Twelve

Caralyn does not want the man to die, nor does she want Riccardo’s anger to escalate. But she knows she has to do something.

“I might have ended up getting rid of the baby, My Lord,” she confesses.

Riccardo’s eyes snap up at her, waiting for more explanation.

The intensity of his orbs almost throws her back; the white part of his eyes is becoming red. At that moment, she realizes that, in contrast to the facade he puts up that makes her think he isn’t feeling the loss as much as she is, he is really pained.

Perhaps even more pained and regretful than she.

“The pregnancy wasn’t a comfortable one at all.” She shook her head. “I know pregnancies aren’t all roses and glee, but it was really a difficult pregnancy for me. Carrying your child, My Lord… wasn’t easy at all. The pain was too terrible, or maybe the problem was with me, I don’t know.”

Riccardo’s jaw ticks. “So, you might have aborted the child after all?”

Caralyn gives him a nod, a tear falling from her eye.

Riccardo jerks his hand back, and in a flash, the dagger pierces the back of the man’s neck, coming out through his jugular notch.

That is the most horrifying scene Caralyn has ever witnessed. Still comes second to the brutal murder of Alpha Jason, of course. But this is the first time she is witnessing the horrific side of Riccardo.

She screams.

Her hands fly over her mouth as the rest of her scream comes out muffled. She watches as blood drips down the edge of the dagger. The man’s eyes are wide and are looking towards her, as haunting little noises came from his bleeding throat.

Within seconds, he stops moving.

Caralyn’s breaths are coming out in sync with her fast heartbeat. Everything around her suddenly seems to be moving, and she hurries out of there. When her gown seems to get in the way, she raises it and wills her legs to move faster.

Even when she gets out of the basement, she doesn’t slow her pace.

“Your Highn-” Mateo pauses when he sees her state, as she rushes through the living area, heading for the stairs.

She almost falls when her foot touches the first step, but Mateo, who was already moving towards her, was able to hold her in time. His hands close around her arms from the back.

“Hands off,” Alessio’s voice comes from behind them.

Mateo gives Alessio a questioning look for a few seconds before slowly letting go of Caralyn, who didn’t seem to mind that he even touched her in the first place. Alessio signaled for Mateo to leave.

Mateo gives him a pointed look before he takes a step back. He moves to the couch, plopping down on it with his eyes still on them.

“Your Highness. Are you alright?” Alessio asks.

Caralyn does not bother to answer as she slowly makes her way up the stairs, tracing her way back to the room she has been staying in.

Alessio’s head sharply turns towards Mateo. “What happened?”

“I don’t know. Perhaps she saw something shocking in the torture basement. All I did was take her there as she requested. I just assumed she had permission,” Mateo explained.

“How about you don’t guide strangers around the property without getting orders, Mateo?”  Alessio said with sarcasm before making his way to the torture basement.

 

*

Caralyn tossed the sleeping pills into her mouth and washed them down with a mouthful of water, her heart racing.

She blames herself for not having tried it out before. She has tried a lot of things, but the sleeping pills? They never even came to her mind before, not even once.

If it works, then she wouldn’t mind stuffing herself with the pills every last day of the month. She had suddenly thought of that option a few hours ago and had gone from one servant to another, asking them whether she could get some sleeping pills, till she was able to get them from a nice young lady.

But even though it isn’t her business, Caralyn had wondered why such a young lady was taking sleeping pills. But she knows troubles and worries don’t respect age; they don’t filter the people they afflict, not by age, riches, gender, status, character, or any other criteria.

Every single person is going around with some type of pain or worry; that’s what Caralyn believes, no one has it all, no matter how perfect they may seem.

Unknown to her, the news of her asking around for sleeping pills has gotten to Riccardo. The first thing that came to his mind was: perhaps she couldn’t sleep because of the horrific scene she had witnessed, and so, she needed a catalyst for sleep.

After that, he had another thought when he realized that it was the end of the month again. Though he hopes she isn’t as stupid as to overuse sleeping pills, to get her desired results.

But then again, desperation is a wiper of rational thinking.

For thirty minutes, Caralyn was just in her own mind, thinking. When she finally raised her head to check the time, her heart thudded unnecessarily once again. It’s only ten minutes to ten.

She contemplates changing her mind and quickly asking the guards to lock her in instead, but she is too embarrassed to do that. She knows that several whispers have been spread, ever since the cursed princess set foot in the Supreme Faction.

And they are all probably waiting curiously to witness what her rage fit really looks like. However, she is not at all keen on satisfying their curiosity.

She wonders why she is still awake; she is not feeling any drowsiness.

‘Or should I take more of the pills?’ she asked herself, ignoring the pleas of her lycan. She takes the bottle, even though she knows that overdoing it could end in a disaster.

For her, though, she has nothing to lose. Unlike some ordinary people, Caralyn doesn’t give a damn. She does not even have anyone to mourn her death if she were really gone

 

Perhaps the universe will shed a few tears and call it rain, she smiles at the thought. Being mourned by the universe will still be a great honor; it seems to trump being mourned by family. At least in her own case, it does.

She is about to pop a few tablets into her palm when her door suddenly opens. She frowns, and her eyes snap to the door. She wonders who dares to open her door like that without knocking.

She’s not being prideful; she just believes knocking before entering another person’s space is basic manners. Besides, even if she is no longer in the palace, that doesn’t change the fact that she is a princess, no matter where she is.

 

‘You didn’t knock on the Supreme Ultima’s door back at the palace, though. You had entered without his permission. But I’m not complaining. I mean, we had the best night of our lives after all,’ her lycan teased.

“He left the door unlocked!” Caralyn speaks aloud, defending herself against her lycan, even though she knows she was truly wrong.

Her voice had come out harsher than she had intended.

Riccardo frowns. Then, his eyes slowly moved to the door he had shut after himself. She immediately stands up, scolding herself in her mind, for getting carried away… once again.

“My Lord,” she bows.

Riccardo’s eyes are still on the door. He walks to it and turns the lock. Caralyn’s eyes widen in alarm, but reduce back to their normal size when she realizes what is happening.

He had thought the final sentence she had spoken aloud to her lycan was for him, and he had reacted due to that, which is why he went back to lock the door. She finds the situation funny but masks her amusement.

He is currently like a child who was scolded, and because of that, the child went to do as told.

He walks towards her, but he doesn’t stop when she expected him to. 

She abruptly falls back on the bed due to his determined approach.

“M-my Lord?”