HENRIETTA: PRAELUDIUM [TO BE EDITED]

CHAPTER 31

CHAPTER 31

[ THIRD P.O.V. ]


The light coming from outside was starting to disappear as Henrietta and her two companions head in the corner part of the mansion. It looked like a drawing room because of the ruined furniture inside of it. Henrietta recalled Keita's words about the entrance to the underground of this building.

"He said that I should turn this one," she mumbled, approaching a fireplace coverred with dust and ashes. There was an old wall lamp beside it.

Henrietta looked back at them, raising the lantern she was holding. When she saw that Astraeus and Hendrix was behind her, she carefully pulled the lantern to the right. Then she stepped back. A loud creaking sound erupted against the wall. Henrietta watches as the wall opens in half in front of them and a dark path opened.

"I'll go first," Astraeus volunteered. It was to prevent any danger from attacking the princess.

They followed Astraeus at the steep stairway leading downstairs. As they entered the mysterious underground, the entrance against the wall closed. Their eyes widen at the thought of being trapped inside.

"Astraeus will have to turn this place into dust if we don't find any way out of this," Henrietta suggested.

The two men just shook their heads. They couldn't do anything anymore as they wete already locked inside. So they head downstairs. Fortunately, the light on their lanterns didn't die, so there were enough lights to accompany them.

A stench of filth and flesh was starting to surround them as they went in deeper. Henrietta frowned at the awful smell and she used her cloak to cover her nose. She would've fainted or probably throw up everything inside her stomach if she allowed the stench to fill her nose.

A door made of stones stood at the end of the stairway. There was another weird carving at the center of it and around the weird carvings were words written in an ancient language. It was different from the languages being taught in the empire. But something that Henrietta was able to read.

"Not by might and not by power, but by My spirit." She squinted at the door. Astraeus and Hendrix were surprised when they heard Henrietta reading the scribbles of ancient language on the door.

A booming sound of something being turned resonated through the steep stairway then the closed door slowly opened. Their hearts were beating rapidly as fear started to accompany them. Henrietta pushed them inside and she followed them.

There was a thick fog surrounding the room and it slowly died down when the door was opened. The wretched room slowly unfolded in front of them as the fog cleared up. There were bones scattered everywhere and dark liquid that smelled like rotten blood. Rats and other pests seemed to gather around the room as well.

The stench already disappeared along with the fog, but the filthy appearance of the room made their stomach churned. At the center part of the room against the wall was a stone altar. There were a couple of small statues around it and a huge one standing at the center of the altar.

Astraeus and Hendrix were on guard as they checked every part of the room, whilst Henrietta made her way towards the altar. She could feel something calling for her. Something inside the huge statue.

Her hands streatched out, reaching towards it. As her hand press against the rough texture of the statue, a burst of vision exploded in her mind. Her breath caught painfully in her throat as she watches the vision with wide eyes, as if it was happening right in front of her.

Astraeus noticed the strange presence on the statue that he was about to run towards the princess. But the same force stopped him and Hendrix, rendering them both motionless. Their fear-stricken face hardened as they watch the frozen Henrietta in front of them.

"Kill her. Or she will kill you all," a voice whispered.

Hendrix frowned as he tried to deny the voice whispering near his ear. It felt too tempting, too enchanting, but he did his best to control himself.

"The girl in front of you will kill those you love the most. You must kill her now," it whispered again.

Hendrix's breathing was becoming ragged. His heart beating frantically as the temptation carried by the voice flooded through his veins. The light in his eyes slowly disappeared. He was slowly being controlled by the voice. He pulled his sword from his sheath and slowly approached her. Astraeus' eyes widen as he saw Hendrix approaching the princess. He, too, felt powerless because of the overwhelming energy surrounding them.

"Kill her. Kill her now."

"Yes," he whispered, unconscious of his own words and actions.

Hendrix pointed the tip of his sword towards her, but when he grabbed her shoulders, both of them screamed as if an apocalyptic image exploded in their minds.

Astraeus focused on the energy around them then he pierced the air with a thunderous spear. And as if he had hit something, the energy weakened. He was finally able to move and the other two in front of them fell on the ground.

Henrietta and Hendrix were panting loudly as they came back to their senses. Astraeus wanted to drag them out of the underground room already, but Henrietta pulled herself up.

"I'm going to destroy you!" She proclaimed as her hand aimed at the statue in front of them. There was a glint of purplish light on the statues eyes. And in a blino of an eye, the whole altar was engulfed with dark purple flames.

The underground shook and with Henrietta's snap of her fingers, the statues on the altar turned to ashes. A loud, hysterical scream of terror erupted from the walls of the underground room. Astraeus wrapped an arm around Henrietta's waist and grabbed Hendrix. He opened a tunnel in front of them and dragged the two out of the underground room.

Henrietta escaped from his grasp and quickly helped Hendrix. They safely escaped and are now beside their carriage. Hendrix was half conscious when Henrietta helped him to sit. Astraeus, with an irritated sigh, watched as the mansion in front of them falls into ruin.

"You... You are too reckless, Harriet." Astraeus glared at her then he went beside them to heal Hendrix.

Two other men were spotted running from the ruined building.

"Your Highness!"

"We thought that you were all trapped inside!"

Keita and Hiroshi looked pale and worried. Henrietta apologized to them then instructed them to help Hendrix inside the carriage.

"I'm sorry. I let my guard down," she apologized as she stood beside him.

"What did you saw in there?" He asked, looking at her.

Instead of telling him, she reaches for his hand and held it. It was a painful vision, but she wasn't a hero to keep it for herself.


▬▬


Henrietta's group were silent as they travelled to the small village they saw on their way to their destination. The Shadow Corps reported that the village was being harrassed by the former Lord who lived in that abandoned mansion. They also found out that the villagers often spotted suspicious people wearing velvet robes that's coming in and out of their village and that mansion.

They didn't reveal their identities and pretended to be travellers instead. Travellers who likes to look at old structures.

The villagers were warm, they treated them as a guest of their village and even offered them a place to rest. Hendrix was already on his senses, so he helped Astraeus in checking the things that Keita and Hiroshi got from the second floor of the mansion.

On the other hand, Henrietta looked around outside along with her personal guards. She wanted to see how the villagers were living and how hard their economy was. Unfortunately, the village seemed poorer than she had expected. Run down houses and empty shops in their market. There were not enough supplies that feed all of them, yet they still offered them shelter and food.

Even the leader of the small village was kind enough not to drive them away.

"You're from the capital, right?" The elders who owned the house they were staying asked.

Henrietta was sitting on a small field beside the village. She looked up when the old lady approached her.

"Yes."

The old lady smiled, her wrinkled eyelids covering her brown orbs. "I heard that the capital was lively. Is that true?"

"It is. Do you wish to visit the capital?"

The old lady shook her head.

"But I wish that the rulers will look after us. We're almost dying. A year more and this place will be left with nothing." Even if she was telling her a sad truth, the smile on the old lady's face never faded.

"Grandma..." Henrietta looked up to her with a somber expression. "What do you think a ruler should do for his land?"

The old lady laughed softly. "I don't know. But I think those who have a lot should learn how to share."

There was an unusual silence between them, but one thing's for sure, Henrietta knew what kind of leader she wanted to be.