Suddenly, two horn blows resonated throughout the Palace’s walls. Lephys, still walking ahead of her, suddenly stopped and grimaced, turning his head.

“Damn it! That bastard is back sooner than I expected!”

“What? Who?” asked Cassandra, a cold shiver running down her spine.

“Vrehan! Anyway, let’s do this quickly, before he gets here.”

As he started dragging her faster, Cassandra’s body shivered. The Second Prince was back already? What about Kairen then? How far away was he with the Imperial Army? If Vrehan was back now, he would go straight to the Emperor, perhaps even kill him right away! Opheus and Missandra were now in more danger than before!

While she panicked, Cassandra didn’t realize that they had finally arrived at the Fifth Prince’s apartments. Before she could fight back, he threw open the door to a bedroom, where two women were laying, both naked except for some very heavy jewelry around their necks, arms, and ankles. The Fifth Prince glared at them.

“Out!” he yelled.

Both women left hurriedly with looks of disappointment on their faces. Once they were gone, Lephys flicked his whip, throwing Cassandra on to the now vacant bed. Falling to her side, she moved her wrists immediately, desperately trying to free herself as she heard a chuckle.

“That’s a bit too late, woman. Or do you think you can escape an Imperial Prince? A man with the Dragon Blood?”

Cassandra glared at him, not even bothering to answer. Lephys was not worthy of the Dragon Blood that flowed through his veins. He was just a horrible, disgusting monster that she was starting to hate even more than the Second Prince, if that was possible.

She kept wriggling her wrists, trying to loosen the knot despite the fibers cutting into her skin. It was painful, and she could feel her flesh being ripped apart, but she had no choice. She had to hurry before it was too late.

Before her, Lephys watched her struggle, visibly amused. A snicker on his face, he started undressing, taking off his outfit slowly. When he put one knee on the bed, Cassandra froze and glared at him.

“Don’t touch me,” she hissed.

“Oh, I’m planning to do much more than touch you. I bet you’ll even like it. Women just can’t deny their pleasure. Those whores just want sex and, just like you, they like to refuse me just for the fun of it. You are all like that. You act like a prude and innocent, but you just want to be fucked by a strong man. Don’t pretend you’re all about my brother. Once I’m done with you, you’ll be begging me to keep you, they all do.”

“I’d rather die,” she retorted.

His words made her want to throw up. She didn’t care what his concubines felt about him, she was nothing but disgusted by him. This man was a monster, a sick pervert - she found it incredulous that he even shared some of the same blood as Kairen. But she was steady in her resolve, she wouldn’t let him touch her, not a chance in hell.

As he slowly moved towards her, she tried to retreat, wiggling her way back on the bed, trying to crawl away as far as she could. As her hands were still tied, she readied her free legs to kick him if he got too close. Lephys’ smile got even wider as she kept furiously glaring at him.

“I like them feisty. I can’t wait to tame you and show my brother that his little slut has become mine. Kairen thinks he is so much better than all of us. I can’t wait to see the look on his face once he learns I fucked his woman, his beloved witch.”

“You won’t touch me,” hissed Cassandra, furiously.

She was ready to fight with all she had. She had learned from Kairen. Never before had she had such a fiery, murderous look in her green eyes.

The Fifth Prince laughed and, with a quick movement from his hands, undid his whip from around her wrists. Cassandra looked at her free hands in shock, the red marks buried deep on her skin. Suddenly, the Prince moved closer and before she could even react, half of his body was above hers. She tried to kick him, but his hand reacted immediately, catching her ankle mid-air with a grin.

“You can’t escape me. Do you think you can even try to fight me? I am a Prince, and you’re nothing but a weak woman. You’d better learn to lie down and obey because I intend to have my way with you until Vrehan gets here.”

Cassandra wasn’t even listening anymore. She didn’t care what horrible plans he intended for her or how long it would take his brother to get there. None of this was going to happen. She struggled to turn around on her stomach, despite her ankle still trapped in his hand. She heard him laugh from behind her, but she was busy retrieving what she had hidden in her sleeve earlier.

“What are you doing, witch? You think that’s it? Oh, or is that an invitation to your...”

“I said don’t touch me!” Cassandra shouted.

Before the young Prince could react, she had turned around and sat up as her arm flew in his direction. This time, he was a second too late. With one hand holding himself up on the mattress and the other still occupied with her leg, he wasn’t quick enough to block Cassandra’s hand. His eye caught a glimpse of silver as he saw it coming, but he barely had a chance to comprehend the threat until a sharp pain pierced his neck.

The Fifth Prince let out a horrible screech as his blood splattered both of them, his eyes wide open in shock. Lephys suddenly let go of her ankle, his fingers shaking, as they came up to touch the weapon that had just stabbed him. He could feel the warm blood running down his neck, and the sharp piece of metal stuck there. He spasmed for several seconds, completely shaken by the waves of pain. His eyes were trained on Cassandra as she jumped out of the bed. It was clear he was having a hard time coming to terms with what had just happened. She was shivering in fear as she stepped away from him, but she had done it. Opheus’ long earring was embedded deep inside his flesh, planted there and not moving. She saw Lephys’ eyes following her moves as he gagged several times, trying to get words out.

“Y... You... witch...”

“I’m not a witch,” she retorted, out of breath. “I’m a physician!”

With those last words, Cassandra turned around and ran out of the bedroom as fast as she could. She knew she didn’t have a second to lose. She had aimed right for his carotid artery and stabbed as hard as she could, but she had no idea how fast he’d recover. She had seen Kairen heal some deep cuts in a matter of seconds, but she had never seen what his younger brother’s healing abilities were. If it was a normal man she had stabbed, he would have been dead in minutes, but she wasn’t so naive as to think the Fifth Prince would die from this though.