I Tamed the Monstrous Prince - Chapter 2
Chapter 2
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I yearned to run to him, to plead my case. I wanted to pound my fists against his chest, to scream.
‘Unlike those who scorned and belittled me from the start, you were different. You weren’t supposed to treat me like this.’
When I cowered from people, trembled at thunder, and snarled at the world, you had been my only sanctuary. And now, with the curse lifted, you abandoned me.
While Cesar was away, I was practically confined to the palace. It was my half-sister, Giovinetta, not I, who went on relief missions for the soldiers and served as an envoy to foreign lands. Even when rumors of their affair swirled, I refused to believe them at first. So, I wrote to him every day. Using ‘Providence’s Insight,’ the gift that allowed me to see all things, I warned him of dangers, inquired about his well-being, and sometimes… asked if he ever thought of me. But no matter how long I waited, no reply ever came. Not a single letter in two years.
‘Did you see me as the same filth they all did? Now that you’re no longer cursed, was the shame of being married to someone as insignificant as me suddenly unbearable?’
I was the unwanted child of House Flores, the bast*rd daughter treated like a servant. A cripple with a lame leg. A fitting bride for the monstrous prince who had killed several women. But for Cesar, now a celebrated prince, I was an unbearable blemish.
“I’m carrying a child. Cesar’s child,” Giovinetta had told me, confessing her affair with my husband. Cesar had chosen her; I was discarded. “He loves me. Why else would he have marked me?” The mark on her neck was undeniable. “Princess? It was always more than you deserved anyway. Everything is simply returning to its rightful place.” She told me to relinquish my position and leave.
While I, a ghost in my own home, wandered the palace halls, silently enduring the venom of the Empress and the noblewomen, Giovinetta, beautiful and noble, basked in the attention of high society. Unlike me, she was a legitimate child, loved by her parents. She had everything I’d been denied, a life of privilege and comfort. And now, she was taking my husband.
Soon, the palace would host a grand ball to celebrate Cesar’s triumphant return. The beautiful Giovinetta would stand by his side, adorned in finery. It was inevitable. I had known this would happen. I tried to convince myself to accept it with indifference, but tears betrayed me.
Then, with a jolt and a clang, the carriage lurched to a halt. Chaos erupted outside. I peered out the window, but the rain and the setting sun cloaked everything in darkness. The carriage’s interior shutter flew open, and the coachman shouted urgently, “We’re under attack!”
“A-attack? Are they bandits?” I frantically questioned the coachman and the knight seated beside me, searching their faces. They simply shook their heads. “Stay here. I’ll investigate.” Without waiting for my reply, the knight drew his sword and flung open the carriage door.
My heart hammered. I clapped my hands over my mouth, fearing I would scream. In the distance, I heard the harsh shouts of men. Perhaps it was a band of thieves after the cargo. Or perhaps assassins sent to kill me… The thought sent a wave of terror through me; my limbs trembled. The knight’s warning to stay inside echoed in my mind, but a sense of foreboding overwhelmed me.
The clang of steel reached my ears.
‘If this attack is meant for me, am I truly safe in here? Is the knight still alive? Or worse, is he in league with them?’
A scream cut through the night. Taking it as my cue, I threw open the carriage door and stumbled out.
Sounds of fighting drifted through the darkness and rain, but I could see nothing. ‘Perhaps this is my only chance.’ The cold rain soaked through my clothes, but I couldn’t afford to care. ‘But where should I go?’
I scrambled on the ground, urging my reluctant leg forward, and crawled into a thicket of bushes.
“The carriage is empty!”
“Search thoroughly!”
“D*mn it, what are you waiting for? Hurry!” I heard them checking inside the carriage I’d just fled. My choice had been right. I squeezed my eyes shut, then opened them again. Strangely, I didn’t scream.
I had narrowly escaped, but I couldn’t tell if my decision was wise. Perhaps I had only delayed the inevitable.
