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2162 Words
7 pm.
She'd been seated on the bed, dutifully as every bride should, waiting for her husband to come
close to her.
In her mind, she was already a corpse. But the prince just sat in his wheelchair, reading books in
his native language. It came as a shock to her when she first found out he could read, dispelling
the rumours that he was illiterate. Or maybe he was just pretending to read?
She didn't know much of this language and certainly didn't know how she could strike up a
conversation with him at all.
"Sleep tight. I'm not going to bed tonight. You're not worthy of my touch. I already have
someone in my heart. If you survive till tomorrow miraculously, I will hand you the divorce
papers that I've long prepared for you. I will ensure your safe return to your kingdom, that
is if my father allows you to leave. If he refuses, when we're divorced, you'll still get to stay
somewhere in the palace but you will have to fend for yourself. Apart from food, some clothing
and accommodation, every other thing, you have to work to get it." Prince Zayden muttered in
his ancient language.
Hailey looked on because she couldn’t decode what he was saying. Zayden motioned for his assistant and his assistant entered the room, bowed in respect before interpreting in English what the prince said to Hailey.
Hailey was stunned, "Your Highness, please I don't bear any ill will toward you. I cannot sleep
on this bed. You have poor health and that's all the more reason why you should rest,"
"Oh? So you can stab me in my sleep?" he questioned again in his ancient tongue, not taking his
eyes off the book and his assistant interpreted.
Hailey was tongue-tied. Did he not hear her earlier words about her bearing no bad intentions
against him?
"Your Highness, I would never do such a thing," she defended, looking distressed.
"Don't play that pity card on me. It won't work, spoilt princess," Prince Zayden muttered.
The assistant interpreted but he failed to add the spoilt princess part but after looking at the
crossed eye the Prince gave him he added the information.
"But I…"
He interrupted her immediately, "Since you don't want to be in my room, you can sleep in one of
the guestrooms. It's not like we like each other anyway," pointing over the bag placed near the
bedside cabinet, he continued, "That bag over there contains some of my old clothes. They aren't
clean but you'll have to make do with it, since they are loose. Unless, of course, you want to
sleep in that bothersome gown of yours," he smirkingly said before coughing heavily.
She stood up from the bed, wanting to rush to him, especially after seeing that he coughed out
blood into a white hanky, but he signaled her to stop and told his assistant to interpret to her
his earlier statements.
"I don't need your help. Get out this instant the both of you," he said amidst coughs.
The assistant told Hailey the prince wanted them both out of the room.
Immediately after the assistant left, Hailey stood to leave and she started murmuring about how badly
trained he was, “imagine being crippled and also spiteful. I’m certain the Moon Goddess saw
how much of a terrible person you were, that she made you a one-eyed crippled,” Hailey
muttered while leaving his room thinking he couldn’t understand her.
She found her way to one of the guestrooms. Opening the door, she found that the room was
dark.
She traced her way back to where the maids were and asked where she could get candles.
"Please, don't bother me," the maid said with contempt.
The maid felt that the prince's new bride would die soon. So there was no need to run errands for
her!
Seeing this indifferent attitude of the maid, Hailey became angry, "Even if I might not last past
tonight, at least show me some respect!" she growled.
"Where you came from, you're a spoiled princess who even needs help bathing. But look where
you are; this is Silver Soul pack, not where you can command me however you like. And yes, I
will not accord you any respect because you are a walking corpse you don’t just know it yet," the
maid retorted.
Nodding sagely, Hailey said, "I see. So you won't even let me know where to get candles?"
The maid replied with a vain look, "I won't and you can't do anything to me,"
This maid went by the name, of Gina Lett, one of the maids that could stay and care for the
prince's residence. She just wasn't in charge of his food and medicine.
"Very well, then. You can just die with me," Hailey grabbed the maid's hand and immediately
placed the stunned maid over her shoulder.
"Let's go to hell together," Hailey muttered before facing the direction that she came from.
The maid started struggling to get free, to no avail.
"You can't win against me, so don't bother. Just be obedient and accept your fate," Hailey said
with a solemn face, increasing her walking pace.
Now the maid was truly scared for her life.
"No, please. I'll show you where the candles are, no, I'll get them for you and even find you nice
clothes to change into. Please…" she begged but her pleas fell on deaf ears.
Soon they reached the guestroom and Hailey opened the door, went inside, and threw the maid to
the ground. The latter quickly got to her knees, "Please Your Highness. Let me go. I…"
Hailey closed the door behind her. Now they were in pitch darkness.
"Both of us will go to hell together. Let's just be patient for the grim reaper to come," Hailey sat
on the floor.
"No, please. I don't want to die, Your Highness," the maid cried.
"What about me? Do you think I want to die too? You think I chose this fate with gleaming
eyes?" Hailey questioned, not in the least affected by the crying maid.
"Your Highness…"
"Stop all this wailing and tell me. Why is it that you're so scared of entering here? Is it because
being with me sends you to hell faster than you would like or something else?"
"P-Princess, it's both. The last bride died in this guestroom. We found her foaming from the
mouth, there were also a few injuries on her body. And now, you are here as the fifth bride…"
"I see… Don't worry. Since you disrespected me earlier, just wait here. When you see that I'm
dying, it's your cue to escape," Hailey said, not letting the maid leave.
"Your Highness… Ahh!" the maid's scream pierced the seemingly unbothered ambiance,
instantly snapping Hailey to attention. The absence of light in the guestroom heightened the
mystique surrounding her.
As if answering her silent pleas, a flashlight abruptly illuminated the room, causing Hailey to
shield her eyes. The sight that met her gaze was chilling – the maid, Gina, lay unconscious,
blood seeping from her neck. The uncertainty of Gina's fate lingered in the air.
"Who are you? Are you here to kill me?" Hailey questioned, her voice trembling, acutely aware
that entering this pack was akin to signing her own death warrant.
The mysterious figure ceased pointing the torch at her and directed it elsewhere – the opulent
bed. "Princess Emily, go lie on the bed. If you're resolved to alter your destiny, follow my
instructions," the man urged with a raspy voice.
Compelled to comply, Hailey rose cautiously and approached the bed, cloaking herself in the
blanket. "Princess, you're a fighter. I can see that. That's why I've intervened to snatch you from
death's grasp," the man continued, extinguishing the flashlight, leaving her in the shroud of
uncertainty.
"I'll return soon, and if you're still unbroken, you can join us. Thank your lucky stars that the
master is intrigued by you, though I can't fathom why," he declared, scaling the window and
disappearing into the night.
Fear gripped Hailey throughout the night, dissuading her from closing her eyes, lest she never
open them again. The following morning, sunlight and chirping birds stirred her awake.
Perched on the bed, Hailey grappled with the reality of her survival. "So, I'm still alive? What
that mystery man said was true? He rescued me from death? How was I supposed to die? Who is
he, and who's the master he spoke of? Above all, why save someone he deemed spoilt and lazy?"
Her mind buzzed with unanswered questions, urging her to seek the truth beyond the confines of
the bed.
"He promised to return if I remain unbroken," she mused as she stood. Nearby, Gina from the
previous night lay lifeless, holding a set of golden needles containing poison. Was Gina meant to
be the instrument of her demise? The apparent cries and pleas, a façade?
Haunted by the dangerous den she now occupied, Hailey treaded carefully. The enigma behind
Gina's actions suggested a perilous adversary unwilling to release its grip. The second prince's
threat to divorce her if she survived echoed ominously.
Exiting the room, Hailey encountered two hesitant female servants, uncertain about the new
bride's fate. Unveiling her presence, they clung to each other in fright, proclaiming "Ghost!
Ghost!" Hailey sighed, facing the dilemma of what to do with these startled souls.
"Will a ghost appear in daylight? Snap out of it, you two. And please clean up the mess for me.
Thanks," she urged with a smile, leaving them in awe.
When they could no longer see her back view, they finally gathered the courage to enter the room
to see the trash she was referring to.
Upon entering, they gasped in shock.
Wasn't that Gina, the head maid of Prince Zayden's residence? Did the princess kill her?
***
Meanwhile, Hailey clandestinely navigated her way back to the room she was ousted from the
previous night. After a discreet knock, she entered, prompted by the feeble command from the
prince. There, she found him in a wheelchair, his face pallid, an empty bowl exuding the scent of
medicine on the table, and his unwavering assistant standing by, ready to interpret his words.
"You're alive," he uttered flatly, and the assistant conveyed the message. "Yes, I survived," she
nodded, prompting the assistant to translate her words into the ancient tongue for the Prince.
"Great," the assistant gestured towards a document on the table, instructing her to sign the
requisite section with her blood, as the prince had already fulfilled his part in advance.
"Why must you do this, Your Highness? Can't we live like enigmatic acquaintances, merely
married on paper, at the very least?" she questioned, gesturing for his assistant to interpret.
"I don't desire a wife that is excessively pampered," responded the Prince in his own esoteric
language.
"Is that what you think of me?" Hailey retorted, a mixture of offense and defiance in her eyes,
even though she knew she wasn't truly Emily.
"Princess Emily, you or any other woman paraded before me by my father can never replace
her," Prince Zayden asserted forcefully, a fit of coughing following his declaration.
His assistant swiftly massaged his back, "Easy, my prince. Anger is detrimental to your health,"
Dario said, a palpable concern etched on his face.
"You harbor affections for someone else. I perceive it. I don't fancy you, and the feeling is
mutual. As your wife, fearing for my life daily isn't appealing. Divorce seems the prudent
choice," she declared, biting her index finger and swiftly sealing the requisite section with her
blood.
The prince nodded in satisfaction, "Now that we're divorced, and my father will never allow you
to depart from the pack, you are officially consigned to a maid's role in this residence."
Dario immediately interpreted the message, and Hailey's eyebrows shot up in shock, "A maid?"
she exclaimed.
The Prince spoke further in his arcane dialect before having Dario interpret for him. "You shall
assume the position of the lowest-ranking maid in this residence, and you're forbidden to present
yourself before me. Commencing this moment. Now, depart, Emily."
Dario exited the room immediately after delivering his prince's decree. Harrumphing, Hailey
turned around to leave but then pivoted back, her arms unfolded as she pointed accusingly, "You
uncultured scoundrel, uncivilized, and barbaric. No wonder all your previous brides met
untimely demises. I too refuse to coexist with a debilitated figure like yourself," Hailey muttered
in unabated anger, convinced the Prince couldn’t comprehend her words.
The Prince summoned his assistant, and immediately Dario entered. Prince Zayden, now
speaking in fluent English, instructed, “Dario, escort this unruly, pampered brat to the stables for
labor.”
“What… You.. can.. speak… English,” Hailey stammered, choking on her saliva as Dario
forcefully led her out of the room, her wedding gown billowing behind her.
- Writer
