Chapter 53 - Eight To Escape You

"Are you lost, Mia Amour?" The flirtatious Captain asked her in a teasing tone.

Before Persephone could answer him, she heard someone clearing his throat. Someone who she had been dying to see since this morning. Just kidding. 

"It seems Captain Gabriel is too free these days?"

Captain Gabriel stiffened as he heard Santiago's voice. Shit. Where did he come from? He was about to covet a certain beauty. Why must he throw cold water on his hot plans? Wasn't it enough that he had been working nonstop since the last forty-eight because of him? 

"Mr. Vit--"

"You may leave, Captain Gabriel," Santiago said without giving him a chance. Glancing at her, he said in a cold tone, "And you come with me." 

Satisfied with him, she nodded. 

Walking behind him, she turned her head to look at Captain Gabriel who was weirdly staring at them, and winked at him. She mouthed him, 'Thank you.' 

Captain Gabriel cursed when he realized that the woman used him to catch Santiago's attention. 

Nonetheless, he was more than intrigued by this tiny gorgeous Italian woman. 

…

When Persephone walked into the Santiago private room which he had been allotted by the King himself, she was left gaping at the luxuriousness of the place. 

Santiago turned back and captured her between the wall and his chest. Staring into her eyes, he asked, "What do you think you were doing?"

Persephone was stunned for a moment. There was a hint of dazedness in her eyes. Picking up her hand, she slowly trailed the bride of his nose and as she was about to touch his lips, Santiago grasped her wandering hand.

Jolting out of the daze, she gulped down her nonexistent saliva and murmured an apology before looking down. 

What Santiago didn't understand was this empty feeling when she turned her gaze off his face. Was he disgusting her again? Did she hate him so much that she couldn't even look into his eyes? Was it the reason why she was seducing that man? 

If Captain Gabriel wasn't related to His Majesty, he had certainly gotten rid of him. Why must she attract all kinds of flies to her? 

"I was looking for you all over the palace but no one knew where you were," Persephone murmured while looking at the ground. "It was not my intention to catch the attention of the man who you saw earlier. I just used him to get to you." 

"You have an indescribable talent of using people as your pawn, don't you?" Santiago asked him in a very controlled voice. 

She could understand that he was angry with her and why wouldn't he be? She took advantage of the power outage and fled out of the island. But it was not her fault that the man standing too close to him was a criminal just like her father. 

"Am I not a pawn in your game, Villain? Are you not using me to get to my father?" Persephone looked at him and angrily said.

"That's the real you," Villain said, pinching her chin. "The shy woman from earlier was a facade too, wasn't she, Persephone Marino?" 

Persephone didn't reply; she just turned her eyes from him. Yes, that woman from earlier was fake too. She had noticed the CCTV camera installed behind Captain Gabriel. And knowing Villain's nature, she was aware that he had eyes on each and every movement of hers. He would never let her talk to an unknown man due to security reasons. He didn't want her to escape from him again. And yes, her plan worked. It merely took him five minutes to appear before her. 

It wasn't scheming, just a survival instinct. He couldn't blame her when she was doing everything in her power to escape his cruelty. He was a vicious man and wouldn't stop until he got what he wanted. Sadly, it wasn't Persephone that he wanted. 

"Yes, she was," She replied in a mellow voice. "But tell me what could I do? You have held me captive, Villain for whatever reason I don't know. If you have the right to hold me as your prisoner, then I have all the right to escape you." She paused, searching for a tiny flicker of sympathy on his face, and unsurprisingly, she didn't find any. It was good that she didn't find him pitying her because if she did, she would have lost all the reasons to fight and if one day, she stopped fighting that would be the day when she would stop breathing. " I just wanted to find you but you are so angry with what I did that you refused to let me find you. You were aware of the hostility that I had to face while looking for you but still, you didn't come to confront me. You like seeing me in pain because I am your enemy's daughter." 

"What do you want?" Santiago said, ignoring everything she just said. He would never let her know that her words affect him too. He would never tell her that he didn't like seeing her in pain. He would never let her know that all the foreign feelings that come rushing to him wherever she was in his proximity had nothing to do with her name. He would never let her know anything. 

"Send Giselle back to the island, " Persephone said without wasting any time. She knew that the palace was the reason for her panic attacks. "I'm ready to face any punishment, just send her back. Please." 

Santiago laughed wickedly. " Beg me, Red." 

Her heart twisted hearing his words. Tears came rushing but she resolved to never let them fall because of him. Her pride was bigger than any temporary bad time. But for Giselle, she would swallow her pride and beg him. It wasn't because she cared for Giselle, it was just her conscience screaming at her not to hurt anyone in the process of surviving. She had already been the reason for the death of two people, she couldn't bear to be the reason behind one more.

Swallowing her pride and hiccups, she whispered, "I beg you. I beg you, Villain. Send her back to the island." 

"Loudly."

"I beg you."

"I beg you to send her back."

"I beg you not to punish her because of my actions." 

"Weren't you the one who said that she deserved the punishment that she would be facing?" asked Santiago through gritted teeth. "Are you going back on your own words?"

"I was wrong," Persephone whispered. 

"Get out, Persephone Marino. And do not let me see your face again. As for Giselle, let her learn what it means to face the consequences of her actions for once in her life." 

______

When Giselle was perched on the ground while leaning against the railing in the harsh sun, she failed to notice that a small figure had stood before her to stop the sun from assaulting her ashen face. 

"It is not advisable to sit in the sun for longer intervals of time," He said, making himself noticeable to her. 

Giselle slowly looked up to see a boy tenderly looking at her. His bronze skin and hazel eyes were shining in the sun. She had a sudden urge to run her fingers in his thick dark brown hair but she controlled herself when she glanced behind him and noticed two bulky men standing behind in knight uniforms. Understanding who he was, she quickly stood up to greet the prince of the Maisean Empire. 

"Greeting to His Royal Highness, the ever shining sun of the great Maisean empire." 

Prince Nero's lips twitched hearing such a cheesy greeting. Things people do to impress the prince. 

"If you are sick, shouldn't you go to the infirmary first?" He asked her. He wondered why people ignore their health. Weren't they taught that health is wealth? 

"I-I…"

[Giselle, speak something. Why are you making a fool of yourself in front of Nero?]

Shaking his head, Prince Nero turned to his knight. "Sir Julius, let's take this lady to the infirmary." 

"Your Royal Highness, please allow the guards to take the lady to the infirmary," His knight spoke. 

"Sir Julius, I would like to see the medical system supporting the staff and workers of the palace myself, " Prince Nero said, leaving no room for arguments. He couldn't tell his knights that he felt a weird connection with this lady. They would call him a softie if he told them. 

'Still, a big softie, 'Giselle sadly smiled.

"Do you not know the way towards the infirmary?" Prince Nero asked in a voice that didn't belong to a five years old kid.

Suppressing the brewing anxiety inside her, she replied with a soothing smile, "I just arrived today. And will be leaving soon. So, I didn't think that it was necessary to remember the way to the infirmary." 

Hearing that she would be leaving soon, the kid quickly said, "Why would you be leaving?" Clearing his throat, he said in a controlled voice, "I mean, do you not like working in the palace?"

_______

Note:

You guys might be wondering why this palace life? Sox let me tell you guys, the characters will play a high role in post captive scenes. Persephone is going to find a great friend in Giselle.. But just like Rome is not built in a days their friendship won't be created in a single day either.