Emmelyn was surprised when she saw the group captain didn't bow down to her when he reached her. Did he not recognize me? She was wondering.

"Hey... I am glad you are here," she said to him. Emmelyn wanted to ask the man to come and get the thug from Mrs. Adler's house, but much to her surprise, the captain had raised his hand and made a sign to his soldiers to arrest Emmelyn.

"HEY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING??!" Emmelyn was so shocked that she jumped from the carriage out of reflex and unsheathed the sword that she kept on the coachman's seat. "DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH ME!"

"My lady, you must drop your sword and come with us. Don't even think about putting up a useless fight because we are told not to spare you if you resisted arrest," said the captain coldly.

There was no emotion on his face and that actually made Emmelyn feel worried. This man looked like someone who was heartless.

"Who told you to arrest me?" she asked the captain. "Don't you know who I am?"

This must be a big misunderstanding. How could the soldiers be trying to arrest her? She was the crown prince's wife. Even though the fact was not yet publicly announced, but they saw her staying at the royal palace for a while now.

So, what happened in just one day?

"The king told us to arrest you, alive or dead," said the captain flatly. "Now, either you come with us willingly, or you can risk getting hurt, together with the child in your womb."

This time, the man's expression finally softened. He had a pregnant wife at home and the thought of hurting this woman in front of him made the captain think about his own wife and soon-to-be-born child. He was not really a heartless man as he made himself look to be.

Emmelyn looked at the man with clenched jaws and their eyes locked. She could see his expression and a hint of plea on his face. She looked down and saw her bulging tummy. Emmelyn bit her lip, feeling distraught.

"This must be a mistake..." she muttered. Finally, she did what the man advised her to do.

CLANG!

Emmelyn couldn't possibly take any risk for Harlow. She dropped the sword to the ground and raised her hands. She must not face this many soldiers head-on.

If the order really came from the king, then she could rely on the queen's protection. She knew King Jared was an ass-hole who seemed to hate her for no clear reason, but at least Queen Elara was kind and she liked Emmelyn.

Once she was in the royal palace, she could always try to ask the queen to help her. For now, she had to prioritize her own safety together with Harlow's.

The captain motioned to his soldiers to arrest Emmelyn. They took the sword from the ground, opened the carriage door, and asked her to enter, which she obeyed, then they locked her from the outside.

Two soldiers drove the carriage to the royal palace, while the others rode in front of it and behind it. Many villagers who saw the scene were whispering and wondering what happened.

Emmelyn wanted to cry inside the carriage, but she forced herself to stay strong and held back. This was not the time to cry. She must find out what happened and get help.

Her mind wandered back to the event yesterday. The thug said that they were told to keep her for a few days and that their boss was Ellena.

So, what did Ellena plan that would need Emmelyn to be away for a few days? Did Ellena do it already? Gosh.. that must be it!

Since Emmelyn was now arrested, Ellena must have done something. Maybe she spoke ill of Emmelyn to the king?

Maybe... she wanted to make as if Emmelyn ran away from Draec and the king would think Emmelyn was really conspiring with the enemy to...

To do what?

So many pieces of the puzzle and she couldn't fit them together.

"Hey! Tell me what happened..." She banged the carriage wall and asked the soldiers in front to say something. "I need to know why the king ordered my arrest? What did I do wrong?"

She kept banging over and over again, but they didn't pay her any heed. Finally, Emmelyn stopped. She didn't want to waste her energy on this. She believed she would soon know what happened after they reached the palace.

After one hour, they were finally there.

Since the windows and door were locked, Emmelyn couldn't see anything while they were still on the way. She only heard voices and as soon as they arrived in the king's town, she could recognize the market, the city center, and finally the royal palace from the sounds she heard around her.

CREAK.

The door was unlocked and then opened. Emmelyn took a deep breath and stepped down from the carriage. She felt hungry and tired. Her back ached more than usual because she spent the night on a hard bed in Mrs. Adler's home.

She felt physically and emotionally broken. If it wasn't for Harlow, she would not be able to even stand up as she did now.

As soon as she landed on the ground, two soldiers held her tightly with her hands behind her back. Emmelyn winced in pain and glared at them.

"HEY! Watch out what you are doing, pricks!" She yelled at them.

However, the soldiers didn't care. They gripped her wrists even more tightly. Emmelyn clenched her jaws and looked around her, trying to find faces that she was familiar with so she could ask for help.

There was none.

She found herself in the royal palace main courtyard early in the morning, and around her were hundreds of soldiers and people she didn't know. This was so confusing. She felt like a hunted animal thrown in the cage with so many enemies around her.

She felt so alone and helpless.

When she finally saw three faces that she recognized, Emmelyn's heart skipped a beat.

"HIS MAJESTY IS HERE!"

Emmelyn turned to the palace main entrance and saw King Jared walked out briskly, looking like a demon with his bloodshot eyes, messy hair, and bloody clothes. Emmelyn knew the king didn't like her, but she had never seen him looking at her with this much contempt, hatred, and fury before like he did now.

What happened....? It was all Emmelyn could think over and over again. Behind the king was John, the butler, and really old and sickly looking Mr. Vitas.

Emmelyn knew Mr. Vitas was old and frail, but this morning, he looked pale like a newly dead corpse and Emmelyn could see his eyes were filled with deep sadness. While John... the man couldn't even hide his tears flowing down his cheeks.

SLAP!

As soon as King Jared reached Emmelyn, he slapped her as hard as he could to unleash his anger. Emmelyn who didn't expect to receive an assault by her own father-in-law tried to dodge but the soldiers' grip made her unable to escape.

"..." Emmelyn bit her lip and hold back from making any sound. She hated King Jared with all her heart for her family's death and, after today, she couldn't possibly hate him more even if she wanted to. Her hatred of him was so deep that it reached the deepest part of hell.

She wouldn't give him the satisfaction to hear her scream in pain.

"HOW DARE YOU!" King Jared looked like a madman after he slapped Emmelyn and didn't hear her cry in pain. When he saw blood on her lips, the man was triggered and he grabbed a sword from a nearby soldier and was ready to kill Emmelyn.

"Your Majesty... please spare Lady Emmelyn for the baby she is carrying now..."

Emmelyn turned toward the voice and was shocked to see Mr. Vitas dropped to his knees in front of the king and begged him to spare Emmelyn's life.

"Please... please... Your Majesty," the old physician now cried openly.

"Please... have mercy on the royal heir, Your Majesty..." Now, John also went to his knees and begged the king. He even lowered his head to reach the ground. "Her Majesty loved the baby... Her... majesty... loved the baby..."

John seemed to say the magic word. As soon as King Jared heard his wife mentioned, his face paled, his body trembled, and he dropped the sword to the ground.

CLANG!

Emmelyn hid her sigh of relief, but her ears perked up to listen more. What the hell happened when she was away? Why did King Jared suddenly turn ballistic on her?

He didn't like Emmelyn before, but at least he tried to maintain being civil toward her out of consideration to his wife. What changed?

Also... where was the queen? Did she know her husband was doing this shit?

Wait...

Suddenly, something really heavy seemed to hit Emmelyn on the chest and she couldn't breathe. She just realized all around her were black banners. And what did John say earlier?

He said 'the queen loved Emmelyn's baby'? Why did he use past tense?

.

.

>>>>

Thank you for your patience. I was struggling to write this chapter because I got so emotional. I think you can already guess what happened to Queen Elara and the connection to Emmelyn's kidnapping by the thugs, under Ellena's order.

Writing this part became so hard that I had to stop many times, before I then fell asleep on my keyboard. This is what I was worried about when I was writing so many fluffy moments at the beginning of the story. We were being spoiled by so much fluff and warmth to prepare us for the upcoming conflict. The main conflict is just starting.

Please buckle up and get your heart ready. If the going gets tough, remember, I promise that this story will have a happy ending.