[Music Recommendation: 6.6 Gigue ~ Peter Gregson & Richard Harwood]

"The Crown Princess is gone!" a maid shouted at the top of her voice when she entered the room and noticed Oriana’s absence.

"What?" Another maid asked, rushing inside the room and running towards the window. "Quick, we need to inform His Highness."

The other maid stopped her, "No! We will get really punished. Let’s just search for her; she won’t have gone far. If she jumped through the window, she would be heading towards the east wing of the palace. You check there while I ask the guards."

"You’re right; I don’t want to get punished. Let’s do it that way," the other maid agreed, and they left the room.

Oriana, who was inside the closet, closed her eyes. It was working. All she needed was the right time to run out of the room when everyone must have lost their focus and was now searching for her outside the room.

Gwen, who was sitting inside her room getting ready for the wedding, was the first person to receive the news. "Missing?" she asked, dropping the necklace she was holding which matched her dress.

Her maid nodded, "Yes, Your Majesty. I confirmed this information firsthand from the maid assigned to help dress her up. Also, last night, she had tried to escape."

Gwen smiled, "Interesting. What should I do..." She drawled, "The wedding wouldn’t benefit me. Make sure to find the princess first and... you know what to do. Just make sure the wedding doesn’t hold," she ordered her maid, who bowed before leaving the room.

"Maybe my luck is starting to turn," Gwen smiled, looking at her dress while dancing slowly in her room. Without a wife, Adric’s coronation would be put to a stop. All she needed to do was find Oriana first and keep her silent forever. No bride, definitely no wedding. "Let’s see how you escape this, Adric. You’ll always be my son," she smiled.

The next persons to hear the news were the two princesses who were getting ready in the same room.

Jasmine turned to look at her personal maid, "What? Have you told my mother?" she asked, and the maid nodded. "What did she say?"

"Her Majesty said it’s for the best," the maid replied with a bow.

Jasmine shrugged her shoulders, "If Mother says so, then that’s fine. I guess it’s for the best. But what about my makeup? I can’t dress up for nothing," the princess touched her face, arranging her gown properly.

Adelaide, who was listening, didn’t say anything. She raised a lipstick and applied it generously on her lips. "I’m ready for the wedding."

"Did you not hear? Adelaide, the wedding won’t hold. The princess is on the run," Jasmine turned to stop her sister from leaving.

Adelaide nodded, "I did hear." She smiled before leaving the room. Outside, she waved for her maid to come, "Make sure everyone hears that the bride is missing."

The maid nodded and ran out of the place, going to inform other maids until the news spread like wildfire, reaching Adric’s ears.

Adric turned to look at his personal guard, "What are you talking about?" he asked.

Rowan nodded, "She is not the only person missing. The Lady Chief Cortez brought too."

Adric raised his brows, turning to his friend, "Did the two women decide to have a ladies’ tour?"

Cortez frowned, "Axilla wouldn’t leave without informing me."

"Then we should be sure they weren’t abducted," Adric pushed himself up from his chair and started walking towards Oriana’s room. News about the bride’s disappearance spread through the palace, with maids and palace guards running around searching for Oriana.

When Adric got to the door that led to Oriana’s room, he stopped for a moment before pushing the door open. He motioned for the maid, who was now panicking, to come.

"What happened?" Adric asked, looking around the room. When his eyes caught something, he smirked.

The maid gripped her gown tightly, "Y-your highness... I- I was outside waiting for the Crown Princess to finish talking with the Young Mistress, then... I-"

Adric waved his hand, "You can leave."

Oriana, who was inside the closet, heard all of this but tried not to breathe too hard so that Adric wouldn’t notice.

"I guess she finally escaped. What a very sad day for me." Adric let out a fake sigh of sadness. "I should have treated her better when she was with me," he left the room and closed the door.

Outside the room, the girl who had gone to get the flowers finally arrived, and the situation was explained to her.

"She won’t go far as long as Avon is concerned; that’s not a problem. Continue with the wedding rites," Adric ordered his servants.

Everyone turned to look at themselves. The wedding was going to continue without the Crown Princess? But nobody dared to question the Crown Prince. They quickly ran to continue with the wedding rites.

Adric turned to Cortez and Axilla after everyone had left, "I should keep the flowers. Thank you, Axilla, for the wedding gift." The Crown Prince grinned as if his bride had not just disappeared on their wedding day.

"I’m sorry. I didn’t know; she said she—"

Cortez dipped his hand inside his trouser pocket and said, "I would have loved to stay back, but the wedding is pretty much over. I promised Axilla she could visit her people. So we are leaving."

"Morado! That’s great. I’ll get a carriage ready for you," Adric replied, then he looked at Axilla, "Don’t worry yourself about the Crown Princess; she’s doing just fine."

After talking with his friends, Adric entered Oriana’s room and closed the door. Looking at the closet for a moment, he shook his head before going to sit on the couch. Taking out a pack of cigarettes, he took out one stick and lit it up.

Oriana inside the closet bit her lips. She was sweating, and her legs were beginning to feel numb. She tried to touch her tongue to her nose to ease it off, but it worsened. She pushed open the closet and peeped. There Adric was sitting relaxed. She hid back inside.

Oriana wondered if Adric was really regretting everything and now felt sorry for her. It was as the saying goes, people only regret when they lose someone very special. She sighed. All she needed to do was wait a few more minutes until Adric had left, then she would come out. Trying to find a comfortable position, Oriana used some of her clothes to rest her head. She was almost falling asleep when the closet door opened.

"Ah!" Oriana gasped, now looking at Adric, who was standing in front of her.

"I’m tired of playing your stupid games; now come out," Adric pulled her out of the closet.

Oriana gaped, "How did you—"

"Not everyone is as dumb as you," Adric replied with a sigh, "You really need to grow up, Oriana. The wedding rites have been completed."

Oriana shook her head, "I wasn’t there. I didn’t accept the wedding vow."

"I accepted for both of us. Now it’s time to consummate the wedding properly," Adric said with all seriousness, his brown eyes piercing into Oriana’s scared soul.