THUD! THUD! THUD!
Heinrich sat up from his bed after hearing the loud bang on his door.
"Great Father!" A painful and desperate voice was heard from one of his servants outside the room.
He quickly stood up from his bed and walked over to the door, opening it to see his servants sobbing and panicking.
"What is it?" Heinrich kept his calm and asked.
"There is a fire!" One of the servants informed him, "And Miss Wanda has not escaped yet!"
Hearing that his pregnant wife was on fire, Heinrich rushed to where her room was. It was engulfed in huge flames. Teresia stood outside, watching the fires burn her lifelong companion. There were journals in her hands; Heinrich's journals.
Seeing that, Heinrich walked to her, snatched the journals from her hand, and almost raised his hand, pulling it away the moment he raised it.
"Did you do this?" Heinrich asked scornfully before looking back at the servants, "What are you doing? Put it out before all of us die!"
His servants started to fill bucket after bucket with water, trying to put the fire out. Killian heard the news and followed to see the chaos as well, witnessing Heinrich and his wife's hostile energy.
"Why did you have these?" Heinrich asked scornfully, pointing at the journals in his hands. "On whose permission?"
"I did not," Teresia told him, just as sternly. "You can think whatever you desire."
"Wanda is in there, Teresia!" Heinrich said while trying to contain his anger.
"Wanda is probably gone already because of some delirious baloney you have written down in here!" Teresia shouted at him.
Heinrich looked back at the fire that had almost extinguished, "If something happened to Wanda, I will assume you had a major hand in it." He said scornfully as he turned around to help put the fire off.
"And what about you?" Teresia murmured, trying to hold back her tears. "Are you claiming you have got no hand in this?"
Heinrich blatantly ignored her and filled a bucket with water, pouring it over the remaining fire. Killian was also helping while trying to comprehend the conversation Heinrich had just had with his wife. He was not likable by his wives either. Truth be told, the slaves were only in love with him because he sheltered them when no one did; he was probably much nastier than he appeared.
The fire calmed down and Heinrich didn't waste a second before opening the sooted door. The servants watched him walk inside and stared at his lonely back. He looked down and clenched his fists shut.
Aldrich arrived just then and rushed his way through the servants. He walked inside the room behind Heinrich and gasped; everybody knew what had become of Heinrich's wife.
"G-Great Father?" Aldrich called him hesitantly.
Heinrich turned around with his head down and swiftly walked out of the room. Before he received any more words, he walked past all his servants and left for his room.
Aldrich deeply exhaled and walked out of the room, "Miss Wanda has passed away. Her funeral will be held tomorrow morning." He announced to all the servants, "You are expected to mourn alongside the Great Father."
Teresia scoffed, despite a burst of tears falling from her eyes, "His name and mourn do not belong to the same sentence." She scornfully said before turning around to leave.
Everyone started gossiping among themselves. It was the first time they had seen Heinrich act this way toward his wife. His wife had always been perceived as a kind-hearted and soft-spoken person. It was hard to believe what everyone had just witnessed.
Killian went back to the infirmary to check up on the princess. She had still not opened her eyes. It was worrying him to a great extent even though Aldrich had told him that the princess was out of danger.
The Princess closed her fist, her eyes still closed. Killian failed to notice. When she opened and closed her fist again, Killian noticed the small movement. He stood up in hope and quickly called Aldrich.
Aldrich was quick to drop by. He checked the Princess's pulse and temperature.
"She will regain consciousness soon," Aldrich said joyfully.
Just as Aldrich examined her and shared the good news, the Princess opened her eyes and sat up all of a sudden.
"My lady!" Killian addressed her out of concern.
The Princess took heavy breaths before pouting and breaking into tears.
"My lady, are you in pain?" Killian asked, holding her and trying to get her to lie down again.
"Killian," Aldrich murmured, "Step aside."
Killian looked back at Aldrich in confusion and stepped away from the Princess. Aldrich sat down on the ground to face the Princess and pat her shoulder.
"There, there." Aldrich softly said, "You are safe and sound. No one will hurt you ever again." He added to comfort her as she sobbed.
The Princess wasn't in pain. She was terrified of what she had been through. Aldrich, being much older and wiser than Killian, realized that what she wanted was words of comfort, not empty questions. She didn't want concern from others, but rather comfort.
Aldrich was the father figure she wanted right now and he understood quickly. Killian was surprised to see someone who was still a stranger to them acting with so much compassion.
The Princess stopped sobbing and looked at him, "What happened?" She asked.
"You were not feeling well so we let you sleep and rest, that is all." Aldrich made sure not to add horrifying details and told her softly.
The Princess didn't ask anything more than that and put herself to sleep again. She needed more energy before wanting to know the events that happened when she had been unconscious. Her survival in this day and era was a true miracle on its own.