Later that night...
Sylteena stayed seated on the edge of the king-sized bed, dressed in a translucent nightdress adorned with glittering veils that shrouded the bedspread surrounding her.
Her dull eyes continued to stare vaguely into the space before her, feeling a deafening sense of silence despite the commotion outside the bedroom.
Her Royal Majesty, Queen Rebecca, had her bawls resonate off the hallway walls as she scolded each and every guard, maid, and palace staff for their failed search for the crowned prince despite the passing hours into the night.
Ever since the wedding ceremony, the palace has had no peace from Queen Rebecca's tantrums of the humiliation that had befallen their name for such an absurd matrimony ceremony, along with the disoriented search for the missing prince — weighing between the possibilities that he may have ran away to evade his imposed responsibilities, or something unfortunate had befallen the royal heir.
Yet in all of this, Sylteena was simply sent into the prince's chambers after a change of clothes and told to wait in the symbolic attire of a newlywed wife on her wedding night.
Sylteena's mind failed to flutter even once, as she was almost now confident that the crown prince, Prince Antony, would want nothing with her as a living being, not to even imagine a wife. So the sacredness of the matrimonial night was null; she failed to understand why they'd even go through the trouble of decorating the room, bedding, and headboard with roses and perfume.
Sylteena's mismatched eyes slowly raised to the tall window frame before her, staring silently into the starless sky with only the dotted lights of the busy capital illuminating from afar.
She carefully got up to pace to the glass, staring out at the distant lights of the lively capital even in the dead of the night.
A large palm then interrupted her view from the other side of the glass, causing her to flinch as she staggered back with wide eyes.
The windows slowly pushed open.
Sylteena blinked twice.
An arm stretched from below, stretching in to grasp the window frame accompanied by a grunt. It sounded like that of a man.
Sylteena cautiously stepped back.
The second hand then clenched the frame before the person below slowly pulled themselves up to throw their body in — they rolled in with a grunt.
Sylteena only observed with wide eyes, watching the stranger dressed in black attire slowly get up on his feet, still facing the window as he dusted himself and let out a scoff.
"Damn it..." He sniffled, beating his disheveled hair of dust specs before turning to face her. He froze, and his eyes instantly widened.
Sylteena's breath hitched.
She silently scrutinized the tall man before her, of skin opposite to hers and short blonde hair, his brown eyes locked with her, carrying a somewhat shocked expression.
Both of them stood rigid in their spots.
Sylteena's lips slightly gapped in fear and confusion of who was before her.
An intruder? A robber? A spy?
With the longitudinal scar along his right eye down to his lips, his suspicious dark attire and mode of entry, gave a substantial amount of assumption on his identity.
The man's eyes then blinked twice as he stuttered. "Y- You were supposed to be sleeping..."
And as those words leaked from his mouth, Sylteena immediately knew she was in danger.
She backed him in an instant, picking on her heels to race for the door.
"Shit!" He immediately darted after her.
Sylteena grasped the doorknob, parting her lips to scream — the man's foot jammed the door back in place as his large palm shrouded her mouth, pulling her back against his chest.
She began to struggle, kicking her feet with utmost force as she clinched into his fingers over her mouth.
The man squeezed her tighter, dragging her feet away from the door despite her efforts to evade.
"Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck!" He continued to mumble under his breath as he strained to hold her in place, fighting back Sylteena's persistent resistance to escape his clutches.
"Damn... How can a woman be this strong?"
Sylteena's nails dug deeper into the skin of his wrist as she attempted to pull off his hand with all her might, straining every fiber of muscle her years of hard labor slavery had built.
The man groaned, trying to hold back her head as he seemed to have felt her efforts intensify.
He tutted. "I didn't want to do this but..."
Sylteena's strength successfully pulled off the hand, caging her lips as she leaped forward, inhaling greatly to cry out for help — a blunt, hard impact to her skull sent her body into a momentary still before slumping to the floor.
Her vision blurred as her senses began to numb, feeling her eyelids heave shut.
Her mind slowly went blank.
• • •
Meanwhile downstairs in the palace building.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU STILL CAN'T FIND HIM!!?"
The chandelier shook to a wave of energy that surged from Queen Rebecca's being, having her visible green aura gleam over her figure as she stared at the group of guards.
Their heads remained lowered.
Rebecca's fists clenched. "This is already past midnight!! And the prince is still nowhere to be found!!"
"Mother," Wilhelm's soothing voice echoed feet behind her Majesty. "Fueling your wrath will in no way favor his search... Please try and calm—"
"Calm down?!! Your brother is missing! How can I possibly calm down!? What if something happened to him!? What if dark sorcerer took him hostage to use against—"
"Is that how much of a weakling you undermine me to be, Mother?"
Their gazes snapped in a single direction, widening their eyes at the presence before them.
Standing with his hands in the pockets of his coat, Prince Antony stared at his mother and brother with a stoic expression before trailing his gaze to the bewildered guards who gazed at him as well.
"Anthony!!!" Rebecca's voice heightened in a softened saddened tone, pacing forth quickly as she stretched out her arms to capture her son in an embrace.
Anthony remained still as a statue, carving his mother to force the warmth in her embrace. "Oh, sweetheart! I was so worried! Where were you?!" She pulled back to cup his jaws. "Are you okay? Are you hurt? Injured? Are you feeling unwell—"
His fingers suddenly coiled his mother's wrist before pulling off her hand with a gentle force.
"Do not be dramatic, Mother. I am perfectly fine. I only went out."
Rebecca stared at him still for a moment, blinking twice before her brows furrowed into a frown.
"So you just deliberately decided to cause havoc today by blankly disregarding my concern and disrespectfully violating the Phoenix's order?!"
Anthony blinked boredly. "She violated my right as a person and as a crowned prince by enforcing a cursed bride on me just for her amusement to play deity."
A vein popped above Rebecca's brows as her knuckles whitened. "Do you know what your audacious act caused you and our family na—"
"Your Majesty!!" An urgency-peaked voice from the floor above caused Rebecca to pause as she looked up with knitted brows.
A maid rushed down the staircase, huffing in panic and shallow breaths.
"What is it?" The queen questioned.
"The princess is missing!"
Their brows arched high.