Just as Lucier took another menacing, heavy step toward the bathroom door, a fat, grey rat suddenly scurried out from the shadows and ran directly across his expensive boots.
Lucier let out a high-pitched, absolutely terrifying shriek.
He instantly dropped his heavy silver sword with a loud, clattering crash and frantically scrambled backward, leaping right onto the plush mattress.
'Get it out!' he screamed, pointing a violently trembling finger at the tiny creature.
'Throw it out of here right now!'
Isla completely froze, staring at him in sheer, utter disbelief before a wave of immense relief washed over her.
"Thank the heavens," she thought, knowing Dorian was perfectly safe from discovery for now.
She crossed her arms over her chest, a wickedly mocking smile forming on her lips.
'What on earth happened to the grand, fearless warrior?' she taunted smoothly.
'Just a second ago, you drew your massive sword, acting as if you were going to ruthlessly slaughter a deadly assassin! And now you cannot even handle a tiny, harmless little rat?'
'Stop giving me a useless lecture and just chase it away!' Lucier panicked, his dark eyes darting frantically around the room.
'I am completely terrified of rats! Please, just do it! Wait, where did it go?!'
'Well, I do not see it anywhere down here,' Isla replied, deciding to ruthlessly exploit his pathetic cowardice.
'Oh, wait... I think I see it crawling right there, directly onto your pillows!'
'Ahhh!' Lucier shrieked again, instantly leaping off the bed as if the mattress had caught on fire.
Isla had to bite her lower lip incredibly hard to suppress a burst of triumphant laughter. Lucier practically dove behind her, grabbing her shoulders and using her petite, fragile frame as a human shield. 'Please, I am begging you, get rid of it! I am incredibly scared!'
'You are a fully grown, six-foot-tall royal prince, and you are literally hiding behind a girl?' Isla scoffed, rolling her eyes in absolute disgust.
'Do you have absolutely no shame left in you? Look at the poor thing; it is actually quite tiny and rather cute. Honestly, it was probably just terrified by your ugly, mushroom-like face.'
'I do not care! Mock me all you want, say whatever you wish to say, but just get it out of my sight!' he whined, his grip tightening on her shoulders.
'What do you mean, "get it out"?' she shot back indignantly. 'Do I look like a professional rat catcher to you? Is this my daily royal duty now? Let me think for a second about what we can actually do.' She glared over her shoulder.
'And for heavens' sake, stop trumpeting like a panicked elephant! You are going to wake up the entire palace. It is supposed to be our wedding night; if you keep screaming like that, the guards will think the bride has already started physically torturing the groom!'
She muttered darkly under her breath, turning her face away from him. 'They proudly call you the mighty Prince of the Tiger Kingdom, yet you are terrified of a tiny rodent.
You are nothing but a pathetic, wet cat inside. Actually, no... even a wet cat would at least know how to properly catch a rat.'
'Will you please stop your relentless muttering and just remove it?!' Lucier begged, completely ignoring his ruined pride.
'I am genuinely requesting you! Look, just... just use my sword and kill it!'
'Are you completely out of your mind?!' Isla gasped, genuinely appalled by his stupidity.
'Who on earth uses a massive, heavy broadsword to execute a tiny rat? And besides, I absolutely refuse to take the life of an innocent creature without a valid reason.
What exactly is its fault? It probably lived here long before you arrived! If anyone should be struck down with a sword for trespassing, it is you!'
'Stop speaking such ridiculous nonsense and just do something!' he cried out.
Just then, Isla spotted an empty, elegant glass terrarium resting on a nearby decorative shelf.
She took a confident step toward it, but Lucier's trembling hands remained clamped fiercely onto her gown, holding her firmly in place.
She slowly turned her head, fixing him with a deadly, furious glare. 'If you want me to catch it, you are going to have to let me go first. Otherwise, you can just do it yourself!'
'Oh, right. Sorry,' he stammered, instantly dropping his hands.
But the very second she took another step, he frantically grabbed her dress again. 'Wait! Can you not just catch it without actually leaving me alone?'
Isla's temper finally reached its absolute boiling point. 'I absolutely can,' she hissed through her clenched teeth.
'I can kill "you"! If I could actually do that without facing the consequences, I would not be wasting my time ruining my mood right now! Now let go of me, shut your mouth, and let me do this peacefully!'
Terrified of her sudden, fiery outburst, Lucier immediately backed away, raising his hands in surrender.
Isla smoothly walked over and picked up the heavy glass container. Moving with a surprising, deadly grace, she cornered the frightened little rat near the edge of the wardrobe.
With one swift, expert motion, she dropped the transparent glass box directly over the creature, immediately sliding the sturdy wooden lid perfectly into place.
Through the crystal-clear glass, the tiny rat could be seen completely unharmed, its little nose twitching rapidly as it ran in tight circles.
She let out a long, silent breath of relief, knowing this tiny, innocent creature had just perfectly saved Dorian's life.