The Werewolf King's Bride

(From Blue's Perspective)

"Oh, that's right. It's actually about that bottle. Do you know what's inside it?"

"How will we know that? You are the one who took it to test," Dem rolled his eyes.

"It's poison," Luc said.

"What?" I exclaimed in shock. "Poison?"

"It's not a normal poison at all. I have never seen one of this kind before. It was made by a mage, but it took me a long time to actually figure out what kind of poison it is and what are the effects," he said. "If consumed, it will vanish without a sign. The consumer needs to be fed often for it to work. One day, they will fall to death without fail."

"Oh my…"

"How long?" Dem asked.

"I experimented on three mice. All of them died within five to seven days. In the case of werewolves, I believe it will be at least two months. And for an Alpha, it will be a few weeks more than that."

"Will the consumer show any symptoms before?" Dem asked again.

"Not anything out of ordinary. You won't even realize you are being poisoned," Luc replied. "It's very dangerous."

"So, there is really no way to know beforehand? What if I am being poisoned?"

"Antidotes can prevent it. My antidote will help," Luc said. "But it's not like there is just no way. I still could not identify most of the ingredients, but I found one. There is one ingredient in it that will cause gray hairs. If someone's hair starts turning gray, it can be for various reasons.

But taking this poison might cause hair to turn gray."

"Gray hair?" Dem mumbled.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

"Honey?" I mumbled, holding Dem's hand as I saw his expression darken.

"…Father had started growing gray hair suddenly a few months prior to his death," he said.

"King Axel? Ah, you told me about his sudden mysterious death," I murmured.

"When I found out about the poison, I thought the same thing. Remember, you even said that your father was getting old quickly all of a sudden because he was so dumb?"

"Well, yes, he was dumb. But now, we know the reason. There is no doubt he was fed this poison and it is also clear who did it," Dem said.

"I have always suspected the previous Queen, you know," Luc said.

"I did too. But I did not believe it myself," Dem said.

"What do you mean?" Luc asked.

Dem did not reply. Though Luc did not understand, I did. I knew what Dem meant. Dem could read minds, but he never found out that his mother killed his father.

It indicated one thing in particular, which could answer some of our questions regarding Dem's past.

"Why are you not being clear? Are you hiding something from me?" Luc barked. "Oh, we are playing hide and seek now when I have worked so hard to find out about the poison?"

"It's your job to help the King and the Queen," Dem said. "You are the master of the magic tower."

"You don't have to tell me that. I know I am the master of the magic tower. But more than that, we are friends at least. I should know about secrets."

"It's not really a secret. Dem is just confused. I am sorry, please don't push him about it," I said.

"… Haa, alright," Luc sighed. "I will go now. Don't forget about sending someone to clean the pool for me."

"He always listens to you," Dem muttered as Luc left.

"… Honey, are you thinking the same thing as me?" I asked in a shaky voice.

"Hmm…," he gave a small nod. "It was her. She is the one who controlled my mind for seven years."

He gritted his teeth and cracked the glass into pieces which was in his hand. Blood gushed out of the wounds, but he did not seem to care.

"That woman…! She ruined everything!"

"Dem…"

If what we were thinking was the truth, Mother killed a dark mage and absorbed their power. Then, she started controlling Dem. Dem could not read her true thoughts because she had the power of a dark mage. He could only read what she wanted him to.

Dem could read minds since childhood. So, Mother must have absorbed a dark mage's power shortly after Dem and Evelyn's birth. Or, they would have gained her power too, just as Evan did. Evan's mother absorbed a dark mage's power before his birth; thus, he became a dark mage too.

I could not imagine how hard it was for Dem to hear that his own mother controlled his mind for years. Although we suspected it before, we were far from confirming it.

I hugged him tightly as if trying to tell him that even if everyone betrayed him, I would be by his side. If there was a way for me to prove the truth of my words, I would.

"I am sorry…"

"Do I look pathetic? I do, don't I?" he chuckled miserably.

"No! Why would you?"

"Even after getting the signs, I still could not believe fully," he muttered.

"It doesn't make you miserable, Dem. You only tried to believe that your mother is not the one who did it."

Your next read is at empire

If Mother truly poisoned Dem's father, then our suspicions were true. I could not think of any other reason for which she would have it with her. Besides, Dem's father had died mysteriously and he also started growing gray hair suddenly.

*meow*

"Sapphire?" I exclaimed. "Don't walk near the edge. You will fa…"

*splash*

Dem swam over to her and got her as she kept meowing and trying to get out of the water. Every time she jumped up to the edges, she slipped again.

"Why is she here?" Dem asked.

"I don't know," I shook my head. "She was in our bedroom."

I took Sapphire from him. Dem did not hate Sapphire anymore. He did not completely like her, but he did not mind it if she sat on his lap and climbed on him anymore.

"We are done anyway. Let's go back," Dem said.

Dem wanted to cheer me up, but he ended up feeling down. After we went back, I forced Dem to take the day off. It was very hard because he would not listen. In the end, he listened when I said I would let him do it only once that night if he did not listen to me.

'My husband is a sex addict, isn't he?'

It did not matter what kind of situation it was, if my body was fine, I did not remember a time we skipped sex. It was not just him who wanted it. Perhaps I had become quite addicted to it as well.

"What do you think? Is your daddy resting?" I muttered, stroking Sapphire's fur as she sat on my lap in my office.

"I can't believe His Highness is actually resting. It feels impossible," Calix said.

"He did not want to. I forced him," I said.

Calix had seen how Dem reacted to his mother's death and he knew that Dem and his mother never had a good relationship. Calix and Perita kind of knew about everything since they were always with us. I also told Ruby everything. So, none of them ever mentioned Dem's mother in front of him much.

Iris and the duke did not know about it. Though Iris was my friend, I still could not bring myself to tell her about it. Not every friend needed to know about everything.

I had not met Iris or Ruby for quite a while. We were supposed to meet at Dem's birthday banquet, but it was postponed. It would be held next week. The kids would come as well.

Iris and I were involved in the duchess's and the queen's work respectively. So, we were very busy most of the time. Ruby was busy learning about Luc's work so she could be his representative. She had given me the answer after a long time of thinking it through.

I knew she would say yes anyway.

I finished my work for the day at nine. Calix took his leave and I told the maids to bring our dinner to our bedroom.

"Bring strawberry cake for the King and lemon juice for me. I won't have anything sweet," I said. "Also, tell the chef to keep making sweet desserts for dinner. Ice cream will be good tomorrow."

"Yes, Your Highness."

I noticed that Dem's mood lightened even just a bit whenever he ate something sweet. He liked sweet things and it was very amazing seeing him enjoy something. When I told Iris that Dem liked sweets, she could not believe it. According to her, Dem did not look like someone who would like sweet things.

But I did not understand how someone's appearance could say something about what they liked.