The Third Prince Of Darkness

If you could forget the environment, her shiny black hair would seem very attractive to you. In fact, she was still very attractive, even in this gloomy setting.

Tears were streaming down from Roxanne's emerald green eyes, though she didn't know why. Hadn't she helped the man she loved? All her life, she had wanted to be a wife worthy of standing beside Ethan, and she had finally succeeded... So why was she sad? Was it the reality that she would soon be executed and never see Ethan again, or was it because she didn't know whether Ethan was safe at this moment?

Who could say?

But Roxanne kept crying. She cried silently, as if she feared that if she cried aloud, her mother would come to punish her here. Roxanne's mother was undoubtedly a terrible mother. Whenever Roxanne cried, she would tell her she was a bad girl and lock her in a dark closet.

Perhaps what truly saddened Roxanne in this dark dungeon was this: she felt as though she were locked in that dark closet from her childhood again for being a bad girl. Perhaps failing to help Ethan enough made her a bad girl, and that's why she was here, in this dark and frightening place. At least, this was likely what Roxanne thought.

In fact, this said a lot about Roxanne. Why would a woman fall in love with the same man in both of her lives? What was it that made this mad love grow so much? Moreover, in her previous life, Ethan had never shown much interest in Roxanne. After countless attempts to get closer to him, she had finally succeeded, and Ethan had smiled at her and said,

"When I return from the war, I'll take you for myself."

That was the closest Roxanne had ever been to Ethan in her previous life. Roxanne had never forgotten Ethan's bright smile. Every night, she had imagined the war ending quickly and Ethan returning, but that had never happened. Ethan never came back—or rather, he did, but at the worst possible time.

When the war ended, both of Fiona's sons declared themselves king. Roxanne's fiancé, Thaerd, quickly wanted to marry her and have children. Naturally, Roxanne refused to marry him and tried to escape many times, but all her attempts were in vain. Her mother, Madam Linaven, locked Roxanne in a dark room for a month.

"That foolish prince died foolishly! He thought he was a hero and challenged the Blood King, but he lost! Do you think the Blood King would spare him? Even if he's still alive, he's probably being tortured in the Skull Tower or has been turned into a toy for the Blood King. Now, Roxanne, you're going to be a good girl and marry, aren't you?

You'll be a faithful wife to your husband and bear many children. If you don't, my little Roxanne, you'll be a bad girl, and you know what happens to bad girls, don't you?"

These were her mother's words a few days before the wedding. As much as Roxanne didn't want to accept it, it was true. Everyone knew that Ethan had challenged the Blood King and lost. He was probably dead. At least, that's what the entire continent believed until the night before the wedding. On that night, Roxanne heard the news that Ethan was alive, had returned, and had declared himself king.

That night, Roxanne cried as she had never cried before—or rather, she cried silently. After all, she didn't want to be a bad girl, but what she wanted even less was to marry someone other than Ethan. Roxanne knew she wouldn't escape this cursed place and that, no matter what happened tomorrow, her mother would force her to marry that vile man.

That's why Roxanne made up her mind on that dark night. To her, a life without Ethan wasn't worth living. So she took a knife in her hand and, with silent tears, pressed the blade to her throat.

"I'm sorry, my love... I hope we'll meet again soon."

These were Roxanne's last words. After she spoke them, she slashed her throat with a single stroke, and the last thing she saw was a magical cat moving over the surrounding blood.

And now, Roxanne was about to die again, but this time Pipkin wouldn't help her. But this time... this time at least she had spent one night with Ethan... Alright, maybe Ethan hadn't fully made her a woman, but still, she had achieved what she had always dreamed of. At least, she had become one with her lover. Thinking about that night with Ethan, Roxanne stopped crying.

And a pained smile spread across her face.

"Are you fantasizing about perverted things again?"

Roxanne lifted her head and saw Pipkin, whose chubby form blocked the moonlight, entering the cell. His purple eyes seemed to look directly into Roxanne's soul. If these eyes belonged to a human rather than a cat, they would certainly seem divine with those striped purple irises.

"What do you want?" Roxanne asked in a low voice.

"Hoo? Don't you want me to save you? Or are you thinking that your white knight Ethan will come to rescue you from this dark place? Just like in the past, isn't that right? You keep imagining that he'll come to save you, whisk you away, then tear off your clothes, throw you onto a bed, and—"

"Enough, shut up! I've heard enough."

Roxanne's face was flushed, but it wasn't Pipkin's perfect reading of her mind that made her angry. Roxanne buried her head back between her knees and closed her eyes in the dark dungeon.

"Leave me alone..." Roxanne said, but there was no response from Pipkin.

"Hey, are you still there?" Roxanne called out again, but again, there was no reply.

What Roxanne didn't know was that Pipkin had just sensed a familiar but deeply unsettling power and had immediately fled. Roxanne lifted her head from between her knees, stood up, and stretched to look out the small window above. When she saw nothing outside, she moved closer to the wall and jumped up to look through the window.

"Hey, Pipkin, where did you go? I was joking when I said to leave me alone! Hey, I'm so bored here. Please come back!"

"Trying to talk to a cat... I suppose your madness isn't just limited to your feelings for me."

Roxanne was shocked by the voice that passed through her ears. This voice! This deep, masculine voice was the one she had fallen in love with. Roxanne froze for a moment. When she heard this voice, her heart began to pound wildly. Her eyes widened, her breathing quickened.

As the echoes of the voice reverberated through the dark walls of the dungeon, Roxanne's entire body remained frozen.

"Aren't you going to turn around? We don't have much time."

The voice echoed again in the dark dungeon. But Roxanne still didn't turn towards the voice behind her. As tears streamed down her face, she told herself that this voice wasn't real and that she was hallucinating. What would Ethan be doing here? And if this voice was real, the guards would have already come to the cell because of this masculine voice.

That's why Roxanne didn't turn around—because deep down, she wanted Ethan to be there, but she feared that if she didn't see him, she would feel the same way she did in her past life.

That feeling she wanted to forget. The feeling she had when, in her last moments, she realized that Ethan would never come to rescue her, no matter how much she imagined it. That was the feeling she was terrified of reliving. As Roxanne's entire body trembled, tears began to flow from her eyes, but she still didn't dare turn around.

However, when she felt warmth behind her and two hands caressing and squeezing her waist, her eyes widened in horror. When she felt the warm breath near her neck, her heart began to pound more fiercely than ever.

"I've come to save you from this dark place, my love... And I will never leave you again. I won't let anyone hurt you."

When Roxanne heard these words, it was as if the whole world had stopped. Her heart was pounding wildly, and Ethan's arms around her felt like a dream. She had waited for this moment for so long that she found it hard to believe it could be real. Ethan was really here; he had come to save her. But how? How had he found her in the midst of all this darkness and pain?

"Ethan..." Roxanne whispered, still not daring to turn around. As her arms intertwined with Ethan's, his warmth shook her even more. It was as if Ethan was holding her tightly, afraid she might disappear, and the tears continued to flow from her eyes.

"WAAaaaaaa!"

And at that moment, for the first time in her life, Roxanne cried out loud. She cried as hard as she could, without fearing that she would be seen as the bad girl. After all, she now had a prince to protect her, and there was nothing wrong with crying anymore. Roxanne's intense emotions turned into tears; the feelings she had silently suppressed were finally released.

Ethan's presence provided her with the secure and loving refuge she had longed for. The pain and fear within her slowly melted away with Ethan's warmth. Roxanne leaned on Ethan's shoulder, releasing all her pain and regret through her tears. In that moment, even the darkness of the dungeon couldn't extinguish her hope.

Ethan's powerful arms held Roxanne tightly, promising to protect her, and this time he was really there—the hero Roxanne had been waiting for had finally arrived...