Destined Lies || Prince Series

Chapter 7: Hide and Seek (Act 2)

CHAPTER 7: Hide and Seek (Act 2)

Eloria sighed, staring out into the garden while holding the can of coffee in her hand. She stepped away from the vending machine and walked towards a bench. Sitting down, she watched as the leaves fell off the branches, her breathing steady and slow unlike that day six years ago.

six years ago  

She watched as everyone started slowly falling asleep, her friends closing their eyelids as they lost consciousness. She knew that soon their memory of her would be blurred and most likely erased. The princess stared at her father as he walked towards her, grabbing a fist full of her hair and dragged her towards the main entrance.

"I told you not to screw this up. But did you listen to me? No, of course not! I thought I could rely on you but of course I can't! You're just like your stupid mother." Dragging her out by her hair, he ignored her cries and screams.

"Just act friendly, respectful, and don't be a nuisance, how hard can that be?!" He pulled harder, her tangled knots made the poor girl cry harder.

"I'm sorry, father! I tried my best!" A hard smack landed on her face while a burning sensation spread throughout her now throbbing cheeks.

"Do not say you tried your best, Eloria. Because your best will never be what I expect of you. If you don't prove how worthy you are, I'll have you thrown out and you'll have to live on the streets for the rest of your life!" He stared straight into her soul while the girl cowered back. "I'll give you one. Last. Chance." With that, he released his grip on her hair and walked off.

The girl cried, trying to keep up with her father who was already sitting comfortably in the car. The wretched man told the driver to drive off and as the car pulled out from the parking lot, the girl watched the car speed off before her eyes. Sniffling, she wiped her eyes and lowered her gaze onto the pavement.

There goes her only ride home.

present 

She smiled, feeling the presence of a certain prince beside her as she slowly pulled out from her thoughts. "Hey, we're leaving soon. You should probably go pack your things," Charles waited for Eloria to walk beside him before turning around to send her to the school gate.

"Make sure to come back at four, we'll be leaving at five," the prince waved and watched as she got into the car. Only walking to his dorm after the car started driving away.

•• ~ ••

"There you are, Princess Eloria! We have been waiting for you for hours!" Leon shook his head in disapproval, looking at his watch in dismay.

"Well, to be fair, it has only been ten minutes and we did come earlier after all..." Felix shrugged, trying to calm his best friend down. Eloria nodded her head eagerly, "Besides, I'm not late. It's exactly four right now, I'm not late, I'm just not early." Leon sighed, admitting his mistake and that he was simply just too anxious.

"Anyway, let's go! Shintaro and Livio are supposed to brief us now," Alex chimed in and the group started walking towards their dorm.

When they got in, Livio and Shintaro were busy analyzing the pictures the kidnapper sent. "Gah! This map..."

"What's wrong? Is it a fake?" Leon asked, genuinely concerned.

"No. It's real all right. It's just that... finding that island will be like looking for a needle in a hay sack!"

"Fear not! If we split up, we'll be able to find them soon!" Felix exclaimed, his goofy smile was definitely contagious, making Eloria smile immediately.

"Splitting up is a bad idea! The archipelago is called 'Cloud Isles'. At least that's what local fishermen call it. When it rains, a thick fog covers the archipelago. Any vessel near it will get lost in the thick 'clouds'. Countless vessels have been wrecked because of the god. So people stay away." Shintaro explained, not noticing how the other princes were staring at him. "Going unprepared to the cloud isles is dangerous. You may get lost or shipwrecked."

Eloria burst out laughing when Felix asked whether Shintaro was worried about their safety, Shintaro's face turning bright red. "This could be a trap... But we have no choice. This is the only clue we have."

"Albert is right, but don't worry. As long as it doesn't rain, we'll be okay." Leon agreed, causing Shintaro to blush harder.

Alex brought his hand up to his chin, pondering aloud, "I just can't understand the kidnapper."

"Si. Kidnappers usually tell people to keep their crimes quiet. But this guy insists we tell the whole world!"

"And since he didn't demand a ransom, he's not doing this for money." Eloria looked over at Charles and made eye contact before smirking at him. She walked over to him, whispering, "Hey! We figured out his intentions, you should look happier."

"You know I can't. If I do, they'll get suspicious," Charles gave her a small smile but continued to frown. "That's true... So, Livio and Shintaro agreed to stay, right?" Eloria questioned to which Charles nodded whilst giving Livio the thumbs up.

"We must act now! We must catch him off guard!" Charles announced and everyone cheered in response. "He couldn't have gone far with so many princesses. Let's start with the nearest island!"

"Alright! Time to go, the yacht already arrived." Soon after, they set off towards the nearest inhabited island...

"He has heat pads on his body! Get him!" Eloria burst out laughing when Felix was being tackled to the ground by the other princes. The heat pads were ripped off and the other princes sighed in relief when their skin came into contact with the warm surface of the heat pads. Eloria smiled, taking the blankets from Charles and handed them out to the rest. Noticing Charles walking off, she sighed, grabbing a few sticks of chicken wings and gave them to Alex, "You should go cheer him up. He looks depressed."

Alex nodded, took the chicken wings and left to cheer up the prince. Eloria turned around, noticing Felix crying while the rest was laughing at him. "Guys stop bullying poor Felix," she clicked her tongue, Felix's face brightened hearing her comment.

"He was the one hiding the heat pads from us! Sharing is caring!" Ciel raised his arm, moving the heat pad away from Felix's reach. Felix pounced on said prince, the two of them tackling away before Charles and Alex came back and separated them. "Guys, stop fighting! We should sleep now, tomorrow is going to be a tough day," Alex ushered, distributing everyone into different tents.

Alex looked awkwardly over at Eloria, "um... Princess Eloria, we don't have a separate tent for you to sleep in, so you would have to sleep with all of us... are you okay with that?" She nodded in response and Alex sighed in relief.

"No worries, I'll just sleep with y'all ," she looked over at Charles, his eyes widening in surprise. Eloria eyed him, whispering, "Not like I have a choice." He nodded in return, smiling slightly before heading towards their shared tent.

"Come on, guys! Time to sleep, we have a tiring day ahead. Gotta be completely rested," Alex ushered everyone into the tent, the rest exclaiming how full they were. "Princess Eloria, are you coming?" Alex glanced at the princess who was staring at the night sky, her face covered by the light radiating off the glittering stars.

"In a minute, go sleep first," she said, not bothering to turn her head away from the night sky. Alex silently watched her eyes move across the sky, taking in all of the stars, not letting a single one escape her gaze. He replied with a brief 'okay' and went into the tent where snores could already be heard from the inside.

Eloria sat on the ground, her palm touching the soft sand. She slowly lifted a hand full of sand up, observing how the grains slipped through her fingers, she sighed in return. "If only the sand was whiter... and the stars were shining brighter..."

1376 words

(One more chap coming up: Late Christmas gift 🤭 Merry Late Christmas 🎄)
(Special shout-out to that babe who voted as soon as I posted: Thank youuuuu 🥺🥰 and go to sleep!!! It's literally twelve a.m.)