Maxine's eyes slowly opened when she felt a splash of water on her body. Her eyebrows furrowed, feeling the sting of coldness on her fragile skin. Slowly, as if adjusting to the sudden darkness that enveloped her, she screamed.
She heard her scream echo from afar, which only intensified her fear. She curled her body, hugging her arms, not only because of the glacial breeze but also due to trepidation. She found herself in a dark room, likely as spacious as her favorite chamber.
The cold floor beneath her skirt suggested that they were in nothing less than a dungeon, although it didn't have the expected foul odor.
"I've been kidnapped!" The words echoed in her head, though she hadn't intended to speak them aloud.
She stood up, her thoughts gradually coming together. Her last memory before losing consciousness resurfaced.
"Hannah!" she exclaimed.
She had witnessed the palace maid bleeding from her neck, as if a blade had struck deep. The blood flowed profusely.
Her heart trembled as two brown eyes dominated her thoughts. "Duncan...where is he? Could...could anything have happened to him?"
She cautiously moved away from her spot, navigating the darkness. She understood that escape was unlikely. Whoever had kidnapped her must have assumed that darkness would render her helpless.
But what did they want from her?
Yes, she was rich, extremely rich, and held a status above that of a noblewoman. But what more could they possibly want?
While lost in thought, she heard random footsteps approaching, their direction unclear. A sense of dread overcame her. She loathed the uncertainty.
What if someone was silently approaching to harm her?
Previously drenched by a significant amount of water, her gown clung to her skin as if it were a second layer.
There must be someone else in this dark room with her. They were definitely the one approaching, but what could they possibly want from her?
She was just a young woman; what could she have done to warrant being trapped in a dark room? An innocent maiden who was merely being escorted to the palace had been killed unjustly.
If there was even a small window, she would have known the time of day and whether her little brother had safely reached the palace.
Suddenly, she heard a hoarse voice command from all directions, its echo lingering longer than her scream: "Light the lanterns!"
Small sounds surrounded her, followed by the sudden illumination of her surroundings.
Her eyes widened when she met the gaze of the man in front of her. A scream erupted from the depths of her throat, and she recoiled as if she had encountered a wild animal.
Still dazed, she stumbled backward, her scream intensifying, as if it could make whatever was in front of her disappear. But instead of growing weaker due to exhaustion, her scream only became more frantic.
When her back landed on a solid figure behind her, she instinctively turned to look, only to meet the same 'copper-red eyes' she had seen before.
Her head whipped around again, and she saw that the figure that had terrified her was no longer in front but now behind her, holding her waist.
She tried to free herself, but his arms remained firm, refusing to let go.
Sweat trickled down her forehead, despite having felt cold earlier. It was as if she were being scorched under a relentless sun.
The same hoarse voice snapped her out of her reverie: "Relax, My Lady. I never intended to scare you."