Chapter 41

At first she had no idea what he was up to, but then she realized it. He brought her back to the

dungeon. Lyana wanted to defend herself, but she had no strength in her limbs.

When they got downstairs, King threw her roughly into the cell so that she landed on her knees.

Then he threw the door shut.

On all fours she turned to him and held onto the grid. "Why don't you kill me if you want it so badly?" She almost screamed.

"You still don't understand, do you little sun princess?" He replied, kneeling down to look her straight in the eye. "Back then in the forest ... I just had to squeeze a little harder. Just a little more pressure and I could have broken your pretty neck in two. You don't believe how close I was to doing this. It was so tempting. But I needed you alive." She heard his words, but his ice-blue eyes cast a spell over her again so much that it was difficult for her to understand the meaning behind them. "But who knows. Maybe I will have the opportunity to finish what I started in the forest." His

cold breath brushed her skin and her whole body shuddered. Only when he moved away from her

could she calm down again.

In that fateful moment she became aware of something. She had fallen in love with him. She had

fallen in love with a man who was holding her as a prisoner and who might be planning to kill her.

She should hate him, curse him. So why did her heart long for his closeness? Why did she long to put her lips on his again?

She knew herself that this love was doomed to fail. Nothing and no one could warm his frozen heart. Especially not her.

She leaned against the cold bars and began to cry uncontrollably and loudly. Her heartbreaking sobs

filled the room. But there was no one who could have heard them. Not even a guard. She was completely alone.

The next morning she woke up and noticed that the king had now positioned a guard again. This

time it was a different one and the young man seemed to be desperately ignoring her. Presumably he had received his instructions from the king.

Lyana spent the next few hours staring into space without a thought. It felt like something inside of

her had died.

She hadn't even noticed that someone was standing in front of her cell at some point.

"Your Royal Highness?" She heard a familiar voice ask carefully. Lyana winced and then slowly turned around. "Baridi," she whispered, her voice breaking off slightly at the end. Her mouth was really dry and she had no idea what time it was. The valet also noticed this and asked the guard to bring him a cup of water.

After the Sun Princess emptied it in one go, the scratching in her throat became less. "What are you

doing here? Did the king allow you to come here?"

"Oh, Your Royal Highness, what did you do wrong this time?" Said Baridi with sad eyes, without answering her question. On the other hand, it could also be called an answer. So King Ulric really didn't know about Baridis visit. She should be grateful to him for his visit, it was a risk that he took on.

"What I did wrong," she repeated his question and looked at him with tearful eyes. "I fell in love. That's what I did wrong."

The valet gasped sharply and touched her hand comfortingly. She didn't have to mention who she

fell in love with, he already knew. "I wish I could do something for you. But this time I'm afraid he's lost his mind for good. I have always known that he has a cruel side to him. But he never did anything he couldn't justify. To see him like that ... it pains me deeply. I should have freed you then so that you could have returned to your family. But I was selfish." Baridi grimaced as if disgusted with himself. "All I saw was the opportunity to free my master from his demons. If I had helped you escape, none of this would have happened. We could have just carried on as before."

"You mustn't say that," Lyana contradicted him, shaking her head. "You were loyal to your king and

wanted to act for his good. That it failed isn't your fault." If anything, it was hers. She shouldn't have been so impulsive. "Say, can't you at least tell me about this woman ... Feronia?" If she couldn't change anything, at least she wanted to understand.

Baridi looked at her in astonishment. "Where did you get this name from?"

"The king called her that last night."

The valet looked at the floor in dismay. "I see, so that's why he freaked out. Whenever it has

something to do with her, he can no longer think clearly. But as much as I wish I could tell you more ... unfortunately I can't. Even if I broke my loyalty to the king, I don't know what exactly happened then. All I know is that she must have meant more to him than his own life."