Lilith stepped closer, her golden eyes studied him carefully.

"You’re being strange."

"I’ve been told that."

"Several times."

He smiled.

She continued staring but then her gaze shifted toward the empty cell. For some reason, an odd expression crossed her face but it was gone almost immediately.

Atheline noticed anyway.

"What?"

"Nothing."

His eyebrows rose. That answer sounded suspiciously familiar.

She looked away.

Atheline stepped closer, crowding her. He took her hand into his and caressed it carefully.

"Do you mind if I kiss you?"

Her nose wrinkled as her gaze swept across the surroundings.

"In this dirty place," she said and shook her head," no, you can do that when we return to our room."

He was a little shocked at her refusal but then chuckled and stepped back.

"Sure."

She glanced around them then said.

"This section was built for royal prisoners."

Attheline met her gaze in shock. That was completely unexpected.

"Royal prisoners?"

"Potential claimants."

Her voice remained calm.

"Dangerous relatives. Failed usurpers. Political hostages."

He glanced back toward the empty cell and it suddenly felt colder.

She continued.

"My predecessors used them occasionally."

"You don’t."

"No. I preferred killing them instead of wasting any more time and money on dead bodies."

The answer came instantly without any hesitation.

Atheline smiled slightly.

The irony escaped her entirely. Lilith, in another timeline, had imprisoned her own husband beneath the palace. Standing here now, completely unaware of what could have been.

She looked mildly irritated.

"You seem pleased." 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

"I am."

"Why?"

He considered answering honestly but shook his head internally.

"I like empty cells."

She stared flatly at him. The chief warden looked horrified. Atheline laughed at their expressions. Eventually, even she shook her head.

"Let’s leave."

For once he agreed immediately. The prison had already answered the question he never voiced.

The place existed.

The tragedy did not.

And that was enough.

.

.

.

Far away from the Elven continent, away from all the power, and into the human continent was the royal family of the Gladia kingdom starving.

Not literally. Not yet anyway. But close enough to taste the possibility.

The village sat hidden between forests and hills near the kingdom’s southeastern border. It was a remote forgotten and poor place where no noble would even know existed which made it the perfect hiding place.

That was how they had felt initially but now, it felt like a prison that was slowly shrinking with each passing hour.

The former king sat inside a wooden cottage staring at a wanted poster. His own face stared back. The paper looked almost mocking.

REWARD OFFERED - 1,000, 000 gold.

INFORMATION REQUESTED.

BY ORDER OF THE DARK ELF QUEEN.

The reward amount alone could buy half a city. King Neill lowered the poster slowly. His hands trembled but not from age it was from a mixture of a lot of emotions. Anger, fear, and exhaustion.

Across the room, the former queen sat silently mending her torn royal dress as though it were her only anchor to the fact that she had been royalty.

This was something she had never done before, not once in her entire life. But now desperation had stripped away dignity.

The princess stared through a nearby window, watching villagers move outside as their lives continued in a world that no longer belonged to them.

No one spoke because there was nothing left to say. Only bitterness remained in their hearts. Everything had gone wrong.

King Neill finally broke the silence.

"Silas promised."

The princess closed her eyes.

’Not again.’

The conversation repeated hourly now.

"He promised to get us out of the continent," the king repeated.

The former queen’s hands stopped moving.

"He lied."

She said the simple but brutally honest truth. The room fell silent again, because they all knew exactly who she meant.

Silas, the kingdom’s head manipulator had been the one who had urged them to flee immediately teleporting them out of the capital. The man claimed everything had been arranged.

They would be shipped to the beast continent where a safe house, support, and protection existed but it had all been lies. Or perhaps promises that had been abandoned halfway.

The king had believed him since they had been friends since childhood for more than two hundred years. It seems his age had made him complacent.

He should have stayed just like his second son had suggested. The second prince had remained in the capital refusing to abandon the kingdom with them or so he believed.

The moment the royal family escaped the capital Silas vanished without leaving any messages, supplies, or instructions.

Nothing.

Leaving them stranded and hunted. Now the kingdom itself searched for them. Not to help but to surrender them. The reward money ensured that.

King Neill stared at the wanted poster again. His face looked older than he remembered. He seemed to have aged overnight.

The former queen finally spoke.

"We should leave."

"Again?"

"Yes."

"We can’t keep running."

"We can’t stay."

Neither answer helped.

Outside, villagers gathered around a notice board. New posters had arrived with more rewards. The pressure on their backs was being increased tenfold every hour.

The Dark Elf kingdom was patient. Terrifyingly patient.

The princess suddenly stood.

"I’ll get food."

The former queen nodded. The young woman left quietly. The moment the door closed, King Neill covered his face.

For the first time since their escape, he looked broken.

The former queen watched silently then looked away because she felt the same. If they were to be caught she knew they would most definitely be beheaded.

Outside, the princess moved through the village carefully. Keeping her head down and making sure to avoid attention. Yet every conversation she overheard felt directed at her.

She stopped before the notice board. New posters had indeed arrived.

She stared at them then froze. Because beneath the usual reward notice, a second paper had been added. Her eyes went to the bottom corner of the paper where the official seal was, just to confirm.

Her eyes widened and colour drained from her face.

The words felt impossible. For a moment she couldn’t breathe. Then she turned and ran. Back toward the cottage and her parents.