The Werewolf King's Bride

(From Demetrius's Perspective)

"May I come in, Your Highness?"

"I don't remember calling you," I said.

"I have come to report something, Your Highness," Abel said.

"About what?"

"It is regarding Her Highness's visit."

"I have not told you to report anything about her to me. She is back safely and that's all matters," I said.

"Yes, I know that, Your Highness. But something unusual happened today," he said and that was the moment, I found out what happened, reading his mind. "Actually Her Highness got into a fight with Lady Caerlion and she slapped her."

"She did the right thing. Tell me in detail," I said.

"Her Highness went to the store near the fountain. It was at the back of an alley. There were precious stones and ornaments. Her Highness bought some things for Calix, and me and ordered brooches for her knights. Just after we left the store, we met up with Lady Caerlion. She disrespected Her Highness.

She truly disrespected Her Highness a lot. Her Highness stopped us from arresting her. She talked to her, but that woman kept saying rude things to Her Highness. At a point, Her Highness slapped her."

"I see..."

I read his mind and knew exactly what that mad woman said to my wife. It seemed she wanted to go where her family was very quickly.

"I wanted to ask for something, Your Highness."

"What is it?"

"Her Highness has forgiven her, but I wish Your Highness will look into it. Disrespecting Her Highness, the Queen is the same as disrespecting the whole Imperial family. So, I believe Your Highness should do something about it."

"I will look into it. But don't let the Queen know this."

"Yes," he nodded knowingly. "I will take my leave then, Your Highness."

I sighed. There was a lot of work to take care of. It was already time for dinner. My wife had come back a long time ago. Because of the long meeting, I could not join her for lunch. But she still sent me a note asking if I had eaten.

Even then, I did not know if something was wrong.

I never asked Abel to report about my wife's movement. I trusted that she would not go with another man because she loved me. Yet, sometimes I was worried that she would leave me, if not for another man, for her own freedom. The thought always bothered me. So, I sent Abel with her all the time along with other knights. I just needed to make sure that she had come back to the palace, to me.

I did not need to know about what she did when she went out. It would be the same as stalking her. Besides, she would tell me what she did the whole day if I just asked.

Today, it was very shocking that Abel came to report even though I did not ask for it. It was responsible of him to report the unusual incident. It was very late when he reported. It seemed he debated for a long time, whether to tell me or not.

Even I was shocked that my wife could do something like that. She was a very gentle and kind person. Even if she was angry, she never reacted in that manner. I could get a gist of what that woman told her based on Abel's memory. But it was not fully clear.

"Fuck all this work! My wife comes first," I muttered and stood up.

I was on my way to the dining hall when I saw some of my wife's maids. They bowed and looked troubled. Well, I did not care about that.

But their thoughts mattered to me since they involved my precious one.

"Uh, Your Highness, Her Highness is in the bedroom. She told us not to come in or disturb her. But it's time for dinner. Her Highness has been inside the bedroom since the moment she came back."

I quickly went to the bedroom and opened the door gently so she would not get surprised. The bed was clearly visible from the entrance. I noticed her lying down with the blanket up to her head.

I closed the door just as gently as I had opened it and slowly walked up to the bed. I touched her head from over the blanket gently.

"Darling," I called. "It is time for dinner, sweetie. Why don't you get up and have something?"

"Hmm?"

"Come on. Show me your face, baby," I said, trying to pull the blanket down. What if she was crying because of that damn woman?

She did not hold onto the blanket and let me pull it down. She was not crying, rather she looked very innocent but gloomy.

"What happened?" I asked.

"... I am sad..."

"Is that so? Do you want me to hug you?" I asked.

She thought for a while, then gave a small nod and sat up, spreading her arms. I accepted her invitation and wrapped her in my arms securely.

"It's okay to cry too if you feel like it."

"I don't. I don't feel like crying. Trust me, I have not shed a single tear since coming back," she said and pulled back from the hug.

I placed a strand of hair behind her ear and touched the side of her neck. "If you want to tell me, you can. But I won't force you. It's your choice."

'Well, I know the main story.'

"Um, well, I wanted to buy Calix something, so we went to a store. It was at the back of an alley. After shopping, when we were leaving, I met your aunt, Lady Caerlion. She said a lot of things to me..."

"What did she say?"

She told me everything that woman said without blinking. It hurt me so much that she could talk about these things that way as if she was used to it. She had told me about what her family used to tell her before too, but something was different this time.

"Then I slapped her," she added. "I... I don't deserve to hear things like that. No one can say these things to me. You also said that I can react however I want to if anyone says these things to me. And I don't want to apologize for what I did.

I don't want to be treated like trash and called those things."

"Who will ask you to apologize, darling? You did the right thing. You don't deserve any of that," I said. "Trust me, even if you killed her right there, you would not have done anything wrong."
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"That's... that's a bit too much," she mumbled.

"It's not. Anyway, what did you do to her next? Did you let her go?"

"Uh-huh," she nodded. "I let her go after warning her."

"Why?"

"Well, she only said bad things about me..."

"The things you said she told you included your family as well. Isn't it concerning? How does she know about that? And she mentioned that a man told her about it, right?"

"Yeah, that matter is truly worrying. Who else knows about my past, other than you, Luc, Ruby and Perita? If it's a man, then it can be you or Luc. But it's laughable to even think that it's any of you two. That's just too weird and impossible. There is someone else."

"If you don't mind, should I take care of this?" I asked.

"It's not usual for you to ask for my permission."

"Well, I am trying," I chuckled.

"I see... Um, she is your aunt. So, you can do whatever you want. I don't care," I said. "But you are not going to kill her, right?"

"No," I shook my head.

'Not yet.'

*grumble*

"No wonder you are hungry. You did not have your lunch and it is time for dinner," I said.

"Hahaha!"

"What?" I chuckled, seeing her laughing suddenly.

"If my stomach grumbled in front of someone else other than you, I would have gotten very embarrassed. It felt very natural in front of you," she laughed. "You know, these small things that show how comfortable we are with each other make me very happy. I feel like having a real family now."

"We are a real family. Just you and me- we are the perfect family," I said. "Well, of course, if we have a kid, our family will expand and it will still be perfect."

"Yeah," she mumbled and her stomach made another noise causing both of us to burst out in laughter.

"I will tell the maids to get the food here, okay?"

"Hmm, okay."

She ate pretty well. It was still not enough in my eyes and even the doctor pointed it out. She improved her eating habit a lot, but there was still a long way to go.

More than her eating habit, this time, I often glanced at her just to see her expressions. There was something different about her. It was almost like I could feel a change in her.