Born As The Emperor’s Daughter - Chapter 246

The sound of multiple footsteps and the abrupt opening of the door revealed the insides of the room. Alexander along with Rowan, Lysander, Klaus, and Friyedor. The two other Elders have dismissed themselves and told him that they want to go to the garden where Alexandra was taken and try to investigate and see if there is something there. They weren’t that much busy and they want to help in finding the princess.

The room was quite large. With multiple beds seen around the room with bedside tables seen on each one of it. On top of some of those bedside tables were flower vases. There were also lamps seen on the corners of the room. Aside from those, there was also another door found on the other end of the room leading to where the medicines and such are found. There was an open window covered with curtains that fluttered along with the wind that have entered, making the room cool. The atmosphere that it held was quite light yet at the same time, suffocating. This was the infirmary.

Carlos was in the other one that’s why he wasn’t found here. He was being monitored and guarded by the other palace healers. They shouldn’t be careless and just leave him alone.

A woman who was found in one of the beds sitting up from her position as she stared at the wall in front of her. Her bed was near the window and there were a few things seen on top of the table near her bed. There was a female palace healer that was standing beside her and when she heard and noticed the people that entered the room, she turned her head around to look at them. Her eyes widened in seeing the emperor along with his assistant, his personal knight, one of the Elders, and her superior (who is Rowan, he is basically the boss of all the healers.)

She bowed her head and said her greetings, Alexander only nodded at her as a response before he continued walking. Heading towards the direction the girl was in, stopping at the foot of the bed.

“How was she?”

“I have checked everything, she looks perfectly fine except that she refuses to speak nor answer my questions, she also didn’t eat the food that we have given her. She just stared ahead of her and remained silent the whole time. I’m getting quite worried, to be honest. It seems like something happened to her in the garden, she looks traumatized or something like that causing her to be put in this situation or condition. I suggest that you should be careful about speaking to her and asking her some questions.”

The healer responded to Rowan who was standing in front of her, a worried look in her face as she glanced at Lillianna’s direction and her gaze remained there for a moment after she spoke. She was only sitting still, not doing anything but just breathing as she stared at what’s ahead of her. Rowan only nodded and hummed before he opened his mouth to speak.

“I understand. Thank you, you may now leave,” He said and with that, the girl bowed her head before she turned around and head towards the door to leave the room. The sound of the door closing was heard after seconds and silence dominated the whole room, they could hear the leaves rustling outside though it was faint and low. The gentle breeze that has entered and the sound of the fluttering of the curtains found in the window near them.

Alexander stared at the young girl, she was only 18 and was a new maid of this palace. The expression in her face was blank like an empty sheet of paper. Her eyes looked dead or devoid of light. Just what happened to her? Alexander asked himself as she stared at the girl. He wanted to start the interrogation and ask her the questions that have been bothering him ever since yesterday though it looks like the girl wasn’t somehow in the condition to speak, let alone move.

“Miss Lillianna?” Rowan called out to the lady, hoping that he will get a response from her. Seconds passed by and nothing happened, they just stared at the girl. Rowan opened his mouth once again to speak and called out to Lillianna. “Miss Lillianna?”

Just like what the female healer from earlier has said, Lillianna seems like she was traumatized or bothered by what happened in the garden yesterday.

Was she a victim?

“Miss Lillianna, we’re here to ask you some questions regarding what happened in the garden and such. The princess has gone missing and you were found there lying in the ground, bleeding because you were stabbed. If you are not in the condition or if you are not comfortable with our questions, you can tell us. However, we really need it. Your answers might give us some sort of clue on where to find the princess and who is the culprit, as well as the person that stabbed Sir Carlos,” It was Klaus that took over and spoke. The same tone of voice that he uses whether he is speaking to the emperor or to some other servants of the palace.

The expression on his face was serious and stern. It’s just like a teacher telling a student about everything that she knows regarding the incident that happened in the school. It was similar to that.

Lillianna only looked up and met their gazes, a sad yet guilty look in her face. It was noticeable and they were wondering. Alexander was about to open his mouth to speak when Lillianna who was just silent from the moment that she woke up, said something. Her voice was low and was quite inaudible but they were able to understand what she was trying to say thus making them confused.

“Arrest me.”

Lillianna hanged her head down as her hands clenched the sheets tightly, making her knuckles turn white.

Klaus who was confused realized what she was meaning to say a few seconds later, his eyes went wide as she stared at the lady. “You are with the person that took the princess away?” Klaus asked Lillianna as if he wasn’t believing it, trying to make sure if what he had thought was correct. He was hoping that it wasn’t true but her reaction and what she has said already tell everything.

“I was the one who stabbed Sir Carlos, I also wounded the princess in the process, and I was with the person that took the princess. I was only an assassin hired to help that person since I am a girl, it was quite easy to infiltrate the palace as a maid though the other has to dress up as one. I became quite close to the princess and because friends with her, somehow. I wasn’t planning on becoming close to her, to be honest. I won’t apologize or ask for mercy or forgiveness. What I have done was a grave crime. You can execute me, torture me, imprison me, sell me, I will accept it. I deserve that. I have betrayed the princess’ trust and committed a crime.”

Lillianna said as if she have lost all of her hope in this world. Accepting her doom as death awaits her by the door. They only kept silent though Alexander was enraged yet he was keeping his cool. If he doesn’t, he might end up killing the girl. That would be bad, she might hold some important information that could lead us to Alexandra’s location. Aside from that, we also still have to ask where did she get that poison and if she knows where the antidote is.

“But before you make me disappear from this world or do those things to me, I know how to make the antidote. It’s quite normal for an assassin like me to know how to do so. Only a few people know about it and the ingredients are only a few but it’s quite hard to find them. The making of the antidote would probably take a few days.”

Sadness was lacing her tone of voice as she kept her head down low, staring at her clenched fists. They don’t know what to say. By the fact that she was the one that stabbed Carlos with her poison-coated knife and was still the one who is going to create the antidote was somehow unbelievable or something. Somehow ironic.

“Then we will have to spare you until you finish making the antidote and the princess is rescued. You will be imprisoned in the underground cells,” Alexander spoke. Now he was clam knowing that Carlos would be fine as Lilliana knows how to create the antidote and was among the few people who know how to do so.

“I understand.”

“Wait, just a moment, it’s about what you said earlier. What do you mean ‘the other has to dress up as one’? Who is that person that hired you and you are working with?” Rowan asked confused. Although he was just silent and listening to their conversation, his curiosity was overwhelming him and he just couldn’t help but ask that. Well, Klaus was planning on doing so but Rowan beats him to it.

“The person that I am working with infiltrated the palace with me, acting as a maid and as a girl. He’s a guy.”

And with that, the languid and light atmosphere of the room was immediately replaced with a tense and cold one. Alexander furrowed his eyebrows. Sir Friyedor thought that it’s weird, a guy dressing up and acting like a girl.

[A trap.]

“What’s his name?” Alexander asked in a cold and serious voice. He narrowed his eyes down her as he spoke.

“Mark. Mark Devan.”

—

3 days after Alexandra woke up.

Blue eyes, devoid of light, blinked open as Alexandra heard the sound of approaching footsteps. She was on the floor, on the cold and dirty floor with her tattered clothes. She was sitting up while leaning against the wall and it was dim with only a few torches around her cell giving her some light which wasn’t enough to illuminate the whole place.

Not far away from her, a plate with what seems like food was seen. It looks like crap in her eyes, it doesn’t look like food. It’s like some sort of clay model a child has molded and it smells like rotten food. She would rather go on a hunger strike rather than eat that. Even in her previous life, despite being poor, she ate better food and stayed in a better place. Though she usually ate cup noodles every day and she lives in a rundown apartment.

There was something cold wrapped around her two ankles and the sound of something rattling was heard when she moved her feet. It was bound with chains and something was also wrapped around her neck. Similar to the collar that she had worn back then when she was kidnapped. The situation that she is in was like that except that she’s the only one here and she was somehow being tortured. She figured that the collar in her neck also has the same effects as the one before. They would only take it off when they are experimenting or doing some things at her. Fortunately, they haven’t done those illicit and sexual acts on her.

“You didn’t eat your food again?” The voice of that disgusting and creepy person rang inside her ears. She didn’t lift her head and look at the person as just the sight of him was making her puke.

“Oh come on, we can’t afford you to die just because you didn’t eat. What a spoiled girl you are,” Mark said as he stared at Alexandra who was in a poor state. She looked like a homeless person or something like that. One again, she didn’t respond to him.

“You know, you wouldn’t be able to escape this place. You’re trapped here. Nobody will come to save you, you are all alone. They might not be looking for you and was just probably slacking. Nobody cares for you.”

“If that is some sort of spell or something just to make me angry or make me lose myself, that wouldn’t work. If you are trying to hypnotize me, do a better job.” Alexandra said and lifted her head to look at him.

Mark just let out a maniacal laughter a few seconds after he heard what she said. It echoed and resonated inside the place, it sends a chill down her spine and she only watched him. Mark then grasp the metal bars that separated them and looked at Alexandra with these buggy and creepy eyes, a disturbing grin in her face.

“But it’s true, isn’t it? You’re alone. Nobody loves you. Nobody wants you. Nobody will save you,” He said and as he spoke, his grin widened.

She only lifted both of her middle fingers as she muttered the curse, glaring at the man before her.