The Royal Revenge
Chapter 91: Awareness of Proximity

Chapter 91: Awareness of Proximity

The waters in the pool bubbled like they were boiling underneath. Elys and Aleksander, with Cordelia and Henry on their tail, swam to the edge in their fear of getting sucked down into the depths.

"Take my hand," Aleksander tried to help her out of the pool.

Elys saw him reach out to her with his hand held out, but the princess disregarded his offer and climbed out on her own instead. She whipped some stray hair away from her face, wrung the water out of them, and then proceeded to do the same with her dress.

"I’m fine," she said afterwards, "I’m the Northern Warrior Princess, I am no damsel in distress."

The prince withdrew his hand to his chest. It was embarrassing to him that Elys had literally denied his attempt to be nice. Somehow, he could feel frustration rise up within him, but decided to keep it in.

He had been a jerk to her far too long in the first place – this was most probably his karma.

It was awkward how the tables have turned between him and the princess. Aleksander was now the one dancing around broken glass, while Elys held her head high and played it cold.

"Hup!" Cordelia huffed over the edge of the pool.

The maidservant got out a moment after the prince and princess. She turned her head back into the water and saw how Henry struggled to get out. Cordelia put her hands to her waist and smirked.

The woman huffed and asked, "Need help?"

"No, I can do this," Henry replied, pride taking over despite him finding it difficult to pull himself out now that the waters were slowly diminishing, as if someone had the pool unplugged and drained out.

Henry swung a leg out of the water. He accidentally slipped, and in an attempt not to look lame, held himself in an awkward position over the edge so as not to drop back into the draining waters.

The old attendant made the mistake of looking back, and immediately panicked – the pool’s water was already several meters below him. If he fell, it would be the end of him.

"Help me!" Henry reached out to Cordelia, and the old woman shook her head in amusement.

"Come here," Cordelia said.

The maidservant grabbed Henry and efficiently lifted him over to safety. Henry could feel his heart racing with terror, but Cordelia was only laughing beside him.

"There is nothing funny here," he fumed.

"Sorry," Cordelia covered her mouth, trying to hide the smile from her lips, "next time when you need help, just ask for it, alright? It would be less embarrassing."

Elys stared out into the draining waters. Looking out the edge of the pool, she saw what looked like a set of stairs emerging from the sides of the pool. As the waters finally vanished, it revealed a gap below the walls they have knocked at.

"Look," the princess pointed out.

Aleksander followed the direction of her fingers, and his jaw almost dropped. He proceeded to take the first steps leading towards the gap, and the others promptly followed.

The princess noted how his pace had quickened. Despite the slightly slippery rocks, Aleksander hopped and skipped several steps just to reach the opening at the end.

"What is the status regarding the Eastern guards?" Elys asked him.

"The guards have broken in," Aleksander replied, his face looking a bit apprehensive. "Do you really think we shouldn’t take a stand and fight them? I have noted two to three werewolves added, but I can always use my magic on all of them."

"No," came the princess staunch reply. "The Western Kingdom has done a lot of damage already, and we are not going to pour in more fuel into the fight."

The four of them eventually reached the gap beneath the pool all this time. They slowly entered, their eyes gradually adjusting to the dark. The passage was a bit narrower compared to the one connected to the palace room, making it a bit more difficult to move about.

After several seconds, they heard water starting to gush back towards the pool. The water level rose, flooding the passage they have entered.

"Quickly now," Aleksander said, and the four of them hastened to get as far as they could from the pool.

Elys noted how the path gradually turned into a sloped inclination. Her breathing immediately adjusted, her feet feeling the steady rise of the landscape as if they were climbing a hill.

Eventually, Aleksander suddenly stopped and Elys crashed behind him. She rubbed her nose from the crash, and then tried to peer over him, curious why he had to stop without telling them.

"A dead end?" Elys asked.

Aleksander reached out to the wall that hindered their ascend. He could feel it was made of something smooth. He put his nose close to it, and noted the hint of a musty wooden scent.

"I think there is a room behind this," Aleksander said.

He felt around the wall, and as if striking gold, found a lever which he immediately pulled down. They heard mechanical whirring from behind. After several seconds of waiting, the wall that had hindered them opened into a what looked like a tiny closet.

The prince slowly took a step into the tiny space. He listened in on what was behind the rickety door in front of him, careful not to raise suspicion should anyone be on the other side.

Elys pulled out the dagger she had hidden, ready to defend herself and the rest just in case.

Just as Henry was able to step into the other side, they heard the door behind them automatically close with a loud thud. The attendant jerked in shock, realizing how close it had been for him to be trapped if he hadn’t made it in time.

"What do you hear?" she whispered to Aleksander who was crouched low, listening in on what he could get behind the closed door.

But instead of answering Elys, the prince found himself freezing in place.

The prince was suddenly aware of how Elys was so close to him, and inappropriate thoughts began invading his head.