𝗕𝗟𝗘𝗦𝗦𝗘𝗗 • ʷᵉˢᵗˡᵉʸ ˣ ʳᵉᵃᵈᵉʳ • ᵖʳⁱⁿᶜᵉˢˢ ᵇʳⁱᵈᵉ

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ sᴇᴠᴇɴ

It was 10 days until the wedding. The King still lived, but Y/N's nightmares grew worse and worse. 

Right after you got up, you put on your coat and ran out of your room. You had made your decision, you were not going to marry that toad that called himself a prince. You rushed to where Humperdinck was and told him your true feelings.

"It comes to this. I love Westley, more than you would ever know. I've always loved him, which is why I can't go through with this." You confessed. Humperdinck looked up at you. "If you tell me I must marry you in 10 days, please believe that I will be dead by morning." You threatened. He thought for a second.

"I could never cause you grief. Consider our wedding off." He declared. "You, uh, returned this Westley to his ship?" He asked Count Rugen. "Yes." Rugen said. "Then we will simply alert him. " He said. "My love, are you sure he still wants you? After all it was you who did the leaving in the fire swamp." He said as you began to glare at him. "Not to mention that, uh, pirates are not known to be men of their words."

"My Westley will come for me. He always has, and always will." You said. "Okay..." Humperdinck said, exasperated. "I suggest a deal. You write four copies of a letter, I'll send my four fastest ships, one in each direction. The Dread Pirate Roberts is always close to Florin this time of year. We'll run up the white flag and deliver your message. If Westley wants you, bless you both." He paused. " If not... please consider me as an alternative to suicide." 

"Are we agreed?" He asked. You nodded, unaware of the dire situation with Westley. 

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"Your princess is really quite a winning creature." Rugen said to Humperdinck in the forest. "A trifle simple, perhaps, but her appeal is undeniable." He said. "I know, the people are quite taken with her." Humperdinck "It's odd, but when I hired Vizzini to have her murdered on our engagement day, I thought that was clever. But it's gonna be so much more moving when I strangle her on our wedding night." Humperdinck said as he confessed to his crimes.

"Once Guilder is blamed, the nation will be truly outraged, they'll demand we go to war." He said as he and Rugen laughed. "Now where is that secret knot?" Rugen asked himself.

"It's impossible to find." Rugen said as he touched some random trees, looking for it. He eventually got the right button which opened up a door in the tree. "Are you coming down intk the pit?" Rugen asked Humperdinck. " Westley's got his strength back. I'm starting him on the machine tonight." 

"Tyrone, you know how much I love watching you work. But i've got my country's 500th anniversary to plan, my wedding to arrange, my wife to murder, and Guilder to frame for it. I'm swamped." Humperdinck said . Rugen went up to him. "Get some rest. If you haven't got your health, you haven't got anything." Rugen suggested to the prince. He walked into the doors in the tree and went downstairs into the pit.

There, Westley was going to get tortured. The man with white hair pushed the table Westley was on toward a torturing device. "Beautiful, isn't it?" Rugen said to Westley who looked confused. "Took me half a lifetime to invent it. I'm sure you've discovered my deep and abiding interest in pain. At present, I am writing the definitive work on the subject." Rugen said as the white haired man put more stuff on Westley's body.

"So I want you to be honest with me on how the machine makes you feel." Rugen said in a creepy manner. "This being our first try, I'll use the lowest setting." Rugen said as he turned on the machine to the lowest setting. It began to start working and Westley started twitching in pain. Rugen turned off the machine.

"As you know, the concept of the suction pump is centuries old, really, that's all this is, except that instead of sucking water, i'm sucking life. I've just sucked one year of your life away. I might one day go as high as five, but I really don't know what it would do to you, so let's just start with what we have." Rugen explained.

"What did this do to you? Tell me. And remember, this is for posterity, so be honest." He said to Westley who side eyed him. "How do you feel?" He asked Westley who started crying in pain as a response. 

"Interesting." Rugen deviously smiled. 

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In his castle, Humperdinck was looking through maps of many kingdoms. A man came in through the door and cleared his throat to get the prince's attention. 

Humperdinck looked up from the maps. "Yellin." He said to the man. "Sire." Yellin said and stood there, not knowing what to do next. The prince rolled his eyes and gestured for him to come closer. Yellin gasped in nervousness and slowly ran to where Humperdinck was seated. 

"As Chief Enforcer of all Florin, I trust you with this secret. Killers from Guilder are infiltrating the Thieves's Forest and plan to murder my bride on our wedding night." Humperdinck lied. Yellin looked up at him. "My spy network has heard no such news." He said to Humperdinck, confused at what he was saying. 

All of a sudden they hear a voice that wasn't either of theirs. You came through the doorway and looked at Humperdinck and Yellin. "Any word from Westley?" You asked the two men. 

They both got up hurriedly. "Too soon, my angel." Humperdinck said to you. "Patience." He said right after. "He will come for me. I have faith in it." You said with hope evident in your voice. "Of course." Humperdinck "agreed." You gave him a small glare and walked away.

Right after, the two men sat themselves down again and went back to what they were talking about earlier. 

"She will not be murdered! On the day of our wedding, I want the Thieves's Forest emptied, and every inhabitant arrested." Humperdinck demanded. Yellin sighed. "Many of the thieves will resist arrest. My regular enforcers will be inadequate." He told Humperdinck. "Form a brute squad, then!" Humperdinck yelled while Yellin flinched at the loud tone he was using. "I want the Thieves's Forest emptied before I wed." 

"It won't be easy, sire." Yellin tried convincing him. "Try ruling the world sometime." Humperdinck said to his Chief Enforcer, annoyed. 

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(Sorry if this chapter felt short.)