The Royal Revenge
Chapter 53: Hiding a Secret?

Chapter 53: Hiding a Secret?

There were a lot of pressing things that run around the bastard prince’s head.

One, the slave that he was forced to wed, the woman who hated him to the core, had just saved the very same life she had attempted to end – his life. Second, the said woman’s hair was strewn all around his face.

Her flaming hair had come undone as she rushed over to him. Locks of silky soft strands found their way inside his mouth and nose, tickling him to the point he was about to sneeze.

He noticed that the scent of her shampoo seemed to have switched to something sweeter – vanilla? If she really did, the prince could only drool.

Aleksander could feel her chest on him, the beat of her heart much louder now that practically there were no space between them. The only thing that separated them being their clothes. Thankfully, there were layers to the fabrics of their garments in the least.

The two royalties lifted their heads right at the very same moment, and their eyes met – deep scarlet to pools of molten silver.

In the heat of the moment, the knights went off to finish the rest of the bandits. Teo was able to get hold of the leader, but he looked as if he wasn’t going to survive as he kept vomiting blood even when he was in the bedroom.

And not long, the leader of the Black Bandits finally breathed his last.

Elys and Aleksander could hear the commotion with the other bandits running away, but they couldn’t care less to what was happening around them. The awkward atmosphere between them was more concerning.

And it worsened by every second that ticked.

The princess scrambled out of their clumsy position. She hadn’t thought things over when she dove to save the prince from the arrows back then.

How was she going to face herself with the fact that she saved her own sworn enemy?

+++

After the bandits were gone, Elys and Aleksander returned into the carriage to continue their mission to the Eastern Queen.

"Woman, why did you save me?" Aleksander asked, his voice grave as if the act Elys committed was the most scandalous thing she had ever done.

More scandalous than their marriage even.

Elys didn’t answer the prince as the carriage continued rolling out into the Eastern Kingdom’s direction. The princess opted to keep her silence about the incident.

She couldn’t find herself confessing to the prince that she had been confused herself, right? That would just push her to a very difficult situation – her ego would be bruised!

"This necklace," Elys tried to change the topic, raising a piece of jewelry Teo had retrieved for her, "this is magical. It is the reason why we hadn’t been able to notice the bandits around us."

"I don’t have any interest in some unimportant jewelry," the bastard prince grunted in frustration. "I had asked you a question, your duty is to answer."

The princess’ brows furrowed. It seemed like her tactic wasn’t effective at all. She bit her lip and chewed on the nail of her right thumb.

’Think of an answer, Elys! Weren’t you the one who always had the sick comebacks?’ she pressured herself.

Sweat formed on her forehead. Aleksander’s gaze was boring at her, trying to dig past her carefully executed blank expressions. Did she slip and show him she was cracking inside?

"Honestly," she finally spoke, "I don’t have a reason."

"You don’t have a reason for saving me?" he repeated.

Elys nodded and then leaned on her propped hand, putting on a smug look to hide the fact that she doesn’t have a single clue herself.

"I don’t think I need to explain myself to you," she added, "besides, what matters is the fact you are still alive. Instead of asking me why I saved you, shouldn’t you be showing me gratitude?"

There! Finally, something good was said.

The prince stared at her with his silver eyes. He drummed his fingers on his lap, deep in thought perhaps, thinking what he should reply to that demand for appreciation.

Elys smirked.

’He probably doesn’t want to thank me,’ she thought, ’Gratitude isn’t something an ill-tempered man happily gives out, even to those whom he owed.’

"Fine, if it is not important for you to explain why you did what you did, then I will ask you this instead," Aleksander said, his drumming stopping. "How did you know the bandits were using magic?"

Elys blinked fast.

’Crap,’ she cussed in her head.

"It was a hunch," she quickly responded.

The prince squinted his eyes, which made Elys think he didn’t believe her a hundred percent. Maybe she replied too soon which made her sound more suspicious than she should be.

"I see..." Aleksander hummed as he closed his eyes.

The princess watched as the prince turned his attention to the scenery outside. It has already turned dark. What was he looking at when there was practically nothing to see?

’Ah, right, vampire vision. How stupid of me,’ she thought to herself.

The Black Bandit’s attack had caused them much delay and inconveniences.

The coachman was not spared from the attack, and two horses were killed as well. Henry and Cordelia took over driving, whereas the remaining horses were used by Teo and the knights.

There was a long and pregnant pause that overcame the two. Taking the prince’s silence as an indicator that the conversation had died, Elys closed her eyes to rest the remainder of their long journey.

They had been delayed for too long. If they couldn’t reach any town in the next hour, they would have to camp for the rest of the night and then continue to the East first thing in the morning.

"Elysianne, what is it that you try so hard to hide?" Aleksander spoke.

The princess’ eyes burst open.

"Did you just call me by my name?" she asked instead.

"Would you rather I called you a slave again?" he retorted.

"I always thought you were incapable of calling people’s names with respect," the princess scoffed.

Aleksander’s face turned serious, looking like he wanted to discuss a serious matter at hand.

But as to what kind of matter, Elys doesn’t have an inkling of an idea.