Mysterious Husband [Vol 1-7] ✓

[Vol. 4] Chapter 89

I was lying down, my head was buried on the ground and my heart thumping loudly in my ears. The arrows weren't going to turn off it seemed as I peeked ahead. I saw after a distance away, it was safe. Or maybe, a new trap.

I didn't look for the torch that laid around my legs. Even if I went for it, I would end up getting one or two arrows on my back.

I had no choice as I started to crawl like a snake, dragging myself with my arms and legs while my belly was still touching the ground. Slowly I crossed the cave's path where the arrows were coming. Now that I went past it, the arrows finally stopped.

Just how many arrows they had prepared?!

To even think of setting up that many arrows for the intruders who were to come by, they much have prepared a castle full of weapons.

But then my eyes fell on the broken arrow heads. They didn't look that old. They were sharp and glinting. Did they use some sort of metals that would never get rusted?

Anyways, I didn't have enough time to think about that as I sat up. I saw my clothes were dirty with all the dust in the path and I got so many scratches along the way. There were so many small to large rocks on the path where I was crawling. My mind was too occupied to save myself so I didn't even noticed that I had crawled on it. I sneezed.

I sat down because I wasn't really sure if there weren't any traps the moment I take a step ahead.

I felt tired and more than that I felt like crying.

Did Rose had to go through all these? I mean it was certainly very cruel to make the foreign princesses to go through this.

It felt like they wanted us to be scared even to think of marrying into the Wansai monarchs.

My heart was thumping loudly as I leant back toward the wall and suddenly the ground shook and I froze. Even the walls had traps!

But before I could even think of getting away suddenly the ground beneath me stood up side down and the wall behind me opened.

A scream erupted from my mouth as I rolled down and ended up going inside that wall. And before me the wall again went back to its previous form as it was before.

However the ground led me downward as I rolled down, grinding against the stones and pebbles along the way and occasionally, I would hiss or squeak.

At last, I stopped when I found I came further down from where I was before. And the torch wasn't even with me anymore. It was dark that I couldn't even see my own fingers.

I started to sniff because I was alone, it was aching all over my body and I didn't know where I was. I sat there, burying my face between my knees and cried.

It took me a while to calm down but then I decided, crying won't help me. I needed to light up the cave.

But then I had nothing with me to light up. I felt even more hopeless. Now I was going to die here from hunger and thirst. I didn't even know where I was and it was unlikely that they would find me when I ended up inside the cave's womb. The map in my head certainly didn't tell me about this.

I stood up slowly and felt pain over my knees and thighs. I was limping and I knew I had hurt my legs and arms but as I couldn't see a thing, I didn't know how deep my injuries were. I started to walk aimlessly. But then I heard something...

I halted. My mind and nerves went on high alert. There were footsteps...and along with them, whispers. Well, they sounded like they were far from me.

My heart beat rose with hope that I might be saved now but then who were they?

I was certain nobody was allowed but then I remembered sometimes to assassinate the princesses they sent assassins in the cave. I froze.

Were they the assassins!?

I slowly stepped back but my back touched something hard. I froze and my breathing fastened.

I turned around and touched the thing and found it was only a stone but it had some strange carvings and as my fingers tapped on it, I found the surface of the stone was rather smooth.

But then a light illuminated from the othr side as if a few torches were lit. I took cover behind that stone but then I found the stone seemed very big as I couldn't find where it ended.

The torches were coming this way and I heard the men who were holding the torches talking.

"It is too late already."

"Yes, I think she has died already with the traps."

"Yes, we had certainly set up extra traps for her on both of the routes. There is no chance she would be able to survive this." And they laughed.

Wait! So, was I on the right route?

I was a little confused now.

Where exactly was I? Was it their hideout?

Another one said, his voice deep, "Keep quite! If she happens to come here, we have to kill her immediately."

At his voice, the other two seemed to be silenced down. One of them said, "I don't think she will be able to come down here..."

"You don't know. She is that bastard prince's wife. We don't know what she has in her sleeves!" The man with the deep voice said, "It is already very dubious that why would he even marry her? I am certain she has something in her or maybe her family is powerful. We are not quiet sure."

The other hummed as they agreed.

Well, I felt a little flattered that they thought of me someone very special but as of now, I had nothing in my sleeves other than the things Arashi had given me.

A candle went off in my head. If they were waiting here for my arrival... Did that mean, I was already inside the chamber where the goddess's statue should be?

Then my hands touched the smooth surface of the stone which I was using to cover myself. I determined its shape as I kept stroking on the stone. And it certainly felt like a toe.

A toe that was larger than me. So... This cave was so large that it held that large statue!

Imagine the treasure it held. No wonder the Wansais were so wealthy!

But now the problem was how I would go back since the entry of this path was blocked by them and I had no idea if I could actually take the path I mistakenly came from. But before that, I needed to search the box. But one thing I was certain that this room had that box since the assassins were here.

I couldn't see a thing apart from the faint light that was coming from their torches. It didn't even cover the whole area of the cave's womb.

I started to take slow steps and followed the stone as my guide.

And immediately, another man came running. "Leader! The princess wasn't there!"

All of them got startled. "What! What do you mean?"

"I went to check the path and she wasn't there. Do you think she had went to the other route?"

"Well, even if she went to the other route, she wouldn't find the box there..." The man with the deep voice said and as I assumed he was the leader.

"Then the box is here!" The other three asked and the leader said, laughing, "No..."

I froze. What!

"The box was never here to begin with..." He said evilly as I gasped and he added, "It was just a set up to fool the royals."

So... What Arashi said was true! There was no box to begin with!

----
19th November, 22
1355