[Music Recommendation: Hold Me While You Wait ~ Lewis Capaldi]

Arriving at the palace, Nicholas dismounted his horse and dragged Oriana toward the palace gates, his grip on her arm like ironclad.

"You tried to alert your army?" Nicholas sneered, waving the letter she had written in her face. "You thought you could outsmart me?"

Oriana’s eyes widened in horror as she realized Nicholas had found out about her plea for help. She had sent the letter in secret, hoping the few trusted guards left behind by Adric would come to Fidelis’s aid and protect Sophie. But now, all was lost.

Nicholas pointed to the palace, where the lifeless bodies of her soldiers lay. "Look at them, Oriana. They tried to attack me, and now they’re nothing but corpses."

Oriana closed her eyes, overwhelmed by grief and despair. She had failed. She had tried to fight back, but Nicholas was too powerful.

"You should have stayed out of this, Oriana," Nicholas gloated. "You should have stayed mine. Adric won’t protect you. No! I am the only one for you!"

Oriana, too tired to fight back, too tired to speak or even retort, could only feel the ache that spread throughout her body—not just because of the child she carried, but because she wanted to finally give up.

"Bring the entire traitor’s family outside!" Nicholas commanded, and within the next minute, everyone on Oriana or Adric’s side, including their servants, was dragged outside.

Sophie, whose face was almost unrecognizable, now covered with blood as a result of torture, was dragged outside. Close to her was Galen. Next was Fidelis, the man looking like he had aged twice, with his entire hair covered with gray and wrinkles covering his eyes. Then there was Jasmine, who tried to shield her two sons.

"Walter... Kai..." Oriana muttered when she saw the two boys now stripped of their robes. "Nicholas, they’re children! They did nothing!"

Ignoring Oriana’s words, Nicholas waved his hand, and Freya, who was still writhing in pain, was pushed to join the others as they all knelt before Nicholas.

"All of you! Went against the orders of your King and shall pay for it with your lives, starting with all your servants." Nicholas continued, gesturing for his men to start the killing.

The screams of the servants were heard as they were hauled away to be mercilessly killed. Oriana stood there, looking around as if she were in some kind of nightmare where her whole body was trapped and she couldn’t even breathe.

Hearing the screams of her loved ones and watching them face a death sentence, shivers ran down her spine, causing her to tremble.

"Stop!" Oriana shouted, her voice breaking as she tried to bite down her tears. "It’s me you want and not them..." She swallowed hard, knowing that the decision she was about to make was one where she’d rather choose death.

But that would be if she were all alone. Right now, there were other persons involved; other precious lives that also mattered.

"You were saying?" Nicholas asked impatiently, his eyes gleaming with excitement as he couldn’t wait for Oriana to finish her words.

Oriana bowed deeply. "I will let you have me-"

"No!" Fidelis and Freya shouted at the same time.

Nicholas glared at them, raising his hand, and two soldiers ran to hit them.

"Please stop... Stop hitting them. I accept to do anything you want. Please, Nicholas, I’m sorry for disobeying your orders or trying to run away."

Nicholas grinned, taking a step closer to Oriana. He rubbed his finger on her face. "We should have started with that," he muttered.

"I hate to see you cry, remember? I told you when Adric first brought you here. If you had taken my hand then, all this wouldn’t have happened, you see." Nicholas’s smile widened, causing the sides of his eyes to crinkle.

Oriana gripped her gown tightly. The feeling of throwing up started again, especially every time Nicholas touched her skin. It felt like little insects were crawling on her skin, but she closed her eyes, trying to put up with it.

"Fine! I will see how obedient you are to me before I release your family. So for tonight, you will spend the night with me." Nicholas rubbed his tongue over his lips as his eyes roamed Oriana’s body.

Oriana took a step back, trying to hide herself from his eyes. Not only was she accepting to do anything Nicholas wanted, but now he wanted to take her to bed, and she was carrying Adric’s child. She knew she needed to hold him off for some time.

"Can I take a moment to relax? I mean, I’m tired from all that running." Oriana’s voice was soft, as she didn’t want to provoke the man any further.

Nicholas scoffed. "Oh yes, take all the time you need." He raised his finger again, and this time a palace guard dragged Sophie forward.

"You need time? For every moment you take, a life is lost." He snapped his fingers.

Oriana widened her eyes. "Wait! I don’t need time... I’ll do it."

"No..." Sophie’s tired voice was heard. "Don’t lay your finger on my sister... you dirty scoundrel."

Nicholas pointed at his chest. "Dirty? Me? Well, I should show you how low I can go."

"You shouldn’t even be regarded as human!" Sophie cursed, spitting out blood at the same time.

Oriana shook her head. She knew the Nicholas standing in front of them was no longer the gentleman she had met a few days ago; someone she had almost picked over Adric. The person right now was a madman looking for lives to waste, someone who has been consumed by evil.

"No... Sophie, stop talking."

But Sophie didn’t stop. She raised her face. "King? You should be laughed at. You will never be like King Adr-"

Silence filled the whole place as Nicholas’s dagger pierced Sophie’s stomach, drenching her dress in blood.

Jasmine quickly covered the eyes of Walter and Kai, but the loud scream of Oriana broke the chilling silence.

"N-no!!!! What have you done!!! I said I’d be yours!!! No, Sophie!!" Oriana shouted, running over to her sister, who was now on the floor, covered in her own blood.

Nicholas held Oriana back, stopping her from reaching Sophie.

"You need time to think about staying with me? And your sister thinks I shouldn’t be called human. Who else? Who else has something to say? Step forward." Nicholas’s grip on Oriana tightened.

Oriana’s whole body shook with absolute fear. She thought she had met the worst kinds of humans-no, not until Nicholas. There were people who did things because of their past, people who acted out of ignorance; that was Sophie. People who just wanted to have power; that was Adelaide and Gwen.

Then there was Nicholas. The man’s evil deeds could never be undone. His heart was darkened by lust and hate, causing him to leave traces of blood in his wake.

"Please save her, I promise to be yours." Oriana’s whole body shook with fear.

Fidelis, as well as Freya, now stayed down, everyone in absolute fear and panic as they watched life leave the princess’s eyes slowly.

"Nicholas, please!" Oriana shouted, looking back and forth from her sister to Nicholas. "Save her."

Nicholas nodded. "Take her to the infirmary," he ordered the guards, and Sophie was carried away from there.

"You will go to your room and get ready for me. I’ll have maids wash you up, except you still need some time to rest."

Oriana shook her head. "I’m fine, I’m very much fine."

Adelaide, who was watching everything from the side, ran to Nicholas. "What are you trying to do? You can’t bed her... I’m your Queen, and she’s not."

Nicholas looked at the princess from head to toe before he chuckled. "Aren’t you of the same blood as Adric? People who see others as below them."

Adelaide gulped, pressing her lips tightly. "What are you saying? I put you where you are!"

Nicholas stretched his hand forward, choking Adelaide. "I allowed you to look down on me and act the way you wanted all because I knew I could get to Adric through your greed. Don’t you dare raise your voice at me anymore. I have already made you Queen; wasn’t that what you wanted? Now stay there!" He pushed Adelaide roughly to the side.

Adelaide huffed, touching her neck. "Nicholas, you’re betraying my trust. We are supposed to be in this together!"

" I’m not the one who betrayed my family. What was it-Caspar? Ah, yes, Caspar. Does Jasmine know you took her husband to bed? No, wait-does she even know how you drugged her to get Caspar to sleep with her? And when you found him useless, you let him take the fall after trying to kill your own father?"

Fidelis opened his tired eyes, looking at his own daughter who had tried to kill him in the past. He had suspected that day it was Adelaide, but he didn’t want it to be exposed, hoping that his daughter would find salvation.

"Sister... is what he’s saying true?" Jasmine asked in a low voice, tears welling up in her eyes.

Adelaide shrieked, "Stop!" She turned around, avoiding the eyes of her sister and father. "I’m going to make you regret this!"

Nicholas sneered at Adelaide, his voice dripping with contempt. "Regret? You want to talk about regret? I don’t have time for that. You and your mother were just pawns in my game. I used you to get what I wanted, and now you’re nothing but disposable pieces." He laughed, taking pleasure in the pain he saw etched on their faces.

"Adric was so proud of his precious family, but look at you now. You’re all just broken, pathetic shadows of what you once were."

Nicholas raised his hand, "Lock them up, all of them. I will consider their release if Oriana doesn’t try anything tricky."

"Yes your Majesty," the guards bowed in unison. Oriana was dragged inside by the maids who would get her ready for the night.

The palace descended into an unsettling stillness, like a graveyard shrouded in darkness. The once-bustling halls were now empty, as if the very life had been drained from the space. And a place that used to be home for all felt like a prison, a trap from which there was no escape. The silence was oppressive, weighing heavily on the hearts of those who remained.

Each person retreated, consumed by their own emotions. Some were heartbroken, their spirits crushed by the events that had unfolded. Others were eaten away by guilt, their minds racing with thoughts of what they could have done differently. But most of all, they were afraid of what the night would bring.