Claimed by the Prince of Darkness novel Chapter 146

Chapter 146: Trap At The Fair

While Ruelle and Hailey waited at one of the stalls as the food was being prepared, Ruelle wandered to a nearby stall and decided to buy things from there.

Once the food was handed, Hailey spoke cheerfully but Ruelle found herself only half listening. The fortune teller’s words did not leave Ruelle’s mind even after they walked away from the stall. They lingered like a faint echo, repeating themselves until her head began to ache.

Darkness is going to descend.

She did not know how much worse fate still intended to make things.

By the time they returned to the others, the food they had bought was long gone, leaving only the warmth of it in their hands against the cold air.

Edward noticed at once that Ruelle was holding a small cloth bag. Curious, he asked,

"Did you buy something? You should have told Hermes to go with you and to pay for it."

Ruelle held out her hand, and the prince looked at her quizzically. Resting on her palm was a simple wristband made of blue thread with several small stones woven into it.

"It’s a wristband," she said. "For you."

Edward’s eyes widened slightly. He looked at the band, then at her, as if unsure what he was supposed to do.

When he did not say anything, Ruelle wondered if perhaps he did not like it, as it wasn’t expensive. She said, "It is alright if you do not like it."

But Edward quickly took the wristband from her hand and slipped it onto his wrist. He muttered, "It is not particularly impressive, but I suppose I can wear it."

Ruelle explained, "The blue stones are meant to bring prosperity and long life."

Utterly touched, Edward turned slightly and whispered to his attendant, "You heard that, Hermes? I got a special gift."

Edward’s eyes then fell on Hailey’s wrist, and he noticed she was wearing a band similar to his, only hers was yellow. Before he could say anything, Ruelle reached into the small cloth bag again and handed another band to Kevin and then one more to Hermes.

"For me?" Hermes looked surprised as he accepted it. "It is my favourite colour, Miss Ruelle," he said with a smile. He had barely finished speaking when he noticed the prince staring at him. He immediately stopped smiling.

Edward looked from Hermes’ wrist... to Kevin’s... to Hailey’s... and then slowly back to his own.

There was a long pause.

"...Ruelle," Edward said at last, "how many of these did you buy?"

"Six of them. The shopkeeper gave it for a good price," Ruelle replied with a smile.

So he had been clubbed with six people, Edward thought to himself dryly. He murmured, "...Mine is still the best one."

Far from where Ruelle and her friends stood among the lantern-lit stalls, Ezekiel and Caroline walked along a quieter stretch of the fair, where the crowd had begun to thin.

They had just passed one of the shops when a gunny bag slipped from a man’s hands and split open as it struck the ground. Onions spilled across the frozen ground, rolling in different directions. And one of them rolled toward Caroline before she could step away. Her foot stepped on it and the next second she slipped and fell on the ground.

"Ugh!" Caroline winced, the breath knocked out of her as her palms stung.

"Forgive me, miss! The gunny bag suddenly tore open. Are you alright?" the man asked, hurrying toward her.

Ezekiel quickly bent down beside her and helped her sit up, his hand steady on her arm. He asked her, "Did you hurt yourself?" He offered his hand to help her up.

Caroline placed her hand in his and tried to stand, but the moment she put weight on her foot, a sharp pain shot through her ankle and she cried out, her fingers tightening around his sleeve.

"I can’t," she winced, shaking her head. "I think I hurt my ankle."

Ezekiel immediately bent down and examined her foot, his hand careful but firm as he pressed lightly along the side of her ankle.

The moment he pressed one spot, Caroline cried out and pulled her foot back.

"No!... I can’t believe this happened," she said in frustration, turning to glare at the man with the torn gunny sack as if it were somehow his fault.

With Ezekiel’s help, she managed to stand, but the moment she tried to take a step, she faltered and had to lean heavily on him. She could barely put any weight on her injured foot without pain shooting up her leg.

At that moment, Ezekiel’s eyes moved and stared at a distance. Not far from them, half-hidden among the moving crowd and lantern light, he caught sight of the debt collectors. Their eyes moved slowly through the fair as if searching for him.

"I am sorry," Caroline apologised with disappointment. "Our time here has been cut short."

Ezekiel lifted his hand and placed it gently against the side of her face, his thumb brushing lightly across her cheek. He smiled at her, but there was something thoughtful in his eyes now.

"Not at all," he said softly. "You are going to have a much better time than today. I promise. Why don’t you wait here? I will bring the carriage around."

Caroline did not understand why his words made her feel strangely uneasy. The moment he turned his back, she reached out and caught his hand.

"Let us go together," she said. "We can catch the carriage right there in the parked space."

Ezekiel’s hand tightened slightly in hers before he turned back to look at her. For a brief moment, something unreadable passed across his face. He began,

"But you will have to walk longer. It—"

"You can carry me," Caroline proposed shyly. She looked at him with an expectant expression before slowly winding her arms around his neck.

Ezekiel carried her carefully in his arms as he made his way toward the quieter edge of the fair, away from the crowd.

To anyone watching, he looked like a devoted husband, carrying his injured wife with patience and care. But in his mind he was close to strangling her himself.

He had to return and find the debt collectors again. Everything had been arranged, and yet this foolish accident had ruined the timing. If he left her at the carriage and went back, questions would be asked. If he stayed with her, the opportunity would be lost.

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