The Hidden King's Stolen Wife
Chapter 80: Where She Shouldn’t Be

Chapter 80: Where She Shouldn’t Be

Rafael continued to watch Elowyn scuttle through the crowds. With every turn down a narrow street, she was slowly but surely leaving the more populated city areas― which was pretty damn suspicious, since she was about to marry Orion in a few weeks time.

He continued to stalk her patiently, and he couldn’t help but notice how she was favoring her left side more than usual. Yet, she never stopped moving forward, as though there was something hot on her heels.

Eventually, Elowyn finally stopped at the corner of a deserted street. Rafael hid behind a wall and waited. To his surprise, a man in a similar cloak approached her. His hood was drawn up, so Rafael couldn’t make out his features. They began to speak in lowered voices, and Elowyn’s arms made a few aggressive gestures.

Huh. Strange. Rafael tried to read the lips of the stranger.

Something about the goods?

They must be referring to Reitan! Raphael’s blood raced. It was too much of a coincidence for Elowyn to leave the palace at the same time Reitan did. She must have had something to do with his disappearance.

Was she selling him to kidnappers?

Soon, their discussion must have been fruitful, for that man soon started to walk away, with Elowyn following him closely. Rafael trailed after them faithfully, like a dog with a bone. They had to be leading him to Reitan.

Soon, they arrived at a nondescript wooden house. A perfect location for one to stash a child. Rafael’s eyes darkened. He had them now.

The man went inside first, leaving Elowyn waiting outside. She shifted on her feet and leaned against the brick wall, possibly due to tiredness.

Rafael smiled coldly and emerged from behind, pressing a blade to her throat. Elowyn gasped and whirled around, only to take a frantic step back when she caught sight of Rafael’s bloodthirsty expression. Rafael relished in the fear in her wide eyes.

"It’s you!"

"Fancy meeting you here," Rafael said casually, as though they had bumped into each other on a leisurely stroll. "I must say, you have some nerve going out with random men so close to your wedding. Are you not afraid that Orion will be upset?"

To his surprise, Elowyn seemed to flinch at his words. She frantically looked around, as if she had expected Orion to pop out from the next corner. When she realized there was only Rafael, her expression turned furious.

"This is all your fault, to begin with! I wouldn’t be in this state if not for you!"

"I didn’t get you pregnant," Rafael said.

He had wasted enough time; Rafael pressed the blade more harshly against Elowyn’s neck, causing a thin line of blood to form. Elowyn let out a shocked gasp.

"Now, where is Prince Reitan?"

"Prince Reitan?" Elowyn repeated with a scoff. "How is he my business?"

"Stop pretending," Rafael growled out. "I know you had something to do with his disappearance."

As if to prove him right, Elowyn’s eyes darted back to the door of the house. It remained resolutely closed. Rafael smiled darkly. If the other man had any sense, he would be hiding for dear life instead of coming out to save Elowyn’s skin.

Either that, or he was prepared to dispose of Reitan in some dingy alleyway somewhere to get away from his crimes.

"I know nothing," Elowyn insisted. "Now unhand me this instance!"

"I’ll believe you over my dead body, you conniving witch," Rafael snarled.

In one quick expert motion, he used Elowyn’s own blood to form cuffs around her wrists, before kicking down the door and storming inside.

"You monster!" Elowyn shrieked as she tried to pry her hands away from the makeshift cuffs, but it was futile. It might be a thin rope of blood, but it held like a vice.

She wanted to run, but if the cuffs did not fade, there was no way she could explain it to Orion. The bruise around her eye seemed to throb painfully, reminding her of what he was capable of.

No. She could not run. This entire mess was caused by Rafael Biroumand, and he had to fix it before she turned into a corpse.

Meanwhile, Rafael had easily found the man inside the house. The moment he had kicked the door open, the man turned around, his eyes wide with horror at the sudden intruder. But Rafael didn’t offer him a chance to react.

He turned the blade on himself and slashed his own hand, causing blood to splatter.

From the open wound sprouted fresh blood, swerving like a serpent that quickly coiled around the man’s ankle. With a hard yank, he dropped to the floor, his arms flailing in the air as he did. Once he was down, the rope of blood bound the man’s arms to his sides, and he could do no more than flop around like a fish, screaming a mix of profanities and pleas for mercy.

"Please spare me!" the man exclaimed pitifully, squirming around as he attempted to get up. In the end, he only managed to get on his knees, but that was enough.

His face was smeared with dirt and grime, and in his hand was an amethyst crystal he was gripping for dear life. Rafael pried it from his hands and examined it closely; it was a relatively good quality amethyst, almost on par with the ones they nicked from the black market.

"You can have it," the man hastily added. "I have more! Take them! But don’t tell the King, please, I beg you! I still have family back home!"

"You have family?" Rafael asked as he made a show of looking around the empty house, before he stomped on that man’s wrist, causing him to squeal in pain. "I find that hard to believe. Where did you stash the prince? Who else have you kidnapped?"

"Kidnapped?" The man repeated, his eyes hazy with pain and confusion. "I never kidnapped anyone! I have standards! I only deal with gems!"

"What did that woman outside want with you?" Rafael asked.

"She wanted amethysts," the man wheezed out. "Like, as much as I had, but she didn’t have much money. All she gave me was a silver urn, so I was only going to sell her one! I was just getting it for her when you burst in. Brother, please spare some kindness for me. I sourced my gems all the way from Raxuvia to make an honest livelihood here!"

Rafael scoffed. Honest livelihood indeed. Gems from Raxuvia? What an oversight.

"Where’s the urn then?" Rafael asked instead, and the man shakily took it out from his pocket. It was a small, delicate thing, but Rafael stumbled back as if he was struck.

That crest... he had only seen it once, but it was distinctive enough to engrave it into his memory.

After all, that was the crest of the family he was supposed to marry into.

The Wynslers.