As the driver drove Tiana through the city roadway, time seemed to have stopped. Tiana knew it was very late at night since she was starting to get sleepy.
However, the thought of her father in danger wouldn't let her eyelashes close for longer than five seconds. The worst thoughts were crossing her mind as she looked outside.
The clear sky had turned dark because of the dark clouds.
"Seems like it will rain." The driver said as he looked at the time on his truck. "It's already 1 am. But don't you worry, young lady. I will bring you to your father safely."
"Thank you very much." Tiana forced a smile as she looked outside through the window.
The thunder was hard then rain started pouring down the road. The windows blurred because of the heavy water falling.
"Miss. It seems like they are inspecting ahead."
Tiana gulped as she saw some men looking like police officers.
The flashback of her father ran through her mind as she quickly covered herself with a piece of cloth the driver had given her because she felt cold.
A policeman walked to their truck and knocked on the window.
"Where are you off to?"
"To the city, officer."
"And who's that girl?"
Another policeman came to Tiana's side and opened the door to check.
"Dad! Are the people in the city this weird? I've never been to the city but they surely weird." Tiana raised her eyebrows to the driver and gave him a sign to cooperate with her.
"Th-that's right! She is very stubborn yet my most precious daughter so I couldn't refuse her when she wanted to come along."
"Alright. You can go ahead."
The policemen were convinced by their actions and made their way so that the truck could go on its way.
***
A few hours later, Tiana had reached the city.
She ran back to her house but she only came across policemen, surrounding the whole area.
Thankfully, she knew a secret passage that would lead her straight to her friend's house.
"Cocoa," Tiana whispered as she snuck into the house through the window by climbing on a large tree.
"Tia?!" A short dark-haired girl shouted.
"Sylvia, shhh!" Tiana quickly put her hand on Sylvia's mouth, so that she wouldn't make excessive noise to attract the policemen's attention.
"What are you doing here?!"
Sylvia tried to talk but her voice was muffled by Tiana's hand.
"Hm? What are you saying?" Tiana was unable to understand anything Sylvia was trying to say.
"Let go of her mouth, Tia, otherwise the night will pass but you will never hear her talk," Cocoa chuckled as she walked inside the living room. "I only went to the kitchen for a second and looked at you guys, causing a mess already."
Tiana quickly took off her hand.
"Like hell, my head is working! It's so fucking late." Tiana groaned as she sat on the sofa.
"Ever since you guys left, there has been police everywhere. It's so weird, I swear," Sylvia sighed.
"Right. Where's your dad? And why are you here this late? Weren't you guys leaving? How come you're back?" Cocoa burst with questions.
"Cocoa, it's no time for questions. Thank god you guys were awake! I needed your hel—" Tiana halted before questioning, "Don't you guys got work tomorrow?"
"We do," Sylvia stood up and walked to the window. "We were just worried for you. You don't even have a phone and we couldn't contact Issac either using the public phone because the police wouldn't let us. The policemen… are actually looking for you guys. And what do you need help with?"
"Issac…" Tiana muttered. She didn't want to disclose about Isaac because she knew her friends would get upset. So she chose to keep quiet about it.
"Don't talk about those weird policemen. They took my dad without even a proper explanation. I need to go save him. I just wanted one of you guys to accompany me." Tiana looked up at both of them.
She knew she was asking for something really weird. Why would she want her friends to accompany her when she would fight those people on her own? It was because she fled away from Issac.
If anything were to happen to her, she needed someone to explain things to him. She didn't have any intention of failing her mission but being careful was a must in a critical situation like this.
"You don't even gotta ask!" Cocoa and Sylvia exclaimed in harmony.
***
Once they arrived in front of the police station, everything seemed to have calmed down. Tiana's heartbeat had gone down. She was worried however when she saw the police station, nothing seemed too serious. She would go there, clarify their mistake and take her father back with her.
She would also convince her father to not leave this city.
"You guys stay here. If anything happens to me, leave." She instructed her friends.
"But are you sure your dad will be here?" Sylvia questioned, her face filled with worries.
"Dad should be at least in one police station, right? And this is the biggest police station. They should be able to at least tell me where Dad was taken to at worst," Tiana explained.
She took a deep breath and entered the police station.
"Officer." She walked towards the main officer sitting at the desk.
"Yes?" The man raised his eyebrow as he looked at the light brown-haired woman.
"I want to meet with Mister Aziel Ralph."
"You can't miss. He hasn't been arrested for 24 hours so no visitors are allowed."
"What kind of rule is this?! I'm his daughter and you can't just fucking stop me from meeting my dad!" Tiana slammed her hand on the desk.
The officer jolted from his seat, approaching Tiana aggressively.
Without wasting time, Tiana rushed towards the jail corridor but a young man walked in front of her from the shadows.
"Not so fast," Yuden now stood in front of her like a shield stopping her from going anywhere.
"You?!" Tiana was puzzled to see the spoiled rich guy she met at the river for the first time and then in the bar.
"Yes, me, princess." Yuden smiled as he walked closer to her, not minding bumping into her.
However, Tiana kept back-stepping as Yuden approached her.
"Princess? Did you finally lose your mind now, trying to flirt with me?"
"Oh, no, I didn't lose my mind. More like I found my childhood betrothed. I just want to bring her home." Yuden's lips curled up into a smile yet his eyes remained cold and distant.
"You creep! Fuck off! Let me meet my dad!" Tiana sided to the left and walked forward to go meet her father, however Yuden had held her wrist tightly enough that she couldn't step further.
"Let me go!" She yelled.
"Not possible, princess."
"What fucking princess are you talking about?! I'm not interested in your stupid romantic shits, okay?!"
"No, no, no." Yuden turned around and shook his head. "You seem to have gotten the wrong idea. I'm not flirting with you. You are a princess, a real one. You are Zahra Throren, Princess of Averlyon."
Tiana rolled her eyes, clearly not interested in his speech.
"Look, I don't give a fuck about your princess shits okay? It's prolly you tryna flirt with me like you did in the bar or anything else. Just leave me out of it!"
"I cannot." Yuden grabbed a handcuff posed on the desk beside him with his right hand and he started putting them around Tiana's wrists. "I promised your family to bring you home," he kept his smile on like a mask as he looked into her eyes, pulling her closer to his body with great strength, finally locking the handcuff.
"Done."
Tiana frowned and kicked his feet with all her might.
Yuden furrowed his eyebrows. Not because of the pain it caused, but because no one was allowed to treat royals in such a mannerless way. However, royals were taught to keep calm and composure no matter what the situation might be.
"Don't be like this. I'm treating you nicely so you should behave too, right?" He put the key in his pocket as he started pulling onto the handcuff, dragging her outside of the police station.
"You bastard! Let me go!"
Tiana's screams alerted her friends who ran inside the police station. They bumped into Yuden who was dragging Tiana outside.
"You! Let our friend go!"
"What the hell do you think you are doing?!"
Sylvia and Cocoa pulled Tiana's hand out of Yuden's grip.
Yuden sighed, turning around. The smile on his face had disappeared.
"Officer. Deal with them." He ordered.
Just then, two policemen pulled Sylvia and Cocoa away from Tiana.
"What's your problem?! Let Tia go!"
"Exactly! She didn't do anything! She just wants to free her father from you guys!"
Both girls struggled, trying to get away from those policemen.
Yuden didn't pay attention to them. He held the handcuff again and started walking away.
"Cocoa, Sylvia! Please try to meet Dad!"
"Don't waste your time, princess. That won't be possible. No one is allowed to meet him."
Yuden's driver opened the door for him to enter once he arrived in front of his car.
He went inside first and the police officer behind helped to push Tiana into the car so she wouldn't be able to escape.
"Let me go!" Tiana started to get agitated as she tried to get rid of Yuden's grip.
"That won't happen, Princess. Just stay put until we reach your palace."
Tiana frowned as she bit his arm with all her might as a last alternative.
Yuden shoved her away from his arm. A part of the bite mark removed some of his flesh as he glared at her.
Tiana looked up at him as fear took over. She was strong but was she stronger than him?
Yuden chuckled. "I won't let you go so just give up."
Seeing Yuden giggle, Tiana was somewhat reassured that he wouldn't do anything bad to her. At least, not yet. However, she wasn't among those who surrendered easily.
"I'm not someone to give up, you bastard. You wanna bring me somewhere? Okay! Let's go there. But I swear I will leave that place as soon as we get there. Not you, nor anyone can stop me!"