Chapter 4

To Alex, my silence was like daring him without saying a word.

Alex's stare turned icy, and he squeezed my wrist even harder. He was going to break my bones.

"Speak," Alex commanded, his voice brooking no refusal.

Tears welled up in my eyes from the pain, but I kept my lips pressed tightly together, holding back any sound.

It wasn't that I didn't want to speak; after five years of silence, my vocal cords felt locked up, like rusted iron.

I didn't even know how to make a sound anymore. And even if I could, I didn't know what to say to him.

Should I even bother explaining? Should I tell him that I didn't trick him on purpose? That staying silent was just how I survived?

Would he even believe me? How could a king like him ever believe the pathetic defense of a disgraced princess?

When I still refused to speak, the last shred of patience drained from Alex's eyes. He flung me aside without warning.

I stumbled back, hitting the edge of the table behind me. A jolt of pain shot through my side, and I gasped.

"Alright, fine," Alex said.

He let out a laugh that chilled the room. There wasn't a hint of warmth in it. "Violette, you really do have some guts.

"Let's see if your backbone is as strong as you pretend."

Alex turned and strode out of the room. "Guards," he barked.

At his command, two armored guards immediately stepped inside.

"Throw her into the dungeon," Alex ordered. "No food, no water, unless I give the order."

The guards hesitated, looking at each other in disbelief.

They'd never seen Alex act with such cruelty toward a woman before. Especially not a princess who had just been married in for a political alliance.

But when Alex gave an order, nobody dared to go against it. They stepped forward and seized me by the arms, one on each side.

I didn't struggle. Or rather, I didn't even have the strength left to resist.

The dungeon... Just hearing that word made my blood freeze.

Rumor had it, once people entered the Swisey dungeon, they never came out.

They locked up the most notorious traitors and prisoners of war in there.

If they didn't die inside, they'd be lucky to crawl out with their skin still on.

Did he really hate me this much? Did he hate me enough to want me dead and gone?

The guards dragged me roughly out of the luxurious Star Palace.

Outside, the night was pitch black, and the wind howled through the darkness. It cut right through my thin clothes, biting cold.

The dungeon was dark and damp, reeking of blood and moldy decay.

I was locked inside a tiny cell. With a loud clang, the heavy iron door slammed shut behind me.

The heavy door slammed shut, sealing away the last trace of light from outside.

In the pitch-black darkness, the only sounds were the squeaking of rats and faint, agonized moans echoing from somewhere deep within the dungeon.

I hugged my knees tightly, curling up on the icy stone floor, feeling small and defenseless.

I was cold, hungry, and scared out of my mind.

The pain in my side kept throbbing, coming in waves that made it hard to even breathe.

But what hurt the most wasn't my body. It was that memory I'd locked away for so long. The boy who lay in a pool of blood five years ago.

I thought I was the one who saved him. But in the end, I was just a pawn in his plan for revenge.

I'd lost track of time completely. Inside the dungeon, day and night blurred together. There was no difference at all.

My thoughts started to blur, and I could feel my mind slipping away.

The chill seeped deeper into my bones, making me shiver uncontrollably.

Just when I thought I was about to die, the cell door creaked open.

A beam of light pierced the darkness, so blindingly bright that I had to squeeze my eyes shut.

Someone stepped inside. The footsteps barely made a sound.

It wasn't Alex. Nor was it one of those brutish jailers.

A young girl dressed in palace maid attire stepped forward, holding a bowl of water and a plate of cookie. It was Samantha.

When Samantha saw the state I was in, her eyes welled up with tears. "Lady Violette..."

She set the food and water down on the floor and tried to help me up. "Please, my lady, you have to eat something," she said.

I shook her head. I didn't even have the strength to eat, and even the sight of food made me feel sick.

"Lady Violette, please don't be so stubborn with His Majesty," Samantha pleaded. "Do you even know what His Majesty has been like these past two days since you were thrown in here?"

She stopped herself, unable to go on.

I looked up at her, not understanding. What happened to him? Did he finally feel satisfied?

Samantha continued, "His Majesty had every palace servant who ever served you beaten with a rod.

"He said they failed to take care of you, that you were 'wronged' and made to suffer because of them.

"These past two days, he hasn't left his study even once. He refuses to see anyone.

"He's like a block of ice, older than the stones in this dungeon."

I froze, caught off guard. What was that supposed to mean? Was this all an act, or...

Samantha sighed softly, then pulled out a small medicine pouch from her robe and pressed it gently into my hand.

"His Majesty had me secretly bring this to you," she whispered. "It's a top-grade healing salve.

"He said you've got a wound on your side, so make sure to use it yourself."

I looked down at the medicine pouch in my hand.

Embroidered in gold thread was a fierce dragon, its claws bared and looking almost alive. It was unmistakably his.

He locked me up in the dungeon, starved me, denied me water, then secretly sent me medicine? What was his game?

Samantha pleaded, "Lady Violette, please, don't be so stubborn. His Majesty... he actually cares about you a lot.

"I can see it. His Majesty never looks at anyone else the way he looks at you."

Samantha kept whispering in my ear.

I couldn't take in a single word she said. My mind was in complete chaos.

Cared about me? If he really cared, would he lock me up in a hellhole like this?

If he cared, would he have forced me into a political marriage, snatched me away to keep me by his side?

I gripped the medicine pouch so hard that my nails bit deep into my palm, the pain sharp and unyielding.

"Lady Violette?" Samantha sounded anxious, her words shaky as she tried to get my attention.

I blinked, coming back to myself, and shook my head at her.

Then, leaning heavily on the wall and using every bit of strength I had left, I managed to stand up, slow and unsteady.

I made my way to the cell door and looked out into the darkness beyond.

I had no idea where Alex was. But I was certain that wherever he was, his eyes were on me.

I opened my mouth, and from my dry, aching throat, I forced out a few cracked, broken sounds.

It was the first time I'd tried to speak in five years. "Why…?"

My voice was raspy and harsh, more like the screech of a crow than anything human. But I knew he was listening.

The air felt like it had frozen in that instant.

After a long, heavy silence, a deep voice drifted out from the shadows at the end of the corridor. "Because five years ago, it wasn't a person you saved."

Alex emerged from the shadows, his figure looming in the dim corridor.

He was still in the same black attire, but his expression was even gloomier than it had been days before.

Behind him trailed a line of guards and jailers, all too scared to make a sound.

Alex walked toward me, each step echoing with menace.

With every step he took, it felt like a heavy weight pressed down on my heart.

"You saved the crown prince of Swisey," Alex added. "A prince hunted, betrayed, and driven to the very edge of despair."

His voice was calm, but there was a sorrow in it so deep, it felt like it could tear the heavens apart.

"And your father, the King of Rivergate, was the mastermind behind that deadly hunt," Alex continued.

My head buzzed, everything going blank in an instant. It was like I'd been hit by a sledgehammer, hard and merciless.

Father... was the one who hunted him? No way. That couldn't be true.

Alex said slowly, "Years ago, my mother was sent here from Rivergate as a political bride.

"My father cast aside every other consort for her. He gave up the entire court, and she was the only one he ever cared about.

"That stirred up resentment among the ministers, and Rivergate started to see us as a threat.

"They feared that a prince with Rivergate blood might one day take the throne of Swisey.

"So they paid off spies inside the palace and orchestrated an 'accident.'

"During that so-called accident, my mother died protecting me, struck down by a storm of arrows.

"I escaped with a few loyal guards, barely surviving. In the end, I ended up in the back hills behind your secluded palace."

Alex's gaze cut straight through the iron bars, landing coldly on my bloodless face.

"Violette, do you know?" Alex asked softly. "While you were giving me water and tending to my wounds...

"Your father was putting a bounty on my head, sending men everywhere across the land to hunt me down."

Every word he spoke was like a blade, cutting me apart piece by piece.

What I believed was redemption turned out to be the bitterest irony for him.

I saved him. But my father was the one behind his mother's death.

There was a sea of blood and hatred separating us.