He had a mask on and the rest of his face was covered with a scarf. There was no way she could recognize who he was with his face completely covered. "What were you doing hanging from a tree?"
His Baritone voice asked, breaking her from her trance. She had to bat her eyes. She was so dumb she got distracted by a random guy when she should be running away. Abrielle cussed herself in her mind.
"It's none of your business. Thanks for catching me; I will forever be indebted to you." She said, hinting at him to place her on the floor.
The stranger's expression was hidden, but Abrielle had a feeling he was probably judging her. "Where are you running to?" He asked her instead.
"I said it has nothing to do with you. Thank you for saving me but I got to run." She pressed her hands against his chest to shove him away but he was an unmoving block. She had to randomly kick her feet in a fuzz before he reluctantly let her go.
' What a weirdo?' Abrielle sneered, fixing her coat. Immediately, she got on the floor. Her eyes then looked above at him, that was when she realized how tall he was. ' How can someone be this tall?' she asked herself.
"The lady is missing." She heard someone shout at a distance followed by the sound of fast approaching footsteps. She acted on the first thought that popped into her head. Abrielle hopped and wrapped her hands around his neck, and before he could react, she pulled down the scarf covering his mouth and sealed her lips with his.
He froze immediately; this gave her enough time and advantage to play a quick one as she pulled the tall strangers to stand as a barricade blocking her away from the guards searching for her while it seemed like they were passionately making out.
The guards searching for her got to the spot they were, but this was like the medieval times when showing off your love in public was considered embarrassing, so the guards quickly moved away not to pry.
After they were gone, she broke the shallow kiss. "They are gone." She said about to step down on the floor because she was hanging on his neck. The stranger seemed to have gotten over the shock of being kissed by a random lady and did something Abrielle could never have imagined.
He wrapped his hands around her waist to support her, then captured her lips with an intense kiss, leaving Abrielle stunned that she didn't realize when her lips were pried open for him to explore further.
His lips were scorching hot that she effortlessly melted under him, but then she remembered she should not be kissing a random stranger but getting the hell out of Dacronia to a kingdom where she could survive and not die because of the book plot.
She kicked his leg and then used all her strength to shove him away. The stranger didn't expect this move and stumbled away a few steps. "How dare you kiss me? Do you know who I am ?" She lashed at him, wiping her wet lips dry.
He had a smirk on his lips but covered his face with his scarf again so quickly she didn't have a good look at his face. From his clothes, she could deduce he was from a noble family, probably a random extra she could not remember. "That's my reward for you assaulting me holy lady Abrielle." He replied and her mouth parted then closed.
He knew who she was. Abrielle clenched her fist. "You are the one who just took advantage of the daughter of the holy Lord and Duchess of Vesper." She lashed at him. Abrielle Iterated on the fact she was of high nobility. That a random lower noble had no right to touch her without her permission. Vesper was the same as the Nightshade duchy.
The stranger was amused by her behaviour and slightly bowed at her. "Forgive for my impudence little Duchess Abrielle. If I knew it was her holiness that was hanging from a tree I should have alerted the guards earlier." His voice was laced with mockery but Abrielle didn't have the time to waste on the likes of a nobody.
She huffed and then walked past him, but her hands were yanked backwards. "What do you want from me?" She barked at him; he had already taken advantage of her. What else did he want?
"You would not be able to go far on foot. The stables are in the opposite direction." He hinted at her. Abrielle was stunned by his statement but hid her astonishment.
"What made you think I want to run away?" She scoffed at him. She did acknowledge he was right. If she took the horse, it would be easier to run away.
"You would not have left your room through a window." He said as a matter of fact. Abrielle was left speechless; she yanked her hand from his hold and then ran towards the stables.
The stranger was leisurely following her behind, catching up to her with his long strides. Her luck seemed to be good because the stables were empty. She guessed the entire estate was looking for her.
A particular horse caught her attention, he neighed and started moving, showing how excited he was to see her. "Thunder," Abrielle called out excitedly to the horse who she had memories of being her noble steed.
She didn't have the time to get a saddle on the horse because of the restraint of time she had. Luckily Thunder still had his reins on. She opened the gate to his compartment and the white stallion came out.
"Since you have been following me around, at least help me mount the horse." She called out for the annoying stranger that has been tailing her. He was leaning at the entrance of the stable. "Why should I?" He asked her, amused by her words.
"Because it is an honour to help a noble lady like me, plus you are a gentleman." She gave a silly self-righteous excuse. She couldn't see his expression, but from his eyes, she was sure he was beyond amused.
She thought he would ignore her, but to her greatest shock, he walked towards Abrielle and thunder. "You know you will pay dearly if you are caught trying to escape a royal marriage." He reminded her. Like she cared, she would be long gone to ever get punished.
"That is if I am caught. So are you helping me or not." She arched her brow at him waiting for his answer. He didn't give her a verbal answer but held her waist before carrying her over Thunder.
After making sure she was stable he let go. Abrielle was puzzled by his behaviour. She had expected at least he would convince her not to run away, knowing the consequences, but this stranger was helping him. She didn't know who he was, but she was grateful.
She grabbed the reins and was about to gallop away but her curiosity didn't let her. "Why are you helping me?"
He was petting Thunder with his gaze solely on the horse. "I am a gentleman, as you said, and I feel everyone should be free to make their decisions even though they suddenly decide to reject the marriage they were heads over for before without any reason." He replied.
His words were strange, but Abrielle understood. After all, she was known to be head over heels in love with the first Prince Cedric ever since he rescued her by accident when her carriage was attacked by bandits.
That was the start of Abrielle's one-sided obsession, but she wasn't that foolish Abrielle who stuck with a man who never loved her and killed her in the end.
Abrielle kicked her horse causing it to gallop away through the stable entrance. She didn't reply to him because there was no need to. Luckily, her family estate was close to Dead Creek Forest, which was a borderline.
She might have never ridden a horse before but it felt like she was not Hazel but Abrielle. Everything felt so natural.
After she was gone from the stables an elite shadow guard appeared by the side of the stranger. "Should I send the other elite guards to go after her, your Highness?" He asked the stranger, who was none other than the cold-hearted first prince of Darconia, Cedric Von Drakkar, the devil of the battlefield.
"Alert the royal guards; instead, she would not be able to go far on that horse. The Little Duchess is heading for the Dead Creek forest." Cedric replied; a wind suddenly blew across his scarf, exposing his devastating gorgeous face that was half covered by a mask.
He had just finished making a last-minute negotiation concerning his marriage with Abrielle when he came across some unexpected drama. He never expected to run into his little fiancee trying to run away from the wedding.
"But just curious why didn't you stop her?" His elite guard asked.
"It was fun, plus she is free to run but that doesn't mean she can escape, and if maybe she escapes, her family will be in my debt for a long while, so either way, it is still a win," Cedric explained. He was genuinely amused, his marriage with the crazy lady would be more interesting than he expected.
By now, she should be close to the grassland. He hopes the royal guards catch her on time because it would be a shame if someone as interesting as her escaped.