The Hidden King's Stolen Wife
Chapter 89: Missing Elowyn

Chapter 89: Missing Elowyn

Orion was not having a good day.

He had woken up in his bed alone, his head strangely heavy. When he stared down at himself, he could see the leftovers from breakfast strewn all over the bed. He peered around the room, hoping to find Elowyn, but she was nowhere to be found.

Warning bells immediately rang in Orion’s head, and he leaped up, nearly staggering out of the bed as his head spun from the sudden change in position. He mentally cursed Elowyn under his breath. He had told her time and time again that the royal palace was an unsafe place for her to wander around in, but she kept trying to push her luck, so he had to use more force to get her to listen.

Why couldn’t she understand that he was doing this because he cared for her? No other men could be trusted with her presence― they would take advantage of her kindness and innocence and hurt her. Orion was just trying to do his best to protect her from the outside world, which was why he kept her inside their rooms and refused to let her speak with anyone else.

Besides, why did she need to look at other men, when he was right here in front of her? All she needed was him.

He pulled on his tunic and breeches and stormed out of his room, intent on finding her. The scowl on his face sent the servants scattering out of the way the moment they caught sight of him, which made him even angrier.

Where was Elowyn? He had stomped through the entire wing of the palace and she was nowhere to be found. To add insult to injury, he couldn’t find Ralph either. He was entirely on his own for this search.

He gnashed his teeth and grabbed the nearest servant girl, causing her to scream in fear.

"I’m sorry Duke Elsher! Please don’t hurt me!"

"Where is my wife?" Orion barked out, irritated by her sniveling behavior.

"Princess Soleia?" The maid asked, then her face paled further as Orion’s scowl seemed to grow ten times darker. "I mean―"

"No, you’re right. Where is Princess Soleia?" Orion growled. He couldn’t believe he had forgotten this critical clue. Elowyn’s absence must have had something to do with Soleia. She would be the one to benefit the most if Elowyn got hurt, or god forbid, killed.

The servant girl could only tell him the princess was in her room, and no visitors were allowed by order of the king.

Orion scoffed dismissively. Father and daughter were clearly in cahoots to trick him! Elowyn must have been held hostage in Soleia’s rooms.

"Bring me to her," Orion ordered, in a tone that brooked no argument.

The poor maid could only lead him to Princess Soleia’s rooms, sending a mental prayer for the poor princess. The servants were all gossiping about this matter― Princess Soleia had apparently been taken ill after a confrontation with her father, and His Majesty was so mad that he didn’t even allow the royal physician to look at her.

Prince Reitan had cried himself to exhaustion, but there was nothing to be done. He was also dragged to his chambers. Hopefully, Duke Elsher would care more for his wife and send a physician for her.

"Duke Elsher, Princess Soleia is ill," she tried to say. "Please be kinder to her."

Orion only let out a cold huff. He spotted the guards outside his wife’s rooms and he could only scorn their paltry attempts to stop him from entering. What did they think their tiny swords could do against him? He could tear off the door from its hinges if he needed to.

More importantly, since when did she require guards? She had survived fine through the entire journey to the palace, and this was her own home.

Unless there was something she had to keep hidden. Like an entire person.

"Get out of the way," Orion demanded, but the guards refused to budge.

"My apologies, Duke Elsher, but the King ordered that Princess Soleia was not to be disturbed."

"I am her husband," Orion gritted his teeth. "Either move out of the way, or I’ll make you."

The guards refused to budge, so Orion made good on his promise. His fists flew faster than they could react, landing sharp blows to their heads and bodies. They groaned in pain but did their best to fight him off. They managed to draw their swords to nick his arm, causing bleeding cuts.

But Orion wasn’t a famed general for nothing. Such wounds barely fazed him. In no time at all, he had completely turned things around. The force of his blows was so great that it caused them to slam against the wall before they slid down, leaving a bloody trail on the once-pristine wallpaper.

The maid covered her mouth with her hands in fear, her feet trembling.

She had to get help― no, she had to get away from this madman!

Orion spared no attention to the fleeing maid. Instead, he tried to open the door and found it locked.

Pathetic. He curled his lips, before curling his hand into a fist and destroying it completely. The door swung open with a pitiful squeak, and Orion stormed inside, fully intent on finding Elowyn and punishing Soleia for her actions.

However, the room was empty, sans for Soleia who was sleeping on the bed. Her face was a dreadful white, but there was dried blood underneath her nose.

Orion stalked around the room and searched it from top to bottom― Elowyn was not in the cupboards, or under her bed. She was nowhere to be found.

Impossible. Orion narrowed his eyes on his sleeping wife. She must have stowed Elowyn somewhere else. He had to interrogate her. Orion stomped over to her bedside and grabbed her shoulders to shake her awake.

The chill of her skin nearly caused him to drop her in surprise. It was as though he was holding a slab of ice. Was she dying? He grabbed her face with one hand and used his other to pry open one of her eyelids to take a closer look. There was no response, save for her weakened breath.

That wouldn’t do. Orion pinched her nose and waited.

Just as he expected, Soleia soon began to struggle from a lack of air.

"Wake up!" Orion demanded harshly. "Stop pretending to sleep!"

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.