"Miss Cary, I would suggest that you worry about yourself first... before crying over someone else."

"_"

Hearing the cold voice that echoed from behind "W...Who are you?"

"Miss Cary, judging by the situation in which you've just found yourself, I know that you aren't that dumb as to not know who I might be.

Of course, I'm the person responsible for the injury on your lover's head.

And I'll also be the person who will injure you as well." Said the mysterious man without anything of emotions in his tone.

Hearing that, Cary's mind instantly froze for a bit and time seemed to stand still.

Her shivering body suddenly felt like it was 10 times heavier than it normally was..... And her breathing became rapid with every passing second.

"D... Did you kill him?"

"No... He's only unconscious."

"Are you going to kill me?

My father is back in the Capital... So if you kill me, he will definitely kill you later.

S...so you better let me go now.

If you do that I promise to forget about this whole incident.

But if you touch me... then you'll pay dearly with your life!!" Cary said in a trembling tone.

She felt that mentioning Alec's wrath would scare the man.

But if the man was truly scared, would he dare to make a move on her in this lifetime?

"Miss Cary.....since I didn't kill your lover, then why would I kill you?

Don't worry... You'll survive.

But I will make you wish that you were dead instead."

"_"

At this moment..... her entire body trembled even more in terror, as she could feel the fear seep right down to her bones.

She had to escape now!

Yes!... Her men were still around now.

So if she screamed loudly, they would definitely come up to find her.

But before she could even do it, the mysterious man quickly held her mouth and continuously strangled her neck for a few minutes.

"Hmmmmm!"

"Hmmmmmmmmm!"

"Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm!"

She struggled to pull the man's hands away from her throat and mouth, but she was too weak.

Her neck was hurting like hell, and soon she started to feel very dizzy and light-headed.

A massive headache followed soon after, and she felt that she would faint at any time if this mysterious man didn't let go of her now.

And before she knew it, she was slowly losing consciousness.

Her entire vision slowly became dark.

And all she could think about, was what the mysterious man would do to her later on.

'Dammit!!' she cursed before finally loosing consciousness.

After what seemed like an eternity, she slowly became conscious again.

And when she opened her eyes, she saw that she was still in the same room..... But this time, she had been all tied up instead, with her mouth all stuffed up to prevent her from speaking.

She was currently lying down face up on the bed with her hands and legs tied all tied to the bedposts.

She looked around the bed for Anthony, but couldn't find him on it.

What had they done to him?

Didn't the man say that he wouldn't kill him?

So why wasn't Anthony around?

Or did they free him up after the had finally achieved their goal of getting her instead?

Cary's mind was in so much disarray that she didn't even notice the mysterious man that was sitting at the far end of the room.

"You're finally up Miss Cary.

And here I thought that I would have to wait for you to catch up on your beauty sleep." Said the mysterious man who was currently chewing on an apple.

He had a copper mask, and his entire attire was black as the night sky.

The man watched Cary struggle amusingly while eating, before walking towards her slowly.

'Sling!'

He unsheathed his sword, jumped onto the bed, and smiled at her coldly.

Cary almost peed herself while watching the man towering over her body.

From the way she was tied up, one would think that he wanted to take her instead.

But if so, then why did he jump on the bed, and stood over her with a sword instead?

The man slowly trailed his sword through her body, from her lower belly up to her boobs... and going up all the way to her chin.

She was even afraid to breathe, for fear that the sword would accidentally stab her if she did.

The mysterious man chuckled underneath his mask as he continued to observe her frightened expression.

"Tsk!

You're really a beauty, there's no doubt about it.

And who knows... Maybe you could've been one of the greatest beauties of all time.

But it's too bad that you just had to rub my master the wrong way.

Well, that being said... Don't take this personal alright?

After all Miss Cary, I'm just doing my job.

Now... A little advice for you.

Stay completely still, or I might just destroy your pretty face instead."

With that, the mysterious man quickly swung his sword towards Cary... And all she could do was scream through her stuffed mouth and close her eyes in terror.

'Slash!'

'Hmmmmmmmmm!'

Cary felt like her entire body trembled vigorously, as a wave of severe pain continuously forced its way through her heart.

And for a moment, she felt like she could breathe at all.

Her entire face was drenched in sweat, with splatters of blood on it too.

Cary took on deep breaths while looking at her severed right arm.

That's right!

The bastard had cut off her entire right arm from the rest of her body.

The pain was so gut-wrenching and spine-tingling, that Cary felt as if someone was trying to pull her entire heart out of her chest violently.

How could a man see a beauty like her and still decide to commit such a horrendous act without even flinching?

"You!..."

Her lips trembled slightly, as she looked at her severed arm in terror.....before finally passing out from both extreme pain and shock.

Her mind seeped right back onto darkness, as she lost consciousness again.

Time moved quickly this time... And soon, her hazy mind became clearer and clearer with every passing second.

Cary's eyelids trembled slightly, as she struggled to open them.

And the pain that she previously felt, all came rushing towards her again.

"The princess is awake!"

"The princess is awake!"

As soon as the maids had announced that, the first queen who was Cary's mother... quickly pushed everyone in the room to the side, and dashed towards her daughter in a flash.

"My baby..... My baby... Tell mother who did this to you.

I want them dead!"

Hearing her mother's aggrieved tone, Cary's eyes ok instantly swelled up with tears.... as she could finally hear familiar voices after that nightmare that she had just experienced.

"Little Cary.... You've been asleep for 8 days now with a high fever.

Mother had invited the best healer in the Capital to treat you.

So tell mother if you're feeling any discomfort anywhere.

Also, mother promises to kill the son of a b**ch who did this to you.

So please tell mother everything alright?"

Cary listened to her sobbing mother and learnt that happened on the day of her attack.

Apparently, her men had entered the room after she had taken too long from her usual meetings with Anthony.

They had seen her all tied up with a severed arm and quickly rushed her back to her estate.

Of course even though they didn't know who the culprit was, they had still gotten a lot of men to search the inn and the entire area for any suspicious people.

This was all they could do, since Cary wasn't awake yet to give them a detailed description of how the culprit looked like or what he was wearing.

Listening to her mother, Cary immediately thought about how she had ended up with just one hand now.

Remembering the mysterious man's words, she truly felt like he was right.

Because even though he didn't kill her, he still made her feel like committing suicide altogether.

How was she supposed to write or even eat properly?

She used her right hand for practically everything... So wouldn't it be hard for her now?

In addition to that, who would want a one-handed woman as a wife?

Even the peasants and commoners would look down on her, as she was now a one-handed princess.

Luckily.... She had her Anthony by her side.

So even though her value had now dropped to a very low bar, she still felt like he would not care about the matter at all.

But when she thought about that mysterious man... All she wanted was revenge!!!

She wanted to gut his brains out and grind them to paste.

Just thinking about the loathsome bastard, she felt like she had to find him no matter what!

Meanwhile, in another estate within the Capital..... Someone else basked in complete joy at the thought of Cary's miserable state.

"Cleopas!"

"Yes, master!"

"3 months from now, proceed with the next plan of action."

"As you wish master."

"Good!

This time, I'll make her know what fear and helplessness truly felt like.

Hehehhe.... Carl Barn....

This time, you're mine!!!"