Rosangela: The Runaway Princess (Book #2)

The prince leaned forward to scrutinize my now bruised cheek, and then asked, “Are you okay?”

“Why do you care?” I asked back fiercely.

“Because you’re my pet. I just want to make sure that the guard didn’t cause serious damage to my property,” he answered arrogantly.

I gnashed my teeth. “I’m no one’s property.”

“Oh yes, you’re mine,” he said with a cocky smile.

“No, I am not yours,” I said furiously.

“Yes, you’re.”

“No, I’m not.”

“Yes, you are.”

“No, I am not.”

“Yes, you’re.”

“No, I’m—”

“Enough!” he cut me in, “Just quit it! I don’t want to argue with you about this stupid thing anymore.”

I smiled triumphantly. But my smile soon faded when I realized that the prince was looking at me in a very strange way. I began to feel distinctly uneasy because his green eyes seemed to bore into mine.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” I demanded.

The prince never took his eyes off of me as he said, “Your face looks vaguely familiar. Have we ever met before?”

His question completely floored me. 'My goodness, no! Did he ever see me in my engagement party or maybe in my wedding? If he finds out who I am, I’m dead meat,' I thought.

'Okay, don’t panic, Rosanne! It seems that this vampire prince doesn’t recognize you, so I think you’d better refute it,' my conscience advised.

I agreed with her. So I said, “No, I don’t think we’ve met before.”

“No, I’m sure I’ve seen you before,” the prince said with certitude, “but I just can’t call to mind where we met.”

I laughed to cover my nervousness. “Don’t be silly! You’re a vampire prince, meanwhile I’m just an ordinary human. There’s no way we’ve ever met before.”

The prince huffed. “I grudgingly admit that you’re right. But I usually never forget a face. However, it’s strange that I can’t place you.”

“I think you must be mistaking me for someone else. You know, so many people resemble each other,” I reasoned.

He thought for a moment before saying, “Forget it!”

I secretly heaved a sigh of relief when the vampire prince finally decided to drop the subject.

“By the way, what’s your name, Pet?” The prince inquired with his arms folded across his chest.

“Don’t call me that! I’m not a pet; I am a human being,” I retorted.

'Okay, it’s a lie. I am a half-blood vampire,' I thought.

“If you don’t want me to call you pet, you’d better tell me what your name is right now,” he stated.

“I’ll tell you mine if you tell me yours first.” I simpered.

“Fair enough!” he commented, “My name is Xavier. I’m the crown prince of the kingdom of Nightshades. But you must address me as ‘Master’ because from this day on, you’re going to be my pet.”

“Like hell I’ll call you that,” I scoffed.

A smirk grew across his lips. “Fine. If you don’t want to call me ‘Master’, you can call me with other endearments, such as: Darling, Honey, Beib, Sweetheart, or—”

“In your dreams!” I spat, cutting him off.

Prince Xavier laughed. “The guard is right. You’re so feisty. I like you already.”

“You’re so annoying and I hate you already,” I talked back.

“Watch your mouth! You’re lucky I like you, so I’ll let you off for speaking of your hate for the prince of Nightshades. But remember! It’s only for this once. The next time you dare speak to me like that again, I’ll punish you in the way that you can’t even imagine, Pet,” the prince threatened me.

'Do you think you can frighten me by threatening to punish me like that, Xavier? To tell you the truth, I am not afraid at all. You’re lucky because I am in disguise right now, or else you’re the one who will be punished by the almighty King Bellamy for imprisoning his granddaughter and treating her like a pet,' I thought.

“Why do you remain silent? Has the cat got your tongue?” Prince Xavier queried teasingly.

“Oh very funny! How could a cat get my tongue when there’s no even any cat around here? All I can see is a chicken who only dares to fight with a girl,” I said sarcastically.

Prince Xavier clenched and unclenched his fists, trying to keep his temper in check. “That’s enough! Now tell me! What’s your name?” he demanded through gritted teeth.

“I’ll only tell you my name when Hell freezes over,” I emphasized venomously.

“We had a deal, remember? I’ve told you my name, so now it’s your turn to tell me yours,” he reminded me.

I shrugged. “I don’t remember making any deal with you.”

“Okay. Maybe I need to torture your werewolf mate to obtain information about your name,” he browbeat me.

“Don’t you dare touch him!” I bellowed.

“If you don’t want me to hurt him, you must tell me your name. Right now!” he ordered.

I threw up my hands in defeat. “Fine. You win. My name is Angela. Angela Sinclair.”

Prince Xavier smiled with victory. “There’s a good girl! See, that wasn’t so hard, was it?”

I looked daggers at the vampire prince. 'You think you’ve beaten me, Xavier, but that’s where you’re wrong. I told you I would only tell you my name when Hell freezes over, and I stuck to my word. I haven’t told you my real name yet. I’ll make sure you’ll never know that I’m Rosangela Grandville, alias Princess Mirabelle, the heir of the kingdom of Clanbella.'

“A propósito, eres muy hermosa, Angela (By the way, you’re very beautiful, Angela),” Prince Xavier spoke in a soft voice.

'Did I just hear Prince Xavier saying that I’m beautiful? Oh no, it’s impossible. There must be something wrong with my ears,' I thought.

“What did you say?” I wanted to make sure what he just said, but Prince Xavier thought that I didn’t understand Spanish instead.

“I said you’re filthy,” he lied to me.

I stifled a smirk. 'Oh I see! So he deliberately spoke Spanish because he thought that I wouldn’t understand it? Okay, I’ll play along with his idea. He will definitely be embarrassed when he eventually finds out the truth.'

I put my hands on my hips. “Excuse me, I wouldn’t get filthy if your guards didn’t tackle me to the ground.”

Prince Xavier rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah. Take a shower now! After that go to bed! The sun is about to rise soon. I need to get some sleep too, you know.”

“But the problem is, I don’t have a change of clothes. Besides, where shall I sleep?” I complained.

“Oh yeah, you’re right. Wait a minute!” Prince Xavier walked over to his desk and pressed the intercom.

“Mariana, come to my bedroom right now!” The prince barked an order.

“Sure, Your Highness,” someone responded from the other side of the intercom.

A few minutes later, there was a knock on the door.

“Come in!” Prince Xavier commanded.

The door swung open and a middle aged woman in the maid uniform walked in. “How may I help you, Your Highness?”

“Mariana, this is Angela. And Angela, this is Mariana, the head maid in this castle,” Prince Xavier introduced us to each other.

“Oh hi Mariana.” I held my hand out to her, but Mariana didn’t shake it, she only gave me a nod as a response.

I drew my hand back and frowned. 'Is it just me or is Mariana really a rude woman?'

“Mariana, escort Angela to one of the spare bedrooms in the slave quarters! Don’t forget to tell her to have a shower and then give her clean clothes!” Xavier ordered her.

“Alright, Your Highness. Is there anything else that you need?” Mariana inquired.

“No, you may leave now!” he dismissed us.

“Please excuse us.” Mariana bowed. She turned at me and gave a jerk of her head, indicating that I should follow her.

'I think Mariana is indeed rude. Can’t she say please follow me?' I grumbled in my mind.

Mariana turned on her heels and headed for the door. I spared Prince Xavier one last glance before going after Mariana out of the prince’s bedroom.

Mariana led me to the slave quarters which was apparently on the ground floor. My feet were throbbing because I had to climb down hundreds of steps and I also felt utterly exhausted.

“Here we are!” she exclaimed when we arrived in front of the double doors leading to the slaveuarters.

I heaved a sigh of relief. “Finally!”

Mariana opened the double doors, revealing a long corridor with doors on either side. We strolled down the hallway before coming to a stop in front of one of the doors.

“This is going to be your room,” Mariana said as she opened the door.

I gawked at the sight of ‘my new bedroom’. This room was pretty small, fitting only a single bed, a dresser, and a stool. The walls were not white like the one in Prince Xavier’s bedroom, but rather a sort of dirty grey. A single light bulb dangled from the white ceiling. There was a tiny windows just beneath the ceiling that was fitted with bars. The floor seemed to be made of softwood and it wasn’t even covered with carpet. This room reminded me of a prison cell. The only difference was the door in this room wasn’t barred.

'So I am going to sleep here? I know it’s only a slave bedroom, so I won’t expect it to be as big as a princess’ bedroom. But why does it have to be so small? Even my bathroom back at home is much bigger than this one,' I complained inwardly.

“There are clean clothes that you can wear in that dresser.” Mariana pointed to the dresser that was placed next to the single bed. “And if you want to take a shower, you can go to the communal bathroom.”

'Communal bathroom? So all of the slaves have to share a bathroom? Great!' I thought.

“Okay, I think that’s all. I am going to bed now. If you need anything else, you can ask me. My bedroom is the first door in the hall.” She pointed to the direction of her bedroom.

I nodded my head in understanding. “Okay. Thank you.”

Mariana spun on her heels and was about to walk away, but I held her back when I just realized something. “Wait!”

Turning around, Mariana asked me, “What else?” she sounded irritated.

“You haven’t told me where the bathroom is,” I replied.

“Oh right.” She sighed, then explained, “Go along this corridor, turn left, and you’ll see the bathroom in front of you.”

“Okay, I get it. Thanks,” I said.

Without giving me a response, Mariana whirled around and finally retired to her bedroom.

I entered my bedroom and approached the dresser. The dresser had six drawers in total. I opened the drawers one by one. The first drawer was full of what looked like maid uniforms. Everything was in black and white. The second drawer consisted of nightdresses in pastel colour. The third drawer filled with panties and bras. The fourth drawer contained make-up products, a hairbrush, and a mirror. In the fifth drawer were several pairs of stocking, pantyhose, and socks. And in the last drawer, there were three boxes of black high-heeled shoes.

I pulled out the first thing on top of the pile of nightdresses and a pair of matching panties and bra, and then rushed out of my room before heading towards the direction of the bathroom.

To my relief, the communal bathroom was divided based on gender. I entered the ladies’ bathroom and scanned around the room. This bathroom was very big. Because it was almost sunrise, the bathroom was empty now. There was a long vanity with several sinks that was used to store clean towels and bathrobes. A large mirror was hanging over the vanity. There were also toilet stalls and separate shower cubicles. In the corner of the bathroom was a cabinet that was used for storing toiletries, feminine hygiene, and first aid kit.

I grabbed a towel from the vanity and then went for one of the shower cubicles. I took off my slip-on shoes before I walked into the shower cubicle and locked the door after me.

I hung my clean clothes and towel in the hanger. Then, I flung off my denim jacket and pyjama before throwing them to a small laundry basket at the corner of the cubicle. After that, I had a quick warm shower, then dried myself off, and finally changed into the nightdress that I had picked. I threw the wet towel to the laundry basket before walking out of the shower cubicle and slipped my shoes on again.

I opened the cabinet and took out an unused toothpaste and toothbrush. Afterwards, I brushed my teeth in front of the mirror. Once finished, I put the toothbrush and toothpaste away. At last, I left the bathroom and returned to my bedroom.

As soon as I reached my bedroom, I climbed into bed and soon fell into a deep slumber.