end

Chapter Four: The Fulfilled Promise and the Great Escape

A Long Wait

Two weeks passed, and two whole years were thrown in. To enjoy more options, plan the seconds, minutes, and hours. There is no window here, no natural light, only a single torch added in the stairwell outside.

Every day I wondered: Did Shaw understand my message? Did she know that everything I said was just an act? Was he capable of life?

Endless questions swirled through my head, until I almost lost my sanity.

The Prince's Arrival

On the fifteenth day of what I expected, she walked down the corridor. Edward, Edward, my companion.

He entered with a smile as broad as I had ever seen. Did he look... triumphant? Relieved?

"Good news, dearest Georgina," she said, communicating with my cell, "my dearest brother Shaw has formally renounced any claim to the throne."

My heart stopped for a moment. "What?"

"This isn't final. He's asking me to expel him from Saudi Arabia. He said he can't live in a place where he's forced to lose his virginity."

He looks at me with the gleam of his mother in the Empress. "It seems your words were more effective than I expected."

Joseph felt a pang in my chest. Did Shaw's words affect him? Or was this part of the larger plan?

The Promise of the Fulfilled

"And since you want your part of the agreement so perfectly," the prince continued, "I don't have time to carry it out."

He opened the cell door. "You're free, Georgina. And as I promised, I'll let you take your two servant friends out."

I didn't hear what I was hearing. Did this mean...?

"Aizen and Sebastian?"

"Yes, yes. I'll give you one hour to say goodbye and take them with you. I want, I want you out of the kingdom forever."

They Escaped

He took me through different corridors this time, better lit and less sensitive. We reached the elder's cell, where Aizen and Sebastian were sitting. With my pen, he stopped immediately.

"Miss Georgina!" Aizen said with an impenetrable presence.

"What happened?" Sebastian asked anxiously. "We've heard rumors..."

"There's no time to explain now," he whispered. "We're free, but we only have one hour."

We have the Guardian. He gave me a long princess hood to hide my face, and a small carriage to wait in the courtyard garden.

"This carriage will take you into the kingdom," he said dryly. "After that, you're on your own."

The three of us got into the carriage, and the horses rode off into the dark night.

A scene played out.

The next day, strange news spread throughout the kingdom. Prince Edward, the general, and the nobles were at the royal palace.

"My dear ones," he said, his voice deep with mourning, "I have made a difficult decision, along with my brother Shaw."

Your luck will stop, and his tears will vary.

"Although he was sentenced to death for treason against the crown, my kind heart could not bear to see his brother. Therefore, I have decided to banish him from the chosen kingdom."

The nobles murmured in admiration.

"It is not the custom of the great and noble to be their brothers, their guests, their crimes. Mercy and compassion are the true leaders."

It was a perfect performance. Everyone believed him, and everyone believed in his mercy and nobility.

Chapter Five: A Night in the Wilderness

The Bivouac

After a full day of travel, our carriage stopped at the edge of a dense forest. The driver, a silent man who hadn't spoken a word throughout the journey, signaled for us to dismount.

"From here, you go on your own," he said finally. "This is the border of Edward's kingdom."

We got out of the carriage, taking the small bags they'd given us. It wasn't much—some food, blankets, and a bottle of water.

The carriage drove back, leaving us alone in the wilderness.

"We must find a place to sleep before it gets completely dark," Sebastian said, looking around.

We found a small clearing surrounded by trees, away from the main road. Aizen and Sebastian set up a simple camp, while I gathered some wood for a fire.

A quiet night... or not?

We sat around the small fire, eating the dry bread and cheese they'd provided us. The quiet was comforting after all those months in cold prison.

"Miss Georgina," Aizen said quietly, "do you want to tell us what really happened with Mr. Schue?"

I looked at them, deciding to tell them the truth.

"I lied to him," I said flatly. "I told him I didn't love him, but I whispered the truth to him—that it was all a deception."

Sebastian smiled. "I knew you wouldn't really betray Mr. Schue."

"But do you think he got my message?" I asked anxiously.

"Mr. Schue is smarter than he looks," Aizen said confidently. "If I whispered the truth to him, he certainly got it."

Danger in the Darkness

After the fire had died down and everyone had fallen asleep, I was awakened by a strange sound. Something was moving through the trees.

At first, I thought it was a wild animal, but the movement was very rhythmic... human.

I sat up carefully, trying not to wake Aizen and Sebastian. I looked through the trees, and I could see shadows moving.

They weren't monsters. They were men.

The Surprise Attack

Suddenly, the bushes around us exploded. Five masked men charged at us with drawn swords.

"Wake up!" I shouted at the top of my lunges.

Aizen leapt up like lightning and quickly pulled a knife from his belt. He shielded me from the first man who charged directly at me.

"Aizen!" Sebastian shouted, quickly ripping himself free of his restraints—they hadn't even fully removed them.

Aizen fought like a demon. His movements were swift and precise, as if he'd been trained to do so since childhood.

"My family specialized in assassination and combat," he shouted, dodging a blow. "I learned this before I could walk!"

The Final Encounter

Aizen managed to knock down three of the attackers, but the remaining two were stronger and faster.

Sebastian finally freed himself and joined the fight, but he was weakened from months of imprisonment.

One of the attackers managed to reach me, grabbed me from behind, and held his knife to my throat.

"Stop fighting, or the girl dies!"

Aizen and Sebastian stopped immediately.

But I remembered something. In one of Georgina's scattered memories, I'd seen a similar scene. I knew what to do.

The Big Surprise

With a quick movement, I managed to escape the man's grasp, spun around him, and put my arms around his neck from behind.

But even stranger, I found myself saying words I hadn't planned to say:

"Game over, Your Highness the Emperor."

The masked man began to laugh. A deep, familiar laugh.

"Excellent, Georgina. Excellent."

He pulled the mask back, revealing a man with fiery red hair and green eyes full of cunning.

Aizen and Sebastian immediately stood up.

"Your Highness, Prince Leo!" they said together.

The Big Reveal

"Prince... Leo?" I looked at him, puzzled.

He gave a sly smile. "The Fourth Prince, Leo, known as the Red Panda. Brother to Edward... and Shaw."

"But... but what are you doing here?"

"I'm testing you, my dear. I had to be sure you were truly worth all this trouble."

Suddenly, we heard more footsteps through the trees. This time, single, calm, and measured.

Shaw emerged from the trees, unharmed and strong, as if his months of imprisonment hadn't affected him at all.

"Hello, Georgina," he said with a warm smile, "or... who you really are."

Chapter Six: The Truth and the New Plan

The Long Explanation

We all sat around the rekindled fire as Shaw began to explain everything.

"Prince Leo and I... have been secretly collaborating for years," he began. "Edward thinks he's the smartest, but he doesn't know he has a third brother who's just as cunning."

"Leo specializes in intelligence and covert networks. While I..." He smiled, "I specialize in gaining loyalty."

He looked directly at me. "When you whispered to me in the cell, I knew right away that you weren't the real Georgina."

"How?"

"The original Georgina wouldn't have whispered. She'd have found another way to communicate. And your blow..." He touched his cheek, "was too strong for a girl as petite as her."

Leo laughed. "My brother Shaw told me everything. A new soul in an old body—it's very rare, but not impossible."

The Big Question

Leo looked at Shaw, then at me, with a sly look.

"So, what do we do about Edward?"

I looked at Shaw and found myself smiling his same confident smile.

We both said at the same time, "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

Aizen, Sebastian, and Leo looked at us in confusion, but Leo gradually began to smile.

"I think I'm beginning to understand what you're thinking," he said with a chuckle.

The New Plan

"Now that I've officially relinquished my claim to the throne," Shaw said, his voice brimming with confidence, "I'm completely free."

"Free to do what?" I asked.

He smiled a smile I'd never seen him before. A smile of ambition and power.

"To build my own empire."

He looked at everyone, one by one.

"Edward wants a small kingdom? Let him have it. As for me..." He held out his hand to the horizon, "I'll build something bigger and stronger."

"And I with him," Leo said immediately, "Red Panda serving the new Emperor."

Shaw looked at me. "And you, the new Georgina? Will you join this crazy dream?"

I didn't hesitate for a moment. Something inside me, something I had never felt in my previous life, was screaming "yes."

"I will be with you," I said firmly. "Wherever you go, I go."

And so, on that starry night, a new plan was born.

A plan to build an empire that would shake the world.

Continued in Chapter Seven...

Writer: Goodbye, I will write the second part, God willing. Get ready and wait.