The Reincarnated Royalty

Chapter - 31

Melanie turned around and saw Kevin standing behind her. "You really are a great actor." He said to her and came closer. "Why are you doing all of this?" She asked him. "The answer is simple, I am doing this for revenge." He said to her. "What did she even do to you?!" She raised her voice at him. "She humiliated me in front of everyone! She rejected me!" He also raised his voice. "All she did was stand for her own rights! You are no one to control her." Melanie said to him with anger clearly visible in her eyes.

FLASHBACK

Melanie was preparing to go to Andria to help out Claire. She was packing her stuff when she heard the loud drums beating. She went to her balcony and saw Prince Kevin on his horse followed by a few guards and especially his special yet mysterious guard, James. She went in the main hall to know the reason for his arrival.

"Greetings, Princess." Kevin bowed to her. "Do you need any help?" Melanie asked him clearly confused on his sudden appearance. "Yes, actually I have an offer for you." He said to her. "But I would like to discuss it in a bit private place." He continued and Melanie nodded. They both went to the library where no one else was present.

As they entered inside, Kevin handed her a document. "What is it?" She asked him. "Take a look by yourself." He said and she opened it. "These are just blank pages." She said to him. "Yes, just like how Callios would have been if Sinsila didn't help them 10 years ago." Kevin said with a smirk and her eyes widened at it. "You might have forgot it, so let me remind you of that." He said and began walking around her.

"10 years ago, your father, the king of Callios died due to a lung disease. As you did not have any brother, your mother claimed to throne. You were only 12 at that time and your mother had no other option. But your uncles wanted to take that throne away from her. She knew that she could never win against them as they had a powerful army. Your uncles also tried to use you as a bait to make her give up but she did not listen to them. My father was a great friend of your father and the queen knew that too. So she came to Sinsila requesting for our support to win the battle against your uncles. My father helped her kill both of your uncles and made her claim the throne fully to herself."

He stopped and look at her face which was pale. It had lost all its colors. "What's the matter princess?" He asked her. "I haven't even said anything." He continued with a little smirk. "What do you want?" She asked him. "The answer is simple, I just want you to abduct 'a certain someone'." He said to her. "Who?" She asked. "Princess Claire." He replied to her.

Her eyes went wide on hearing this. "What if I decline?" She asked him. "You only have your mother right?" He asked her and she became scared. "Don't be scared, I'll not harm her if you do as I say but if you decline then I might have to take her away from you." He said to her while taking out his sword and tracing its blade with his index finger.

He then put that sword on her neck and came closer. "Do let me know about your answer, I'll not wait for too long." He said and backed away. He then turned around and went from there leaving Melanie questioning her life.

*****

"Good thing that you agreed that day, otherwise a funeral was about to take place here." Kevin said to her while roaming around the place. "Anyways, I must take my leave now, princess." He bowed to her with an evil smile clearly visible on his face.

He went to the exit when his personal guard whispered something in his ear. He nodded to him and went away while his guard went in the different direction. Melanie fell on her knees and the crown from her head fell down. "I failed."

"I failed as a royal, I failed as a woman, I failed as a lover, I failed as a friend, I failed as a human." She began crying as she knew that she has ruined everything. "Only if I had that courage, only if I could say to him that I will fight to protect my mother and my kingdom, then today would have been completely different." She began cursing herself for all of that.

"It's not that late yet, princess." She heard a voice and looked up. It was prince Kevin's guard. "I'm James." He bowed to her and handed her that crown. "You can trust me, I swear on my life that I won't betray you." He said to her and made her stand back up. "Princess Claire has been kept in 12th dungeon." He informed her and she quickly made her way there. 

She entered inside the basement which was filled with cries of prisoners begging for mercy. This only made her more terrified. She has never entered inside the dungeon before and this was her very first time stepping in here. She quickly located Claire's cell and went to it. She saw her sleeping with her head resting on the cracked wall. 

She told the gatekeeper to open the gate and she entered inside. She knelt down and gently kept her hand on Claire's shoulder. Claire jolted up in surprise. "Princess Melanie?" She was happy as well as confused to see her there. Melanie quickly hugged her and let her tears out. Claire hugged her back and tried to comfort her.

"I'm sorry, princess Claire. I am sorry." She said to her in between her sobs. "Why are you saying sorry?" She asked her. "I am the one who did all of this. I am the reason why you are here." She told her making Claire shocked. "I am in Callios?" She asked her. Melanie nodded her head while wiping her tears. 

"I never wanted to do this, I am sorry." Melanie knelt in front of her asking for forgiveness. "No need to kneel like this, princess." Claire made her stand back up. "Please forgive me if you can." Melanie said to her. "Why did you do all of this?" Claire asked her. "I did this because I am a coward." Melanie replied to her. "Did prince Kevin forced you to do so?" Claire asked her and Melanie looked at her with wide eyes. 

"How do you know?" She asked her. "Besides him, there is no one else who did not want to see me and Prince Sky together. He must be taking a revenge because I hurt his pride that day." Claire said while looking down.

Suddenly, Melanie noticed blood dripping from her wrist and quickly called the medic for first aid. "How did you get hurt?" She asked her. "Maybe while I was attempting to get out of these chains." Claire said to her and Melanie looked at those chains with guilt in her eyes. 

"I promise that I will get you out of here." Melanie said to her. "I believe in you." Claire smiled at her. "I know I am asking for too much but can you do me just one favor, Claire?" Melanie asked her. "Yes, what is it?" Claire asked her. Melanie took out a ring from a small pouch and handed that to her. "Please give this to prince Ray." She said to her.

"Falling for you was the biggest mistake which I ever did."

His words rang in her mind and she smiled sadly. "After all I am the one at fault here." She said to herself and looked at Claire. "A ring?" She asked her. "Yes, my mother got matching rings made for both of us. She was very excited when I told her about marrying prince Ray and she immediately started preparing for our wedding." She told her. Claire smiled widely at her. "I hope that day comes soon." She said and kept that ring securely in the back of her dress. 

"I am sorry but I cannot stay here for too long, I promise you that by the end of this week, you will be in Andria, safe and sound." Melanie said to her and got up. "Please take care of yourself princess, prince Kevin might do something very bad." Claire said to her and Melanie nodded. She stepped out of the cell and looked at Claire one last time and went away from there.

She entered inside the throne hall and saw the worst scene she could ever see in her whole life. The whole area was covered in blood and dead bodies of guards. It was all destroyed and in the center of all of that laid the body of the queen covered in blood. 

"MOTHER!!!"