Looking for a Husband to Confine Me - Chapter 30.1
Chapter 30.1
Bashar’s dry voice followed, his face etched with resignation. “They’re after me.”
Growl!
Screech!
“Your Highness, it’s dangerous! Step back!” Ricardo shielded Bashar as cracks spread across the wall.
“…If this is Brother Haroon’s will…”
‘What? Something ominous is going on.’
Bashar’s murmur sent a chill down my spine. It seemed the prince, obsessed with his brother, was deeply mistaken.
“Wait! His Highness, Haroon…!” Before I could finish, Bashar moved toward the widening gap, now large enough to reveal a beast’s head.
Roar!
Shriek!
Thud. Crack.
Agitated by Bashar’s approach, the beasts thrashed violently. Debris rained down as the wall finally gave way.
“Your Highness, it’s dangerous!” The beasts lunged at Bashar, claws extended. Ricardo and the knights fought them off, but more kept pouring through the opening.
‘That crazy man!’
Bashar, resigned to the belief that Haroon wanted him dead, seemed determined to comply. Ironically, the knights risked their lives to protect him while he sought his own demise.
I grabbed Bashar’s wrist. “What are you doing? Let go of me.” Bashar turned, his brow furrowed in displeasure.
“I should be asking you that. Are you insane?”
“…What?”
“If something happens to you, everyone here will be in grave danger.”
“I don’t care.” His apparent indifference to anything but Haroon and his supposed will was infuriating.
“You may not care, but I do!”
“How dare you!”
“And I’m sure His Highness, Haroon, wouldn’t want this either.”
Bashar faltered at the mention of Haroon’s name. But only for a moment. He clenched his jaw, glaring at me with unconcealed fury, as if accusing me of using Harun’s name against him.
“You were lucky to expose the poison at the banquet. I’ve been lenient so far.” Bashar’s aura shifted. I had thought him androgynously beautiful, but now, consumed by rage, a harsh energy emanated from him.
“Don’t you dare speak my brother’s name so carelessly.”
“If you care so much for His Highness, Haroon, why can’t you see his true intentions?”
“What?” He growled, a sound like a wild animal. One wrong word and I felt I might be devoured, not by the beasts, but by Bashar himself.
I could feel Ricardo’s anxious glances as he fought off the surrounding beasts. Undeterred, I continued, “His Highness, Haroon, went to the annex on purpose. For you, Your Highness, Bashar.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Wasn’t his attire today different from usual?”
“That’s…”
“It looked almost like… there were two of you.”
“….”
“Now that you mention it…” he muttered softly.
“His Highness knew someone would target you. He dressed similarly and went to the more vulnerable annex. He used himself as bait.”
“That’s… impossible…”
“He explicitly told you not to follow him to the annex because your presence would put him in danger.”
“….”
“Do you really think His Highness, Haroon, would so readily insult his brother in front of guests?”
“Then why… why would my brother…?”
‘There’s only one reason.’
I sighed inwardly, looking at the bewildered prince. “To protect you.”
I, too, had suspected Haroon. But considering my brief observations of the two princes, I knew Haroon wasn’t behind this. The scheme was too convoluted for him.
If he wanted Bashar dead, he wouldn’t need such elaborate plans. With Pazl on the loose, and Bashar heavily guarded, a risky assassination attempt was pointless.
He could’ve simply asked Bashar to die for him. But he didn’t. He kept Bashar away, almost forcefully, and went to the annex himself. His attire, nearly identical to Bashar’s, clearly revealed his intentions.
“Then all the more reason to save him…”
“Your safety is paramount, Your Highness. That’s essentially His Highness, Haroon’s, order.”
Bashar’s lips trembled. He looked ready to rush to Haroon’s side. Confusion swirled in his eyes as he clenched his fists. Yet, beneath the turmoil, a flicker of joy at the realization that Haroon didn’t intend to kill him was evident.
“I concur with Lady Hazel, Your Highness.” Ricardo approached, having cleared the immediate area. “It would be best to retreat to the sanctuary in the annex. His Highness, Haroon, will surely go there.”
“Dame Ray Kewind, the Knight Commander, is a formidable knight, isn’t she?”
“Even all of us combined are no match for her.”
