Rosangela: The Runaway Princess (Book #2)

Rosangela’s point of view:

Departing from the palace, I ran into the forest. It’s kind of creepy wandering the forest alone late at night. Firstly, it was dark here for the moon couldn’t break through the forest canopy, consequently, I could hardly see my way; secondly, I could hear the frightening sound of wolves howling in the distance followed by the different sounds of animals which lived in this forest; and then, to top it all, it suddenly started to rain lightly, making the path become wet and slippery. Along with the rain, the wind was blowing in gusts, making me chilled to the bones, so I had to brace myself against the wind.

‘Oh God, am I doing the right thing?’ I asked myself, ‘Should I press on or should I return to the kingdom of Nightshades? I mean, it’s surely only a matter of time before Sigmund comes to my rescue. So the sensible thing will be to sit tight and wait for him there, right?’

I pondered the questions for a moment then said inwardly, ‘But if I stay there longer, it will be far too risky. Especially if Prince Xavier and King Joaquin find out who I am exactly, I’m sure they’ll eat me alive.’

Just thinking about the possibility of what might happen to me when they discovered the truth about my identity made me shudder. So I quickly pushed the thought to the back of my mind.

‘It seems that I have no option but to leave the kingdom of Nightshades,’ I said decidedly, ‘I only hope I can find my way home, or else I’ll be in deep trouble.’

Dismissing my fears, I went deeper into the forest. The rain continued to pour down, causing my clothes soaking wet. My shoes were also caked with mud because I had to slosh along a muddy track through the forest.

After a couple of miles, I came across a steep hill. Slowly, I trudged up the hill. The path grew steeper as I climbed higher and it was getting slicker with rain too. Because I was not too careful, I slipped and lastly tumbled down the slope of the hill. I got a bonk on the head as I landed heavily at the bottom of the slope. Blood was streaming from my head. My eyes started to blur.

While I was hovering on the edge of consciousness, somewhere, distantly, I could hear Xavier’s familiar voice calling my name.

“Xavier,” I said weakly before drifting into unconsciousness.

Third person’s point of view:

Half an hour ago....

After Angela disappeared into the forest, Prince Xavier decided to retire to his study. Sitting behind his desk, Xavier caught himself wondering whether he had made a mistake of letting Angela go. It seemed like a good idea at that time. Angela was so insistent that his love for her was not real, but just infatuation. Therefore, he wanted to prove her that although he parted from her, it wouldn’t alter the way he felt for her.

However, the more he thought about it, the more he regretted his decision. He shouldn’t have allowed his temper to control him. If he was able to repress his anger, he wouldn’t have lost Angela by now.

To be away from Angela was a terrible wrench for Xavier. He felt an overwhelming desire to tear outta there to find her. Nevertheless, he was reluctant to swallow his pride and ask her to go back after he told her that she was free to leave. Once Xavier said something, he didn’t want to take it back ever again.

“What am I going to do?” he wondered aloud.

In the midst of his turmoil, his irritating friend, Benedict suddenly burst into the room without troubling to knock.

“Hello, Xavier, how are you doing?” Benedict greeted as he plonked himself down on the chair across from him.

“What are you doing here, Benny?” Xavier asked, sounding slightly truculent.

“I’ve told you countless times to stop calling me ‘Benny’, Xavier. Just call me ‘Benedict’ or ‘Ben’ for short, but don’t ‘Benny’, okay?” Benedict complained.

Xavier’s eyes rolled. “Yeah, whatever.”

Benedict snorted with annoyance.

“You haven’t answered my question, Ben. What are you doing here?” Xavier repeated his question, annoyed.

Benedict replied, “I heard Estefanía has just returned home from her trip. So I’m here to see her.”

“Why the devil do you want to see my mate?” Xavier stormed. He didn’t know why he felt a sudden pang of jealousy when he heard that Benny wanted to meet his mate. Was it possible that his heart subconsciously still desired her even though his mouth kept saying that he didn’t love her anymore?

“There’s no need to be jealous, Xavier. However, Estefanía is my best friend. I haven’t seen much of her in the past few months because she was too busy travelling around the world. So I want to meet her while I have the chance. Who knows when I will be able to see her again, right?” Benedict explained.

“You’re out of luck, Ben. Estefanía is not here. She’s just gone to visit her parents and I don’t know when she’ll be back,” Xavier said dully.

“So I’ve just missed her? Just my luck,” Benedict grumbled.

Xavier shook his head in disapproval.

“You should have prevented Estefanía from leaving before I arrived here, Xavier. Because of you, I can’t meet a friend whom I miss the most,” Benedict blamed him.

“You know Estefanía perfectly well, Ben. She’s not keen on being told what to do. So I can’t forbid her to go,” said Xavier.

“Oh, right. I forgot that Estefanía always does exactly as she pleases,” Benedict mumbled as if to himself.

“Tell me about it,” Xavier agreed with him.

“By the way, where is your beautiful pet, Xavier?” Benedict’s eyes darted around the room, looking for Angela. “I haven’t seen hide nor hair of her since I arrived here. Usually, wherever you go, she will always follow. But why isn’t he here now?”

“She’s gone,” said Xavier tartly.

Benedict looked at Xavier with exaggerated surprise. “So you have killed the poor girl?”

“Don’t be silly! It’s impossible for me to kill her,” Xavier chided him.

“Then, what do you mean by she’s gone?” Benedict queried in bewilderment.

“I meant, she doesn’t live here with me any more,” Xavier clarified.

Benedict’s forehead was bunched in a frown. “But why?”

“I kicked her out,” Xavier lied. Even though in reality Xavier had let Angela go, but he saved face by telling his best friend he’d kicked her to the curb. Xavier would have hated Benedict to know how weak he was in front of Angela.

“You did what?!” Benedict squawked.

“I had a blazing row with Angela, and I told her to go away out of fury,” Xavier explained.

“It’s an open secret that you and your pet are always fighting all the time. But you will always make it up with her at the end, right? So why did you have to chuck her out this time?” Benedict demanded aggressively.

Xavier let out a long sigh. “It’s very complicated, you won’t understand it, Ben.”

“Forget it! Now tell me, where is Angela going?” Benedict questioned impatiently.

Xavier gave a shrug of his shoulders. “I don’t have idea where exactly she’s going. But I last saw her running into the forest.”

“Are you out of your senses?” Benedict yelled at him, “Why did you let her run into the forest? You know, the forest is very dangerous for a girl like Angela. She could be killed out there.”

Xavier ran his fingers through his hair with frustration. “Shit! What have I done?”

“Come on, we have to search for her before it’s too late!” Benedict said urgently.

Xavier nodded. “OK. Let’s go!”

The two best friends finally headed to the forest in search of Angela.

“Angela? Angela?” Prince Xavier and Benedict shouted for her name, but there was no reply.

Both of them combed the area for Angela, however, there was no sign of her anywhere.

“Wherever can she have gone to?” Xavier asked anxiously.

“Look, calm down! We’ll find her. She must be somewhere about. I’m sure she can’t have strayed far,” Benedict said soothingly.

“Ah I forgot that I have inserted tracking device in her necklace.”

“What are you waiting for? Check it now!” Benedict told him.

“Okay.” Xavier nodded. Delving into his pocket for his mobile phone, he pulled it out and opened the application to track down Angela.

“I think I know where she is,” Xavier said at length.

“Let’s go!” said Benedict.

Prince Xavier and Benedict started following Angela’s trail on Xavier’s phone. The tracker led them to a steep hill. Lastly, those two friends began to trek up the hill.

“Her trail stops here,” Xavier told Benedict.

“But where is she?” asked Benedict.

“Search me!” Xavier replied, shrugging his shoulders.

Xavier and Benedict scanned the area for any sign of Angela. Their eyes nearly popped out of their heads when they found her lying unconscious at the bottom of the downward slope of the hill with blood flowed from a cut on her head.

“My goodness! Look at that! It’s Angela, Xavier!” Benedict said in a panicky voice, pointing in her direction.

“We must help her, Ben!” Xavier said urgently.

Benedict nodded. “Yes, let’s!”

Slowly, Prince Xavier and Benedic started to progress down the steep slope. The two of them hurried over to Angela and crouched down beside her.

“Angela, wake up!” Xavier tried shaking her by the shoulders, but there was no reaction.

Benedict placed his hand on Angela’s left wrist to take her pulse. “She’s still alive,” he announced.

Xavier breathed a sigh of relief when he heard that.

“Why don’t you give her your blood, Xavier? It will speed her recovery,” Benedict suggested.

“Are you crazy? Her human’s body is too frail. She could get killed if I gave my blood to her,” Xavier chided.

“But she--”

“We have no time to lose, Ben,” Xavier cut him off, “Do something to heal her! Now!”

“I’m a doctor not a witch, Xavier. I can’t heal her in a blink of an eye,” said Benedict.

“Then, what shall we do now?” Xavier wondered aloud.

“We have to rush Angela back to the palace so that I can tend to her injuries, Xavier,” Benedict stated.

“All right.” Prince Xavier scooped Angela up in his arms and finally started making his way to the palace with Benedict in tow.

“You have to hold on until we arrive at the palace, Angela!” Xavier spoke to her.