Why the King Forced a Prince to Marry a Princess in a Locked Wooden Barrel — Part 2

Previously: When Prince Lawrence was forced to marry Princess Rosalind, her head was locked inside a wooden barrel. But when he opened the latch, the terrifying secret inside changed his life forever.

The Usurper’s Trap

Inside the wooden barrel, Princess Rosalind was crying silently, her striking blue eyes wide with desperation. She was beautiful, but she was gagged with a thick leather strap. More horrifyingly, an intricate iron collar was locked around her neck, wired with fragile glass vials filled with a bubbling, emerald-green poison. If she attempted to speak or cry out, the pressure of her jaw would shatter the glass, releasing the lethal toxin instantly. The barrel was not a cage of shame; it was a silent execution chamber.

As Lawrence stared in horror, Rosalind blinked frantically, tears streaming down her cheeks. Through the heavy leather gag, she managed to squeeze out a tiny, muffled whisper that only Lawrence could hear.

"He is not my father," she whimpered. "He is an impostor... he murdered the King."

Lawrence’s blood ran cold. He looked up at the man standing beside them. The "King" was smiling warmly at the crowd, but Lawrence now noticed the subtle discrepancies—the missing scar on the left hand, the cold, vacant eyes of Lord Malakor, the grand chancellor. The real King Frederick had been murdered, and Malakor had assumed his identity through dark alchemy to seize the throne. Rosalind had been kept locked away to prevent her from exposing him, and this marriage was designed to bind Lawrence’s noble family to a lie before both of them were quietly eliminated.

Lawrence felt the eyes of the royal guards on him. Their hands rested on the hilts of their swords. If he cried out, they would be slaughtered instantly. He had to act with absolute precision. Pretending to lean in for a traditional wedding kiss through the open latch, Lawrence whispered back to her.

"Trust me," he breathed. "I am going to save you."

With his back blocking the view of the crowd, Lawrence slipped his hand inside the barrel. He reached for his family's signet ring, which concealed a small, sharp blade designed for cutting wax seals. He carefully sliced the leather strap of her gag, freeing her mouth while keeping the poison vials perfectly still.