Erika had always known that this day was coming after spending years watching her older siblings disappear one by one. For years she prayed that her father would change his ways and that her life would be spared, but after celebrating her 18th birthday all alone she was woken up the next morning with news of her engagement.
Her Servants were all thrilled by the news, non-stop congratulating her all day long as if the situation was some kind of happily-ever-after fairytale. But the talk of the wedding made Erika feel sick - talk of "love at first sight" only made her feel worse.
But even though she despised the idea of being married off at her father's will, Erika never let the smile fall from her face. If her Servants knew that she was miserable then her pitiful mood would spread to them as well and Erika didn't want to crush their good spirits.
The young woman allowed herself to be dragged around through various wedding planning activities all day long just to keep everyone happy. After all, her entire purpose was to keep the centuries-old family tradition alive. She was nothing but a prized possession to be traded away to another man, her father treating her like a prized baseball card selling at auction. Throughout the day Erika wondered what her price tag had been to make all of this worth it.
A million dollars like her older sister Sabrina?
Ownership over a medical technology manufacturing company like Jessica?
Erika would never truly know what her price tag was unless her father or her groom-to-be ever shared the information with her, which was bound to never happen. Jessica and Sabrina only knew because they overheard conversations about their trade deals after the wedding night. To this day her sisters Rose and Monika still had no idea what their price tags were... and both of them were married over ten years ago.
Erika's father said the deals were secret information to keep everyone involved safe - after all some of the trade deals wouldn't look very pleasing to the public eye. He always claimed it was because he had their safety and happiness in mind but the truth was that he simply didn't want anyone to know what happened behind closed doors.
All day the only thing Erika had been somewhat looking forward to was the grand feast that was pulled together at such short notice to be a rushed practice ceremony. Of course, her father hadn't shown his face at the meal so once again it was just Erika sitting alone at a grand table. However, her feast had been cut short when a servant rushed in and dragged Erika out of her seat.
The mysterious groom-to-be had arrived several hours earlier than they had been expecting and it was bad luck to see your partner before the wedding. So instead of keeping the strange man on one side of the mansion and letting Erika live her last night alone in peace, the man was given free rein of the home and Erika was locked into her room.
Defeated, Erika collapsed back on her bed with a groan of frustration. This entire situation was completely out of her control and that fact alone was driving her mad. In less than 24 hours she was going to be forced to walk down the aisle and agree to a lifelong engagement with a total stranger.
She rolled over and buried her face into one of the many pillows on her bed before letting out a scream into the fabric, only to be cut short by a gentle knock at her door.
"Come in," Erika called out with her face still shoved into a pillow.
An elderly woman entered the room upon Erika's call, a sweet smile quickly turning to a frown as she saw Erika. "Are you okay Miss. Voxx..?"
Erika sat up with a heavy sigh, brushing the hair out of her face before giving the woman a weak smile. "Just fine Margrett is there something you needed?"
The old woman didn't seem to believe Erika but she didn't try to argue against the younger woman's word. "No Ma'am, I just wanted to make sure that nothing else was needed before I headed to bed for the night. We have a long day ahead of ourselves tomorrow."
Traditionally the daughter's closest servant would travel along with them to their new home after the marriage. It was one of the many things Erika had fought with her father about - Margrett had lived her entire life here serving the Voxx family. It didn't feel right to force her to move to an unknown location, making this sweet old woman leave her home behind. But her father wouldn't budge on the rule, furious that Erika was trying to change the terms that the Voxx family had followed for so long now.
"You're fine to get some rest Margrett. I was just about to get cleaned up and head to bed myself. Like you said... we have a long day ahead of ourselves."
There was a sad look behind the old woman's eyes but the smile never left her lips. "Thank you Ma'am. I will see you bright and early in the morning. But if you need anything just ring my bell and I'll be here in a jiffy." With that said Margrett gave a slight bow before making her exit and all Erika wanted to do was scream into her pillow more.
Instead of throwing more of a fit Erika laid back down and stared up at the ceiling, so many thoughts running through her head at once that her mind felt too loud. If only she could convince her father to listen to reason - give her more time to live freely before she was locked into a wedding agreement. But it was painfully clear that the man was enthusiastic about getting rid of his last child.
Normally, Erika would take a long walk outside while trying to clear her head or come up with a solution to a problem. But since she was locked in her room there was nowhere she could go to enjoy the beauty of the night. So instead Erika got to her feet and went to the nearest window - sliding it open and leaning out ever so slightly just to feel the breeze through her hair.
In that moment Erika wondered if she could survive the jump down from the window.
If Margrett came to her room in the morning only to find the bride missing then the wedding would be postponed. Erika's father would be fuming, demanding his employees locate his missing child out of fear that the wedding deal would be canceled. People like Margrett would probably get into trouble even though they had nothing to do with Erika's actions.
However, Erika would finally get the taste of freedom she so desperately desired.
Admittedly, Erika was now going back and forth on the idea - struggling to decide if being the cause of someone else's suffering would make ending her own suffering worth it.
Erika wasn't sure how long she stood there, staring into the cloudy sky as she tried to decide her next move. But movement in the corner of her eye is what finally broke Erika out of her thoughts, the woman leaning a little further out of the window to see what was going on.
A few windows down a man dressed in a very nice-looking suit was dangling from an open window above him. He was struggling to maintain his grip on what looked like a rope made from tied bedsheets as he attempted to lower himself to the ground below.
Erika was about to call out to him when a loud crash could be heard from the room the man was escaping from, she could hear him go "Oh shi-" before he fell to the ground.
Luckily he had gotten himself low enough that the fall didn't do any actual damage, however landing directly on his back seemed to have knocked the window out of him.
"Are you okay?" Erika couldn't stop herself from asking the question as the man got to his feet. He didn't look much older than Erika, with messy brown hair ever so slightly falling into his eyes and a look of shock on his face as he looked up towards Erika.
"Uhh.. y-yeah that was nothing don't worry."
The hesitation in his voice made her smile, her entire life Erika had always been around extremely egotistical men. Always so sure of themselves and their actions - never showing signs of hesitation.
"That didn't look like nothing, are you sure?"
"Why? Do you think I'm lying to you?"
"Well I have no idea who you are, how am I supposed to know if you're being truthful or not?"
The man seemed to enjoy Erika's responses as a grin spread across his lips before he ever so slightly bowed. "My apologies for not properly greeting you, my name is Prince Andrew Oldenburg." As he straightened himself up Erika couldn't wipe the look of shock from her face which only made the man's grin grow. "And you are?"
"Erika... Erika Voxx."
"So you're the one I was here to marry."
His response made Erika's mind feel like TV static - there was no way that her father had managed to make a deal with King Oldenburg, a man known for being a heartless and cruel ruler over a small collection of islands in the North Sea. King Oldenburg wasn't exactly a man anyone would want as a father-in-law.
In her moment of shock, Erika forgot about the fact that she was leaning out of a window. She attempted to step back only to lose her balance and fall forward and through the open window.
Erika let out a scream as she fell, her eyes shut tight as she expected to land on the cold ground below.
Except when Erika came to a stop she felt warmth.
Erika slowly opened her eyes, meeting Andrew's worried gaze. The Prince had caught her before she hit the ground, holding her bridal style as if she were weightless. "Are you alright?"
Erika only managed to nod as he carefully set her down, taking the woman's hand to help steady her. The rush of adrenaline that came from falling left Erika a little unsteady on her feet so she was thankful for Andrew's hand.
"Are you sure?"
"Oh, now you're the one being untrusting," Erika laughed, starting to regain her breath. "Look I'm fin-" her response was cut off as bright lights lit up the courtyard. Her scream must've woken up people inside the mansion, lights coming on as they started to investigate where the sound came from. After all, Erika was supposed to be safe and sound locked inside her room.
Erika felt frozen, only breaking her eyes away from the home when The Prince's hand tightened around hers.
"Do you want to come with me?"
Erika had never believed in stories involving a knight in shining armor but in the moment it felt like Andrew was one of these knights. Ready to take her away to safety without a second thought. "Run away from a pre-planned wedding with the very person I'm supposed to be marrying?" Erika's question pulled a chuckle from Andrew, "It sounds ridiculous when you put it that way. But yes."
Erika found herself unsure of what to say next - an attempt at a snarky response crossed her mind but the moment she opened her mouth an older woman's cry coming from the room Erika had fallen out of. "She's missing! Miss. Voxx is gone!" It was Margrett's voice, the older woman sounding panicked.
As more lights turned on inside their chance for escape was drastically decreasing, if Erika was caught now then her father would ensure that nothing like this would ever happen again. She'd most likely become trapped inside a windowless room until her next wedding. Even if Prince Andrew managed to escape without her, Erika's father would simply plan another wedding.
It wasn't hard for Erika to decide, blindly following a Prince to freedom was the better option compared to being trapped for the rest of her life.
"Yes."
He smiled, "I was hoping you'd say that."
Without another word, Prince Andrew pulled Erika forward and the two started running. Neither of them knew where they were going, they just knew that they had to get as far away from the mansion as possible.
The two never let go of each other's hands as sirens erupted from the building - the servants must have woken up Erika's father and told him that both Andrew and Erika were missing from their rooms. There was no turning back now and there was definitely no stopping Erika or Andrew as the two disappeared into the darkness of the night.