The Alpha Prince's Purchased Maid
Chapter 63: Illness and Suffering

Chapter 63: Illness and Suffering

“I’m sorry for calling you out so late at night like this but there is an urgent matter that we need your help with,” the prince explained apologetically.

“If I can be of help then...” I murmured.

“Please follow me this way,” Prince Darius said before walking on ahead.

He turned around to make sure that I was following after him. The prince led me along a hallway before leading me up a few flights of stairs. After turning and entering a luxuriously decorated hallway, I suddenly realized that I had been here before. I walked past the statue that I had paid attention to before during my last visit to this palace.

My tummy seemed to flip as my heart started dancing and fluttering in my chest. Why am I feeling this way?

If I wasn’t wrong, it was probably because I had just realized that at the end of this long hallway was Prince Leonard’s bedroom.

“Follow me,” Prince Darius said when he saw me hesitating.

Suddenly, I halted in my step again when I thought that I heard something like a growl. Darius must have heard it as well because he turned towards me as if to check if I had heard it as well. Darius reached out his hand and offered it to me; however, I refused to take it.

He must have been confused why I was so hesitant about proceeding along this hallway. Unbeknownst to him, this wasn’t the first time that I’d heard those growls and it wasn’t really the first time that I had traveled down this hallway at night. In reality, it might have been my first time; however, that dream that I had recently was still fresh in my mind. For some reason, it felt like I was reliving my dream but this time in the real world.

My eyes stared at Prince Darius’ face when I started sensing that something was gravely wrong. Prince Darius’ face gave absolutely nothing away. This was reality and not my dream so that didn’t mean that the things that I dreamt of will really happen. That was what I tried to tell myself; however, the painful throbbing in my chest told me that I was just fooling myself.

Deep down, I knew.

I just knew that something was wrong...

“Mila!” Prince Darius called my name loudly after me.

I must have surprised him as much as I had just surprised myself when my legs began moving on my own. Before I could fully understand what I was doing, I was already sprinting down the hallway toward Prince Leonard’s bedroom. My memories from the last time that I was here weren’t so clear and I had only been to his bedroom once. If I wasn’t wrong, all I had to do was go down this hallway until its very end.

The sound of my heart racing in my chest echoed in my ears as I kept on running. Unlike in my dream, I didn’t hesitate to move forward. If I was right, if what I dreamt of was really happening, then the prince needs help. It’s probably not true but the fastest way for me to find out is to go and see him. That was the simple conclusion that I reached in my head before or after my body began moving on its own, I had no idea.

The harsh growl echoed louder in the hallway as I got closer to his bedroom. The pain in his cries tore at my heart. In reality, I couldn’t feel his pain, or at least, I wasn’t supposed to feel it. However, each time his cry rang out, I felt a clear pain shoot through me. If I could feel this much pain just from hearing his cries and growls, then how much pain would he be in right now?

I didn’t pay any attention to my surroundings or to Prince Darius until I arrived at the large door of Prince Leonard’s bedroom. That was when I realized that the prince had no trouble catching up with me and unlike me, he wasn’t panting for his life. Now that I was here, I wasn’t sure what to do.

Do I just knock and ask him to open the door for me so that I could see for myself that he was fine?

A loud groan that came from the opposite side of the door told me that things were not fine and even if Prince Leonard told me that he was fine, I would probably have trouble believing his words.

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

Surely, he can explain to me what was going on. The prince closed his eyes and let out a sigh before opening them. His gray eyes had turned even more stern and serious than it was before as he stared down into my face.

“My brother, Prince Leonard, is sick,” Prince Darius stated simply.

“Prince Leonard...is sick?” I asked as I started to panic.

“Yes, he’s not feeling well...” the prince replied.

I stared back at him dumbfounded. If Prince Leonard is sick, then...

“We should call for a royal doctor immediately...” I quickly proposed.

My suggestion sounded shallow and stupid once it left my lips. Prince Darius must have already known that he was supposed to call one of the royal doctors. So, why hasn’t he done exactly that?

“Listen, Mila. I might be wrong, but I don’t think that I am...” the prince began to explain.

“Wrong about what? Prince Leonard needs a doctor immediately,” I cut in because I didn’t want to waste any more time.

The painful groans from behind the door did not subside at all and if I wasn’t wrong, it has only gotten more frequent as well as louder as time passed by while we were not doing anything to help him.

“Mila, the doctors have done their best to help him for a long time already...” Prince Darius said and for a moment there was a flash of sadness in his grey eyes.

Why does it sound so...

“Is the prince...” I began asking but I just couldn’t say it.

Is he...dying?

--To be continued...