8 — The Princess Can’t Be Found

It had been two days since Zahra was kidnapped. She had been locked inside the guest room ever since.

"You're Princess Zahra," Emera's words played on repeat in her mind.

She refused to accept that her name wasn't Tiana Ralph but Zahra whose family name escaped her mind. It mattered less to her after all.

It had been a while since she last saw her father. They were never apart for so long.

'Thinking back... we really were never apart. He would never let me go to a friend's house nor allow me to have any close relationships with anyone. He was even against Issac... Zahra thought, flashbacks of her childhood crossing her mind.

"Maybe he-" Zahra muttered. She then gasped, quickly shaking her head.

'Fuck! I'm starting to doubt my own dad?! Because of what these people said?! I should be ashamed! I need to meet Dad as soon as possible and clear this shit up.' She sighed. 'But how?'

She could only come up with one solution; escape. However, she didn't know how yet.

Just then, the door opened.

It was that spoiled rich guy who forcefully brought her here.

Everything he said was utter bullshit to her. She observed his moves although she blankly stared at him, giving him the impression that she was listening; however, Zahra was too preoccupied by her thoughts to listen to him.

Yuden, still waiting for her answer, sighed.

"Princess?" He waved to her face so he would catch her attention.

"Huh?" Zahra snapped out of her thoughts, finally realizing what Yuden told her. "As long as I can meet my father," Zahra conditioned him, making direct eye contact with him.

"Sure," Yuden smiled, starting to untie the knots of the rope. "I'll accompany you but you need to listen to whatever I say."

"Got it." Zahra rubbed her wrists, which were tied tightly, against the rope.

"For now, go wash up with a maid and change your clothes." Yuden clapped his hands.

A few seconds later, a maid entered the room.

"Yes, Your Highness?" She bowed, greeting him.

"Take Princess Zahra to shower and arrange clothes for her immediately."

The maid remained silent, giving a hesitant nod, and walked in front of Zahra, tremblingly.

"Oh, hello! I'm not gonna eat you." Zahra scoffed.

"Princess, please speak properly. She might be a maid but this is no manners to talk to a person," Yuden tried to explain.

However, Zahra already walked inside the washroom. If she were new to this house, perhaps she wouldn't be able to realize that the washroom was attached to this room but as she watched the maids carefully, while she tried to find a way to escape, she figured out where the washroom was.

***

Half an hour passed yet Zahra didn't come out of the washroom.

Yuden was downstairs with the Throren family, discussing his new business plans.

"What's the point of developing all these things? This is not our homeland," King Zayn sighed. "We came all the way here to find our lost princess, and look at what we found!"

"Your majesty, she is your daughter," Queen Sameera corrected.

"Queen, are you really going to talk back to me because of that filthy girl? I'm telling you, she can't be our daughter! She is so ill-mannered," Zayn opposed.

"My king, my queen, please remain calm," Queen Dowager Emera frowned.

They both nodded, noticing Crown Prince Yuden's presence which they had forgotten for a second.

"Your Majesty, the king! Your majesty, the queen! Your majesty, queen dowager!" A maid rushed down the stairs hastily.

The yelling caught everyone's attention, their gazes followed Risa as she ran down the stairs.

When she reached the living room, she gasped for air yet proceeded to speak.

"The... princess... is no-nowhere to be... found!"

"Layla wouldn't ever do such a thing! She will at least drop us a test message so we won't worry about her," Zayn claimed.

"Not Princess Layla... It's... the other princess who was brought a few days... I looked all over the room but she is nowhere to be found," the maid explained.

Yuden raised an eyebrow.

'Did she escape?' He thought. 'But how... Wait! No way.'

"Did you check the washroom?" Yuden interrupted.

"No..." The maid hesitantly replied.

"Let's go check if everything is okay, Mother, Queen Sameera," Zayn stated, heading upstairs.

"Excuse me for being slightly rude, Your Majesty, however, I would like to follow you, if you would allow it," Yuden requested, bowing to the king.

Zayn was put in a difficult position by Yuden's request. Queen Dowager Emeera surely allowed him to visit Princess Zahra, however, that alone already invaded their family's privacy. Yet, he didn't wish to sound rude by refusing the crown prince of the country he was residing in and his best friend's son.

"I apologize, Your Highness, however, I fear I cannot let you witness such a disgrace. Please do understand." Zayn then proceeded to go upstairs.

Yuden briefly bowed to the royal family and rushed outside the palace.

He picked up his phone and dialled his driver's number.

"Pick me up from the Throren's," he hung up right after, not letting the person on the other side of the phone respond.

Yuden's patience was running low. It had already been a while since he called his driver but he was nowhere to be seen yet. Yuden looked at the time. It was precisely 10:14 pm. The distance by car between the Throren family's guest palace and the royal palace wasn't far.

His father, Aiden Ravensly wanted the royal family of Averlyon to come to Yurania for Yuden's and Princess Layla's engagement. However, no one expected to find Princess Zahra in the kingdom of Yurania. However, Zahra's escape left him speechless. He knew she wasn't the type of girl to kindly obey whatever she was told but how could she escape, throwing dust into the guards' eyes, without anyone notifying anything? Most importantly when everyone was in the living room.

"The backdoor?" Yuden thought. "But how would she know there is even a backdoor? She has been locked up ever since she came here," Yuden turned around, examining the whole palace once again, trying to find out which method Zahra used for her escape.

Yuden came out of his thoughts, hearing a car heading closer to the palace. He turned around, seeing his car arriving on the road and parking there. He walked outside of the palace yard and took a seat in his car.

"Greetings, Your Highness. Where should I drive you?"

"Drive to the palace."

The driver obliged.

"I need to do something about these rebels soon. I should discuss it with Father when he returns," Yuden muttered to himself, as flashbacks of the man he killed earlier crossed his mind. "But it wasn't a bad thing to kill that rat," his lips curved with an evil smile, his ice-like eyes glowing amid the darkness of the night.