Chapter 98: Nothing ever works

Chapter 98: Nothing ever works She ran, and the music became more distant as she ran. Abrielle kicked off her shoes as her emotions broke loose with tears running down her eyes. She wasn’t strong; she was weak-hearted and dumb. She did her best in such a large crowd and wanted to apologize genuinely but it seemed like she wanted to humiliate Callista. Abrielle could not get the image of how Callista was trembling. Was her face scary, or was she a monster? Callista was even far stronger than a disadvantaged, talentless noble daughter. She didn’t know in which direction she was running but all she knew was that she needed to get away. Was she overreacting? Yes, she might be, but to be in that situation was just too much for her socially awkward personality. Their eyes were all saying one thing ’to get lost from here.’ The winter breeze blew, and her bare soles froze as she ran in the snow in an unknown direction. Her instincts were to go to the forest and that was what she did. Maybe it was the plot or sheer luck, but she didn’t run into any knights or guards. There was a large forest that surrounded the palace grounds used for hunting. That’s where she ran until her frozen feet could not run again, and she fell with her face down in the ice-biting cold. Was she dumb to try to apologize when it seemed like she was the one who did something wrong? No, she wasn’t, but her single goodwill action came biting back at her. She was a villainess meant to be only seen as scheming vixen. Abrielle tried to sit up in the cold, ignoring the cold biting her. She started to cry; so far, a lot had happened. Her dumb actions and the none dumb ones all kept falling apart. She didn’t know how long she cried but soon she started hearing distant horse hooves. Her body straightened up and she stopped crying. She didn’t want to go back, just one day break from the drama and always living on the edge. She managed to get on her feet and then moved from the spot she was sitting to hide behind a bush. The horses soon arrived, and it was as she suspected they were searching for her, but it didn’t seem that long. "Princess Abrielle, your highness!!" The guards screamed and called out. They were the palace royal guards without any specialized training, so it was easy to hide from them. Abrielle pressed her hand on her mouth to muffle out the sounds that threatened to come out of her mouth while she watched them search for her. They eventually went away after not finding any sign of her. Abrielle stood up and then glanced in the direction of the lights coming from The palace. No one would really care if she disappeared tonight, would they? She turned towards the forest and continued venturing inside. Her legs slowly went numb from the biting cold. She didn’t know where she was heading but she was pretty far from the palace now. She spotted a cave up ahead, a smile finally bloomed on her tear-stained face and she ran towards the cave to take shelter. It was a bit dark, but tonight, the moon was very visible, making it easy to see. "Abrielle Nightshade is one hell of a character." She chuckled, knowing that Abrielle faced much more humiliation because she was obsessed with a man that doesn’t care if she lived or not. A tragic character indeed, but the truth was that if she had decided to marry another noble she would have a perfect life. Her life was perfect before she said I do at the temple. The wind came howling inside causing her to shiver as she shook. "It’s cold," she mumbled, hugging herself. She needed to make a fire. She doubted anyone would come searching for her this deep. They probably never imagined she would be able to run this deep. She darted around the cave and was able to coincidentally find some dried-up twigs and firewood. How convenient. Abrielle stood up slowly groaning because of the pain in her feet to gather up the wood together. After gathering enough, she poured the stack on the floor. Then knelt down to make the fire. She had never done this before so she was trying to imitate Cedric’s action from the cave last time. After arranging the dried wood, she started rubbing it together, but it didn’t seem like it was working. Frustrated, she screamed and then threw the wood away; at that moment, the black flame on her neck turned gold for a short moment unknown to her and the wood she was rubbing against caught on fire. Her eyes sparkled then she rushed towards the flame to cover it up with more wood to support the fire. That was how she successfully made a fireplace. The crackling sound of the flames and the warmth it provided gave her more comfort than she could imagine, and her eyes started to water again. She didn’t know how to handle this mental breakdown other than to sit next to the flame and silently cry. There was a little purring sound that echoed from inside the cave that made her stop crying. Her gaze followed the sound, slowly emerging from the darkness. The sound was terrifying, like a vicious killer. Its shadow was enormous, with long fangs and a horrific roar. She shook curling up to a spot too tired to move, then the terrifying creature lunged out of the darkness towards her. Immediately, it left the insides of the cave, and the terrific sounds turned into a cute meow. Abrielle’s eyes narrowed on the little monster that looked like a little kitten baring its fangs at her. She chuckled, looking at the little guy trying to act intimidating, and could not help but chuckle, a lovely smile blooming on her face that left the kitten stunned, staring curiously at her. "Where is your momma?" She asked but there was no way a kitten could answer her. It stared at her a bit watching her warm herself by the fire. Then ran back inside the cave. Abrielle was a bit sad her new friend just left, but soon after, she heard purring sounds. The kitten came back biting a fruit Abrielle didn’t recognize. It placed it below her, then rubbed its face on her hand. "Do you want me to eat this?" She asked with a soft smile. The kitten shook its head. Abrielle picked up the fruit to inspect it then some popped into her mind. Then wrapped it in her clothes instead. "I think I am going to save it for later." She said, rubbing the kitten that ran into her embrace. It was very warm. "What are you doing here little guy?" She asked the kitten that froze. Sensing something was wrong she pushed it away. "I guess we both ran from home.." she said but that wasn’t her home. She didn’t have a home anymore. Time slowly went by and the flames went off, with Abrielle asleep by the ashes with the kitten curled by her side. The flame mark on her neck glowed, and later, a masculine Silhouette appeared at the cave entrance. He walked into the cave and stopped a couple of feet away from her. The kitten opened its eyes to glare at the newcomer, its eyes turning red as it lunged to attack but stopped in its tracks, scared of the newcomer. "I guess you’re scared of death." Cedric scoffed then his gaze trailed off to his wife sleeping on the cold floor. .