Vows and Bullets
Chapter 164 - 3rd week of September (Part 3)

Chapter 164: 3rd week of September (Part 3)

Please DON’T READ this Chapter yet. I will update this 3rd week of September!

Good news! My hands have healed now and I’m catching up on writing my missed Chapters. My apologies for all the delays. I will replace this Chapter with the real one soon, don’t worry, and upload a new one for the next day. I really apologize once again.

In the meantime, please enjoy the continuation of the story below titled "The King’s Beloved". This is the revised version I am planning to submit for paperback publication. Hopefully, I get a chance someday.

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(Part 27 - Continuation...)

Were we always this high up?

A few more moments, the wind blew hard and the sea of clouds cleared up only to welcome the ruined cities below. Yes, wherever they are, it was a place floating in the sky! No wonder it was mostly chilly and the moon seemed closer at night. In her months of staying there, it was the first time she realized that the whole place was somehow floating in the sky! Like the ones she saw in her dream! Because of that fact, she started calling the whole place as the Floating Kingdom.

What caught her attention the most and saddened her heart greatly, was the ruined cities below. They were places familiar to her. It seemed that... they weren’t transported to another world, as most of them came to believe. Rather, they were still on Earth, it’s just that they were located in a floating mass of land.

What a tragic sight. Our world, reduced to ruins. Where is freedom? Where is salvation? Until when will we be a prisoner to this race?

Her heart twinged painfully at the very thought of it—remembering the day of their capture once more. But what could she do? She felt powerless. After all, she was just... human.

"We are now done, my lady," the head maid interrupted her sad thoughts. "We bid you farewell as we will now be returning to our posts. Your maids in waiting will stay outside your room. Should you need them, feel free to call them out by ringing this bell or simply calling their names," she added, pointing towards a magical looking bell located on her bedside table.

"Thank you."

And so, Rania was left alone in her new room.

Time passed by and with nothing to do, Rania busied herself by reading books or wandering around Meracus, discovering different sorts of things. One day, she discovered that everything inside the palace was operated by magical stones that served as their electricity of some sort. Then another day, she discovered that the maids still had to cook food despite being able to use magic and that they would grow plants and raise animals for ingredients. They said it had always been like that but since she was too busy being depressed before, she didn’t notice it.

Thanks to those little things, she managed to entertain herself a bit in her rather lonely palace. At times, Azalea would try to visit her but the maids prevented her from entering. Because of that, when Rania ran out of discoveries to find, she grew lonely, having no one to talk to. Even the maids didn’t want to converse much with her, afraid of corrupting her and receiving the hatred of the king.

Until one day, news arrived at Meracus Palace. The maids were overjoyed when they heard it so they immediately went to Rania and told her about it. But contrary to their belief, it was news that Rania never wanted to hear. For it was none other than the king’s night visit.

In order for the king to know more about the candidates for queen or basically the captured human maidens in each palace, the House Leaders suggested that the king should visit them from time to time. Since the king didn’t have much luxury to be doing such things, he disagreed with the idea. He only changed his mind when Malum mentioned Rania, the National Treasure. Indeed, since the king was intrigued by this pure peculiarity of a maiden, he wanted to know more about her. But with his busy schedule, they were only able to insert it once a month.

Thus, it was agreed upon that the king would start visiting each palace to spend time with the candidates. He wouldn’t be doing it one woman at a time, but instead, as a group. Unluckily for Rania, she was the only one residing at Meracus, making it more dangerous for her. After all, a lot of things could happen between a man and woman left alone in one room. Because of this, Rania felt troubled.

If only I wasn’t separated from the rest, then maybe I could blend in the background and not stand out. Why did I have to be alone right now? I don’t want to spend time with him, especially my first night! No! I don’t even want to talk to him again. What should I do?

Pacing back and forth in her bedroom, with her hands and lips trembling uncontrollably, Rania thought of a plan to escape the night visit. If it’s about sneaking out, she should be able to do it since she already memorized the work patterns of the maids and the knights residing at Meracus. But where would she hide? Was there even a place in the Floating Kingdom that the king wouldn’t be able to reach? Or a place he didn’t know existed? She tried to remember the books she read, or anything that might help with her situation but none of them pointed her in the right direction. Worried and scared, she walked towards the balcony to get some fresh air.

"Haaah... My Lord, please help me," she sighed and whispered to the wind. "I don’t want to be touched by someone I don’t know. Especially by someone who ordered the massacre of my race. Someone who captured us and treated us like objects. Please, no. Not him. I beg you. I—sniff... I’m scared. If I knew this would happen, I should have given my first night with Zeid even if we agreed to do it after marriage. Why did I even want that in the first place? I-If I just—then maybe... sniff."