Chapter 11: Hiding From the Prince

I can probably guess what you’re thinking right now. How could hiding help me escape the academy? Well, I wasn’t too sure about that myself, and if I’m being completely honest, even my plan to escape from the academy wasn’t all that well thought out.

Even if I were to somehow make it to the capital, what then? This was still an absolute monarchy where the royal family was essentially worshipped by the people. Nobody would be willing to help me and my family’s territory was another week away by carriage, assuming I’d even be safe even there. While my parents could likely keep me hidden from the prince, doing so would antagonize not only the royal family but also the church of Eros, leading to significant consequences for them and all the people under their protection.

Likewise, the most I could expect from hiding in the academy was an easier escape once the prince eventually grew bored and left, but that still didn’t solve my main problem. There was no happily ever after for me unless I dealt with the prince directly. Deep down, I knew that was the case, but I still dreaded the thought of going back to that stupid party where I’d be the center of attention, so I procrastinated. I grabbed another book and hid in the room right next door to my own.

Its resident was a young girl from the Stalks frontier, with whom I had a passing familiarity. We weren’t friends, at least as far as I was concerned. Still, she’d always stop me to talk for ages whenever we ran into one another in the hall, so I knew she had gone home early due to some family drama. That meant her room was empty, and while I had initially asked Sally to pick the lock, it turned out that she hadn’t even bothered to lock her door. This was a bit disappointing as I had actually wanted to see Sally pick the lock, but regardless, I now had a pretty good hiding spot.

Sally and I had waited until the halls were cleared before I moved, and just to be safe, I had left behind all my jewelry, in case it was being tracked. Additionally, while the school kept track of when students left the dorms, I hadn’t actually left the dorms, so there was no record to suggest I’d gone anywhere. By all accounts, I should have been safe, at least for a time, but mere moments after the clock tower finished its ninth ring, the door exploded inward.

Unlike last time, there was no furious knocking on my own door. The walls are thick, but I still would have heard it. Instead, the prince and Atlas had gone directly to the door of this new room and destroyed it. I wasn’t sure how the prince had found me, but he clearly wasn’t happy to learn that I tried to hide from him.

“Liliana Florencia Thorn, for the crime of bullying Holly, my true love, I hereby annul our engagement, strip you of your status of Saint, and sentence you to immediate death.”

That was it. Before I could even open my mouth, his divine magic struck me dead, though I wasn’t that surprised. While I still had no idea how he’d found me so quickly, I’d noticed a pattern throughout the loops. Whenever I tried to run, the prince said nothing besides his condemnation line before killing me, and when Sally had paralyzed his horse, he’d said nothing at all. In contrast, when I waited in my room, he had been more than willing to banter, but never gave details about what I was actually being accused of, no matter how I asked. Basically, the more I tried to escape my fate, the less willing the prince was to talk, and as a result, there was only one path left open for me.

“Good morning, Milady! Are you excited for the party tonight?”

“No,” I said with a deep sigh. “But I don’t really have a choice.”