Rosangela: The Runaway Princess (Book #2)

“Rosangela, I’m going out of town for a couple of days,” Prince Xavier announced the following day.

“If you’re away, what about me?” I asked plaintively.

“Honestly, I’d like you to come along with me. But you are in no condition to go anywhere now, so you’d better stay here and wait until I return,” replied Xavier.

“I don’t like being alone in this place, Xavier. So, can I tag along with you?” I said, pleadingly.

“No, Rosangela, you can’t come with me. Like I said, you’re not in a fit state to go anywhere now,” Xavier said firmly.

I pursed my lips.

“But don’t worry!” he added, “You won’t be alone. I’ll have a maid accompany you here. If you want anything, you need only ask her, okay?”

“I don’t want to stay here with a maid; I want to string along with you, Xavier,” I insisted.

Xavier drew a sharp intake of breath. “How many times do I have to tell you that you’re not well enough to travel, Rosangela?”

“I’m feeling much better today. So, please let me go with you, Xavier!” I entreated.

Xavier shook his head in disapproval. “I don’t get it. When I insisted that you should come with me, you didn’t want to go with me. Now, when I told you to stay here, you pleaded with me to let you go along. What exactly do you want, Rosangela?”

“I just want to come with you, Xavier. So please let me go along! Please!” I implored.

“No, I won’t allow you to come along,” Xavier emphasized.

“If you don’t want to bring me along with you, I’d rather go home,” I browbeat.

He raised his eyebrows. “Go home?”

“Yeah. I’ll go back to my grandfather’s kingdom alone,” I bluffed.

I honestly didn’t want to return to the kingdom of Clanbella, but Xavier didn’t have to know about it, right?

“No! You are forbidden to leave,” Xavier hissed.

“Who are you to forbid me from leaving?” I snarled.

Xavier sighed. “This is for your own good, Rosangela. Remember what happened when I let you go alone yesterday? You nearly got yourself killed. I don’t want it to happen to you again. So, be an angel and stay here! Do you understand?”

“But Xavier—” I wanted to protest, but Prince Xavier interrupted.

“Look! There’s only four days to go before Sigmund comes to pick you up, right? You’d better wait for him here so that he can easily find you. It will be safer for you to stay in this palace too.”

“But if you weren’t here, the guards certainly won’t make it easy for me to leave,” I said apprehensively.

“I promise I’ll be back before Sigmund came here to fetch you. So, there’s no need to worry, okay?” he said reassuringly.

I regarded Xavier suspiciously. “You won’t go back on your promise, will you?”

“No, I won’t break my promise,” he stated.

“Fine. I’ll wait here until Sigmund comes to collect me,” I reluctantly agreed with him.

“There’s a good girl.” Xavier rumpled my hair playfully.

“Give over, Xavier! You’re messing my hair,” I complained, swatting his hand away from my hair.

Prince Xavier chuckled and then said, “I need to get going soon. I’ll call you after I’ve arrived there.”

Before I was able to respond, Xavier leapt to his feet and strode across the room.

“See you later!” he called and finally walked out the door.

After the door closed, I grumbled, “What a silly man! How can he call me when I don’t even have a mobile phone?”

No sooner had Prince Xavier left the room than there was a sharp knock on the door.

‘It must be the maid whom Xavier ordered to accompany me,’ I thought.

“Come in!” I shouted.

I waited but the maid didn’t open the door. She just rapped on the door again.

‘Maybe the maid wants me to open the door for her,’ I guessed.

“Hang on a sec!” I yelled before tumbling out of bed and shuffling across the room to the door.

I tugged the door open. Instead of a maid, I found the annoying guard standing in front of Prince Xavier’s bedroom. Without permission, he brushed past me and entered the room.

“What the bloody hell do you think you’re doing here?” I demanded angrily.

“I come here because I want to meet the princess,” the guard replied calmly.

I was completely dumbfounded by his answer, but I quickly recovered my equilibrium. “Princess? Which princess do you mean?” I asked innocently.

“Of course, I mean you.” He pointed his finger in my direction.

“Me?” I queried.

“Yeah.” He nodded.

“I don’t understand what you’re on about. Why did you call me princess?” I acted dumb.

“Stop pretending!” the guard snapped at me, “I know exactly who you are. You’re actually Princess Mirabelle, the granddaughter of King Bellamy from the kingdom of Clanbella, right?”

My eyes dilated with astonishment and fear. ‘How come he know my real identity?’

“You know,” the guard added, “I’ve heard a lot about you. And I’m so glad to finally be able to see the famous half-blood vampire princess. It’s a shame you have never told us that you’re actually Princess Mirabelle. If we had known from the start who you’re exactly, we would have thrown a big party to welcome you to our kingdom.”

I was immediately gripped by a feeling of panic. ‘Well, I’ll be darned! They have known that I am actually Princess Mirabelle! What am I going to do now?’

‘Run, Rosanne!’ my conscience screamed.

Without a second thought, I made a dart for the door and ran out into the corridor. I heard footsteps behind me, so without having to look back, I knew that the annoying guard was running after me.

“You there! Come back!” he shouted after me.

Ignoring him, I ran faster.

The guard quickened his pace to catch up with me.

“Gotcha!” the guard yelled as he grabbed me by the arm.

I gave the guard a jab in the ribs with my elbow and then kicked him in the groin.

The guard yelped in pain and loosened his grip on me. As a result, I managed to wriggle free.

I finally bolted down the corridor with the guard in hot pursuit. I twisted and turned to avoid being caught by the annoying guard. When I spotted the staircase at the end of the corridor, I made a break for it as fast as I could.

I charged down the stairs. The guard pelted downstairs after me. As I reached at the bottom of the stairs, the guard grabbed me around the middle. I prised his fingers from my waist and pushed him over with all my might. He fell to the floor with a groan.

Leaving the guard behind, I sprinted for the front door of the palace.

“Seize her!” the annoying guard barked out an order at the guards who were posted by the entrance of the palace.

Two guards stood in the doorway, barring my exit.

“Mind out—you’re in my way!” I growled at those guards.

Hypnotized by me, the guards moved aside to let me pass.

“Are you stupid or what? Why did you let her past?” I heard the annoying guard reprimanded the other guards.

“I—I am sorry, Sir,” one of the guards stuttered a reply, “We—”

“Forget it!” the annoying guard interjected, “Catch the girl! Now!”

Those three guards lastly chased after me. Fortunately, I managed to give them the slip by hiding behind a big tree. As soon as the coast was clear, I emerged from my hiding place and legged it down the road before going into the forest.

After running through the forest for about fifteen minutes, I was out of breath. Therefore, I had to stop to catch my breath. All of a sudden, I heard the sound of footsteps getting closer to me. Hurriedly, I ducked down behind a thick bush so they wouldn’t see me.

Not long after that, those guards got to my place. Their eyes roamed the area. Luckily for me, the three of them couldn’t find me.

I breathed a sigh of relief when they finally left. However, I stayed hidden; I couldn’t chance coming out because I was afraid they would be back and notice me.

‘Whew! That was close—those guards nearly caught me,’ I thought.

‘I wonder how that annoying guard could find out about my real identity. Who has revealed my secret to him? Could it be Prince Xavier or maybe his friend, Benedict? Because they are the only people that know who exactly I am,’ I asked myself.

I was so wrapped up in my thought that I didn’t realize someone crept up on me and gave me a crack across the head. Consequently, I soon drifted into unconsciousness.