Master of his heart (Brielle and Max)

"I've collected so many things of yours, but now, sweetheart, I'm finally collecting you. Don't hate me for this."

"You must feel awful right now, but hang in there; it'll be over soon."novelbin

"From now on, we'll always be together. You've always been my favorite."

Brielle found herself inside a box that was then tossed into the open sea.

The ocean was covered in flowers, a fitting end for Myles, who always wanted to die at sea, carrying his grudge against King.

Time was short, so he only had enough to prepare one box; otherwise, he'd have joined her in it.

With her eyes shut and face pale, Brielle lay amidst a sea of vivid flowers.

The lid was designed to be temporarily waterproof, but it wouldn't hold for long-just a few hours, at best.

Myles felt a twisted sense of satisfaction. He had personally prepared this watery grave for his beloved, a gesture right out of King's playbook.

He pushed the box into the ocean, watching as the waves quickly carried it away.

Standing on the boat, Myles burst into manic laughter, which soon faded into melancholy.

If he truly loved her, shouldn't he have kept her close?

But by then, the box had already drifted far away, its final destination unknown.

The second round of hypnosis had worked, and he had achieved his goal. He remained the perfect stand-in, the most useful shadow.

An hour later.

Myles felt a breeze behind him, followed by sharp pain. He lost his grip on his cane and fell forward, his blood reddening the sea. No one cared about his fate. Dustin arrived with his team, casting a quick glance at the ocean, but saw nothing.

Myles had teamed up with Arthur, using royal privileges to evade surveillance, making it difficult to find his hiding spot.

It took Dustin and his team more than a day to locate him, but it was already too late.

As he stared at the churning sea, Dustin's heart sank.

"Search the area! Turn the sea inside out for miles around!"

The nighttime ocean was terrifying, waves crashing everywhere, making it impossible to predict where Brielle might end up.

She herself was disoriented, her memories fading and her head pounding.

Despite the extensive search, with countless ships deployed, no one found Brielle. The ocean revealed nothing but endless water. An hour later, a lone fishing boat on a nocturnal voyage rescued the beautiful box.

The boat, large enough for about a dozen people, was helmed by Jaired, who frowned deeply upon opening the box and finding the sleeping figure inside.

Meanwhile, his phone buzzed incessantly with messages.

"Infinity Brilliance mobilizes all resources to find the missing princess."

"Dustin offers anything for information on Brielle's whereabouts."

"The princess has disappeared."

"A rift between the royal family and the Lynch family."

His phone was flooded with updates.

Jaired steered the boat toward an island, carrying the box into a villa.

Inside, Irene and Dustin sat on a long couch, both lost in thought and ignoring each other.

Gone was Irene's usual flirtatious demeanor; she simply toyed with a dagger in silence, her lashes lowered.

After surviving the planned destruction, their previous indulgences now seemed irrational.

They hadn't confronted Jaired, not because they didn't want to, but because he had drugged them.

The organization had access to many drugs, including one that left them weak.

Now, seated far apart, they relied on the couch for support.

Upon Jaired's entrance, their gazes locked onto the box he carried.

Silence prevailed until he opened it and placed it before Irene. "Irene, what do you want to do?" Jaired asked.

As Irene slowly traced her fingers over the dagger, her lips curled into a smile at the sight of Brielle curled up in the box, surrounded by flowers.

Jaired knew she'd relish the opportunity to disrupt the stability of North America.

He relied on the drug to temporarily quell their turmoil, aware that without an antidote, they might leave and never return.

Neither had anything left to truly

care about, including Jaired himself,

bound by guilt to Irene's side, vowing

to spend a lifetime making amends.

If Irene lacked a reason to live, if she still wished for chaos, then let the madness continue.