Hellbound Heart novel Chapter 1

"Who are you and what are you doing in my room?" a cold, masculine voice jolted Izabelle from her stealthy movements the moment she closed the secret door to the room she had just sneaked out from.

This room she had just entered was supposed to be empty! This luxurious room had always been reserved as the ultimate guest room, only accommodating other country's kings and presidents. No one holding positions lower than those ranks were allowed to ever use this room before.

Elle had been confidently certain that this room was empty since there were no kings or presidents visiting their country today. So how come someone was here?!

With her heartbeat thudding wildly, Elle turned around with a start.

A tall man stood there. His posture relaxed while having his arms crossed over his chest and his head was slightly tilted as he stared at her. He was wearing a black robe and his hair was damp. Little beads of water were still dripping from the ends of his hair.

Elle's eyes flew wide and then she swallowed. Not because the man before her was so strikingly gorgeous he almost didn't look real – that he certainly was, she had to admit – but because she knew him. No, to be precise, she recognized his face.

This man was no other than the prince that the world was going so crazy over. Sebastian Reign, the crown prince of Viscarria. This prince was so famous because of his unrivalled good looks. And paired with a towering height and a gorgeous muscular body to boot, it was certainly a surefire recipe to be considered a male god amongst men.

"Take off your hood and answer me. Now." his commanding voice sounded out, nearly making her scurry backwards like a frightened rabbit. He did not raise his voice, but the way he spoke still made Elle experience a shiver like a cold stream of spring water that ran down her spine.

Something mysterious and dangerous clung to him so strongly that had she met him like this three years ago, Elle was certain that she would have probably been sent scampering away from him by now. She had never met a man so beautiful yet so terrifying.

But Elle was no longer the girl she used to be. This man, who looked as handsome as the devil himself and as scary as hell did not scare her. Maybe because right now, there was a monster that she feared even more than the devil himself or even hell itself. And that monster was not this man.

Lifting her hand, Elle slowly and gracefully lifted up and allowed her hood to fall back to her shoulders. Her light red hair gleamed against the dim light and her large and striking eyes, as blue as the midwinter sky, stared at him intently.

"I am truly sorry for the intrusion, Prince Sebastian," she said in an apologetic tone. "This is –" Elle broke off and froze when she heard a commotion happening just outside the door of the guest room.

Wide-eyed, she looked at the prince in horror then stared at the door again. They already found out that she was gone?!

Desperation shook her to the core, knowing that it was over for her once they caught her.

Fueled with panic and fear, Elle suddenly strode towards the man and unceremoniously grabbed his hand. "H-hide me." She ordered, but with a shaky voice.

"I- I am Princess Izabelle, I –" Elle decided to reveal herself, thinking that she would perhaps be able to make him listen to her if she revealed her true identity to him. But before Elle could even finish her statement, their attention was pulled away by a knock that sounded on the door.

She felt the ripple of that one knock on her heart.

This special room only had one key made for it, and the key was being kept by her father, the king himself. She knew her father would order his men to turn the palace upside down just to find her. But they will not search this room since everyone knew no one could enter it without the key. No one would suspect that she was inside since her father did not know about the secret passage. Elle was quite certain about that because she was the first to have discovered it!

But now that it was actually occupied, this place wasn't safe anymore.

Everything seemed to be going up in flames. All because of this prince. Did he just arrive tonight without any notice? But her father don't accept guests without notice except for that monster of a man!

Clenching her fists, Elle tried hard to think. She must not be caught! She could no longer return to the secret door where she came from, because it could only be opened from the other side!

Desperate, Elle stared into the prince's eyes again. "Hide me, please." She pleaded this time.

"I don't think there's a place here for you to hide, princess. If the king, the owner of this palace decides to search this room – and it seems that they're about to do it very soon – a mere guest such as myself can't possibly say no, can I?" He reasoned it out with her, and Elle knew that he was right. They would definitely search the entire room even if the guest inside was another country's king. Simply because, her father was insane. And he would do whatever it takes for this plan of his to succeed.

But if he was insane, she was hellbent on escaping and nothing could stop her.

She could see the danger glinting in those metallic grey eyes – somehow welcoming and luring her in. She then knew that he was not kidding in the least and she could somehow feel that this man was no angel. _{freēwēbηovel.c૦m}