The Hidden King's Stolen Wife-Chapter 238: Madman

Rafael snarled as he killed another party of soldiers that were blocking his way, parrying their blows with one sharp whip and then stabbing them in the throat with his bloody daggers. Blood flowed from his wounds; the soldiers had stabbed at his exposed skin.

He barely had a moment of reprieve. The moment he destroyed a wave of soldiers and took one step forward, he was forced one step back by the next wave of men that seemed to charge in without warning.

"Fuck," he spat out under his breath.

They had formed another human wall, quickly replacing the one he had just demolished. Rafael felt his temper rise while lethargy began to creep into his bones. The armor he wore had long been dented from their blows, and he had torn off his helmet to bash a few heads in when his blood powers were occupied.

These soldiers had taken his asshole brother’s words to heart, fully intending to block him so that he couldn’t even take a step forward. He couldn’t even spare an ounce of attention to chase after Soleia because these idiotic soldiers were fighting all at once.

It felt like he was pushing a boulder uphill. And with every second he wasted on these inconsequential bugs, the more danger Soleia was in. He snarled again and stabbed another three men through their throats before kicking them aside.

"Get out of my way!"

Rafael’s eyes widened. There was another man bowling through the soldiers like he was a boulder rolling downhill. Shouts of dismay and shock filled the air as the men flew across the ground, as though they were puffs of dandelion seeds instead of heavily armoured men.

There was only one man he knew that was capable of such a feat.

Orion Elsher had returned from the waves, triumphant, wielding a sword that he had picked up from one of the fallen soldiers, and he was hacking at Ricard’s men like they were weeds in his garden, water dripping from his hair.

"What are you waiting for?" Orion barked out loud the moment he caught sight of Rafael.

Rafael suddenly felt like he had been transported into the past, when he was still Orion’s right-hand man who listened faithfully to his orders.

"Go after her, you fool!"

***

Meanwhile, Soleia was gripping onto Oliver’s hand so tightly it was almost numb as he led her through a series of winding alleyways. Her breath came out in huge gasps as she ran for her life. Her thighs burned from the exertion, but she didn’t dare to stop, forcing herself to keep pace with Oliver’s rapid strides.

However, it was clearly not quick enough for Oliver.

"Princess, I’ll carry you. You can watch my back," Oliver offered. Without waiting for her response, he immediately picked her up in a bridal carry and sprinted forward, and Soleia gripped onto his shoulders, her fingers digging into his armor. In such a position, she could finally afford to turn her head, only to scream when she caught sight of someone chasing them.

"Duck!" Soleia shrieked.

A bloody whip flew in her direction, and it was only Soleia screaming ’duck’ in the nick of time that saved both her and Oliver from being skewered alive. The blow from the whip knocked down the walls of the alley, causing rubble to litter the floor.

Soleia coughed as she flew out of Oliver’s arms, rolling on the ground. She hurriedly shook off the blow and hid herself behind a broken wall, frantically grabbing her bag of crystals.

This was her only chance she and Oliver stood against Ricard. She cursed under her breath. If it had just been random soldiers sent to chase her down, she wouldn’t be so afraid.

But this was Ricard, a madman who didn’t bat an eyelash at his blood brother drowning, a man who just sent his whole army to attack his other brother, and the man who wanted to rip her unborn child out from her belly.

"Princess! Run, I’ll hold him off!" Oliver exclaimed. He stood before Ricard, unsheathing his sword to parry the blood whip.

Ricard’s response was a high, cruel laugh as he observed his opponent. A commoner without magic against him? It was tantamount to sending a baby to fight a war.

"You can run, but you’d never be able to hide from me," he declared, brandishing his whip so wildly that it cut through half of the walls of the alleyways.

Dust and noise filled the air, and Soleia tucked herself smaller in the ensuing rubble. Her shaky hands immediately rummaged through her bag of crystals, trying so desperately to search for her selenite.

Fear was making her hands sweaty. In the dark of night, every crystal looked identical. She sucked in a deep breath, and focused her senses to identify the selenite towers tucked inside the bag.

Once she had identified them, she hurriedly grabbed as much of them as she could, shoving them straight into the lining of her dress. If she had more time, and if Ricard wasn’t chasing them like a hellhound on the loose, she would have shoved it into her underwear.

She needed her gauntlet to work, and to do that, she had to have selenite on her at all times. Without her earrings, this was the next best thing.

And if Ricard actually got to the point where he could rip off all her clothes, death would be preferable. But she refused to go down without a fight. The selenite touched her skin, replenishing her strength.

The sound of blows being exchanged continued to echo through the alleys, but Soleia noted that they seemed to be slowing down.

Either Ricard was getting too bored, or... Oliver might not be able to hold on for much longer.

She had no time to lose. Soleia purposely picked up a few rocks from the ground, throwing them further and further away from her hiding spot, to make it look like she was running away in that particular direction, all while making a detour back. She needed to catch Ricard unawares. Every little advantage she could scrounge was necessary if she wanted to beat this monster.

"Princess, are we playing hide and seek now?" Ricard asked, in a sing-song tone. He sounded amused. "Your little guard is dangling on a noose. If you don’t show up by the count of three, he’ll die in my arms tonight. One, two―"