The Scarlet Phoenix and the Prince of Winter

Chapter Sixteen

There was a crowd just outside my house when we arrived, so when they saw the two of us, all eyes were on the Crown Prince. This was bad for him so I told him to go inside the house immediately while I talk to my neighbors which were clearly more interested in the person that I just let in the house.

"Who was that, Rainha?" Mrs. Usher asked me with her snoopy eyes. She's the closest neighbor I got and I usually like her, but not so much right now.

"Well, he's---"

"He's Rainha's boyfriend," someone said and I spun around to see Calyx looking at me intently as he answered Mrs. Usher's question. He was standing at the back of this crowd but he was tall enough for me to spot him easily. He was frowning too which means that something bad must have happened.

"What? Rainha's got a boyfriend?"

"I did not know that! I thought Calyx was---"

"But that's not important right now," Calyx said interrupting the crowd that went silent when he spoke again. "Where were you last night, Rainha? I thought that you were heading home when I saw the two of you back at the Tunnel? I searched for you this whole morning!"

"Something came up," I told him reluctantly because the whole crowd was listening to our conversation. "But excuse me guys, why are you here?"

Mrs. Usher's eyes widened at my question. "Oh! So you don't know! Rainha! A group of men was inside your house! It was a good thing that Calyx went to check on you, but you were not there. Instead, he found five men tied there as if something bad has happened!"

I clapped at my forehead at that. "Oh wow, I forgot about them!"

"Forgot? What do you mean? You mean to say---?"

"Were you the ones who tied them?" Calyx asked me and I was glad that he was here to make sense as my other neighbors were clearly as clueless as me. "I found them tied inside with wounds on them---"

"Yeah... It was me and T-Travor. They trespassed our house last night, and it was a good thing my b-boyfriend was with me so we managed to fight back."

"Then where did you go?"

"We went to hide as we feared that there were more of them," I told them and this earned me whispers and murmurs from all of them.

"And your Aunt? Where is she? You were looking for her last night, didn't you? And Garreth? Does your brother know about this incident already?"

I shook my head politely, but actually, I was starting to get mad that they're interrogating me like this now that the problem is over when last night they weren't as enthusiastic about helping me. "I'm going to do all of those things that you are asking me to do, that's why we came back here. So thank you everyone for coming here. I'm going to get inside..."

The crowd dispersed immediately after that. They usually linger more but they might have lost their interest now that they already know that I was not hurt at all. Crazy people.

"Rainha."

"Yes?" I was waiting for everyone to leave but Calyx seemed to have no plans in leaving me just yet. "Do you want to say something else, Calyx?"

He nodded. "Let's talk inside. This is a private matter."

"Okay, just wait here for a moment," I said to him, barring him from entering our house. I did this because if I just allowed him to get inside then he might see the Crown Prince's face and that would complicate things. So went inside first to see where was the Crown Prince and I found him sleeping on the couch.

I paused when I saw him crouching as he was longer than the couch itself. I wanted to wake him but I know that he needed this rest too after all that what happened so I just covered his face with a blanket. Only his eyes and forehead were visible from the covers that I put on him. I also placed a Heatcatcher in front of him so that he'll get sleep comfortably.

Then I went back to the door and ushered Calyx in. We walked to where he was sleeping and he saw Prince Kao there, but I immediately pulled Calyx to the kitchen. "Let him sleep, he was up all night," I said to Calyx as we both took a seat facing each other on the dining table. "So, what are you going to tell me?"

Calyx seemed to be struggling, so I smiled at him and encouraged him to tell me what he wanted to tell me. "Rainha, is there something that you need to tell me?"

That caught me off guard. "W-What are you talking about?"

"Something is clearly happening to you and I am concerned about your safety... What really happened last night? I am sure that those men were violent. I found deadly weapons on the floor when I came here earlier..."

I have no choice but to tell him what exactly happened. I told him how Travor and I found out that my Aunt was missing when we arrived here last night. Then I also shared to Calyx how we went to find her, only to come back here empty-handed and then those men just went here and attacked us with the intention of taking me away.

This made Calyx really worried. "They wanted to take you with them? But who were those people?"

"That's my question too," I told him and it was only then that I felt the fear from that incident. They were going to take me too had it not been for the Crown Prince. There are people out there who wanted to abduct me and that thought alone scared me big time. "I have no idea who would do such a thing."

"It could be anyone who has a grudge on you, or one of our family members," Calyx suggested. "Is there someone who comes into your mind?"

I shook my head. "You know me. I have no enemies, Calyx. I am not a violent person either to deserve such a thing because if I were, my brother's fiance would have died a long time ago."

This earned me a chuckle from Calyx but he was still serious with the incident. "So you went everywhere to search for your Aunt? Is that what happened?"

"Yeah. After we defeated those men we have no choice but to leave the house as there might be more of them coming. Travor suggested that we leave the place for a while and just come back."

"He defeated those guys?"

"He's quite strong. Even I was surprised," I told him with a smile because I just remembered how manly the Crown prince looked when he fought those bastards. I swooned at the mere sight of him flexing his muscles and for me it was enough. "But I did help him too."

"You could have been hurt," he told me.

"Well yeah, but I could not care less right when I could not still find my Aunt."

"About that, I went to the Royal Guards and informed them about the two of you missing. They're going to do some search operations for you so all we have to do is update the report as it's only your Aunt now that's missing."

"Oh, you did that? Thank you, Calyx!"

If there was one thing that I like so much about this guy is that he is a very reliable person. You can always count on him to do what he thinks is the best, like reporting the incident so that I don't have to report it myself. Now all we have to do is search for my Aunt.

"But you have to know about this, Rainha," he then told me which made me so curious.

"What is it?"

"It's about those men that came to kidnap you," Calyx said and went on to narrate what he witnessed when he came here to the house earlier and saw them tied up and wounded.

Calyx told me that when he arrived at our house and he saw the men inside, he immediately searched for me and Aunt Milca. When he was sure that we were not there, he went straight to the station of the Royal Guards assigned here on this part of the neighborhood to report the incident. The Royal Guards cooperated and came back with him, but they were surprised at what they saw when they arrived.

They saw the men already untied and that they were fleeing towards the snow. Calyx and the Royal Guards ran after them but it was too late. There was a private snow carriage which they took, enabling them to escape. As a result, no one was caught for what happened.

"That's crazy," I told him covering my mouth with my hands. "So you're telling me that those guys have a getaway vehicle and it was a private snow carriage at that?"

"Yes, Rainha. That's why I am very worried about you. Whoever tried to abduct you have the money because they can afford a private snow carriage to send men to your house."

"You're right. I guess I'll have to be more careful now."

"You should tell your brother about this immediately. He might give us an idea of are the people behind this incident might be."

I nodded and heed Calyx's advice. When he left, I went to the neighborhood to talk to someone that I would have not dared to talk to if not for this. I was in front of Blasie right outside her door when I realized what I was doing. I was about to step back when she suddenly pulled me in for a hug.

"What a surprise! You came to visit me here!? I'm so touched, Rainha!" She was smiling widely and it just irked me more. I really hate her, but she's the only person that I can ask for this favor.

She offered me tea and some slice of cake as we sat on their sofa. Her house is not that quaint, but it's not that poor also. The living room was full of her photographs and paintings and one would mistake her for a celebrity if they don't know her.

As I did not want to stay here any longer, I cut to the chase and told her what happened to me and my Aunt. Her facial expressions were funny as hell to look at while I narrate to her my story, but I have to fake my emotions so that she'll not get offended with me. "Oh my God! That really happened?" she exclaimed dramatically and it was hard for me not to roll my eyes. "Where could Aunt Milca possibly be at the moment? They could have taken her somewhere far! They could be torturing her by now!"

Then she cried and I sat there looking at her with a poker face. It was already bad that I have to come here but she topped it with her performance. I don't know why I even put up with this. "That's right. So while me and my boyfriend go and search for Aunt Milca, I wanted to ask you to go to my brother and tell him what just happened."

"You have a boyfriend?" she said in a shrill voice.

I almost dropped the plate of cake when she asked me that. I was also secretly scolding myself for bringing up Travor with this girl when it was not needed.

"Well yes," I just said and this lie about Travor has snowballed and I don't think I could ever get myself out of this hole that I dug for myself. "He will be helping me in searching for my aunt so I would like you to go and tell m brother about what happened. Please, Blasie."

"Of course, I will! To be honest with you, I was shocked that you came here to ask me a favor. I have been waiting for this opportunity, Rainha! So I will do my best!"

She was very much cheerful when she said that, it made me feel guilty. Have I been treating her unfairly all this time because of her bad reputation? Should I be more accepting of her despite the issues between us?

I guess the answer is yes because when she hugged me again before I left her house, I was already thinking of at least being nice to her when she's around. She's going to be my brother's wife soon, after all. Might as well forget everything in the past.

Because of that, I was in a lighter mood when I walked back to our house. I'm sure the Crown Prince would be gone by now, as he only wanted to rest there and take a nap. He'll probably be heading back to the palace and that thought alone was already sending me to tears.

"I wanted to be with him longer but I guess that was it," bI muttered to myself as I entered my house. I was planning on searching for my Aunt the whole day so I went to the bathroom to have a dry bath. But as I opened the curtains of the bathroom I shouted when I saw the Crown Prince there naked, taking a dry bath himself!