Even After Death

Chapter 3

“What did you just say, My Princess?” Agnes exclaimed with widened gazes.

Katarina glanced at the older woman without blinking as she repeated what she had told her. “I do not want to be the Queen.”

Agnes gripped her hand. “But why, My Princess? You have been the crown princess for a year now. And besides, isn’t this what you desire? To marry Prince Henri?”

Katarina suddenly got disheartened hearing Agnes’ words. It was true; marrying the crown prince was like a dream come true for her.

She remembered seeing the prince when her father brought her to the palace for the first time. Katarina was fifteen at that time. She saw a young man practicing with swords, and since she grew up seeing her father with such a weapon, she watched the young man.

Katarina hid behind the bush to watch him. The way he moved with swords in both hands made her gasp in admiration.

And then, suddenly, the young man paused momentarily and walked in the bush’s direction where she was hiding. Katarina’s gut shuddered as she could not decide whether to run away or apologize.

“Who are you?” the young man asked.

Katarina stared at him and thought the young man was the most striking person she had seen in her whole life. She would never forget that face, for his eyes were like the sky when it was about to rain – so grey and so intense that she felt like drowning in his stares.

And she just realized that she had been staring at the young man for a long time and could not answer his question, much to his annoyance.

“I am asking who you are,” he reiterated.

“Don’t mind me. I- think you can be the knight commander in the future,” Katarina slightly stuttered, answering.

The young man looked at her in confusion and then smiled.

He smiled, and it made Katarina’s insides quiver with some weird sensations, and because of that strange feeling, Katarina ran while she felt hot on her cheeks.

She could still hear the young man calling for her while running away, but she did not look back because of embarrassment.

And to her bewilderment, the young man was King Alexander’s son — Prince Henri Amaris. Katarina saw him standing beside the king.

She wanted to kill herself out of embarrassment, realizing that the young man she encountered was none other than the crown prince himself. She did not know the prince personally, so she did not recognize him.

Ever since that day, she had constantly thought about the prince – how he handled swords- and smiled at her. It was then she realized she liked the prince. It was her first time wanting someone, and the feeling drowned her.

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“Are you all right, My Princess? Do you need to rest more? I will tell the queen that you do not feel well.”

Agnes’ words brought Katarina back from thinking about the day she met Prince Henri for the first time. She stared back at her attendant, watching her with a worried expression.

“I am all right, Agnes,” Katarina answered as she grasped her own chest. “We need to run away from here.”

“We cannot do that, Princess. Do you hear yourself?”

Katarina clenched her fists so hard. “Please. Hear me out, Agnes. I do not want to be the Queen,” she cried as she continued to utter, “I am scared.”

Agnes hugged her. “What are you scared of, My Princess? Tell me.”

Katarina closed her eyes, recalling how the people chanted for her death after her execution.

“I am scared of dying here. I am scared of dying in front of many people,” she mumbled.

Although Agnes could not understand what was really running inside her head, she answered, “Why don’t you just tell the royal court that you decline to be the Queen?”

It was an absurd question, and Agnes knew it herself. No one could go against the King’s ruling. Even Henri could not oppose it.

Realizing her ridiculous remarks, Agnes spoke again. “What do you want me to do, Princess?”

“How is the estate?” Katarina asked. She was talking about the estate her father left after he died.

“It is well taken care of the attendants there, Princess.” Lady Agnes replied.

“That’s good,” Katarina let out. “Agnes, I want you to bring only my important things. We will seek another Kingdom’s protection.”

“What about the people in your estate? The people serving there?” the older woman inquired.

Katarina paused for a moment as if she were thinking. “The palace won’t do anything about our estate as long as they do not know what happened to me. They will initially think I was abducted,” she replied.

“All right, My Princess. I will trust you,” Agnes told her with a firm gaze.

Katarina let out a bitter smile. “Thank you, Agnes.” Then she stood up as she continued to plan her next steps. “We will send an anonymous letter to the estate monthly through underground means.”

“How do you know about the underground methods?” Agnes asked her in surprise. Katarina was a nobility who was indulged by her father all her life. Since her father worked as a knight commander, she had no access to underground services, for it was illegal in the kingdom to use such. Hence, Agnes was astonished when she mentioned it.

“I will tell you in the future. For now, we need to move before Henri arrives.”

“But the crown prince will arrive tomorrow,” Agnes warned her.

“I know; that’s why we will go this evening,” Katarina answered in a decisive tone. “Just tell anyone coming here that I am still sick and asleep.”

Although reluctant, Agnes agreed. She was unsure of what was happening, but she believed in Katarina.

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The moon shone brilliantly that night.

The entire palace was silent to maintain the peace when a ruler died. A spirit was believed to travel peacefully to the afterlife when the surroundings were calm. That way, the said spirit would have nothing to look back on.

And that silence was favorable for Katarina. With no one outside, they could easily slip away from the palace.

Bringing each of their bags and wearing plain and simple robes covering their heads and faces, Katarina and Agnes carefully strode from her chamber to the secret tunnel she learned from four years of staying in the palace before she died and existed again.

On the other hand, Agnes was amazed at how she knew the secret way out of the palace.

At the end of the secret tunnel was a vast wilderness. That was where Katarina intended to go to escape quietly.

When they finally reached the tunnel’s edge, they both became terrified. The forest was so dark and quiet that they could hear the crickets singing.

“Are you sure you wanted to go through this, My Princess?” Agnes asked her.

Katarina held her attendant’s hand. “Yes. We will never go back,” she answered firmly. She could not go back to the palace and wait for their death.

Holding each other’s hands, the two continued walking through the dark woods. Cold shivers ran down their spines when they heard a wolf’s howling.

Fortunately, the thick clouds gathering in the sky made way for the moonlight to shine in the forest.

Katarina felt relieved. She knew that later, she would be out of the kingdom grounds. She would not waste the chance given to her by the heavens to go back in time and save herself and those people who matter to her.

They were quietly and carefully walking through the grassy land of the wilderness when they suddenly heard footsteps approaching them.

“What is it, My Princess?” Agnes worriedly asked.

“I do not know. Maybe a deer or a boar; we need to walk faster but still quiet,” Katarina answered uncertainly.

Both strolled silently when a gliding knife was thrown in their direction and found its way to a nearby tree where they were standing.

“Who are you?” a stern and deep voice of a man came out from behind them.

Katarina and Agnes paused from walking. They did not dare to look back and instead just kept standing on their backs.

“Raise your hands and kneel,” the man instructed them.

They submitted to the man’s order. They got down on their knees and raised both of their hands.

The man walked towards and pointed a sword at them. “Who are you?”

Despite that inquiry, neither of them answered and just lowered their heads.

“Answer or I will kill the two of you!” the man exclaimed, losing his patience. He then used his sword to remove the robe covering Katarina’s face.

“Katarina Frances?” the man suddenly yelled out in surprise.

On the other hand, Katarina lifted her head and glanced at the man. Her heart quivered for a moment, seeing his face.

That familiar face she did not want to see ever again.

“Henri?”