The Hidden King's Stolen Wife-Chapter 239: Winding Snake

"Princess, don’t come―" Oliver screamed, and Soleia bit her lip so hard to stifle the cry of pain that threatened to emerge when she heard the way his voice got cut off.

In the still of the night, she heard the sick gurgle of blood splashing on the floor. The metallic stench of blood filled the air, and she closed her eyes for a second, mourning Oliver’s death.

He didn’t deserve to die. Soleia clenched her fists, her fingers digging into the skin of her palms. The pain grounded her. She continued to creep closer to Ricard, making sure to keep her footsteps as quiet as possible.

"Oops, guess I overdid it," Ricard said loudly. Soleia could just imagine his nonchalant shrug. "I must say, you are awfully cruel to let this man die in such a way. But I guess this is what makes us a perfect match."

He let out a sigh and raised his voice. "Ready or not, Princess, here I come!"

Soleia hunched further, creeping around the corners. She tried to keep her breathing as quiet as possible, but every tiny step she took seemed to echo in the silence. While etiquette lessons had taught her to walk lightly on her feet, she highly doubted her old tutors had meant for her to use this skill to escape and ambush a murderous prince.

She felt a lot like a mouse trapped in a cage with a cat that was toying with her on purpose. The shadows around her seemed to twist, elongating with her every step. She turned around every few steps, checking for his presence.

Only to find herself face to face with Ricard.

"Found you," Ricard whispered triumphantly, causing her to stumble back.

He reached out, gripping her using his blood. But this time, Soleia was prepared. She raised one hand just in time to grab his blood, while the other immediately activated the gauntlet, aiming it straight at Ricard’s smarmy face.

A blast of fire shot through her hands, burning his face from such a short distance that Ricard was completely caught by surprise. The alleyways lit up brightly, highlighting the destruction that Ricard had wrecked moments prior.

In that split second, Soleia caught a glimpse of Oliver’s body slumped on the floor, in a pool of his own blood. She snarled and fired another blast at Ricard, wanting him to catch fire.

The smell of charred flesh filled the air. Soleia would have retched at any other time, but now she merely felt delighted. Ricard howled as he felt his skin blister, the beginnings of a burn forming on his skin.

"You bitch!" He screamed, one of his hands holding onto his face. He couldn’t believe what he had just witnessed, and a hysterical laugh bubbled out of his throat in an insane cackle. "What else are you hiding from me?" He roared, and bloody vines began to shoot straight in a frenzy at Soleia, intending to capture her.

This princess actually managed to conjure fire!

"Die!" Soleia cried out, purposely running straight into the vines with her hand outstretched.

Her fervour made Ricard take an involuntary step back, but it was too late― Soleia’s hand had gripped onto his hand, right over the cut he had slit earlier to summon more blood. He felt his control of blood slipping the longer she held onto him, and he hurriedly shook her off before she could take more of his powers.

The bloody vines swirled closer around him, protecting him. But now, he was on the defensive. He couldn’t risk Soleia touching him. His eyes roved over her, trying to catch a glimpse of the selenite. Her ears were bare, and so was her neck.

His eyes were then drawn to her other hand.

Princess Soleia’s other hand was balled into a fist, and Ricard’s eyes widened as he caught sight of a crystal glowing in the dark. It looked like a carnelian, an exact mirror of the one hanging on his neck. He gnashed his teeth, upset with himself for not paying enough attention to Soleia’s hands.

"Princess, you are just full of surprises, aren’t you?" Ricard said with gritted teeth.

How could he not have noticed that she was carrying other gems? Suddenly, he remembered dear old Minister Goldstein lamenting that Princess Soleia had made off with the gems in their treasury. He hadn’t cared much about it since it wasn’t as though Soleia could make use of anything else other than the selenite.

Well, that was his mistake. And the scorching heat that enveloped his face was proof of that!

This woman... she had been planning this for a long time!

"You... You’re a monster!" Ricard exclaimed, torn between fear and delight. Princess Soleia could use the powers she had nullified on others. With such a power on his side, forget Raxvuia’s throne― he could take over the world if he wished!

He smiled maniacally at the thought, ignoring the way his torn skin protested with pain. The need to conquer Soleia overwhelmed whatever complaint his body had.

"Coming from you, that’s nothing less than a compliment," Soleia retorted fiercely, relishing in the brief expression of panic that crossed Ricard’s face.

Good. Let him fear her. This was the least he deserved after the terror he inflicted on her and all his other victims.

She felt his power flow into her, settling into her gut where Anastasia’s power used to be.

Now that the fire had left her, she felt her body grow colder― but she refused to show any sign of weakness in front of this monster. All she wanted to do was to wipe that smug smirk off this bastard’s face once and for all.

"We can rule the world together," Ricard offered. "I know we have started on the wrong foot, but what’s to say we let bygones be bygones?"

Of course, Ricard had no such plans. He simply needed to distract her so that he could get that strange metal contraption off her hand, and then he’d subdue her with his physical strength.

He glanced at the dead body of his brother’s lapdog and smirked. He was a great fighter; Ricard would give him that. Oliver managed to leave a couple of cuts and slices into Ricard’s skin before he was eventually cut down.

With a crook of his finger, he felt the blood that was spilled during their fight rise to do his beckoning. Even when weakened, Ricard was no slouch. Like a winding snake, the stream of blood made its way to Soleia’s back, preparing to strike.

"Over my dead body," Soleia hissed out and fired a blast of ice straight at his face, just as she felt her arm growing numb. She glanced down, only to see her entire forearm covered with blood.

"As you wish."