It was exactly twelve minutes past three o'clock in the early morning when the door of Kaiden's study burst open and the head of the Castle's Security Team burst inside.

Even though he was not a mortal and perfectly capable of looking normal after running miles after miles, his current situation appeared just like a mortal who had been running through the long hallways of the castle to reach the personal study of his master which was located on the seventh floor.

Kaiden dropped the pen that he was holding and hooked the fingers of both of his hands together as he relaxed in his chair.

The dark, cold and powerful aura that surrounded him only made him look more formidable.

"Sire, this servant will take his punishment for his outrageous act. However, the situation is too dire to be ignored." The man hurriedly spoke as he bowed his head.

His legs were trembling, his brows were covered in sweat, and his heart was racing.

His current appearance could make him wrongly mistook as a mortal, even when he was anything but.

Kaiden remained silent as he gazed at the full moon through the open window. His gaze lingering on the beautiful sight before he returned his focus on the security head.

When the man did not hear any kind of response from his master and realized that he had not been kicked out of the study, yet, some of his anxiety disappeared.

He again bowed his head before looking up at his master as he started reporting the news that he just received.

By the time he finished, Kaiden's aura had turned even colder and darker than before. His icy gaze glared at the pen that was lying on the table.

"Which one?" He asked in a low voice.

"It seemed to be a young gi....."

Even before the security head could complete his words, his master was out of the study as he headed towards on God knew where.

With a sigh and long deep inhale, the man headed towards the dungeons located in the Southeast part of the castle.

It was time for him to receive his punishment.

***

When Emily opened her eyes, she could no longer recognize her surroundings.

She was sitting against the entrance wall of a small cave. Her eyes could barely see anything inside the cave.

"What a pity! I was supposed to lure one of your brothers out. However, I ended up enticing the interest of a little Princess." The harsh voice of her kidnapper entered Emily's ears.

Her eyes immediately turned to look at her right and she found the same silver-haired man sitting there as he played with the dagger that he was holding in his hands.

"Who are you?" She once again found herself asking and amazingly, this time without stuttering.

The man smirked as he focused his dark black eyes directly on her which made her immediately recoil back into the wall behind her.

"W-what do you want from me?" She could not help but ask even when she was terrified.

The man chuckled at her question. However, this time he decided to answer her questions.

"My identity is none of your business and as for what I want from you....."

As the man suddenly went silent, Emily raised her head to look what was wrong. Her eyes landed on the dark pair of orbs of the man that were staring right at her.

"....even though you are one of the Alessandros, but you still don't have the power to fulfill my wishes. Don't worry though. Once your brother Domenic will realize that you are missing, I'm sure my demands will be fulfilled immediately. Till then...be a good girl, okay!"

Emily was trembling in fear as she heard his plan. Once again because of her stupidity, she was about to cause trouble for her brothers.

"Now, get up!" The man suddenly said as he stood up and looked at her.

She could barely make her limbs follow her command and the lack of her response finally made the man lose his calm.

A scream left Emily's mouth as she was harshly pulled to stand, her knee knocking on the hard wall of the cave that ended up scraping her soft skin which was left bare in her pajama shorts.

She whimpered in pain as she tried to get out of the man's right hold on her arm. However, her physical strength was nothing compared to him.

With a forced tug he pulled her to follow him as he started walking towards a dirt road.

"Let me go!" Emily shouted in alarm as she tried to pull her arm away from the man's hold.

They kept walking for a long time. It was more like the man was walking while Emily was being dragged by him.

She did not stop her futile attempts of getting herself free and before she could realize what was happening, she was pushed down on the hard ground, and the next second that man pinched her face harshly as he warned her.

"Stop testing my patience! One more time and you will regret not listening to my advice."

With that being said he stood up but not before giving her face a hard shove that almost made her face plant in the dirt-covered ground.

"Why it's a girl?"

An unfamiliar voice spoke out from a little distance which made Emily raise her tear-filled eyes to look at the newcomer.

And that was when she realized that her kidnapper was not alone. About six or seven men walked out of the forest as they all circled her kidnapper and continued asking him questions.

"She looks like a little doll that needs to be taught a lesson, doesn't she?" A man with short black hair and clad in a dark brown hoodie said with a leering smile on his face.

His eyes that traveled over the exposed skin of her legs before resting on her eyes, made her crawl back against the thick tree that did absolutely nothing to provide any kind of comfort to her.

His words made his companions turn their attention at her and seeing the sudden change in their eyes made a painful memory of her past resurface.

No! She could not let the past repeat itself. Not again!