The Prince’s Runaway Bride - Chapter 320

The three people stopped almost immediately. Wolstan grabbed Zenia’s hand and glared at the two men.

“Don’t you dare touch my granddaughter! I already told you that I will not go back on my words. Tell Ginza that I will send the payment the usual way.”

“Don’t get us wrong, old man. This woman suddenly attacked us, and we were just compelled to fight back,” explained one of the men.

“Why won’t I attack you? I saw you two running toward grandpa, and you have your swords with you.”

The man sighed, “Madam, we just want Sir Wolstan to sign a doc.u.ment that permits us to draw the agreed amount from his bank account in case he failed to pay the usual way.”

“He suddenly ran away when we were still preparing the doc.u.ment saying his granddaughter was waiting for him,” added the other man.

“We became suspicious because as far as we know, he doesn’t have a granddaughter. We thought that he created some trouble again, and we were just worried.”

“If something happens to him, and we go back to our Master without the doc.u.ment, we will pay for the amount.”

Zenia was dumbfounded and looked at Wolstan, who retrieved the paper immediately and asked for a pen. He signed it and shoved it to the hands of one of the men.

“Here, when did I ever renege on payment? We have known each other for years, and you two still don’t trust me.”

“Sir Wolstan, there’s always a first time, and your first time could be our last. You know how stern our Master is.”

“Yeah, yeah so scram already.”

The two men bowed their heads and left immediately. Zenia glared at Wolstan.

“Grandpa, care to explain?”

“Can I not?” Wolstan showed his pleading, puppy-dog eyes.

He was hoping that Zenia would not pursue the matter about the two men, but he saw the seriousness in her eyes. Wolstan knew that he had no other choice but tell her everything.

He sighed and began narrating his story.

“The two men belong to a group that gathers pieces of information that are difficult to obtain. It was founded by my old friend, and his great-grandson runs it now. I have a special privilege of obtaining the information I need without spending so much. But, that cheeky brat always wants to make sure that I will pay no matter what.”

“Is that the reason why you know so much?”

“Yes! Damien must’ve heard about it and began to operate in the same way. But, his business is always inferior.”

“Are they better than Vaughn’s men?”

“Yes.”

Zenia stopped and thought for a while.

“Are they better than Ishelon’s men?”

Wolstan looked at her, “I can’t say anything about that. But, they don’t always uncover the things that Ishelon tries to conceal. It is possible that the things they uncovered, which involved Ishelon, were the pieces of information that Ishelon was willing to share.”

Zenia kept quiet. If Renaria was good at uncovering or analyzing things, Zander and Ovid were good at concealing them. Unfortunately, they were still no match to the Big Boss of the Anisen household. Zenia wished that she had inherited all the abilities of her mother. But, her mother had no talent in martial arts or wielding a sword.

“Did we go on this trip so you can meet them?”

Wolstan’s eyes widened as he explained, “No! I just happen to see them here that’s why I left earlier. There’s this job that I told them to do, and I still have not received any answer. That cheeky brat is demanding for more payment saying that they need to go to this and that kingdom to complete it.”

“What do you want them to do?”

“Ah, that one…I cannot tell you yet. I can assure you that it’s not that important.”

‘As of the moment.’

Wolstan learned that more and more people were coming to the fishing village in the past few months. The fishing village became the favorite rendezvous of those individuals who wanted to escape the prying eyes of the public, including those who were there to meet their mistresses.

The fishing village had private villas that could be rented for a day to a few weeks. The security was tight, and the identities of the guests remained confidential. Men who wanted to play around for a few days with their mistresses would go there under the pretense that they were having a business meeting that would last for a few days.

The last time Wolstan went there, it was nothing more than a mere fishing village and not some kind of secret paradise of forbidden lovers. He was surprised at the report that the two men had given him. He ordered them to monitor the place closely and send him a message right away if they uncovered something. He also wanted to know if there were other kingdoms involved in the plot.

Wolstan knew that Zenia would surely tell Vaughn about it the moment she learned something. Wolstan did not want to alert anyone in the fishing village. He had a hunch that an enemy was taking refuge in that place.

“Is that all? Even if you are hiding something from me I will know them, you know. So you better tell them now, grandpa.”

“I swear, I am not hiding anything from you.”

Wolstan had lived for a long time and already mastered the art of lying. No one would be able to tell that he was lying.

Zenia looked at him and did not detect anything wrong with his answer.

“Okay. I think we should go back now or your great-grandson might send a search party already. We have been away for quite a long time now.”

Zenia had decided that it was best not to tell Wolstan about what she discovered earlier. She did not ask why Wolstan was hanging onto the protruding root of the tall tree.

Wolstan heaved a sigh of relief when Zenia stopped asking and even told him that they should go home. They did not get to fish the actual fish, but they still fished out something.

If Zenia asked him what he was doing in the cliff, how could he tell her that he was feeling melancholy when he saw the place where he first met his wife? He took out the ribbon that his wife used to tie her hair with when she was young. But, a strong wind blew it off on the top of the tree. He was trying to retrieve the ribbon when his foot slipped. Luckily, he was able to get the ribbon before he went down – and that was when Zenia found him.

The trip back to the Palace of the Crown Prince was devoid of happy conversation. In fact, none of them spoke a word because each of them was thinking about what they just discovered. Zenia still tried to recall where she met the man. He gave off a familiar feeling.

‘Did I meet him in one of our kingdom visits?’

They already reached the Palace of the Crown Prince, but none of them budged from their seats. The coachman even tapped the door, but no one opened it.

Vaughn’s face was getting darker than the bottom of the cauldron. The air that surrounded them became as cold as ice. Redivo, Jorick, and the rest of them who were present in the meeting followed behind Vaughn when he heard that Zenia and Wolstan had returned.

Vaughn strode to the carriage and opened the door. He saw Zenia and Wolstan staring blankly outside the window – both of them were in deep thoughts. He wondered what happened to both of them.

Vaughn noticed the dried up blood on Zenia’s sleeve. His face changed suddenly. He was now wearing a worried look on his face. Everyone around him noticed the sudden change in him.

He quickly yanked Zenia out of the carriage and carried her inside the Main Residence. The onlookers also noticed the blood on Zenia’s sleeve. Jorick was about to go when Redivo stopped him.

Redivo shook his head, and Jorick did not take another step. He just looked at the blood on Zenia’s sleeve and hoped that nothing bad happened while they were away.

Zenia was startled, “Vaughn?! We arrived?”

“Yes, and you did not even notice it.”

Vaughn took Zenia all the way to their bedroom, and the others knew that the meeting had adjourned.

Wolstan snapped out of his reverie and went down the carriage as if nothing happened. Redivo, Jorick, and the rest went on their way.

Vaughn put Zenia on the bed and inspected her body to see where she was injured. Zenia was surprised to see the blood on her sleeve.

“Ouch!” She blurted out when Vaughn held her hand.

Vaughn turned to look at the palm of her hand and saw a deep cut. Vaugh asked a maid to bring in the first aid kit and tended to Zenia’s wound personally.

“Why did you have such a deep cut?”

“That must have happened when I tried to rescue grandpa from a fall.”

Zenia did not want to say anything more to Vaughn. She had decided to investigate it herself. Vaughn had already a lot on his plate. She would force Wolstan to spill everything, and she would tell him about the man she met at the fishing village.

Vaughn sighed, “Where did you two go anyway?”

“Grandpa took me to a fishing village…”

Zenia told Vaughn about the sceneries that she saw, and the amazing things in the fishing village, including the modern fishing rods. Vaughn did not ask anything further and just listened to Zenia’s happy story.

“Do you want to go there again?”

Zenia looked at Vaughn and thought that it would be dangerous for him to go there at the moment.

“Rather than the fishing village, I want to go fish in the sea. Let’s buy our own big boat and go fishing after this,” she gave him a smile that was sweeter than honey.

“If you like that, let’s do it.”

Vaughn planted a kiss on Zenia’s forehead and continued treating her wound.

In Venetia, Roland was still thinking about the presence that he felt earlier. He felt that presence before but couldn’t remember when and where.

‘Who are you?’