Chapter 6: You Will Not Give Up

"This is the truth that we have been hiding from you" her father looked at her.

"Your daughter quite seems familiar," The Queen said, which widened my father's eyes.

"She was just an orphan, and I can prove it. Mell was a maid of ours, and she saw that I brought home a homeless girl" he swallowed something and continued to speak again.

"I brought her home eight years ago," he said

"Then this verdict is final. The traitor General Wallace De Froice~ and his wife Anna Reaves will be publicly hanged at noon. Their orphaned daughter Ayla De Froice~ will live together with her maid in seclusion," The king said, and the guards immediately dragged her parents away.

Her maid quickly comforted her lady.

"Be thankful for my verdict because you have my mercy," The king said

"Live," The Queen said as they left her in the throne room with so much pain in her heart.

"Ayla~ I am sorry" Michael approached her and gave her a very, very tight hug.

She was escorted back to the prince's room, but this time she was terrified about everything she had learned about her true identity.

"I was just an orphan all along; that's why they won't share their secrets with me," she said as she couldn't stop weeping.

"I need you to be strong not only for yourself but for those who care about you," Michael said while comforting her.

He offered her a hug, and she received it because she needed it.

"I will let you in the dungeons, but I can't guarantee that it will be long," he said

After she gathered herself again, they headed to where her parents were locked up.

"Father!" she called, and he was there to respond.

"My daughter! Please run away now~ you are not safe here, and I just bought you an extra time for you to escape. Your life is valuable so go," He said as he held her hand.

"You are an orphan, but it will never change the fact that I cared for you and love you as my real daughter. I am just grateful that I have served my purpose," He said as he kissed his daughter's hand for the last time.

"But father, I can't leave you! I don't even have a place to go," she said

"When my maid Comes, I can't guarantee that you are safe at the hands of the king and queen, but please, I already gave Laelya everything and important things for you to find your birth parents," he said

"Ayla, my daughter~ even though you did not come from me. Just like your father said, the time that you came into our lives, everything turned our sorrows into something beautiful. Our time spent with you made our life the happiest. Turn around and leave. Go as far as possible and do not see our death because it will be harder for you to move on," her mother said as she caressed her cheeks and wiped her tears.

"Take them away," a guard said, which made Michael pull her away, and he immediately gave her father's horse and Laelya.

He helped them on the horse, and they bid their farewells. He also gave Ayla's father's sword and her mother's keepsake locket as they told him to give it to her.

She rode her horse to where Laelya hid the things that her father said which could help her find her true identity.

They took the things and headed to the boat that Laelya told her.

"Go in the boat, my lady... I will push the boat out of the coastline for us to be safe," Her maid said as she did what her maid told her.

She was embracing the chest and everything I got from the castle.

Laelya pushed the boat with all her might and managed to get her lady as far as possible. The lady forgot that Laelya couldn't swim and thought she was planning to sacrifice her life for the lady.

"Laelya, don't!!! Grab my hand, please," she said as she reached out her hand on the end of the boat.

"I wish you to live a happy life, my lady," she said.

"No!! Laelya!! I can't live if I see you die too," She said as tears started flowing from her eyes.

"Fire!!!" the commanding officer said, and they received a rain of arrows.

Laelya died in front of her, she saw dozens of arrows in her body, but thankfully Ayla found something to cover herself from the arrows that could reach her.

She was too far from the coast, and she could only see little ants (men) on the island.

She can't forget what happened there. She instantly lost her family in a day because of greed.

"I will make sure your deaths will have their justice someday," she said as she looked at the skies.

She was crying so hard, and she felt alone all for life. She will live a new life and start from scratch.

She was traveling at sea alone and never knew that she faced a lot of troubles as the clouds darkened and the waves were destroying the boat.

Days and nights passed by, but she just held on to the essential things with her. She wears her mother's locket, ties her father's sword, and embraces the chest of her identity.

"I hope this will pass," She said and fixed the ropes.

The problem was that her boat was swallowed and destroyed by the waves. She struggled and was tangled by the rope pulling her downward. She is drowning; luckily, she pulls out her father's sword and cuts the cord.

She was losing air, so she swam to the surface and floated with a block of the wood along the vast ocean.

She holds on to her things tightly. Since she is a knowledgeable woman, she tied herself to the wood and passed out for a moment.