Marius bid Laina goodnight and left her room. After closing the door, Laina walked over to the bed. Before Marius left, he helped her to move Dante so he was sleeping on the right side of the bed.
Laina sat down on the right side of the bed. She looked over Dante as she laid down on the pillow. For a moment, she entertained the idea of sleeping next to him. But the more she thought about it, the weirder it felt.
She quickly sat back up and was about to leave the bed when she felt a hand grab onto her. Laina was surprised to see Dante's hand on her wrist. She looked over to him, wondering if he was awake.
His eyes were still shut but he seemed to murmur in his sleep. Laina leaned in closer, hoping to catch what he was trying to say as she tried to remove her hand from his.
But the more she struggled, the tighter his grip.
"Where are you going… stay by my side…" Dante mumbled in his sleep.
Just as Laina attempted to move away from him, he pulled her into his embrace. Laina was surprised by the sudden movement. She was caught completely off guard. She froze as Dante wrapped his arms around her and snuggled his face close to hers.
There was no distance between them. Her head was resting on his bare chest. She could hear his rhythmic heartbeat. The more she listened, the sleepier she got. Laina let out a yawn as her eyelids grew heavy.
Just like that, she fell sound asleep in the king's embrace.
That night, Laina dreamt of something she had never seen before. It felt as if it was a memory from a different life. The faces of the people in the memory were blurred so she could not tell who they were.
She did not recognize their voices either. But she knew that the young woman in the dream was her. She and an unknown young man were having a picnic in a garden filled with beautiful glowing flowers.
She was seated upright, while the young man had laid his head on her lap while she fed him a fresh strawberry. They looked happy and seemed to be enjoying themselves very much.
The young man looked up to her, "I wish this moment can last forever, my sundrop."
He caressed her face and she held onto his hand as she smiled and replied, "One day, my moonkiss. One day, we will be together.
She leaned down to kiss the young man on the lips.
"Forever"
"And always."
When Laina next opened her eyes, she was back in the room. The sun was slowly peeking over the horizon, bathing the sky in its warm light. Laina carefully got out of the bed and walked out onto the balcony.
As she watched the rise of the sun, she felt the cool morning breeze swirl around her. Laina bit her lip as she thought about Margaret, who must be worried sick looking for her. She turned back to look at Dante's sleeping figure.
She bit her lip.
Laina returned to the room. She began to search for writing paper and a pen. When she did, Laina quickly penned down a message. Once it was complete, she began to pack up her belongings, ready to leave.
Just then, there was a knock on the door, scarring Laina out of her wits. She went to open the door, heaving a sigh of relief to see that it was Marius. Seeing that Dante was still sound asleep, she crept out of the room to speak to Marius in the hallway.
"What is it?" She asked.
"Your highness, I thought about it for the entire night and I think it is only right that I help you to get back to Kinshearth or Everfree, wherever you wish to go. It isn't right to keep you here against your will," Marius explained.
Laina was thankful for his honesty and willingness to help. She was worried that Dante might punish him, should he find out that Marius helped her to escape. Marius chuckled and shook his head.
"Don't worry about me, princess. I will be alright," he reassured her.
With that, their plan was put into action at once. Marius gave Laina a black hooded cloak to put on. After making sure that Dante was still sound asleep, they gathered the last of Laina's things before leaving the room.
But there was one thing Laina could not leave behind. It was Titan. Titan was at her heel, following her around. He seemingly knew that they were tiptoeing around and hence had kept quiet the entire time.
He even managed to sneak out of the room as Laina and Marius reinterred the hallway after gathering all the things they needed. Titan sat at Laina's fit gently rubbing his soft fur against her leg.
She looked down at him, and Titan gave his cutest sad puppy eyes he could give to her. Laina crouched down to meet him at eye level. She ruffled his fur and scratched his chin.
"Do you want to come with me, Titan?" She whispered to him.
Although he could not bark in excitement, the solar mastiff was already wagging his tail as he nodded. Titan placed his front paws on Laina's shoulders as he tried to lick her face.
Laina looked up at Marius, "Would it be alright if I kept him with me for a period of time? I promise to take good care of him."
Marius chuckled, "Sure, I don't think King Dante would mind. This old pupper had been kept in the stables long enough. At least by your side, he wouldn't be cooped up."
With everything settled, Marius guided Laina through the winding hallways. He led her to a portal gate that was situated in the King's Quarters. It was Dante's personal portal gate.
Marius set up the portal gate to teleport Laina back to the Golden Gate Hotel in Everfree, as per her request.
"Alright, everything is set," Marius declared as he clapped his hands together.
Laina smiled, "Thank you for your help, Marius."
"You're most welcome, your highness. Till we meet again," Marius replied in kind.
With that, Laina and Titan walked through the portal gate together. When they emerged from the other side, they were meters away from the mansion Laina was staying in at the Golden Gate Hotel.
-How did Marius know where my mansion was?- she wondered to herself.
If you're one of the readers who read <New World New Life> and came over to read this new novel of mine, THANK YOU~
I appreciate each and every one of you! I know having romance as the main attraction is a huge departure but don't worry! This novel will be filled with drama and lots of adventures!
I have to admit, it has not been easy writing so much loving scenes of them. Here's to hoping the fire continues to burn!
Please check out my latest book <The King's Cursed Bride>!
From the plaque at the front door of the mansion, Laina realized her entourage was still in there. That gave her a sense of relief. But just as she was about to openly enter through the main door, she realized what a horrible decision that would be.
Knowing Margaret, she would have thought of a plan to cover up her disappearance while trying to find Laina on her own. That means the other members of staff likely did not know that Laina had in fact gone missing.
Just then, the main door swung open. In a state of panic, Laina quickly ran off to hide behind the corner of the building. She kept a keen ear, hoping to gather any information she could get.
A pair of maids walked out through the front door, carrying woven baskets in their hands. They were chatting and whispering to one another as they walked away from the mansion.
She did not manage to hear what they were saying. Not ready to give up just yet, Laina decided to try her luck with those who were still inside the mansion. She pressed the side of her face against the wall of the building in hopes of hearing any conversation that might be going on inside.
After a while, she overheard a butler speaking to a chef.
"Poor Princess, she's been sick for days," the butler sighed.
"Days? Oh dear, has Lady Margaret called for the doctor yet?"
"No. Apparently, it's one of the princess's recurring illnesses. She's on bed rest and barely eats anything. Poor thing. Hopefully, she gets better soon. If not, who knows how long we're going to be stuck here for."
The chef was perplexed, "Wouldn't it be better if we moved the princess back to Kinshearth? Then she could get better treatment there. Whatever this illness is."
The butler shrugged his shoulders, "Well, the decision is in Lady Margaret's hands. While the princess is ill, she calls all the shots. It is her call to make."
Laina looked up at the third floor of the mansion. She could see the balcony to her room from where she stood. All she had to do was to get up there without being seen and sneak back into the room.
While she could easily get up there on her own, what about Titan? She could carry him but it would be almost impossible for both of them to get up there together. She leaned her back against the wall as she folded her arms.
Laina tried to come up with a feasible plan. If she wanted to bring Titan with her, they had to go through the main door. But with so many staff in the mansion, she would most certainly be caught red-handed almost immediately.
"So I just need a big enough distraction that would get all of them out of the mansion. That way, I can sneak in and enter the room."
But what sort of distraction would it take to get all if not most of the staff out? It was almost impossible. She peered through the glass window. Laina realized she had an advantage. Her small entourage meant there weren't that many people in the mansion, to begin with.
"If I can stealthily move through the mansion, then it just might work."
Determined, Laina gave herself a pep talk to boost her confidence. She took in deep breaths of fresh air, psyching herself up ready to go. When she was ready, she peered into the mansion again.
Once she was certain the area was clear, she quickly made her way over the main door and opened it carefully. Titan scurried behind her, as quiet as a mouse. Laina peered in, viewing every corner she could see.
The staircase leading upwards was right in front of her. Once the coast was clear, she dashed forward on her toes, as Titan scurried alongside her. Laina could hear footsteps growing louder and louder coming from the hallway.
She sped her way up the staircase and hid behind a pillar to catch her breath. She held onto Titan to hold him in place, before making it through the hallway. With a bit of luck and lots of courage, Laina finally made it to the room.
She made a final dash towards the door, thankful that it was not locked. Titan quickly squeezed himself into the room, just as Laina carefully closed the door behind her. As soon as she closed the doors, Laina dropped to the ground.
Stealth was a skill she needed to learn and perfect.
Laina scanned the room, everything seemed pretty much the same. But as her eyes glanced past the bed, she noticed there was a sleeping figure. She was back on high alert. Titan was baring his teeth in an attack stance.
Laina peered over to the dressing table. She quickly went over and grabbed hold of the dagger that was there. Armed with a weapon, she crept over to the bed to see who or what it was.
The figure was covered in a blanket, with only its head sticking out. For some reason, the figure remained Laina of herself. As she got closer, there was still no movement from it.
Laina tightened her grip on her dagger as she got closer. She leaned forward and picked up the corner of the blanket. On the count of three, she pulled away the blanket to reveal who or what was hidden underneath.
Upon seeing the sleeping figure, who looked like an exact replica of herself, Laina stood there dumbfounded for a few moments. She could not believe what she was looking at.
"What… on earth is going on," she gasped in shock.
Just then, the figure seemingly stirred awake. It tilted its head towards Laina. It was like staring at herself in the mirror, at a version of herself that was more like a puppet. Before Laina could say anything, the figure began to phase out of existence.
Within a matter of seconds, the figure completely disappeared into thin air. Only the imprint of the sleeping figure was left on the bed. Laina tried to distract herself by looking around the room.
It was at this point that Laina realized she had not seen Margaret either.
Where had she gone?
It's like a stealth mission, but instead of rescuing the hostage, you are trying to re-enter without raising suspicion!
Are there any plot points you wish to see in the future? Let me know in the comments~
Please check out my latest book <The King's Cursed Bride>!
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