208 FRIENDS IN TROUBLE

"Are you alright? Are you hurt anywhere?" Raigon rattled on as he assessed Zoe from head to foot.

Zoe's lips curled up in a weak smile as her arm reached for him for support. The coldness of the floor as she chose to sit on it rather than the itchy hays must have seeped through her bones.

She hasn't eaten anything either and her mind is exhausted from thinking about her complicated situation.

As they were in that position, a man screamed at the other house making Zoe cringe in fear. 

"I'm fine. Let's just get out of here." She answered him as the corner of her eyes caught on the torturing tools laid on the table, with some of it already with blood.

Raigon put his palm on her eyes as he assisted her to the carriage. 

"That troublemaker would not let us go. What is his alibi this time?" He asked Zoe after he made sure that she was comfortably sitting down.

Zoe shook her head. "It's nothing. It's not true anyway." 

She told him about Lord Vigo's false accusation and drew in a lungful of air as she gazed outside the window. "Do you think this will ever stop?"

Raigon clasped her hand and gazed at her with smoldering eyes. "Afflictions are part of life, Zoe. But I know we can make it together."

Zoe returned the encouragement with a warm smile and pressed on his hands that were holding hers.

"Thank you, Raigon." She laid her head on his shoulder and relaxed in the steady rhythm of his heart. 

Raigon put his arms around her and kissed her forehead. "I will find that witness he is talking about and make sure that he confessed who the real culprit is or why he is framing you."

Zoe pulled herself back as she heard Raigon's resolution.

"It's okay. Don't get yourself worked up." She uttered, worrying that he might put himself in danger again.

"I can handle it. Just trust me. We even have another case at hand." He replied as he told her the story involving the Hous. 

"What? That cannot be true!" Zoe's jaw dropped open, making Raigon nod his head in agreement. 

"I know. That's why I have to go there and check it out myself."

Zoe sighed as she pulled Raigon closer to her. "That is a lot of work for my dear Crowned Prince. You should be resting, you know? Come here."

She gently placed her head over her lap and started caressing his hair. Raigon's lips curved upward as he felt Zoe's warmthness on his cheeks, dissolving his troubled mind in complete peace. 

He snuggled in closer as he closed his eyes.

His expression made Zoe smile in the midst of her own uncertainties. 

She gazed outside the window as the carriage took them to their destination. 

As she was in the prison cell, she realized that her life will always be in jeopardy as long as she stood beside Raigon, being the Crowned Prince.

And he would always try to save her, which broke her heart the most, as she recalled him almost dying in his attempt to save her.

She was in this dilemma when she noticed that they were nearing the Hengcheng Mountains. 

"We're here, your Highness." Zoe woke him up as he was already sound asleep. 

Raigon sat up and rubbed his eyes. "If I would wake up everyday with you as the first thing I see, I can face whatever giant I will encounter throughout the day."

His face unconsciously created an irresistibly mesmerizing grin, sweeping all of Zoe's apprehensions under the rug.

"I'm glad to be of service, your Highness." She bowed to him as warmth flowed through her body from her joyous heart.

'I would love to give that strength to you, my savior, my love, my prince.' She resolved to herself.

They both went down from the carriage in tranquil peace amidst the dark clouds above them.

Erin embraced her in a hysterical manner as soon as she saw her and whispered in her ears. "I didn't know! I was the one who made the cupcakes. But I didn't put arsenic I promise!"

Zoe was taken aback as she did not expect that Erin would be involved in it. But she patted her back as she shushed her to comfort. 

"Your innocence would be proven. The truth shall prevail."

She assisted Erin as they walked inside the house.

"Where is Azra?" Raigon asked Erin as he astutely assessed that he was not around. 

Erin bursted into tears as she fell at Raigon's feet. Her balled up fist struck her chest as she repeated to him.

"It is I, your Highness. I am at fault. But I don't have any ill intentions against the Queen!"

Raigon froze in shock at Erin's reaction as her confused eyes glanced at Zoe. 

"W-what do you mean?"

Zoe tilted her head to Erin as if asking him to listen to her.

Erin explained what happened and then added. "But Lord Azra claimed that it was he who made the food. He was now in the Investigation Area as the royal guards had taken him."

Zoe's face turned pallid white, her surrounding seemed to be spinning around as a horrifying thought hit her. 

'Is Azra that man who screamed in agony as they tortured him just a while ago?'

Raigon must have thought about the same thing as he dashed towards the carriage.

Like a flash of lightning, he loosen the horse from its attachment to it. Then he immediately jumped on it and tapped his foot on the horse's side, making it run like a wind.

"Hiyaaa!" Raigon's teeth gritted in a rage of fury as he went back to save his faithful servant and childhood friend, leaving Zoe behind with Erin.

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True friendship must not be forgotten even when you are in a relationship. Do not forget that they were with you even before that person came into your life.