“Open the door!
Help!
Someone, please help me!”
Elena screamed hysterically inside the soundproof carriage.
She pounded on the thick glass window with her trembling fists, but her desperate cries were swallowed whole by the plush velvet lining the interior.
Across from her, Alexander Giovani sat back with his legs crossed.
He casually plugged his ears with his index fingers, offering a faint, mocking smirk, as if her shrieks were nothing more than noisy background music for afternoon tea.
Thirty minutes passed.
Elena’s voice grew hoarse, fading into a painful, raspy whisper.
Her strength was entirely spent.
The carriage door remained locked tight, both mechanically and by magic.
Gasping for air, Elena slumped onto the lambskin carpet covering the floor.
Seeing that his prey was exhausted, Alexander rose from his seat.
He moved down to sit on the floor right beside her, pulling her unceremoniously into his embrace.
“Let…
let me go, you demon,” Elena whimpered.
She tried to fight back, feebly pounding her fist against his chest, but her movements were pathetically weak.
Her body had hit rock bottom.
She was severely dehydrated after walking for miles and sleeping on the cold city streets.
Her head spun, and every wound on her body throbbed painfully from the friction of her filthy clothes.
Alexander didn’t retaliate against her curses.
Instead, he reached for a crystal bottle of chilled spring water and pressed it against her lips.
Elena wanted to refuse, but the burning thirst in her throat won.
She grabbed the bottle and drank greedily, water spilling down her chin and soaking her clothes.
The moment the bottle was empty, she tossed it into the corner of the carriage without uttering a single word of thanks.
“Feeling better?” Alexander asked softly, his fingers slowly stroking her tangled red hair.
“Listen to me, Elena.
You can walk away from all this hell.
You don’t have to scrub clothes until your hands bleed, nor do you have to endure Clementine’s kicks.
Just obey me.
Become mine, and the world will kneel at your feet.”
Elena snapped her head up, glaring into Alexander’s blue eyes with pure, unadulterated hatred.
“Become yours?
After all the lies you spread?
You ruined my name in front of everyone!
You made them torment me even more!”
Alexander let out a low, dangerous chuckle.
“That was to make you realize, Elena…
that in this world, there is no safe haven for you except beneath my wings.”
He then slipped a small, gold-plated card into the pocket of her cloak.
“If there comes a day when you have nowhere left to run—and trust me, that day will come—come to me.
Beg, and I will fetch you.”
Elena snatched the card and threw it straight at the Crown Prince’s face.
“I will *never* beg a man like you!
You are completely unfit to rule!
You are a manipulative, treacherous, ruthless monster who views the suffering of others as entertainment!
The people of this empire will only suffer under your reign!”
Instead of flying into a rage, Alexander’s pupils dilated.
He grabbed her jaw tightly, forcing her to look directly into the fierce passion gleaming in his eyes.
Her defiance didn’t disgust him—it only fanned the flames of his obsession.
“You’re even cuter when you’re angry, sweetheart,” Alexander murmured, leaning in close to her ear.
“But remember this well: it’s better to surrender now before your family pays the price.
Poor Ryan back at the bar, or your frail father…
wouldn’t it be far too easy for a ‘ruthless leader’ like me to make them disappear overnight?”
Elena froze, her tongue instantly going numb.
The threat was real, creeping down her spine like an icy chill.
As the carriage slowed down to navigate a cobblestone turn near the outskirts of Grand Duke Dracox’s estate, Elena knew this was her last chance.
She couldn’t risk being seen stepping out of the Crown Prince’s carriage, it would only validate the vile rumors labeling her as a whore.
In a desperate gamble, she reached for the door handle.
Unbelievably, it was no longer locked—perhaps Alexander had intentionally left it unlatched.
Thud!
Elena threw herself out.
Her body tumbled violently across the hard dirt and grass before the carriage could come to a complete halt.
She groaned in agony as the wounds on her knees and head burst open, bleeding anew.
Without looking back, she scrambled to her feet and limped frantically toward the mansion’s rear entrance, vanishing into the shadows of the trees.
Alexander merely watched from the carriage window as it resumed its pace, his eyes locked on her retreating silhouette.
He touched his own lips, savoring the fresh wave of terror he had just planted deep within her heart.
Elena managed to slip back into her room through the kitchen window.
She collapsed onto her thin mattress, curling into a ball as her body trembled uncontrollably.
Tomorrow, dawn would break once more, and she would have to put on the mask of a lowly servant again—the despised ‘Pig’ everyone mocked.