His Highness's Second Wife
His Highness’s Second Wife Chapter 70

Raena uncrossed her ankles, crossing them again as she adjusted more comfortably on the hard floor. The sun had set a few hours ago and as she watched the bright mix of orange, red, and purple get swallowed by the growing darkness, she couldn’t help but think how screwed she was.

The sound of quiet steps made her tense, but she didn’t move. It was probably Kara – neither Zen nor Elene were that loud as if they knew exactly which floorboards creaked. That should have been a sign too. In the movies, the quiet ones always kept the biggest secrets.

“What are you doing?” Raena finally looked up, staring at Kara, who was standing behind her with a frown. “It might be summer, but you can still catch a cold out here. And why are you lying on the floor? Are you a child?”

“I’m staring at the stars, hoping they will tell me something useful again.” Raena smiled while her friend rolled her eyes. “Did you speak with Lady Vega?”

“Yes, she’ll be expecting you later,” Kara replied, lowering herself to the ground. Raena gave her a surprised look but scooted over to the edge of the blanket to make space for her. Kara hesitated, but eventually lay down next to her, staring at the inky sky. For a few minutes neither said anything, they just quietly watched the small dots twinkle all over the place. “So you really think Lady Vega knows something about Zen and his siblings?”

“Yeah. I would have dismissed her words as drunken ramblings if it wasn’t for Elene so obviously interrupting her. I am not sure if she did it to make the woman stop talking or to make me pay more attention,” Raena said quietly. “I thought about asking her – Elene, I mean- but figured she’d just lie. She is good at that. She is good at pretending too. Takes a liar to know a liar.” Raena smiled bitterly, turning her head to look at Kara.

“Cheer up, you were right to suspect them from the start! I was the idiot here.”

“What are we going to do about them, then?” Kara asked, lowering her voice.

“Nothing for now,” Reana replied, returning her eyes back to the sky. “We don’t know what they hiding exactly. It might be that they have connection to that noble lady she mentioned – they may be nobles themselves – and they are just trying to hide that fact since most Craidal nobles were either killed or locked up to prevent them from organizing the peasants into causing trouble. Or they might be dangerous. Either way, it doesn’t matter because once I sell the restaurant, we’re leaving. Without them.”

“So you really plan for us to leave, huh?” Kara said, her tone full of disapproval.

“Yes, now more than ever. What, you don’t want to? You’re free to stay and I’ll transfer under your name twice the amount l’ve promised you. But if you stay here, I can’t protect you from the enemies I’ve made,” Raena said. The thought of leaving this place and going all alone in the unknown world brought a painful coldness that wrapped its freezing arms tightly around her. “I have a meeting set with one of the buyers tomorrow. I plan to accept their offer and complete the transaction the following day. I’ve asked Marden to find a boat that can take passengers to the new continent. He doesn’t know it’s for us, so by the time he realizes that we would have left. We can’t take much with us if we want to leave unnoticed.”

Kara remained silent, eyes locked on the sky.

“Why do you keep pushing the third prince away?” Kara suddenly asked, still not looking at her.

“What?”

“Why do you keep pushing him away? I am not talking about telling him the truth. I get why you don’t want to, even though he might surprise you, but why do you keep pushing his feelings and his attention away? You let Zen get close to you even though you don’t plan to bring him along. Why push away your husband? You could be having a much easier time right now and with you by his side, he would have lowered his guard.

“Mmmm, I have my reasons.” Raena smiled, moving her hands on her stomach to intertwine her fingers. She glanced at Kara, only to find her lying on her side and staring at her intently.

“It’s something from your other life, isn’t it? You never talk about that time, apart from a word here and there, mostly related to our business.” Her usual cold and serious expression was gone and she was staring at Raena with a mix of curiosity and pity. For the first time since they knew each other, Kara looked her age – like a young woman just as alone in this world, with only one person to rely on and follow.

Raena sighed.

“Back in my world, I had a fiance,” she said, licking her lips. “He was a lot like Kassian, at least personality-wise. He was a good and honest man who said exactly what he thought and did exactly as he promised. He worked as a policeman…. er, as a guard of sorts,” she added when she noticed Kara making a confused face. “He protected people from harm and investigated cases where people already harmed so the guilty could be punished.”

Kara continued to watch her quietly, waiting for more. “We were together since high.. since we finished school. Then, I went to study more and he became a policeman. We were really happy.” Raena paused, looking back at the stars again. “And then, just like that, he died. He was killed while on duty. He died before help even came.”

Raena swallowed the lump in her throat, keeping her eyes on the stars. It had been a while since she told anyone that story. It had been a while since she thought of him.

“I’m sorry,” Kara whispered, touching her shoulder.

“It’s fine!” Raena laughed, blinking a few times to chase away the stinging in her eyes. “A lot of time has passed since then.”

“So that’s why you didn’t want to have anything to do with him? Because you know he is going to die.” Kara nodded with a thoughtful expression.

“Yeah. Why pour feelings into someone who is going to disappear?” Raena scoffed.

“But you said things have changed from what you knew and they keep changing. What if he doesn’t die now?”

“Yeah, this is the scarier part.” Raena smiled, eyes locking on the biggest star just above them.

The sky was different here, brighter somehow, and the stars were aligned in constellations much different from the ones she remembered. “What if he lives and I stay? What if I fall in love with him and we live happily ever after? And what if one day, as I sit and enjoy my perfect life with my perfect husband, whatever brought me here yanks me back into my empty gray world? What do I do then?” She turned to look at Kara, who stared at her with wide eyes. “Why do you think I’ve been avoiding emotional attachments to people all this time? I like Zen and having him around was fun and exciting, but I can leave tomorrow without him and I will be fine. But with Kassian… if I let myself get too close, I am not sure if I will have the heart to leave.”

Kara continued to stare at her for the longest time. Then she suddenly reached out and flicked Raena on the forehead.

“You silly woman!” she murmured, sitting up.

“You cannot control everything that happens in life – who lives, who dies, who betrays you or surprises you. Choosing not to get close to people to avoid pain is like choosing not to eat because you’ll get hungry again. You’re only hurting yourself.” She raised her bandaged hand, scratching her head with her stiff fingers. “How can you create such a successful business from nothing, outsmart the smartest people in this country and wrap so many people around your finger, but still be so stupid when it comes to things like this? I feel like something in your head is broken.”

“Yeah, thanks!” Raena chuckled, sitting up and leaning her hands on her knees.

“Tell him,” Kara said, and Raena looked at her, surprised by the sudden softness in her voice. “If you think you have feelings for him, tell him. Screw the plan! It has already gone way off course anyway. Tell him the truth before it’s too late. So far, you’ve only said you are going to support the second prince and made your connection public. You haven’t actually done anything illegal that might be considered treason.”

“Ugh,” Raena mumbled, looking away.

“Don’t be a coward, modern girl,” Kara scoffed.

“Hey! Who here has already died once, huh? It’s not pleasant, you know!” Raena grumbled.

“If it’s any consolation, whatever you decide, I’ll support it. Just don’t make the decision out of fear.

Figure out what you want and fight for it. We’re lucky if we find one great love in our life. Don’t waste the second chance you’ve been given.”

“Have you chosen a profession already? You’d make a lovely matchmaker.” Raena grinned and Kara rolled her eyes.

“Shut up.”

Raena chuckled and was just about to tease her some more when a loud knock came from inside the room. Kara frowned, getting to her feet and walking inside while Raena craned her neck to see who it was.

“There are two guards waiting for you downstairs,” Kara said as she returned to the balcony. “His Highness ordered them to escort you to the Main Palace. They were told not to take no for an answer.” Raena raised an eyebrow, and Kara smiled at her. “Here is your chance. Lady Vega can wait.”

Raena grimaced, getting to her feet and dusting her skirts. Kara gave her a disapproving look, but the blonde woman tiptoed around her before her friend could force her into changing into something more presentable. She stepped out of the bedroom and into the empty corridor, Kara’s steps following closely behind.

The two guards waited in the anteroom by the stairs, both wearing full uniforms and with a sword hanging from their waists. Raena swallowed the cold chill that suddenly ran through her body, forcing a smile instead.

“Hello, gentlemen!” she said and they immediately bowed to her, returning her greeting in one voice. “Let’s not keep His Highness waiting.”

They nodded and headed for the door, adjusting the pace to match hers as she followed. They passed a few servants that threw her curious glances, then they left the North Palace. Could Kassian have found out something about her connection to the Empress and wanted to face her before locking her up? Or maybe she teased him a bit too much earlier at the pool and he had decided to demand she fulfilled her wifely duties?

But why send guards, though? It’s not like she didn’t have guards and so far every time they met, it was him coming to her. He did own the North Palace after all.

Too occupied with her thoughts, she didn’t notice when they left the lights of the garden lamps behind and set on one of the paths going through the Concubines’ palace. It was probably going to take them to the Main Palace as well, but going through there was almost doubling the distance.

They were passing close to Zen’s secret spot too, which meant this was the least guarded part of the entire residence.

“Um, excuse me?” Raena asked, trying to catch the attention of one of the guards. “Can we go back to the garden? I thought we were going to the Main Palace”

“We are,” the guard replied curtly. “This is a better route. His Highness said to take you there directly, not to take you on a stroll through the garden. Please follow us.”

Raena raised an eyebrow. His nervous tone and the fact that he called her you instead of using her title made her heart beat faster. Something didn’t feel right.

Raena looked around carefully, searching the shadows for any movement. Could it be that the Empress had sent them to kill her? Or maybe Lara bribed them to do something to her in a place nobody was going to find her before it was late?

Raena looked over her shoulder, wondering if she should run. She was wearing a dress and she

wasn’t particularly fast, while both of them seemed fit and comfortable with their weapons. Maybe she should just scream and hope there was somebody nearby. Where was Zen when she finally needed him to guard her body?

“You’re late,” a voice said all of a sudden, and Raena looked forward again, surprised by the sudden appearance of a man that was now blocking the two guards’ path. They looked at him tensely, but neither drew their weapon. “Is that her?”

Raena frowned, meeting the stranger’s eyes. He was wearing dark clothes and knee-high boots and as he moved, she noticed his gloved hand was casually resting on a hilt of a long dagger tucked in his belt. His face was covered with a mask too, exposing only his eyes that studied her with cold calculation.

“Yes,” one of the guards said without looking at her. “Hurry up and take her. And the rest of the money?”

The masked guy stopped his advance toward Raena, looking at the guard that had replied to him.

The stranger unfastened a pouch from his belt, tossing it to the guard. The bag clunk with the sound of metal and the guard quickly slid it inside his jacket.

“One more thing,” the masked guy said, making the two guards pause just as they were about to leave. “They said no witnesses, so..” he shrugged, making a sign with his hand. “Kill them.”

As if the night suddenly came to life, the trees and bushes around them rustled while several figures stepped out with their weapons drawn. One of them even had a bow in his hands, which he had already drawn with an arrow in place. His arrow sunk into the chest of one of the guards, sending him to the ground. The other one unsheathed his sword, cursing loudly while moving into a defensive position.

All this happened in a blink of an eye – a few precious seconds Raena had lost. Her eyes snapped back to the masked man who had kept walking toward her, and without thinking, she picked up her skirt and ran. She heard him laugh and before she got much further, two hands – grabbed her by the waist, picking her up. Raena screamed, kicking and hitting him, but that only seemed to amuse him. She forced herself to calm down – with her in the air and him being twice her size, she couldn’t pull any of the moves her father had taught her. There was only one thing she could try.

She drew both her legs to her chest and kicked his knee with all her strength. He lost his balance, bringing them both down. Raena squirmed as her wounded arm hit the hard ground, but pushed herself up and wiggled out of his grip, dashing for the trees.

“You little b***h!” the masked man shouted after her, his heavy steps following her through the underbrush. “We’re not supposed to hurt you, but can’t help it if you hurt yourself falling, can 1?” He snickered from even closer.

Raena gripped her skirts tighter, focusing her attention on her feet. If she twisted her ankle now, it was game over. She needed to get somewhere with guards, somewhere where people could hear her Scream. She had to do it before.. Raena tripped on one of the protruding roots and landed hard on the ground, the air leaving her chest. She coughed as she tried to take a breath, stumbling to her feet and preparing to flee again.

The air swished by her head and an arrow sunk into the trunk of the tree next to her. She heard another arrow fly and just as she tried to hide behind a tree, she felt something pull her back. Her eyes stopped on the second arrow that had pierced her skirts, pinning them to the ground. Raena looked back, heart skipping as she noticed the figures moving through the shadows and she did the only thing she could. She screamed.