The Hero's Forsaken Princess
Chapter 187: A Letter for Her

Chapter 187: A Letter for Her

Hellfire Venom.

Crown Prince Leonard’s expression turned pale upon hearing the name of the poison given to Alaric. It attacked the immune system and caused the organs to fail while the person was still alive.

It slowly withered Alaric’s life essence. To date, no one has discovered a cure for this poison. Once it was ingested, the person would slowly die as his body weakened day by day.

’Damn it! Alaric has no chance of survival. His death is certain. Eve has only one hope left. The Miracle Fruit. But it is not certain if this miracle fruit can nullify the effect of Hellfire Venom. No one had tried this before.’

Prince Leonard felt sorry for Princess Eve. She was left in the dark as King Zaraki deceived her. He didn’t know if Eve could still forgive his father after what he had done.

’Can I still fix this? Is there a chance for the two of them to reconcile? Eve is still part of our family. I can’t ignore her.’

He wanted to reprimand his father for this, but he could no longer do it.

"What are you planning to do now, Chancellor Gustav?" Prince Leonard asked.

"My priority is to save your father. Please keep this from Princess Eve," Chancellor Gustav responded.

"Are you really going to kill Alaric just to save my father?"

"Yes. I must kill him. I won’t hesitate. He tried to lay a finger on our King. This is a crime punishable by death." Chancellor Gustav said with conviction.

"Then how about Eve? If Alaric dies, how would you explain this to her? Don’t do something reckless. She might lose control and command the dragon to destroy us all. Alaric is the only loved one she has." Prince Leonard tried to reason with him.

As much as possible, he didn’t want Gustav to take extreme measures against Alaric just to save his father.

"As you said, Princess Eve has a kind heart. She won’t kill us." Chancellor Gustav was confident.

Prince Leonard was doubtful about this.

"Stop persuading me, Your Highness. My decision will not change. I’m only loyal to King Zaraki. His safety is my responsibility," Gustav said with finality. He didn’t wait for Prince Leonard to say another word. He turned around and left.

Prince Leonard could only watch his back.

"I have to warn Eve. His husband is trying to take his life together with my father. I have to save them both. Only Eve can change Alaric’s mind," he murmured.

He headed straight to his quarters. He shouldn’t waste his time. He had to do something to prevent Alaric from hurting himself and his father.

Princess Eve was miles away from him. All he could do was send her an urgent message.

"Damn it! Eve’s coronation will be tomorrow. No wonder Alaric only gave us a three-day ultimatum. This only means that he will make sure that Eve ascends the throne so that he can finally let go of her. He believes that once Eve becomes queen, her focus will shift entirely to serving the kingdom. He thinks that having such a great responsibility will help her cope with his death — that it will give her something precious to hold onto."

Prince Leonard finally figured out Alaric’s true intention. He was sacrificing himself to free Eve from King Zaraki’s control.

Meanwhile, at King Zaraki’s quarters...

Alaric felt a bit exhausted after dealing with King Zaraki. He had confined him in his chamber, tying his hands and feet to the bedpost.

He smiled sadly as he strengthened his resolve. Taking a parchment, he began to write a letter to Princess Eve, pouring all his heart and emotions into every word.

’My Love, forgive me for breaking my promise. I know you are doing everything for me. But I can’t accept this. I don’t want to be the reason for you to hold back and do something against your will. If I continued being King Zaraki’s hostage, you would never escape his control. I want you to be free and live as much as you want.’

Alaric’s heart constricted as he wrote those words. He had mixed feelings at this moment. He didn’t want to say goodbye to Eve, but he knew his body well. He knew that something was wrong. He didn’t want to be selfish by hoping to stay alive.

He continued writing his letter, thinking this might be the last time he could ever express his feelings to her.

’Even without me, I know people will support you and help you. You are great at capturing people’s hearts. You gain my comrades’ trust. You empowered and influenced the people in the slum area. You are great at everything you do. Marrying you is like a dream come true.’

Alaric felt a wave of nostalgia as he reminisced about their wedding day. Eve had still been in disguise then, hiding her true beauty. Yet to Alaric, she was the most beautiful woman in the entire kingdom.

’I will always cherish my memory of you. Your hugs... your kisses... your voice... everything about you.’

Alaric hadn’t noticed, but a single tear had already fallen from the corner of his eye. His tears even soaked the parchment paper. He failed to contain his emotions.

’My Love... Spread your wings and fly high, my Queen. You are a Phoenix, rising from the ashes. Tomorrow is your new beginning. I am grateful, and I’m so lucky that I met you in this life. I have no regrets. Thank you for accepting an ordinary man like me. I wish you to be happy always. Always remember that my feelings for you will never change. It will last forever. So you have to keep moving forward and go on no matter what happens.’

’Someday... and somewhere... In heaven or earth... In our second lives... third life or soon... I will always love you and wait for you. — Your Loving Husband, Alaric Stormholt.’

Alaric smiled and stared at his letter for a long moment. When he could no longer think, he finally folded the paper. He found a way to deliver this letter to his wife. No matter what happened to him, this letter would surely be received by Eve.

*****

Night time: At Kingdom Averion...

Eve lay restless in her chamber, tossing and turning in bed. She couldn’t sleep, her mind consumed with thoughts of Alaric and the coronation that would happen tomorrow.

’I wonder what my husband is doing right now. I miss him a lot.’ Eve held and embraced her pillow tightly. She shut her eyes, imagining Alaric.

For some unknown reason, her heart suddenly felt uneasy. She sent a letter to Crown Prince Leonard. She wondered if he had relayed her message to Alaric. She couldn’t wait to hear a response from them.

She had been anxiously waiting for a response from Alaric and Prince Leonard, but none had arrived. Restless, she got off the bed and opened her window, hoping to see a messenger bird swoop into her room.

"What took my Uncle so long to send me a response?" she lamented, pouting her lips. "Don’t tell me he failed to relay my message to my husband?"

"Is our Princess sad?" Silvester, the parrot, flew toward her.

Eve extended her right hand, allowing Silvester to land on her arm. "I’m just missing my husband, Silvester. He is not here with me."

"Do you want to see him, Master?" Aerin, the mystical fox, butted in. She has been guarding Eve in her chamber.

"Yes. I do want to see him. But we are miles apart," Eve responded.

It did not take long before a royal servant knocked on her door.

"Your Majesty, a messenger bird came from Kingdom Zephyra," the royal servant announced from behind the door.

Eve’s eyes lit up when she heard that. She quickly ran toward the door to receive the letter.

"It must be from Prince Leonard!" She mumbled excitedly as she opened the door.

Eve accepted the letter and dismissed the servant. She held the letter in her chest as she went back to her room.

"Read it now, Princess!" Silvester encouraged her.

Eve nodded with a smile and opened the capsule, only to be disappointed. The letter wasn’t from either Prince Leonard or Alaric. It bore the royal seal of King Zaraki.

"This letter is from King Zaraki," Eve said, informing Silvester and Aerin.

Before King Zaraki was captured by Alaric, he had already composed a letter to send to Eve. It was part of his strategy to prompt a response from her, as their knights had failed to make contact for several days. They were growing concerned, wondering why there had been no updates about the battle between the armies of Zephyra and Averion.

Eve clenched the paper, her expression turning grim as she read the contents of King Zaraki’s letter. She could feel the threat behind every word. She had expected them to grow suspicious after she turned their armies into stone, preventing King Zaraki’s spies from sending him an update.