The Hidden King's Stolen Wife-Chapter 226: The Red Ring

Orion glanced down at her fingers, and his gaze darkened with understanding. "Can you remove the ring?"

Soleia focused her powers, trying to nullify it by absorbing whatever power imbued into it into her own body. However, the ring remained resolutely stuck on her finger despite her best efforts. She could almost imagine Rafael on the other end purposely causing the ring to constrict further on her finger in response. Soleia cursed under her breath.

She remembered how this ring remained on her even when she nullified Rafael’s powers during her escape. How could this still be possible? What was it even made out of, other than blood? Could Rafael have put his soul inside it?

Sadly, she had no time to figure it out. What she needed was for it to be gone from her finger.

The ring continued to pulse as though it was sending out a signal.

"Do you have some oil or butter?" Orion asked his mother, only for her to scoff dismissively.

"Son, look into my eyes. Do you think our new circumstances can afford us even the slightest trim of animal lard?" Elisa complained without mincing her words. "Even if I had any, I wouldn’t waste an ounce on her."

She shot Soleia with a disgusted expression.

"If the prince is coming for her, I’d say we let him. Orion, don’t interfere in their mess. We are the ones who need you more than ever. You should take this chance to curry favor with him. Maybe you can get a position by his side as his right-hand man!"

That notion was so ironic that Soleia had to snort. She wondered if Elisa actually knew that Prince Rafael had once masqueraded as her son’s right hand man. But there was no point in letting her know.

"You don’t have to worry about her any longer," Lucinda added. She reached out and grabbed Orion’s hand pleadingly. "You can stay with us, just like old times!"

Orion merely shook his head. "I cannot. We have to go," Orion decided.

No matter what, he wasn’t going to let Rafael encounter his family. As far as he remembered, they weren’t kind to him at all. If Rafael saw them again, he might decide to have them executed out of spite or in some misguided bid to make Soleia happy again.

But before he could pull Soleia out of the dilapidated house, Soleia handed him a knife.

"Chop off my finger," Soleia decided firmly. "That’s the only way to get it out."

Orion had to do a double-take at her response. "Don’t be ridiculous! That’s going too far," Orion said firmly, dragging her out the door and pushing the knife back into her hand.

He led her down more alleyways, and Soleia jogged to keep up.

"How is that going too far?" Soleia asked. "I think it’s an adequate response. If I don’t get rid of this, he’ll find us anywhere we go― even if we go on the seas, we’ll never be rid of him."

Orion shot her an incredulous glance. "It’s a finger, Soleia. It’s not going to grow back. I’m not chopping it off for you, especially in a place like this!" The foul stench of the slum entered their noses, further emphasizing Orion’s point. "You might just bleed out or develop an infection. Let’s not take drastic actions."

Soleia looked around, and she had to reluctantly concede the point. Maybe she could chop off her finger when she got on the boat.

They made their way deeper through the slums. Soleia continued to glance at her finger as the ring continued to pulse. Then, as suddenly as it started, it finally stopped.

Soleia narrowed her eyes at it suspiciously, her fingers instinctively going to touch the ring. Could some misfortune have befallen Rafael since he was also a wanted man? A niggling sense of worry entered her heart, and she scolded herself. She was having trouble keeping herself alive to care about him.

It was more likely that Rafael was distracted by something else. Her second husband was frighteningly capable. Either way, Soleia desperately needed the reprieve. She held onto the wall for support, half-panting in exhaustion. Orion stared at her with worry.

"I’ll carry you." He decided. "You’re not built to run around like this, and you could be pregnant―"

A shadow descended down from above, and a bloody whip cast a long shadow on the ground. Orion whirled around and used his sword to parry the blow.

"Soleia!" Rafael called out. "Come stand behind me. I understand why you did what you did. You didn’t need to hide this from me. I am ready to be a father, I will marry you right this moment―"

Soleia stared at Rafael. It seemed like he had arrived at the completely misguided conclusion to why she had left him. Since the short time they have been separated, Rafael looked like he had aged ten years. He was distraught, staring at Soleia as though he had never seen her before. His gaze was drawn to her belly, and she instinctively covered it with her hands.

Rafael looked even more hurt at her actions.

"She’s not going anywhere with you," Orion barked out, fighting back with all the strength he could muster. frёeweɓηovel.coɱ

Rafael dodged the swing of his sword, and the force of the blow ended up collapsing the wall next to them. Soleia covered her head to shield herself from the falling rubble, spluttering as dust entered her mouth.

"That’s not up to you to decide," Rafael snarled in response.

His eyes glowed more vibrantly than before, and suddenly, multiple bloody whips emerged like tentacles from an octopus. They wrapped themselves around Orion’s limbs, and with a wave of his hand, he got them to lift Orion into the air. Orion focused his energies, trying to get away, and Rafael’s eyes darkened.

"Stop it!" Soleia yelled out. She knew Rafael was going to slam Orion against the ground, and this would cause grave injury to him. "I’ll come back with you!"

A boyish grin grew on Rafael’s face.

"I knew you wouldn’t leave me willingly. You were scared, weren’t you? I’m sorry that I made you believe that I wasn’t ready for parenthood, but you must believe me, I would love nothing more than to embrace our child!"