The Alpha Prince's Purchased Maid
Chapter 338: Our Savior

“It’s small, isn’t it?” I asked shyly.

“It feels cozy in here,” he replied as he looked around.

There wasn’t much to see to begin with and I was certain that he was just saying that to ease my worries. Old memories came flooding back and soon enough I felt tears stinging the back of my eyes as I started to feel even more emotional than before. I turned to conceal my face from the prince as I pretended to look around the room. I thought that I wanted to return to the orphanage but now that I was here, I felt a strange urge to escape from the place. Although I was happy to have the chance to return, I also felt uncomfortable at the same time. It was such a strange mix of feelings that left an empty feeling in my chest.

“Thank you for bringing me back here, Prince Leonard,” I thanked him formally.

“You’re welcome. I just thought that you might be missing home,” he replied tenderly.

“It’s hard to explain what I’m feeling right now. Don’t get me wrong, I am definitely happy to be back but at the same time, it also feels kind of sad...” I confessed in a small murmur.

“Did I trouble you by bringing you back here?” he asked with clear regret in his tone.

“No, it’s not like that. I’m glad to be back. It’s just...I’m a little shocked at the changes that happened here,” I admitted.

The changes that happened were anything but little in my opinion. If anything, the changes were so drastic that it felt like everything had changed. Although the building was still standing, no one was living there anymore. For a moment, it hit me that I might have truly lost my entire family once again because it was the people who made up a family and not the structure of any building. Since I didn’t quite know how to explain that to the prince, I decided to maintain my silence.

“Prince Leonard...” I called his name as I turned to face him again.

“Mila...” he called my name softly.

“I know that I shouldn’t worry but I just can’t stop myself. Can you please tell me what happened to everyone that was living here?” I asked as I pleaded with him with my eyes.

Although I trusted the prince when he said that everyone was fine, I still wanted to know exactly what happened. The prince had a slightly troubled look on his face before his expression softened and he showed me a small smile.

“Come here,” he urged as he caught hold of my wrist.

The small bed felt so crowded with both of us sitting on it. It wasn’t the first time that I sat next to the prince on a bed but for some reason, my heart was beating so fast in my chest. Prince Leonard still held my hand while I waited for him to answer my question.

“As I told you before, everyone is fine. All the girls that were living here have been rescued already. They are now residing in a safe place while some are being taken to a new shelter as we speak,” he informed me reassuringly.

“Rescued? You mean...” I asked before trailing off.

The scene of Sally up on the stage for auction quickly came back to mind and I immediately realized that the fate of the other girls couldn’t have been very different.

“Did you...buy all of them?” I asked before biting down hard on my lower lip.

“Not all. I bought some of them while some were freed upon negotiation. There’s been a crack down on some of these black market auctions lately in some cities,” he replied with a small nod of his head.

“Thank you. Seriously, I can’t thank you enough for what you’ve done...” I thanked him as I felt an overwhelming urge to start crying.

The prince must have sensed this because he began patting my back to comfort me. It was all too much to take in. From the moment that I saw the empty orphanage, it did occur to me that something along these lines could have happened, but I didn’t want to acknowledge the worst. In fact, I must have realized what kind of fate was waiting for the other girls at the orphanage after I was auctioned off. There was no reason for me to believe that their fate would be much different from mine after leaving the orphanage. The only thing that comforted me was that there was still time until the girls would be of age.

“But they were still so young...” I murmured in confusion.

“I guess the fake benefactor of this place grew desperate. It was probably a matter of time before the police found this place,” the prince said before showing me a wry grin.

“I see...” I mumbled.

That was probably why they sold all the girls in such a rush. Everyone must have been so scared. Just thinking about it made me feel a cold shiver run down my spine.

“It is partly my fault. It took me too long to find this place because I didn’t have that many clues. If I had found this place sooner, maybe it wouldn’t have been so hard to save all the girls,” the prince said with a faraway look in his eyes.

“No, please don’t say something like that. It’s good enough that you managed to save them all. Thank you so much for helping us...” I thanked him and this time it was impossible for me to hold in my tears.

I felt tears welling up in my eyes and I didn’t need to blink for them to overflow and roll down my cheeks. The prince’s face became blurry with my tears, but I could still make out his intense blue eyes staring at my face. Without saying another word to me, he pulled me into his warm and secure embrace and held me tightly.

--To be continued...