The Hidden King's Stolen Wife
Chapter 70: Prince Florian

Chapter 70: Prince Florian

All of a sudden, the air seemed colder. But it was not because of the man’s ice magic, but rather, from the intense bloodlust that came from behind him. Even Soleia’s hair seemed to stand on the back of her neck, her body warning her of the oncoming danger.

The man ducked right at the last minute, quickly letting go of Soleia just to swerve out of the way. However, his duck and roll was foiled by the quickly melting ice beneath his feet, causing him to slip and crash his back against the wall. The painting that hung on the wall rocked back and forth before falling over, crashing against his head as he yelped in pain.

Two flashes of red shone next to Soleia, followed by the sharp sound of the ice snapping into two before falling to the ground, shattering into many different pieces.

Without the ice structures supporting her so suddenly, Soleia’s legs weren’t able to hold herself up in time. She staggered forward, but a strong pair of arms quickly came around to hold her, ensuring she wouldn’t crash to the ground like the unnamed man did.

"Are you alright?"

When Soleia raised her gaze, she was met with Ralph’s look of concern. He tenderly held onto her, his eyes searching for wounds on her body, only to land on her reddened wrists. Then, his expression instantly darkened.

"I... I’m fine. My skin just gets red really easily," Soleia tried to say, but it was no use. Ralph’s eyes had already narrowed dangerously in the man’s direction.

He turned, and without saying another word, he sharply shot his hand out in the direction of the man. With this one gesture, he created a thin rope made of blood that wrapped around the man’s neck. A strangled gurgle left the man’s lips, and just like that, he was hauled over to kneel in front of Soleia, his hands desperately trying to claw through the blood but to no avail.

"Ralph!" Soleia gasped, placing her hand on his, her eyes wide with alarm. "There’s no need for this. Let him go."

He said nothing, barely even throwing Soleia a glance. Instead, the look in his eyes was cold as he stared at the man. The blood rope tightened even further, causing the man to wheeze.

"Who are you?" Ralph asked, his voice void of emotion. When the man refused to speak, he squeezed tighter. "If you would like to keep your head, I highly recommend you speak before you permanently lose the chance to do so."

"―rian," the man wheezed out.

"Hmm?" Ralph hummed, leaning in ever the slightest. In a mocking tone, he said, "I can’t hear you."

"F-Florian!" the man shouted to the best of his abilities. Only then did the rope loosen slightly, and immediately, he took in a large gulp of air. He choked and coughed, glaring daggers at Ralph. "I am Prince Florian, the heir to the Vramidian throne. And if you were any smarter, you would unhand me this instant before I have your head for this―!"

His words were cut short when Ralph truly loosened the blood rope as requested, causing Florian to fall forward all of a sudden due to the lack of support. His palms slammed heavily on the ground, drawing blood as the ice scratched against his hands.

"Prince? Heir to the Vramidian throne?" Ralph said with a raise of his eyebrow. He then looked at Soleia. "I didn’t realize that you had a brother close to your age, Princess. Or did King Godwin feed Reitan a growth serum that fucked with his brain?"

"Do not compare me to that useless, sickly brat!" Florian said with a scowl, coughing. His fingers massaged his neck, glowering as he stared at Ralph. "Wait till the King finds out about this―"

"The King will have you blamed for trying to attack his daughter," Ralph cooly replied. "She has an important task to handle for the next month, and if anything happens to her, you will be held accountable."

Soleia pinched her lips, her chin tucked with doubt. Even she didn’t believe that her father would do anything to bring her justice if she did die at the hands of this... Prince Florian, whoever he was. If he had the courage to act so haughtily, he must’ve had a decently great amount of power ever since Soleia had moved to Drakenmire.

However, the way Ralph had spoken about it was so firm and strong that Florian pursed his lips, suddenly cowering in on himself a little.

He twisted his lips left and right before finally spitting out his words.

"The King won’t give a rat’s ass about her death―"

"But he would care if the event had any hiccups, no?" Ralph replied. A slow smile stretched across his face. "And unfortunately for you, I care very much about Her Highness’s life and death."

"What are you? Her husband?" Florian said with a scoff and a roll of his eyes.

"Just a lowly knight in service to the Princess," Ralph said, his smile merely widening, but not increasing in sincerity. "Her husband, on the other hand, is also the man most recently famous for killing a dragon with his bare hands."

"You can’t threaten me," Florian said with a growl. "He is marrying another woman. If he loves her, why would he choose to wed another?"

While Florian spoke the truth, it didn’t mean the blow was any softer. Soleia pinched her lips even tighter together, feeling the jabbing pain in her chest. Thankfully, she needn’t say anything, not when Sir Ralph was readily available to reply for her.

"But he is still an oddly possessive man," Ralph said, clicking his tongue and shaking his head. "Would you like to tempt his wrath?"

Florian visibly shivered, frightened by the thought. Even if they had never seen him in person before, everyone in Vramid knew Orion Elsher’s feats.

And everyone was scared.

"Who are you?" Soleia finally stepped forward to ask. "My father’s illegitimate son?"

Prince Florian scowled as he turned his attention to Soleia. His eyes were quickly filled with hatred. Every bit of fear and false bravado that was shown in front of Ralph was quickly replaced by malice when he turned to Soleia, only holding himself back when his gaze flitted to Ralph for a brief second.

He didn’t get a chance to reply when another voice spoke up.

"He is Father’s adopted son," Bellaflor said. "He was adopted recently as a possible heir in training, apparently hailing from a branch family. Did Father not tell you?"