Alicia looked at Lance up and down. Why was he looking so un-lancely?
"Why do you look like this? Did you get your heart broken?" Alicia asked him in a light tone. She had meant it as a joke even though she was concerned about what was wrong with him, but his reaction made her even more curious.
His demeanour suddenly changed, and he looked crestfallen. His jawline turned rigid as if he was trying to suppress whatever emotion in him that was trying to force its way out.
"Are you okay?" Alicia asked in concern.
"I don't... think I am." He said with a sad smile, one Alicia had never seen before.
Then he asked her, "Are you okay? She was... your friend."
"Who?" Alicia asked in confusion.
"Susan."
"Why wouldn't I be okay? Where is she, by the way? I haven't seen her at all today." Alicia said as she looked in the direction of the door. If Lance had been able to hear about this commotion here, Susan definitely should have been here by now.
Lance looked at her in confusion before his eyes went to the tense Paulina beside her, who nervously shook her head. He raised a brow at her but said nothing.
Most of the people leaving the cell also noticed the exchange but said nothing and just gave her awkward smiles as they filed out until none of them was left inside the dungeon.
"We should leave here. It stinks." Lance said and turned around, but he noticed Alicia was not moving.
Alicia just stared at the long and dark hallway, which almost looked endless.
Voices were still coming from those places, but they were very faint. As if those people had completely lost hope.
"Do not do whatever I think you are thinking of doing," Lance told her.
"I am not doing anything. I am only curious about what lies in that depth."
Paulina tried to speak, but Alicia turned to her and said, "You can wait for me outside. I'll be back as soon as I am done checking." She took the torch from Paulina and handed her the sword before she looked at Lance.
"Please look after the women and ensure their children are well cared for before I return." After she entrusted that to Lance, she turned and began to head down.
Paulina hesitated. She looked at the door and then at Alicia's back before she gave the sword to Lance and ran after Alicia.
Lance just sighed and scratched his head.
"Stupid humans." He muttered although he looked sad before he turned and left the dungeon.
After passing through all the unlocked cells, Alicia began to reach the ones that were still locked.
The first person she unexpectedly saw was Prince Ivan. It had slipped her mind that he would be here.
"Prince Ivan?" She called out quietly.
Ivan sat on the floor, hugging his knees to his body, but as soon as he saw her, he dropped his knees and folded his arms across his chest, frowning at her.
"It's always you." He said it in displeasure.
Alicia ignored that and simply asked him, "Why didn't you alert us to unlock your gate?" She asked him even though she doubted anyone actually cared about whatever happened to Ivan in here.
He scoffed. "I would never submit myself to your mercy." He said arrogantly.
"Do you realize that I might be your only hope to leave here?" She asked him.
Ivan laughed in amusement. "Do not kid yourself. I had no hand in whatever I am being accused of. So I will leave here soon. And a crazy witch like you can never be my only hope. I hate you. All of this is your fault!" He said this as he charged towards the gate and shook it aggressively, startling her.
"My fault?" She asked in disbelief after stepping back.
"You turned Luciana against me. And even now, she has not reached out to me since she woke up. It is all because of you!" He yelled in anger.
It looked like he was going to cry but was stopping himself from doing so.
Alicia turned to Paulina with a questioning look, and Paulina gave her a gentle nod. Yes, Luciana was awake. But it seemed her dear husband had no idea what else there was about her.
Hearing that Luciana was awake made Alicia's face light up. She had been scared that something bad would happen to her. If she had known, she would have visited Luciana earlier.
Back to Prince Ivan, who changed her mood.
"I can see you haven't changed a bit. It seems like your ego is far greater than your love. Otherwise, you would have accepted any means to leave this place and check up on your love, whom you almost sent to her death. You really do not deserve her." Alicia said in a disappointed tone before walking away from there.
"HOW DARE YOU! HOW DARE YOU SAY THAT TO ME?"
Ivan continued to yell and throw curses at her until his voice became distant. This meant that Alicia had walked even further down the hallway, and it was beginning to get difficult for that one torch to illuminate their paths.
"I'm... scared," Paulina spoke in a shaky voice while holding Alicia's sleeve.
"Stick beside me, Paulina," Alicia said to her.
They passed by so many cells, with some people looking half-dead. Alicia could not help but wonder what they had done. This looked like a life sentence.
Just then, Alicia stopped walking and turned to the side, putting the torch forward to light up that direction.
That was when they saw a flight of stairs leading down.
Alicia looked at Paulina, who had a wary look on her face. It was obvious that whatever was down there was something she was not curious to find out.
But they had come this far. She couldn't just turn back.
"What if something dangerous is down there?" Paulina whispered in fear.
"We have a sword." Alicia reminded her and looked down at Paulina's hands, only just realizing that she no longer had it.
Paulina looked guilty. However, they had gone too far, so Alicia took the first step down, and of course, Paulina had no choice but to follow.
It took them about 30 stairs before they arrived at the bottom. And what was surprising? It was empty down there.
Just an empty and dark space with solid rock walls.
"There is nothing here," Paulina whispered, and her voice returned to her in echoes that made her jump.
"There should be something," Alicia replied as her inner detective kicked in and she began to look around.
Paulina followed closely behind as Alicia looked at the rocky walls.
Alicia suddenly stopped walking, placed her hand on the wall she was observing, and traced it with her fingers. She turned to hand the torch over to Paulina, who was watching her closely, and when Alicia faced the wall again, she gave a strong push that opened up the corner of the wall, revealing another room in there.
"I knew it," Alicia muttered confidently.
Paulina stared in awe, having never seen anything like that before.
Thankfully, the wall wasn't the type to close on its own, so Alicia took the torch back from Paulina but hesitated to go in since she wasn't exactly sure of what she might find there.
Her mind played at different things she could possibly find on the other side of the wall, but none of them was anywhere near what she found when she stepped inside after retrieving the torch from Paulina.
There was a tomb in the large room. And in front of it was a tombstone. On it was boldly written,
"THE LOVING BROTHER OF KING ELI, PRINCE WILDER."
Alicia looked at it, her eyes shining with surprise.
Wilder has always been... here?
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