Chapter 39: Selfless Aspirations

~Sin-Vira's POV~

The crack of lightning sent chills down Sin-Vira's spine and shot him to his feet. His eyes fixated on the window that the rain pounded harshly against. Through it, he saw the mountain the miners were in, likely unaware of the current threat.

To enter, the miners needed to walk a treacherous path along the mountain that leads to the entrance. It was one of the tallest peaks they were assigned to pick clean. If anything were to happen, there would be casualties.

"Ivy! Bring in anyone who comes by!" He ordered before directing his focus on Sibylla who seemed a bit out of it. "Bylla. Stay with Ivy until I get back!" He bolted out into the storm, unbothered by the harsh breeze through his thin blouse.

The moment he ran outside, he was soaked to his core with freezing water. But his legs sprinted towards the mountain without a second thought. All he cared about was saving anyone he could with whatever time he had left.

"Do you seriously expect me to sit around when you're out doing this?" Sibylla's voice shouted from behind. She was barely heard over the storm.

Sin-Vira peered over his shoulder briefly to see Sibylla following close behind. "You can't be out here! It's too dangerous! Go back!" he argued as he looked ahead.

"Don't bother telling me the obvious! Leaving you alone in a storm like this is worst than getting a little wet!"

Sibylla soon came into view as she ran beside him. If she were to join him, it would be both helpful and risky. He would likely be hearing from her father if anything were to happen to her. But he also feared letting her get hurt on his watch.

"I can't promise I can protect you if you come with me! Stay close and alert!" He warned her. It was hard to hear himself, but Sibylla nodded in understatement.

As they reached the base of the mountain path, a guard was stumbling down it in a hurry. There was no one else coming down.

Sin-Vira grabbed the guard by his arm while Sibylla stood by his side. It was hard controlling the amount of rage.

"Where are the other!?" Sin-Vira shouted at him.

"Get off me! They're where we left them!" he answered while he was trying to pull away from him. But it was in vain with the strong grip keeping him in place.

"Do not speak to him like you're above him!" she corrected the guard. "Why did you leave them behind? Can't you see they're in danger?" She questioned him.

The guard looked at Sin-Vira with disgust before looking down at Sibylla. "I value my life over theirs! They're even not a part of your kingdom! Why bother protecting a kingdom that isn't yours?"

Sin-Vira instinctively raised his arm to throw a punch, Sibylla placed her hand on his shoulder to stop him.

"A royal must protect their kingdom. Anyone with a heart protects whoever they can! We can't waste our time on trash like him, Vira!"

The prince watched as she ran up the path and quickly followed her. "I'm going into the mine to make sure everyone gets evacuated! I can't risk you getting hurt by following me down there," he explained.

Sibylla picked up a staff the guard likely dropped on the way down and carried it close to her. He couldn't think of why she wanted to keep it but trusted it was for a good reason.

"I wasn't planning on it anyways! Just focus on your rescue mission!" Her eyes were filled with determination and clenched onto the staff. "I'm going to do what I can help out here!"

Though his mind filled with dreadful scenarios, he felt better having her support him. Sibylla went through an embarrassing hair day, his mother's wrath, and now risking her life to help those from a kingdom she didn't rule over.

Her selfless aspiration gave Sin-Vira a burst of energy to push himself to keep up with Sibylla. For a girl running up a steep mountain in heels, she looked unstoppable.

Once they reached the top, Sin-Vira looked over at Sibylla as she stared at the top of the mountain. Almost like she was visually scaling it. She looked back at him and hit his shoulder.

"Stop gawking and go! I'll handle myself!" She ordered.

He ripped his eyes away from her. "Don't do anything stupid…" he spoke in a subtle plea before running into the dark cavern. Torches were lining the walls, and the path down was steep. He could hardly hear the storm the further he went down.

It took a while before reaching a landing with multiple tunnels. There were torches above each one and broken tools littered on the ground. There were six to go down with no time to go down each one.

With a deep breath, Sin-Vira cupped his mouth and shouted as loud as he could. "Everyone needs to evacuate NOW!" he took another deep breath. "This is an official warning! Evacuate to the castle immediately!" Sin-Vira clenched his chest as he heard a low rumbling coming from all tunnels. His feet became heavy as he saw his residents running out. They were covered in grime, bandages, and desperation engraved in their fearful expressions.

This was the state they were forced to work in. injured, limping, and shoving anyone to get out. Some even knocked into Sin-Vira and pushed him aside.

He felt like a failure as he watched them run. While he felt awful, he was privileged enough to be ignorant of how they all felt. For years they went through hardships while his family couldn't do anything without the fear of retaliation. The plan to marry slowly seeped into his mind and soon Sibylla.

"Did she truly grow out of her selfish, spoiled ways?" he asked himself. "She's risking everything just to get back at her father…? It just doesn't make sense…"

Once the last few workers came rushing out, he followed them towards the exit with that thought still swirling around. He couldn't get her out of his head. It was like she wasn't even the same princess he knew, but someone entirely different.

The loud sound of lightning striking down tied his stomach in knots. He regretted not making her come with him and regretted not making her stay in the castle even more.

When he exited the cavern, he looked around frantically and didn't see her. Not even in the crowd of evacuated workers.

His lungs burned with agony but forced himself to be heard over the storm.

"SIBYLLA?!" he called out.

As though it was a cruel response to his call, he heard another crack of lightning from behind. He looked back towards the peak of the mountain Sibylla was staring at and saw her limp body hurling towards him.