30 Days As A Substitute Prince

Chapter 38

It felt like it had been days, but it was probably only mere hours. Chad remained curled in his corner as the sun rested on the sea’s horizon. He couldn’t see it, and he didn’t want to, but the splash of pink and orange beams decorated the glimpse of the sky from his angle, and the chill of the night had pricked his arms every now and then.

He wasn’t sure if he was going to be able to make it through the night. Not only was he starving, but he took Heather’s word when she told him that the nights got cold. It was a bit dramatic to be thinking about his death, but Chad couldn’t help it. That was how he felt. Still, he occupied his thoughts with Aria.

There was no need to fight this. Over the past hours, Chad had somehow convinced himself that Aria would find happiness one day and move on. Who knows? Perhaps Zadkiel would be the lucky man. Indeed, Chad felt better with that thought. He knew Zadkiel would make his Aria happy.

His Aria.

That was precisely the issue. As much as Chad accepted his fate and wished for a happy one for his friend and lover, it still bothered him that he vowed that Aria was his and no one else’s. A few days ago, he even swore to himself that he’d fight for Aria, even if Zadkiel refused. Could defeat come so easily? Could the vile cycle of life conquer him in such a ghastly and gruesome way? Trying to refuse the thought was hard, seeing that he was very much trapped.

Shifting to his other side, Chad adjusted the position of his arms which were still pulled behind him in the agonizing hold of the cloth bounding them. He begged for sleep to come. Maybe in the realm of rest, he would be happy and free, probably with Aria. However, as he wrestled with finding comfort, the hard, cold ground provided no such solace.

With a sigh, he shuffled to a sitting position and rested his head against the wall. This would be harder than he thought. Way harder.

The locks on the door giggled, and Chad found that seconds later, Heather had emerged with a blanket and a coconut shell of drinking water. Chad perked at the sight as he eagerly shuffled towards her before she poured the water in his open, waiting mouth. The picture of him beneath her pleased Heather more than it should. For once, he was looking up at her, begging her and at her mercy. She relished in the sight.

“I supposed that leaving you with no source of warmth would probably kill you before the fun starts,” she said after tossing the shell aside.

The warmth of the blanket immediately engulfed his nerves as Heather wrapped it around Chad’s shoulder. It wasn’t the thickest, but it was enough to grant a certain degree of relief from the bite of the cold.
“It will keep you warm enough,” Heather mumbled, turning on her heels to leave.

“Heather,” Chad called after her, halting her movements. “Untie me, please.”

Her callous, mocking laugh filled the confined room, and she threw her head over her shoulder. “Whatever for?”

“Just my hands, please. I promise I will not try anything. I have accepted my fate.” For some reason, this seemed to bother Heather. After finally getting what she wanted for years, she had expected it to be more . . . fulfilling. He wasn’t begging or weeping as she anticipated. He was pretty compliant for a kidnapped person.

She bent to loosen the knot on his hands with a frown, and Chad took the liberty in unravelling it the rest of the way. His arms snapped back into place, and he groaned at the relief that instantly welcomed him as if he had been freed of bondage.

“Try to get some sleep,” came Heather’s final words as she moved to leave. But a fault in her step had Chad alert, and the swift flinches in her movements as if it was instinct had him focusing more on what she might’ve heard.