The Werewolf King's Bride

(From Blue's Perspective)

"Are you okay, darling?" Dem asked when we returned to the palace.

After returning, I went to the hot bath house to take a relaxing bath. Dem followed as usual. He did not want to leave me alone. He was the one who suggested it in the first place.

"Something is very very wrong, Dem," I muttered.

"What happened? Is it regarding what Evelyn said?"

"Yeah," I gave a nod. "You know, I gave her that potion, worrying that she might be attacked. I kind of knew the reason she was going to Mazazine. Since we were not sure if Mother was with that dark mage or not, I could not help but worry about Evelyn and Merrick. So, I gave them that potion. It's a potion that will work for anyone and anything.

But there are a few more things to it."

"What is it?" he asked and started undoing my bun.

"The potion is supposed to be thrown at the person or thing or whatever it is. If it touches a werewolf's skin, it will cut that werewolf into hundreds of pieces. If it touches a mage, the mage will be burnt and it is hard to prevent that fire. If it touches the skin of a magical beast created by a mage, the effect will be the same.

If it touches a monster, it will lock that monster with a tight chain and eventually, strangle it. And if it touches a dark mage or a magical beast created by a dark mage, it will turn into dust right away."

"A beast created by a dark mage?" Dem repeated, raising his brow. "You mean…"

"You get what I am suspecting?"

My hands started shaking. "How far… how far… will we have to go to know the real truth?! I am tired! I am tired of seeing everyone being part of this pathetic and disgusting game that's being played with our lives!"

He gently rubbed my bare back without a word. He seemed to be deep in thought. Unlike usual, he did not get into the bath with me. He just helped me take a bath and after the bath, put the robe on me.

"Hey…"

"… No, I am not sad," he said.

"I haven't said it."

"But you are thinking that I am sad because we suspect that my mother was, indeed, with the dark mage and she is probably the one who controlled my mind," he said. "It's wrong. I am not sad at all. I am confused. I have many questions and there are not enough answers. It's frustrating.

It's annoying to know that I don't know that dark mage enough to guess his next move."

"After all, he has planned it for a long time. And we have found out about it just recently," he added. "No matter how I see it, we are at odds here. But I have no intention of losing. I will try everything to defeat him. It's just… Whatever he is doing concerns your well-being.

I am worried, really."

"I know… More than worried, I am… I don't know what to feel. It's so suffocating. But we are together, right? We can do it. Let's just keep the faith."

We looked into Mother's diaries and everything we could for days. But we could not find much of a thing. Mother's maids said she had a habit of writing in her diaries. So, we looked for them everywhere. But we could not find anything important.

Dem and I searched for them in her previous room in the Imperial Palace, the side palace, and also the mansion on the island where she had been staying. Calix, Perita, and Luc joined us. On the first day of our search, we went to Mother's previous room in the Imperial Palace. Although everything had been cleaned after she left, we still looked for some kind of hidden things there.

We found nothing more than a small pearl. It belonged to a necklace that Mother had gotten from Dem's father. The pearl was stuck into the gap in the door. It was almost impossible to notice. Perita found it.

On the second day, we started searching the side palace. Everyone thought we were looking for Mother's belongings because we wanted to preserve them as memories.

We searched the side palace for seven days. We did not leave any place behind. After that, we went to the island to search the whole mansion. We were staying there for the time being to search every corner.

"My back hurts. I have never bent for so long in my entire life," Perita groaned.

"Stop fretting, Perita," Calix grumbled. "We all are doing the same thing. Even His Highness and Her Highness are not complaining."

"It's tiring for everyone. It's just His Highness and Her Highness don't mention it," Perita said. "That doesn't mean I can't mention it!"

"Are you an Imperial knight or not? What's this kind of bratty behavior?"

"You are the brat! Only 16!"

"Stop it, you two!" I slammed the spoon on the table. "Stop fighting at the dining table! If you want to fight, go out!"

I just wanted some silence and peace. The food did not taste like anything because of my worries. The place was also unfamiliar. Everything started triggering my anger.

"I am sorry, Your Highness," Calix said.

"Me too. I am sorry too, Your Highness," Perita said.

"Are you okay?" Dem asked gently.

"I don't know! I don't know anything! Everything is so frustrating! I can't even think properly at this point! It's like I am losing my freaking mind! We searched for so long!

But what… what have we found? Nothing except a damn pearl!"

"Calm down, Blue. Demetrius lost it three days ago and now, you. It's not going to go well if we can't control ourselves," Luc said, coming out of nowhere. I did not even know where he had been. "Yeah, we are not perfect. It's only natural to get frustrated and angry.

But, let's try to keep it low for now. We all are trying."

"Haa… I'm sorry…"

"You have been whining all the time too. Why are you acting all mature now?" Dem muttered.

"Well, if someone loses it, someone from the group has to step up and be the mature one," Luc said. "You can't be that. That's why you are saying it, huh?"

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'Why is everyone being like this?'

"I am done," I said, standing up.

I left the room without another word. It was just too annoying to hear their petty arguments when my mind was in chaos.

I went back to the room where Dem and I were staying. But something was wrong. The room felt different.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

"What the…? Ah, I have come to the wrong room…"

I looked around the room a bit. We had searched this room already. It was just another bedroom.

I looked out the window a bit. It was sunny today. I sneezed twice. I wiped my eyes with the sleeve of my dress and looked around. The strong sun rays made it hard to even stand there for a long time. Something was glistening in the ray as well.

"What? Glistening? What's that?"

"There you are. I was…"

"Dem! What's that out there?"

Dem came up from behind and looked in the direction I was pointing. "Hmm… It looks like a… jewel or something."

"A jewel on the tree trunk?"

"…"

We went to investigate it closely. Calix had been holding the umbrella above my head since it was too sunny while Luc and Dem were investigating the jewel.

"Should I press it?" Luc asked.

"It's not gonna explode, right?"

"I don't see any dangerous substances here, no magic either."

"Then, do it."

Luc pressed the greenish jewel and suddenly, a gap opened on the tree trunk. We were taken aback. None of us expected it.

Inside the gap, we found a little box, covered in fine jewels. It was locked. We brought it back to the mansion and Luc opened the lock with a pin. He was an expert in those things.

"It's a bottle?" I mumbled.

"Wait, don't touch it!" Luc said urgently. "Can be anything."

He used a handkerchief to take the bottle. "I will examine it first. Whatever is in it doesn't seem to be a good thing."

Dem suspected it was poison. But it was not certain yet. We would find out after Luc examined it.

We returned from the mansion the next day. I could breathe properly after returning. All the time in the mansion felt very suffocating. Was it because it was a different place?

Either way, I had to admit that our bedroom in the Imperial Palace was the best. Nothing could beat home after all.