Reclaimed By My Alpha (Natalia and Andrei) novel Chapter 453

Chapter 453

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Natalia’s POV

I didn’t know how long I’d been locked in that room. Hours? Days? There were no windows, no sunlight, no way to tell if it was morning or night, so I had no way to truly tell.

All I knew was that my daughter was getting hungrier. She cried more frequently now, her little face scrunched up and red. I tried to nurse her, but I wasn’t producing enough milk. My body was too weak at this point.

I needed to get out of here, and soon.

I paced the room, bouncing my baby gently as I searched for anything I could use. The wardrobe was still full of useless dresses that belonged to other women who were probably long dead by now. The fireplace didn’t even have a poker. It was as if the King had deliberately removed anything I could use to fight back.

But then I spotted one thing he hadn’t thought to remove–a porcelain vase on the dresser. It was small, but heavy enough. If I aimed properly, it might actually work.

Now, I just needed to get the King to come back.

Biting my lip, I laid my daughter down on the bed and stood by the door. Then I took a deep breath and started screaming.

“Help! Please, someone help! My baby–she’s sick!”

The King didn’t answer for a long time, but I kept screaming until my throat was raw. Just when I was about to give up, figuring that he wouldn’t buy it, I heard footsteps in the hallway. The lock clicked, and the door swung

open.

The King stood in the doorway with his eyes narrowed. “What is all this noise about?” he snarled.

“My baby,” I gasped, pointing to the bed. “She won’t nurse, and she hasn’t stopped crying.” Indeed, her little face was as red as a beet and scrunched up like a raisin. “I think she’s sick. Please, you have to help her.”

The King stepped into the room, moving toward the bed. “Let me see.”

The moment his back was turned, I lifted the vase and brought it down on the back of his skull. The porcelain shattered. The King stumbled forward with a grunt and collapsed onto the floor, unconscious.

I didn’t wait for him to stir. I scooped up my baby and ran.

My bare feet slapped against the cold stone as I tore through the hallways. Behind me, I heard the King groaning. He’d be up soon. I had maybe a minute, if that.

I ran without thinking, taking random turns, following passages that sloped upward–hopefully they would take me closer to the surface. My lungs burned. My legs screamed in protest, but I kept running.

But somehow, I eventually found myself back in that massive chamber—the one from before, only this time, I had entered through another door. I realized, then, that the chamber had multiple doors all around. Multiple entrances. Multiple exits.

I froze, turning wildly, trying to figure out which door to take. The air was still hot and suffocating, and that

Chapter 453

+25 Bonus

sulphuric smell was even stronger now, burning my eyes. But thankfully, my vision had adjusted somewhat from all the time spent in this dark palace, and I could make out shapes now.

The chamber was enormous, casily the size of a cathedral. And in the center of it was a pool.

No–not a pool. A lake.

The water was perfectly still, reflecting a faint red glow that seemed to emanate from somewhere deep within it. Steam rose from the surface in lazy tendrils.

I took a cautious step closer, my baby clutched to my chest. What was this place?

Before I could get any closer, I heard him. The King’s voice echoed through the chamber, bouncing off the walls.

“You can’t escape, my love. There’s nowhere to go.”

I froze. My heart hammered against my ribs. I looked around frantically for somewhere to hide, and spotted a cluster of large rocks near the edge of the chamber. I ducked behind them, pressing myself flat against the stone, just as he emerged into the chamber through a door on the opposite side.

“I know you’re here,” the King called out. His footsteps echoed as he entered the chamber. “I can hear your breathing.”

I held my breath. My baby squirmed against me, and I prayed she wouldn’t start crying. I looked around–the nearest door was at least twenty feet away and in plain sight. I didn’t know exactly where it led, and the King would spot me. He’d probably track me down before I made it far.

“Do you know what this is?” The King’s voice was closer now. “This water? It’s sacred. A portal to Hell itself.”

I peeked around the edge of the rock. The King was standing at the edge of the water, staring down into it. The red glow illuminated his face, making his twisted form look even more monstrous.

“This is where I found the rubies,” he continued. “They were gifts from the demons below. They spoke to me, you see. Told me I was chosen. Told me I would build an empire that would rival the gods themselves.”