavy shackles of her past. 

Valerie doesn't have a penny to her name, nor does she have a plan of action to survive. She also knows that she might not get a job or a place to stay until she has that pendant around her neck. 

She touched that pendant with her fingers. An image of Raphael popped into her mind, which made her shudder with fear. She took a choppy breath. 

"I am glad that her highness queen Irina recovered Prince Raven. I am not angry about how you treated me. Because I can understand that your anger came from the love that you have for your mother. I am partly responsible for what happened that night. If she was not so kind and sweet, she wouldn't have suffered so much. I am sorry for that. I brought my curse upon her highness. I just hope and wish that you could forgive me for causing your family so much grief" she whispered sadly. She wiped away a lone tear that slipped past her thick black lashes.

Raphael, who is still watching her from afar heard her confession which confused him.

'What is she talking about? Is she under the impression that my mother recovered and that's why I sent her away? Or is this an act? Is she suspecting that she is being watched? ' he wondered.

Valerie found a nearby pond and washed up a little. She snapped a small twig from the neem tree and began to brush her teeth with it. It is said that neem has antibacterial and antibiotic natures. But it tastes sour.

After she is done washing, she plucked some more fruits and ate them all up. 

Raphael is watching her every move, except when she is washing up. He saw how she made a small hut using thick logs and leaves that she collected. She used thin branches with thick leaves as a door to her small hut. She used flat wooden pieces to cover the top, on top of which she placed inch-high leaves to cover the gaps. It took her almost all day to finish building her shack. But by the time she is done, she is visibly tired and sweaty. 

She ate some more fruits before walking towards the pond. She looked around the woods, and when she is sure she is alone, she began to get undressed. Raphael turned away from the view. He is angry and frustrated. She is doing things that he least expected her to do. But he wanted to find the cure to heal his mother.

'Damn it, what should I do?' he thought with frustration. 

That's when he sensed that someone is coming. He swiftly turned to alert Valerie who is taking a bath. But she is now fully dressed in the same clothes that she was wearing before.

"Valerie?" Tyson called out louder this time. That morning he did not find Valarie anywhere in the school. He began to suspect that the Raven prince might have done something to hurt her. But then, Tasha told him happily about how the Raven prince threw Valarie out of the palace and how she is begging on the streets. That's when he and his friends started searching for her. Someone told him that they saw her going this way. He is praying that she should be safe.

Valerie's ears perked up when she caught Tyson's voice.

'Prince Tyson? Here? What is he doing here?' she wondered. Her heart skipped a beat and ran in the direction from where she heard his voice.

Tyson is looking around for Valerie. When his gaze landed on the girl who is running towards him, he stopped dead in his tracks. She secured her hair into a loose bun which is sitting at the nape of her neck. Her smooth and angelic features are visible to him for the first time. He knows her for over a year now, but he never got a chance to look at her face clearly. Her curls are always in the way. But now, her full pink lips are stretched into a smile, showing her visible straight white teeth. Her unique grey eyes are twinkling with delight at the sight of him. He never saw how true happiness looks, until that moment. He understood that she is happy to see him.

'My goodness, this is the reason why that Raven prince tied her to him. She is looking like an angel who descended from heaven' he thought.

He is so transfixed, that he didn't respond even after she came and stood in front of him for over a couple of minutes.

Raphael is watching Tyson with anger and jealousy. The way he is looking at Valerie is making him feel territorial over his slave. 

'Hmm, someone is jealous' Hydra teased him.

'Shut up Hydra. Why would I be jealous of a criminal and my slave? ' he snapped.

Hydra smiled knowingly, before going to the back of his mind.

"Ahh? Prince Tyson?" Valerie waved her palm in front of his face to gain his attention. She can not read and understand the adoration shining in his eyes for her.

Tyson blinked once and twice before he realized that she is waiting for him to speak.

"Thank God you are safe. What happened? What are you doing here?" he asked her with concern.