6 A Threat?

Cassandra was silent as she tried to wiggle.

"Be quiet and don't move."

Cassandra's movements stopped at the command as she tried to be like a statue.

"Duke …" The guard said as his voice trembled. The Duke was facing the wall of shrubs, but he was not the only one there. "That …"

Aiden looked at the guard with his red eyes, gazing into his soul "What?"

Nothing. The guard was frightened and tried to leave in a hurry.

[The Princess might not be here.]

All he could see was a skirt that was red and not the lady that was with the Duke. It was as if he had stumbled upon a huge secret.

[Princess Cassandra wore blue. But the lady with Duke Aiden has a red dress.]

[Who might she be?]

[Duke's lover?]

"Don't say a word about this. What you saw here should not be spread." Aiden's deep sound in the stillness is like a death sentence.

"O... Of Cou … of course." At regular times, saying such words to a royal guard was punishable but the order was directly from Duke Salvador. A man with an army throwing fire.

Aiden looked down at Cassandra who was deep in thoughts as she looked down at her gown.

'I am blessed that the Third Princess had poured the wine on me. It made my dress red.'

A smile formed on Cassandra's face as she tried to enjoy the feeling of escaping a calamity, unaware that a disaster was waiting for her.

Aiden's red eyes glowed under the setting sun as he looked at Cassandra with a smirk on his face.

"Should I be worried about why a Princess was running away from the royal guards?" Aiden asked, making Cassandra look straight at him.

Cassandra's eyes stopped as soon as she saw Aiden's face. The setting sun was looking beautiful behind them as it painted the whole sky orange. The red in Duke Salvador's eyes complemented it creating a dream-like vibe.

Aiden smirked as he touched Cassandra's cheeks. "Are you falling in love with me as well?"

Cassandra could not hear any of his words as her mind was preoccupied. She was trying to read his thoughts but it was blank, like a white page. She could not hear a single word.

"Princess …"

"Do you not think?" Cassandra asked suddenly, her voice low as if she was asking the question to herself.

Aiden was silent. Did he not think? What type of question was that? Of course, he thought so. Was there a single human who could not think? But Aiden did not say that.

The Princess was looking so engrossed in herself that he could not bring himself to say such words to her. But it was not the time to think about that here. They need to get out of the place soon.

Aiden looked at Cassandra as he said. "Hold on tight Princess." Aiden scooped Cassandra up as he made his way through a secret tunnel.

As a part of the army, he knew a lot of secret tunnels that should be known to the military while some he had discovered when he was small. Aiden's steps were long and steady. He pulled Cassandra tightly thinking what a small body she possessed for a princess. He felt like she was not fed properly in the palace. After all, how can a Princess be this light?

But Aiden did not voice his views. Cassandra's words were still echoing in his mind. What an unusual question to ask. Aiden had seen a lot of ladies who were mesmerized by his looks. Some of them had their eyes wide as she approached him. Some asked if they could meet privately while others simply offered him a signal that they were interested in him. But Aiden had rejected them all.

Aiden knew what they were interested in was not him but the power he held. They did not like the man but his looks. And that did not sit well with him. He also knew that the Emperor wanted him to marry one of the princesses to strengthen their bond through a political marriage. Wasn't it rumored that the first Princess was interested in him? Aiden wondered.

The Royalty was looking at him at all times as if waiting for him to approach her. But Aiden did not have time as he was interested in watching someone else closely.

"Oh …" Cassandra said, bringing Aiden back from his thoughts. "I wanted to be here."

They were on the balcony of the third floor. The place where no one usually roamed. But how did Duke Salvador know of this place, Cassandra wondered. Cassandra wiggled in Aiden's arms as she tried coming down.

Aiden laughed as he firmly put Cassandra on the floor as he saw her adjusting her dress in a hurry.

"I am grateful that the Duke has saved me yet again." Cassandra looked down at the ground.

"Yes, it has been twice now." Aiden laughed, as he waved his hand as if it was not a big deal.

"But how did the Duke know I wanted to come here?" Cassandra asked as she raised her eyes, Looking at Aiden through her lashes.

"Did you? I had no idea." Aiden looked at the surroundings. The place was well decorated with roses coming through from the ground and moving up.

"This is a nice place to hide." Aiden smiled as he looked at Cassandra who was silent, before she nodded. Cassandra moved towards the railing as she rested her hands over it. "It is."

Aiden looked at Cassandra, The moon was about to come out changing Cassandra's hair from yellow to a shade of white. The hairs that were blond in the setting sun resembled silver in the moonlight.

'She is the rumored Princess.'

Aiden was sure of it now. A Princess who had no power whatsoever had platinum blonde hair. Many people said that she had that color because she was a royal but as she had no powers the shades of her hair were the lightest, resembling white at times.

Aiden looked at Cassandra, who was deep in thoughts of her own. 'She does look good in both.'

'Even though they call her powerless no one can deny her beauty.'

'She looks like a moon goddess.'

Aiden's lips curled upwards subconsciously as he walked towards Cassandra. Her skin had no extra powder like the others. Her skin was glowing like silver.

"Can I ask the Princess something?" Aiden asked, looking straight at Cassandra.

"Your excellency doesn't have to ask for my permission."

Aiden nodded. "Then why were they following you?"

"They?"

"The Royal guard?"

Cassandra's eyes widened as she heard those words from Duke Salvador. What was she supposed to answer when she herself didn't know why?

"I don't know?" Cassandra murmured under her breath.

'Why were they following me?'

'What is the Empress planning?'

'Is it my time to get married and leave the palace soon?'

'But even if it is. I should have a right to choose my own husband.'

Cassandra was deep in thoughts.

'If marriage is the only solution then I have to find someone soon.'

Cassandra knew that the Empress was planning to send her off. She was trying to play every trick in her book to get to her goal and that was to send her away from the palace.

'But why?'

'What made her think like that?'

Aiden was silent when he heard Cassandra's words. He thought it was funny. The Earl he had captured also said the words along the line that he just wanted to ask the fifth princess to have a dance. But Aiden's instincts had told him that it was not the case. The Earl was hiding something.

The panic in the eyes of the Princess was real. It felt like she desperately wanted to escape just like now when she hid herself in the wall of shrubs.

'Something is not adding up.'

'I need to investigate.'

Aiden thought as he looked at Cassandra whose eyes were filled with irritation. Aiden sighed, 'This Princess is really not interested in me.'

As Aiden looked down he saw the bruises on Cassandra's body. They have turned blue-black by now. 'It must be from the time she hid.' But soon Aiden's gaze stopped near Cassandra's neck where red blood was dripping off.

"Princess .." Aiden said, bringing Cassandra back from her thoughts.

As soon as Cassandra saw Aiden, she felt she had found her answer. Why the Empress was behaving the way she was.

"You … You are the reason …" Cassandra murmured.

The Empresses had started hating her from the time Duke Salvador was rumored to enter the capital.

'Yes, Why did I not think of it.'

'It is because the Empress fears that something between us might happen.'

'She wants Princess Valeria to be the Duchess.'

'It all makes sense now. She just wants to remove me from the dynamics.'

'But why a powerless Princess like me?'

'Why does she think of me as a threat?'