The Hidden King's Stolen Wife-Chapter 235: Deserved As Much

Immediately after Ricard gave the order, there was a sudden thundering of footsteps. The deck gave a pained groan, and the ship lurched precariously to the side as the men charged towards the lifeboats with desperate abandon, pushing and shoving each other in order to squeeze on the vessel.

However, no one dared to approach the vessel that Soleia was on, despite the fact that there was plenty of room available. They would rather squeeze twenty men into a single boat than take one step closer to her and their prince.

And with good reason.

Soleia screamed as her body rolled to the edge of the boat, nearly tipping over into the ocean. Due to the sudden increase in weight on one side of the ship, the tiny lifeboat was tilting precariously to the side. With her bound arms, she couldn’t grip onto anything.

Ricard let out a laugh at her panic and simply pulled her back with his bloody rope so that she was nestled in his arms. Soleia hated how her shoulders sagged with relief in his hold.

"Careful, I wouldn’t want to take a sudden swim if I were you," Ricard said casually.

"If you hadn’t bound me, I could at least grab onto something," Soleia retorted peevishly.

Ricard cooed at her anger and cheerfully responded by cutting the ropes attaching the lifeboat to the main ship.

"Oops," Ricard laughed as Soleia screamed. He used his ability to anchor himself on the lifeboat, but he didn’t offer that help to Soleia. Poor Soleia was left to flounder in the air as her body suddenly realized it wasn’t resting on a solid surface, and the only thing it could do was fall.

And fall she did. Screams tore out of Soleia’s throat as she could only stare helplessly at how the ocean seemed to get closer and closer by the second. She winced, preparing for the pain once she hit the water.

The blow never came. Soleia breathed raggedly, cautiously opening her eyes to see that she was a mere hair’s breadth away from the surface of the ocean. Her tiny exhalation caused tiny ripples to form in the water, and the smell of briny seawater flooded her nose. ƒгeeweɓn૦vel.com

"Fancy a dip?"

Soleia struggled as Ricard bobbed her up and down with his powers. Her shoes and stockings were wet, but that bastard prince remained dry. She couldn’t free herself, and he didn’t get splashed either. Ricard dangled her like a worm on a hook from his spot in the lifeboat, laughing all the while.

The easy display of his power made her sick, and she longed to grab the selenite tower hidden in her bag to take it away from him. She wanted to make him pay.

"You’re looking awfully busy," Ricard said with great amusement. "Maybe I should have you pull this lifeboat to shore with your swimming prowess."

"Is this funny to you?" Soleia screamed, enraged by her own helplessness.

"Of course. Why else would I be doing it?" Ricard pointed out maliciously.

But then he remembered that he could have more fun torturing his new wife once they got back on the shore, so he regretfully dragged her back to the boat, hugging her waist tightly as though she was a bolster on his bed.

"You there!" Ricard called out to the men closest to him. "Two of you, get on this boat and row!"

The unlucky chosen soldiers swam over and got on, quickly grabbing onto the oars. None of them had Orion’s strength, so the boat did move slower than expected. But Soleia would have rather it not move at all; she stared at the rapidly approaching shoreline with dread in her eyes, wondering if she could suddenly kill herself before they arrived.

There seemed to be soldiers already awaiting their arrival. Soleia couldn’t run even if she was unbound, and Ricard wouldn’t let her die so easily. She knew she would be nothing more than a plaything to him, and he would easily rip her unborn child from her womb, now that Raziel wasn’t here to fight him against it.

Their unborn child. Tears began to fill Soleia’s eyes as she thought of Rafael. What would she give to see him again once more, for him to hold her in his arms and wipe away her tears. But she did not deserve such care from him, not after how she left him.

Her heart ached. It would have been better if Rafael had not seen her in such a pathetic state. It would be better if he forgot her entirely.

"Aww, you’re crying." Ricard pulled out a handkerchief and dabbed her eyes dry, but there wasn’t a single ounce of concern in his eyes. Instead, he looked ecstatic at her despair. "Don’t cry yet, sweetheart. The real waterworks should come later when we consummate our marriage."

Soleia’s face paled further. "But I’m pregnant― You cannot be serious―"

Ricard’s eyes darkened. "Not for much longer. Raziel is not the only person capable of killing unborn children. If the healers in the palace can’t manage it, I’ll carve out the hellspawn from your body."

He tightened his grip around her waist, hard enough to become painful. Then just as suddenly, he let go.

"Of course, if you beg me, I’ll make it painless for you," Ricard offered. "I’ll at least make sure that you’re unconscious when I remove my brother’s demon spawn from you." He waited for Soleia’s response.

Soleia wet her lip and stared at him. There was a moment of silence, before she sucked in a deep breath.

"Fuck.You."

Ricard’s fingers gripped her cheeks painfully, causing the insides of her mouth to scrape against her teeth. It would be painful, but compared to her impending fate, Soleia couldn’t care less. If Ricard was going to murder her child, she refused to be unconscious for it. She would fight him every step of the way. Her unborn child deserved at least that much from her.

Rafael’s child deserved that much.

Ricard snarled, and a heavy blow landed on her cheek. Blood filled her mouth. But she forced herself to remain awake, spitting out a tiny mouthful in Ricard’s face.

"I’ve given you so many chances... but since you want to suffer, don’t blame me for being unkind!"