Hellbound Heart

Elle could not quite believe what she was seeing. The destruction of one section of the bathroom wall was not small! This was definitely the source of the sound that she had heard last night while Sebastian was still in here!

The crack that had formed on the wall was serious and just unbelievable. She could see a somewhat circular depression and then there were cracks that spread out from the center. The effect looked as though it had been hit by a hammer with a size of a fist. Sebastian's fist to be precise. Looking down to the floor, Elle also saw little bits of the plaster from the wall that had crumbled off scattered about.

She had very surely believed that he had hit the wall with a hammer last night. But… that was clearly a fist's pattern right there on the wall! There were even slight traces of blood left on it as she looked closer. What in the world… was this a prank? It had to be, right? There was no way Sebastian could have done this just using his fist alone!!! But… but that was clearly a trace of his fist and that blood too…

Shaking her head frantically, she brushed off the issue of the fist-like impression on the wall. For now. She needed to get ready and get going – ASAP.

Elle quickly finished her ablutions and went back out to get dressed. Dear lord… she already had a lot on her plate to think about. She could not afford to take more time in playing detective and finding out who or what was behind this bizarre happening in her bathroom at this moment. She really needed to get out first to breathe and calm down! That was her topmost priority for now.

To her relief, Sebastian was still sleeping when she left their room. She rushed out of the castle after grabbing a tumbler of water from the kitchen. Her morning routine was to usually have a light breakfast first before going for a run and cool-down walk at the small forest that was just behind the castle. But today, she had forgone her usual light breakfast routine. What she desperately wanted to do was to go cool off and relax her mind. If not, she might be driven insane with what was going on between her and Sebastian. And then that thing on the wall too.

Dressed in discreet and comfortable running clothes, Elle walked and jogged alone along the clean trail leading to the top of a small hill. She had come to love this place only in just the few days that she had lived here already. She liked the clean fresh air and all the nature that was so close, and breathtaking view that could be seen along the way and most specially at the top of the hill itself.

The place was a quiet, relaxing haven to her. It allowed her to take time off so that she could think and meditate on some things that were weighing on her mind.

Soon, after thirty minutes, she had finally reached her favorite spot. It was a place that was overlooking the beautiful Reign castle. It still was not the peak of the hill though. She had wanted to climb up more and reach the peak of the hill. But due to her schedules that were quite packed, and not wanting to exhaust herself out too much, she had decided to stop at this spot. She had planned to go up there though, once she had more time to spare.

Sitting on the bench by the side while gulping down her water, Elle smiled at the sight of the beautiful rising sun. It seemed as though today was promising to be such a beautiful day.

…

Waking up on the bed, Sebastian realized that he was alone. Running his fingers across her side of the bed and feeling the coolness of the sheets, he then combed his fingers through his hair as he realized Izabelle had left the bed long ago. Again. How could he not have awakened when she left the bed? Was it because he had not had much sleep for the past three nights when he was away? That must be…

Lazily, he climbed off the bed and headed off to the bathroom, only to widen his eyes and run his fingers through his hair again at the sight of the cracks spreading on the wall. F**k him… how had he completely forgotten about this?! He should have gotten someone to have dealt with it before she saw it.

In a matter of a few moments, Sebastian had rushed out of their room. He immediately called for the butler and told him to have the bathroom wall fixed as soon as possible.

When the butler nodded, Sebastian walked ahead only to stop and turn around to call for the butler again.

"Where's my wife?" he asked.

"She's taking her daily exercise, Your Highness." the butler reported the movements of his mistress.

Sebastian creased his brows. Lucas did not mention in his reports that she had some kind of daily exercise going on. "Where?"

"At East Hill, Your Highness. She likes hiking up the hill for a bit by herself –"

"By herself…" Sebastian's expression suddenly went a few shades darker. "You do mean to tell me that someone's trailing her secretly, right?" his question was a loaded one.

"Uhm…" the butler suddenly started sweating buckets as he could feel the clothes on his back getting damp.

"Where is Lucas right now?" his expression was much darker now. In his mind, he was thinking that Lucas should be keeping an eye out for Izabelle.

"I… I think I saw him in the courtyard a while ago, Your High…" The butler trailed off as he looked up. The spot that the prince had been standing in was now bare of his presence as he was already gone. He let out a long deep breath and wiped off his sweat.