My Royal Father-in-Law Locked My Bride's Face in a Wooden Barrel

The Ticking Clock

King Charles leaned close to Sebastian, his breath hot and smelling of sour wine. "If she speaks, or if you attempt to remove that barrel without the proper key, the device will detonate," the king whispered, his voice dripping with malice. "Your family signed the treaty. Now, you will take your silent bride home, or my armies will burn your lands to ash."

Terrified and confused, Sebastian led Evelyn out of the cathedral. The journey back to his family's ancestral estate was an exercise in pure agony. Every bump on the carriage road made the brass device inside the barrel click louder, sending waves of panic through Sebastian's chest. Evelyn sat perfectly still, her hands shaking as she clutched her gown.

Once they arrived, Sebastian hurried her into his private study and locked the heavy oak doors. He could not let his bride suffer this torture. "I am going to get you out of this, I promise," he whispered, looking through the small latch door into her tear-filled eyes. He grabbed a pair of delicate silver shears, intending to carefully snip the silver threads holding her lips shut.

But as soon as the metal blades brushed against the thread, a high-pitched whine emitted from the brass device. A tiny red light began to flash rapidly inside the barrel. Sebastian froze, his heart stopping.

Before he could react, the bookcase behind him slid open with a low groan. Sebastian spun around to see his father, Duke Thomas, stepping into the room. Thomas was supposed to be bedridden and dying, yet he stood tall, holding a small remote control that hummed with the same frequency as the device on Evelyn's neck.

"Step away from her, Sebastian," Duke Thomas commanded coldly. "You are interfering with a plan decades in the making."