Dear Immortal Tyrant

Kade knew he was a fool in love. Once war was declared, Lina would be known as the enemy within Ritan's walls. Loving her was as good as abandoning his loyalty to Ritan. It was unfortunate that he didn't care.

Kade let out a small sigh. She was an even greater fool if she thought she could run. Lina was going to hate him for the rest of her life. She was never going to love him again. He did not care. So long as she was by his side, that was enough for him.

Thus, Kade twirled her dagger in his hand. The dagger was encrusted in jewels and gold. She didn't take it with her. That foolish wife of his.

"...ten, eleven...fifteen..." Kade lazily sat underneath his window.

Kade closed his eyes. He tossed the dagger up and down. His skillful fingers caught it each time.

"Twenty."

Kade's eyes snapped wide open. There were twenty people in total. Did his wife seriously think he was that much of an idiot? His lips curled into a sinister smile. That sweet, naive little woman of his. She was going to be the reason her people died. Again.

Kade waited for the rain to pour. And boy, did it pour.

BOOM!

The storm came down in waves of terror. Lina had never experienced rain in Ritan. She didn't know how powerful the water was, how it could sweep the tallest trees to the ground. He let out a soft laugh.

"Well then," Kade mused.

Kade rose to his feet and turned to look out the window. The heavy rainfall greeted him. No one was going to make it out of the forest alive. No one but his woman. He knew for a fact she'd be safe and kept away from the rainfall. 

Lina was their top priority. They'd do anything to make sure she didn't catch hyperthermia. Her soldiers though, they'd suffer.

"Did you really think I wouldn't notice the rats in my castle?" Kade said to no one in particular.

Kade leaned his elbow on the window sill. In the distance, he saw the small twinkle of a lantern. They had made it that far already? His smile widened.

Kade loved a challenge. Without another word, he placed a skillful hand on the window and hopped down. 

It was time to go hunting.

- - - - - 

"Princess, please use this—"

Lina rebelliously shook her head. She shoved the cloak back onto the soldier. They were taking off their heavy cloaks to cover her. She didn't want them to get sick from this heavy rainfall. Besides, they were still far too close to Ritan's territory.

"We don't have time to change clothes, let's hurry!" Lina rushed them.

The soldiers didn't even have time to be touched by her actions. Today was the worst and best time to run from Ritan. With the heavy rain, Ritan's soldiers would be deterred. However, there would be footprints in the mud. It'd be fine. They had come in a group of twenty, but for a good reason. 

Everyone was already spreading out, to create false tracks, until no one would be able to track them down. Not even Ritan's best tracker. On top of that, the Princess had abruptly left. It'd take a while to gather Ritan's soldiers for a search, much less, make any progress in this rain.

All of the soldiers were confident in their abilities. They were certain they'd make it out of there alive. None of them would ever, in their wildest dreams, have predicted the future outcome. That, instead of an entire squadron of people tracking the Princess, it was just a lone man on a mission to find his wife.

"Princess, careful!" A soldier cried out, but it was too late.

Lina slipped over a branch. She screamed as she slid down the rough terrain. Instead of properly watching her steps, she had tripped and fallen down a slope. 

"I-I'm fine," Lina called out.

Lina pushed herself out of the mud, but hissed in pain. The rain weighed her down, blurring her vision in the darkness. She could barely see in the black night as it was, but the water made it even more difficult. Her ankles began to throb in pain.

"Princess—"

"I'm fine," Lina insisted.

Lina realized everyone had advanced down the slope. She accepted one of the hands being offered to her. So far, there were four soldiers with her. The remaining ones had broken off into a group of five to diversify the track. 

"Let's go," Lina said.

Lina bit down on her tongue. She was freezing. It was difficult to prevent her teeth from chattering. She only pushed onwards due to the adrenaline in her body that was determined not to freeze to death.

"Ah…" Lina held back a groan of pain.

Lina's ankles were killing her. She felt sore on the knees and knew the fall had injured something. She just didn't know what. Regardless of the agony, she pushed onwards.

"This way, Princess," the soldiers directed her down the marked trees.

A soldier would yank off each cloth he'd find. They had made this path out of Ritan prior to arriving at the palace. With the clothes, they'd be able to find a way out of Ritan and towards Teran territory. Once they'd reached the bordering town, they'd change clothes and push onwards.

BOOM!

Lina jumped at the frightening sound of the violent thunder. She couldn't see anything in the darkness. But when the lightning shot across the sky, the forest was momentarily lit up. She could've sworn she saw a figure of a man to her left, but decided it must've been a figment of her imagination.

"The rainfall is much heavier than we've predicted," one of the soldiers called out to his friend.

He began to point towards a tree with another ribbon tied to it. 

"We've traveled for so long, but only managed to reach our third checkpoint out of ten," the soldiers reported. "We need to hurry, or else—"

BOOM!

Thunder struck one of the trees close to them. The soldiers froze in shock. Had the strike been closer, one of them would've been electrocuted to death. Without warning, a loud split could be heard. 

"CAW! CAW!"

Ravens flew off in the distance. The trees toppled over.

"Princess, watch out!"

One of the soldiers thrusted his arm back. He shoved the Princess to the ground, but it was far too late. The tree fell directly onto him.

"No!" Lina screamed, dashing towards the fallen soldier.

"Princess, you can't!" The remaining soldier insisted.

They quickly grabbed her before she could see the blood that pooled on the ground. Luckily, it was a swift death, for his head had slammed upon a rock on the ground. Still, they were heartbroken. He was a close friend of theirs. They didn't have time to grieve. They had to continue.

"Princess, we must go!" the soldier cried out, his voice nearly drowned out by the heavy rain.

Lina's hair and clothes clung onto her wet body. She was beginning to feel cold all over. Her breathing grew heavy with each passing second. A powerful gust of wind swept past them. She shivered in the pelting rain, realizing they were going to die from hyperthermia.

"We must find shelter," Lina insisted.

Lina saw all of them were shivering in the cold. "We've traveled far enough. If we don't find shelter, all of this will be in vain."

The soldiers had no choice but to agree. They had miscalculated exactly how much rainfall Ritan received. They could've sworn the typhoon season wouldn't start for another few weeks. Nonetheless, they had to find shelter.

"We've all agreed to meet at one cave should the rain be too much for us," one of the soldiers stated.

Lina quickly nodded her head. "Then, let's go there."

They wasted no time in running off in that direction. With how powerful this storm was, Lina concluded the rest of the spy soldiers must've reached that cave as well. Thus, she pushed her legs onwards.

Lina was practically limping at this point. The pain was unbearable, but she knew she needed to run. If Lina couldn't convince her husband, then she'd just try to convince Atlan. She believed Atlan would listen to her, for he was much less sadistic than Kade.

"I see the campfire!" A soldier called out, relief flooding his system. 

Sure enough, in the distance was a ball of orange. In the midst of this forest, there could only be one thing that bright and large. A campfire. They had reached the cave. Shelter was upon them. 

Except, when they approached the cave, a heavy stench filled the air. 

Lina couldn't hold back her scream. The cave walls had splatters of blood. The fire flickered on the pale walls, revealing the bodies that laid on the ground. Dead.

She staggered backwards, her face going pale. They had reached the cave far too late.

Suddenly, one of the soldiers dropped dead beside her. She turned in time to see a dagger had impaled him in the skull. The dagger that Kade gave her. 

Lina opened her mouth, quickly understanding who it was.

"K-Kade—"

Lina's voice died in her throat. 

A man charged out of the cave, armed with a sword. He moved faster than the eyes could register. By the time she blinked, he was upon them.

Lina turned, but it was far too late. He had seen her. They had made eye-contact. Like a beast in the darkness, he took down every single man in this forest.

"No—"

It was far too late.

By the time the soldiers drew their swords, one more had dropped dead. There were just two left. Two against a man who could take down twenty on his own. And not break a sweat.

"Protect the Princess!" One of the two roared, shoving the Princess in the other soldier's direction.

"Princess, this way!" 

The soldier grabbed onto her wrist and began to pull her deep into the forest. Lina turned her head. Blood drained from her face. She had only taken three steps forward before he dropped dead.

"Argh…" It was the last noise the soldier made. 

There was only one more left. 

The beast pulled out his sword in a clean motion. She made eye-contact with him. The lone man standing in the center of the forest. He swung his sword. In one swoop, he discarded the blood clinging to his blade.

Lina blinked. He was charging towards them, his eyes practically glowing in the darkness. She had never felt this kind of fear in her life. This kind of fear towards her husband, the Commander of Ritan.

Suddenly, Lina remembered a story her older sister had told her of a man who won every battle he came across. Of a man who cut through men like butter. He, who was called The Beast. 

And it was none other than her husband.