The Werewolf King's Bride

Hearing the familiar voice, I slowly opened my eyes and found Ruby\'s face hovering over mine. My head felt lighter, but my throat hurt a bit. Perhaps it was because I yelled at Demetrius last night.

"Your eyes are swollen, Your Highness," Ruby said. "And there are marks on your wrists... What happened? Are you alright?"

"Y-Yes, I am... I want to t-take a bath...," I said.

"Yes, Your Highness. Can you walk?" she asked and helped me wear a robe.

"Hmm..."

"No need. You get out," he said, looking at Ruby. "I will take her."

"Dem..."

He touched the side of my face and rubbed his thumb over my left eye. "Did you cry in your sleep?"

"I... don\'t k-know..."

He sighed and picked me up in bridal style from the bed. I did not protest. Though I was reluctant to believe him, I still craved his warmth. Perhaps I had gone crazy.

He sat me on the stool beside the tub and started filling it with water. His face was filled with abject sadness, or was it my eyes\' deceiving? He put a few drops of sweet orange bath oil in the water.

"Be careful," he said as he put me in the hot water of the bath.

"I thought... you h-hated scented oils..."

"I do," he said. "But I noticed that you like it. Besides, it\'s alright to use them every few days."

"I see..."

As I slowly tried to relax in the bath, he brought another towel and soaked it in cold water. He sat beside the tub on the stool and pressed it over my eyes.

"What are you... doing?"

"It will reduce the puffiness," he replied. "Last night, I summoned Luc here, in my study, and that\'s why I wasn\'t in the room."

"Why are you telling me t-this?" I asked.

"... I don\'t want to have any kind of confusion between us," he said. "I know that right now, things are a bit... difficult between us. But I will find out everything as soon as possible."

I wished I could see the look on his face. Since he was holding the cold towel on my eyes, I could not see him. But I wished I knew the emotion his face held when he said this.

"What did L-Luc say?"

"He agrees with you."

"What is this s-supposed to... mean?"

"That someone might have manipulated my thoughts."

"A dark mage?"

"Yes... We\'re not sure," he said.

"Well, a dark mage can... manipulate... someone\'s thoughts," I said. "But that doesn\'t explain why they could not... do so again after you brought me h-here."

"I know. Luc is trying to find out. And we need to be careful as well," he said. "If a word of this is out, then no matter what, there will be danger around you."

"Like... people will try to kill me before... the awakening to stop me from being a dark mage... to maintain the power division. And some people will try to save me so they can use me," I said.

"You talk just like Luc. He was right. It\'s like you two are siblings," he mumbled. "Anyway, and there will be people, I mean, dark mages who will try to save you before your awakening and then try to kill you after your awakening."

"W-Why?"

"If a dark mage kills another dark mage, then that dark mage gets the power of the other one," he explained. "That\'s why I said that your life will always be in danger."

"By the way, do you have any kind of strange dreams anymore?" he asked.

"N-No..."

Now that I thought about it, it had been a while since I had those strange dreams. And I did not have any scary dreams anymore as well.

"Hmm," he mumbled. "Here, open your eyes now. They are less swollen now."

"It\'s like I\'m in... delusion...," I mumbled.

"What do you mean?"

"You\'re so... good to me... and you look at me so lovingly... I can\'t bring myself not to... trust y-you," I chuckled. "It looks like I am going c-crazy..."

When I looked at his face, it clearly said that he did not mind me being in a delusion as long as I was by his side. That was what scared me. I wanted to stay with him, but I did not want to have any kind of lie between us.

"By the way, how will we go to the... banquet? We were supposed to g-go by a carriage, right? But then..."

"We will teleport," he replied.

"T-Teleport? Is it like moving from one place to another using psychokinesis?" I asked.

"Yes, that\'s right," he nodded.

"But... but... how am I supposed to do so? I am not a m-mage... yet."

"Luc will do it. Teleportation cannot be done by all the mages since it takes a lot of energy and mana. That\'s why only high-level magicians can do it," he explained. "A mage can teleport others along with them as long as the other people are in direct contact with him. Holding hands or something like that will work."

"Oh..."

I leaned behind me and closed my eyes. Suddenly I heard him clicking his tongue. "Huh?"

"It\'s so hard... It\'s even harder than that night..."

"What\'s hard? And t-that night? What do... you mean by that?"

He did not say anything. Rather, he started to massage my hands gently. And that was the time I realized it.

"What the... Why didn\'t you tell me?"

"You don\'t have to worry. I am alright," he said.

"That doesn\'t make any s-sense! It surely hurt like hell, right?"

"Calm down..."

"How can I? You should have... Luc said that it hurt... like hell if a werewolf doesn\'t do it with their mate on a full moon night," I said. "That was a week ago, right?"

"Yes," he said. "But you were sick. How could I tell you?"

"Then... what did you do?"

"I took a potion that Luc gave me. It wasn\'t that helpful, but it was enough to keep myself from breaking our room\'s door... Hey, I am fine. You should worry about yourself now," he said and gently stroked the side of my face with the back of his hand.

"It hurt like hell, huh?"

"I told you I am fine," he said.

"I\'m sorry..."

"Why?"

"Because I could not... help you... I really am sorry," I said.

"It\'s not your fault that you couldn\'t help. I have no reason to blame you. And moreover, you\'re in this condition because of me," he grumbled. "You can\'t get pregnant by yourself, right?"

"W-Well, you didn\'t know...," I said. It was true that I was afraid to trust him. But not even for once, I thought about blaming him for my condition. I was pregnant with his child, but none of us knew it would be bad for my health.

"Haa, I managed to make sure that you\'re not touched by anyone else, so I could have you all by myself. But look what happened now," he muttered. "I couldn\'t ensure your safety, yet I can\'t tell you to leave me. I can\'t let you do so. It wouldn\'t be a surprise if you refused to talk to me."

"I told you to be your usual self even if you can\'t trust me," he added. "But I didn\'t think you would do so as well. I was sure that you would avoid me."

"We live t-together... in the same room as well. How can I d-do so?"

"If we weren\'t in the same room, would you avoid me?"

"If I could... then yeah," I replied. Avoiding was easier than hating. Even if I could avoid him, I was sure that there was no way I would be able to bring myself to hate someone like him who looked at me so lovingly as if I was the only thing he loved in the world. Sometimes it felt like even if he was deceiving me all this time, I would not be able to hate him even then.

That was the very reason I hated falling in love but ended up deeply embraced by it as well.

"I made that mark last night on your chest," he mumbled and touched right over my right breast where there was a dark reddish sucking mark.

"There is only you..."

"I don\'t like the tone of it," he said and rubbed over the mark. "Don\'t say things like that when it\'s so obvious. Of course, there is only me. There will be me only."

"I didn\'t mean to... make it sound like t-that..."

"I know," he sighed. "I just hate everything that can lead to the topic of another man. It\'s annoying to think of someone else touching you as I do."

"You\'re my h-husband, not someone else," I said.

"Ugh, I hate it. Let\'s not talk about it. I feel like my breath is about to stop," he grumbled.