The Werewolf King's Bride

(From Blue's Perspective)

That night, right after dinner, Dem took three magical devices from the table drawer in our bedroom and established one of them in the bedroom.

"What is that?" I asked.

"It's used to cut the possibility to use teleportation in this room. No one can come here from outside and no one can go anywhere from here using teleportation," he said.

I did not know what to do, so I was sitting on the bed, watching him do everything. "Why didn't you do it before? I mean, you are the King, so…"

"That's because of that silver punk," he said. "He used to come to my room frequently by teleporting. So, I did not establish the device sooner. Even if someone else tried to assassinate me by coming to my room, I could sense them immediately."

"Yeah, you are a light sleeper."

"Yes, that's why there was no need before. But things are different now."

He set up another one on the balcony. Then, he went out of the room with the last one. He came back after a while. He was rubbing the side of his head.

"What did you do?" I asked.

"Just put one in the library," he replied. "I hit my head on the side of a table."

"Oh my… Are you okay?" I asked.

He climbed onto the bed, took his shirt off, and put his head on my lap. "No, it hurts," he said.

"Let me see. Where?"

"Here~"

I gently rubbed the side of his head. "You should have been careful. Does it hurt too much?"

"Can you rub there? It feels good."

It was not until five minutes passed that I realized he was a werewolf. "… You did it on purpose, didn't you? There is no way you would feel if you hit a table."

"I just wanted you to massage my head…," he sulked.

"… I would do it if you had just asked me, Dem…," I sighed and chuckled. "You are really childish, aren't you?"

'No one else knows how childish he is. Sometimes, it makes me feel special.'

A few days passed by. I talked to Azure every single day in the library. He taught me how to use my power properly. With his instructions, I could now make any objects fly, or toss anything against the wall. The lighter the object was, the easier it was to carry with my power. A bookshelf was by far the heaviest object I could move in the air.

Actually, I did not find something heavier than the bookshelf to practice on.

Azure's personality was very close to mine from some points. These days, he started mentioning Dem. According to him, I was not the type of person to get settled and live like a bird in a cage.

But he was wrong. I was not a bird in a cage; rather I was a bird who was tamed. Even if I had the chance to fly away, I was tamed enough to not do that.

Azure kept telling me that I should go to him. He could teach me more in person. He could even awaken my power. He said only he could awaken my power, but did not clear the reason.

Magic provoked me. Learning magic was like an addiction. I had never felt like this towards anything other than buying gifts for Sapphire. Since it interested me a lot, Dem never stopped me from learning magic.

As the Queen, I always wanted some leisure from my work. But I never thought about what I would do in my leisure all alone. I sometimes talked to Perita or Calix or took a long bath or slept; sometimes, I also read books. When Dem was free too, we chatted or did something else. But I never truly looked forward to doing a particular thing in my leisure.

It was different now. I wanted to finish my work as soon as possible so I could practice magic. I did not know I would like it that much.

"It's normal. To mages, magic is like the air they breathe," Azure said. "And to you and me, magic is something more. There are some desires that come with magic. We should not fight it, we should let it go wild, just like we are supposed to."

"Desires?"

"It will feel natural, just like getting angry at someone because they hurt you is natural. We need to learn how to accept that part of ourselves as normal things."

"… Does this make you want to kill someone?" I asked.

"Of course. It can happen when you are very angry at someone."

"But killing…"

"It's only natural for dark mages. We cannot control the desire. Sometimes, something can happen that you did not expect to happen, but you have to learn how to accept that."

'I will accept it if I kill someone just because I was angry?'

"Does it happen to you too?" I asked.

"Yes," he said. "It's a strange sensation, but very natural and normal."

"What about when you were young? I mean, when you were inexperienced? Did it feel natural even then?"

"When I was young?" he repeated; his voice suddenly turned cold. The air around me felt chilly. "I don't know."

I wanted to ask him what he meant. He was not old enough to not remember his early days as a dark mage. But for some reason, I could not ask him anything else. My conscience kept telling me that I should not ask him that.

"Tell me, my daughter, how would you feel if someone told you you could not leave this room?" he suddenly asked.

"Right now?"

"Yes. You can't leave this room now, or not until they let you. How would that make you feel?"

"What will I eat?"

"What if you get what you want to eat?"

"Then, what about my bath?"

"There is a bathroom in the library."

"How do you know that?" I asked suspiciously.

"There is always a bathroom in the library. A long time ago, Royals used to take a bath while reading books. That does not happen a lot now since people have become more dignified and their habits changed over the course of time," he explained. "But answer my question. Alright, let me make it easier.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Suppose you are in your bedroom and the person told you that you cannot leave that room, your food will be sent to you, but you can meet no one. What about then?"

"That person- are you implying to my husband, Azure?"

"I am asking a typical question. I do not find the need to bring your husband, the King in it. But you thought about him right away after hearing this- that's quite impressive," he chuckled, but I could bet that he was smirking. "I did not even mention him today."

"…"

"It is a sign that you should run, but what can I say? My daughter is somehow too blind to see and too deaf to hear," he sighed. "What I must do to make you understand?"

"Nothing, just do nothing. I am fine the way I am. Do not try to break my family."

"You are my family too, my daughter. I am worried about you."

Enjoy new tales from empire

"Oh, please, I don't even understand why you are talking to me right now. If you care about me, should you not just let me live my life? You keep telling me to go to you, but was it not you who controlled my husband's mind for seven years so he would bring me here as his wife and then, you can take over the kingdoms one by one?"

"… Control your husband's mind? What are you saying?"

"Don't act ignorant!" I yelled. "You are the one who did it!"

"Do you know how hard it is to control someone's mind? I can do it, yes. But, controlling someone's mind for seven years is no joke and impossible for dark mages. Dark mages nowadays do not have enough power to do so. I am a dark mage of this age too. How can I do that?"

"What?"

"Aren't you too naïve, my daughter? How are you so sure that he is lying to you?"

"Why would he lie to me?"

"Hm, let me see. There are many reasons. Perhaps he wants you to go against me, your father, because he suspected that someday I might come to take you. He was worried that I will take you away and you will agree to go with me," he said. "Who doesn't know that the King doesn't want to part from you?"

'His words slightly make sense and perhaps I would get confused too. But even Luc said that he saw changes in Dem's behavior suddenly. A lot of people said that Dem suddenly changed when he was seventeen and then returned back to how he actually was after marrying me.'