NOVEL NEXT Chapter 2: Runaway Prince
Silas held his breath as he slipped out of bed and slowly opened his window. He didn’t dare make a noise—Rania was a freak of nature and would probably hear him somehow, no matter where she was.
Click.
He exhaled in relief as the window opened fully, barely making any sound at all. He looked down at the empty courtyard below. It was perfect for his escape, but he still had to figure out how to get down three stories without breaking a bone. He needed his legs to run, after all.
He thought about coating his legs with mana to reduce the impact of the fall, but he scratched that idea. Rania or someone else would sense the mana fluctuations.
Then an idea struck him. Silas tiptoed back to his bed, pulling off the sheets and tying them into one long rope. He secured one end around the bedpost and threw the other end out the window.
'Here I go.'
He gripped the sheets and slid down, going faster than he would have liked. When his feet hit the ground, a jolt of pain shot up his spine, and he stifled a groan. Thankfully, his legs were fine; as a demon, he was built to withstand more than an average fall.
'Ahaha, I actually did it.'
Suppressing a laugh, Silas ran out through the castle gates and into the city, keeping to the shadows to avoid any demons who might recognize him as the runaway prince.
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Silas pinched his nose as a nauseating stench of rotting flesh filled his nostrils. He hadn’t expected the alleys of the capital to be in such terrible shape. Trying not to gag, he looked away from the soulless eyes of the demons barely clinging to life. A pang of sympathy tightened his chest.
'Hey, I’m not heartless,' he thought. 'I may come off selfish, but I actually feel for others.' But this wasn’t the time to get sentimental—he needed to get out of the Demon Realm.
“Please… coin…” A small demon child grabbed Silas’s leg, looking sickly but with a spark of determination in his eyes.
Silas looked down, torn. He knew he should save his money and move on, but he couldn’t ignore the child’s desperate look. Silas sighed, knelt down, and handed over a few gold coins, giving the boy a small pat on the head.
“Here, take these and go. Make sure to hide them so nobody steals them from you.”
“H-huh…? T-thank you!” The boy’s face lit up with surprise, and he quickly stuffed the coins into his ragged clothes before running off. Silas felt a pang of guilt; if three gold coins made the kid react like that, things were worse here than he’d thought. He shook his head and continued running through the city.
What he didn’t know was that those three gold coins were worth far more than he’d realized.
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Silas panted as he reached the gate leading outside the capital, hiding behind a wall as he spotted guards patrolling the gate. His escape had gone smoothly so far, but now he had a new problem. How was he supposed to get past two guards without being seen? Could he just run out at full speed? No—if the guards figured out who he was, they’d alert his family. The thought of his father or Rania chasing after him made him shiver.
'What do I do…?'
He chewed on his finger nervously, a habit he’d picked up in his past life. His parents had always scolded him for it. Just then, the sound of a carriage rumbling over the stone road snapped him out of his thoughts. Peeking around the corner, he saw a carriage being stopped at the gate, with the driver slipping the guards a bribe. A grin spread across his face as he saw his chance.
'Huup!'
Silas darted forward, leaping onto the back of the carriage and climbing inside. The space was pitch-black, and he felt his way around until he found an empty barrel and climbed in, hiding for the time being.
'Hah! I made it out of that place!'
He bit back a laugh of triumph, but his excitement didn’t last long. He began to wonder—where was this carriage going? Who were these people, and what were they transporting? He decided that when they stopped to rest, he’d slip out and make a run for it. He didn’t want to end up somewhere dangerous. Being the son of the Demon Lord of Chaos—the most powerful of all twelve Demon Lords—made him a prime target for kidnapping.
“Is… anybody there?”
Silas froze inside the barrel as he heard a girl’s voice.
A girl? Is she being held captive?
“H-hello…?” the girl asked again, her voice soft and shaky.
She sounded afraid, so Silas didn’t sense any threat. The most logical choice would be to stay quiet, but he couldn’t just leave her alone and frightened. Slowly, he climbed out of the barrel and moved toward her.
'An elf…?'
Silas’s eyes widened. The girl seemed to be around his age, with long, elven ears and white hair. Her wrists and ankles were bound with rope, and a blindfold covered her eyes.
“W-who are yo—mmph!”
“Shhh. I’m not an enemy,” he whispered, quickly covering her mouth to keep her quiet. She stilled, then nodded, and he released his hand. Silas untied the ropes around her wrists and ankles, reaching for her blindfold, but she grabbed his arm, whispering urgently.
“Y-you can’t.”
“Why not?” he asked, confused.
“I-it’s enchanted. It’ll hurt you if you try to remove it.”
“Why go to that extent?”
She hesitated. “My eyes… they’re different.”
Silas wanted to ask more, but he knew they needed to get out of here. He lifted her into his arms. There wasn’t time to plan. He had to act now if he wanted to free her.
“Stay quiet and hold on tight—I’m jumping out of the carriage,” he said, and she tightened her arms around his neck.
Silas sprinted to the back of the moving carriage and leapt out, holding her protectively as he rolled across the ground. Ignoring the sting from the rough landing, he ran toward the safety of the forest.
“Are you all right?” he asked her as he ran.
“Yes, B-But you?" she asked, smelling blood in the air.
“It’s just a scratch,” he lied, brushing off the pain.
"L-Liar."
After running for a while, Silas found a cave, where he gently set her down. He then gathered sticks, hoping to start a fire. The night’s cold was beginning to seep into his bones, and after everything he’d gone through, he wanted nothing more than to rest.
“U-um… excuse me…” she murmured.
Focused on his task, Silas gritted his teeth as he tried to ignite the fire, willing it to start. 'Come on, just catch… Fuck.. come on..!'
“Mister…?”
'Damn why! Why wont you just ignite..!'
Silas let out an annoyed huff and slumped back in frustration. No matter what he did, the sticks just wouldn’t ignite. He threw them down in defeat.
“Listen…”
“What?” he snapped, immediately feeling guilty for his tone.
“Sorr—”
“Ignite,” she said softly as she casted a spell.
'Are you fucking kidding me?'
To his disbelief, the fire sparked instantly to life. Silas stared in shock, then let out a half-crazed laugh. He’d been at it for two hours, and she’d started the fire in one word.
“Why didn’t you do that before?” he asked, trying to keep the irritation out of his voice.
She crossed her arms, pouting. “Because… you didn’t answer me.”
Silas couldn’t help but chuckle. She had a point.