Chapter 202: A Tale of Honor and Passion - The End
At that moment, the scene changed, showing Princess Sarina waking up in her room the next day with a smile plastered across her face as she recalled last night's event. But she frowned when she noticed that Aiden wasn't by her side when she woke up.
"Where is he?" She mumbled to herself with a puzzled expression on her face as she took her clothes off the floor.
The next minute, she walked into her mother's chamber, who was enjoying some tea while reading a book.
"Mother!" Sarina called out to her, drawing the queen's attention towards her.
"Hmmm? Why are you here so early in the morning? I thought you'd spend some more time in bed after enjoying yourself with that man last night."
The princess blushed a little when she heard those words but ignored them before saying, "Mother, he wasn't there when I woke up. I don't understand... Why would he leave when he was supposed to be by my side all the time as my personal knight? It doesn't make any sense."
The queen put down her teacup and book before she turned towards her daughter with a gentle expression on her face.
"Don't worry. I will look into it. Maybe he had some urgent business to take care of. You should take a rest, as I am sure you must have tired yourself a lot last night."
Princess Sarina felt her cheeks redden even more when she thought about what her mother implied, and she nodded without saying anything. She left the queen's chamber while still wondering where Aiden could be.
The next moment, Queen Elizabeth summoned a maid and ordered, "Go and find out where the Princess's personal knight has gone. I want to know the reason why he left her side without informing anyone."
The servant bowed to her before disappearing from her sight.
Soon afterward, the queen received a report that knight Aiden was seen leaving with royal knight Liam's daughter from the capital's east gate. But they managed to capture royal knight Liam, who was hiding.
Queen Elizabeth gritted her teeth and slammed her fist onto her table. This piece of information infuriated her beyond measure, and she ordered her men to hunt him down and bring him back to her.
"How dare that low-born bastard betray my daughter? I won't let him get away with this, even if it costs me my life!!!" She hissed in anger while staring at the burning torches that hung on the walls of her room with a menacing glint in her eyes.
However, she didn't know how to break this news to Princess Sarina, as she would be devastated upon learning what happened.
"This is not good. Why have I never heard anything about his relationship with the knight's daughter until now?! Why didn't you tell me this before, you damn fool?!!! How dare you hide such an important matter from me???" Queen Elizabeth screamed at the captain of the royal guards, who cowered before her wrath, kneeling down in fear.
"My queen! Please forgive me... But I never knew about him being with the Liam girl until this very moment!"
Queen Elizabeth took a few deep breaths before calming down enough to think straight again. "Okay, forget about that for now. Find them! Search every nook and cranny of this country! Use every resource available to you! I want that bastard caught alive and brought back to me!!!
Order the public execution of Liam, and I am sure they'll show themselves." She ordered with a vicious expression on her face.
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
The next moment, the play focused on Queen Elizabeth entering Princess Sarina's quarters, where she found her daughter acting like a madwoman as she ran around the room, throwing everything she saw on the ground. She was in a fit of rage due to Aiden's betrayal.
The queen hugged Sarina tight against her chest, who broke down in tears and cried hysterically.
"My baby... Don't cry! I will find him and bring him to you, I promise. I won't let you suffer because of his foolish actions." Queen Elizabeth spoke in a comforting voice, but her eyes burned with fury as she vowed to avenge her daughter's heartbreak.
The play proceeded with Aiden and Elaine knowing that Liam was going to be executed for treason, and he decided that the best option was to surrender himself. So, he knocked off Elaine and hid her before leaving a letter on the spot.
However, at that moment, he was ambushed by Queen Elizabeth's men, who captured and brought both of them in front of the Queen.
"Look who we have here. You lowlife scum should have appreciated the honor of becoming Princess Sarina's lover. Instead, you threw it away for this wench. What a disgrace!" Queen Elizabeth said with contempt in her eyes, glaring at Aiden as though he were some kind of vermin she had just discovered lurking beneath her feet.
"What do you mean? Princess Sarina's lover?" He asked in disbelief while glancing around at everyone gathered inside this room.
"Yes, that's right. You were chosen by the princess herself to be her future husband. But you betrayed her and ran away with another woman while leaving her alone in bed after using her body like a toy." Queen Elizabeth informed him in a cold tone.
Aiden was stunned, speechless for a moment, as he tried to process what he had just heard.
Meanwhile, Elaine and Liam couldn't help but widen their eyes in surprise as they listened to Queen Elizabeth's words.
At that moment, Princess Sarina entered the room with tears streaming down her face, her appearance looking haggard and disheveled, her clothes tattered, and her eyes red and swollen from crying too much. She walked towards Elaine and collapsed before her with a miserable expression on her face.
"Why have you never told me about your relationship with Sir Aiden? I thought we were friends! Why didn't you trust me enough to tell me about this?" The princess asked, her tone full of accusation as she spoke through clenched teeth.
Elaine, who was kneeling on the ground, lifted her head to gaze into her friend's tearful eyes. "I... I wanted to tell you about my feelings for him from the beginning. However, I couldn't find the right time or place to talk about it. But I never expected that you would develop romantic feelings for him as well..."
Princess Sarina's eyes flashed with anger as she glared at her friend and shouted, "How dare you call me your friend?! Do you even understand what kind of pain and suffering I have been through these past few days because of you? Do you know how much I love him?! Do you even comprehend how I felt when I learned that he betrayed me for another woman?! Do you?! Answer me!!"
Elaine remained silent as she stared at the princess's angry expression without uttering a single word in response, unable to speak due to her overwhelming emotions.
"Princess, don't blame her. She had nothing to do with what happened between us. It's all my fault..." Aiden interrupted their conversation, drawing her attention towards himself.
The moment she saw Aiden again, memories of their intimate moments together resurfaced in her mind, causing her heart to ache even more than before. She stood up and stepped forward until she stood face to face with him, gazing straight into his eyes while trembling with emotions as tears welled up inside her. "Sir Eiden... Please tell me that you love me, I beg you.
I'll forgive everything else if you say yes. Just tell me that you care about me... that you want to marry me. Don't make me suffer any further... please...!"
Seeing the state of Princess Sarina's condition made Aiden feel like his heart was being ripped apart, but he managed to regain control over himself and shook his head in denial.
"Your Highness, I had no idea you liked me that way. And I didn't intend for things to end up this way, either. But I can't lie to you. I don't have any romantic feelings for you, and I only love Elaine. I always have." Aiden declared, his voice firm and resolute.
Princess Sarina's face twisted in pain as she listened to him confess his love for someone else, and she broke down in tears again while clutching her chest with both hands as if trying to keep herself from falling apart.
However, she couldn't bear this torment anymore, and her heart finally snapped from the pressure of carrying all these negative emotions within herself anymore.
Thus, she lost her life before their eyes and fell down like a lifeless doll.
This scene shocked everyone present there, and they fell silent for several minutes, unable to utter a single word while witnessing Princess Sarina dying like that in front of them.
Aiden couldn't believe that his honest confession had caused the death of someone who had always treated him with kindness and respect.
He was filled with guilt and regret for what had happened, and his remorse grew stronger by the minute as he stared at Princess Sarina's lifeless corpse.
On the other hand, Elaine let out a loud sob while holding her hands over her mouth, tears streaming down her face. "Princess! No... Why?! Why did it come to this?"
Meanwhile, Queen Elizabeth stood motionless, unable to comprehend how things had turned out like this. When all she wanted was to help her daughter gain the man of her dreams, instead, it resulted in the death of her own daughter.
Then the lights turned off and the curtains fell, announcing the end of the play.