You stare up at the man sitting on the horses standing in front of you with relieved eyes.

"What are you doing alone in the forest?" Celestan demands, getting off of his horse.

"Someone is chasing me, and he wants to kill me" you choke out the words while trying to catch your breath from running.

The king's soldiers quickly get off their horses and prepare their weapons to attack anyone who dares to harm you and the king.

"Really? Where is he?"

You look behind you to see that Zephyr is nowhere to be detected in sight.

"I swear...he was chasing after me, I'm not lying!"

Celestan rolls his eyes at you, annoyed by your paranoia.

"You shouldn't have gone into the forest without my permission, dear"

The blond-haired king picks you up and places you on the horse, before getting on top of it.

"Hold into me tightly, we are returning to the castle"

You do as you are told, but not before taking one last glance at the direction you came from.

Shivers rush down your spine, still remembering the last look on Zephyr's face.

Hopefully, you stay safe in the castle away from the forest.

Away from the cannibalistic entity.

𑁍❁𑁍❁𑁍

"You are back"

You freeze as Alastrain pulls you into a tight hug, his nose buried in the base of your neck.

Larsan watches the whole interaction with a deep frown on his face.

Meanwhile, Celestan is enjoying how his son is interacting with you.

"How stupid can you be to go explore the forest, did you wish to get killed?" You sigh at the prince's words.

"I just wanted to relax, but I didn't get the chance to do so" you explain.

Alastrain sneers at you, displeased by the sentence.

"Relax? Relax from what?" You snort.

"Everyone in here" you admit bravely, not frightened by the men in the room.

Knowing very well that they can't hurt you.

"You should be grateful that you are here on this island" Celestan snaps at you.

"I'm here stuck on an island, ALL..." You point your finger at Celestan's chest.

"...because of you!"

Celestan grabs your index finger and pulls it away from his chest.

Larsan realizes what the king is about to do, but it was already too late for him to do anything.

Celestan breaks your index finger with ease.

"Know your place, or I will break all of your bones next time, girl"