Chapter 1: Head Instructor

"Do you even need to come near my study hall, Kasumi?" Severin asked and tugged my arm, almost splitting my limbs in half. Irritation fluttered in the air, suffocating me to the core. "Didn't I tell you already? I—"

"Did you even think I have the choice?" I asked in a raspy whisper, wary of the other students passing by. Fixating his gaze on him was a mistake, clamoring a geyser on his expression that I almost ran away from him. "I was told to keep my relationship with you!"

My uncle was the one who ordered that! I wanted to add. My cousins relayed that message to me, feeding me with insulting words to tune off my breaking point.

Being betrothed and married to this man always made my stomach churn upside down, shoving me to the deepest sullen spring, unable to abscond from its boiling arch. It was sickening that he was in my presence.

"Not in this royal academy, idiot!" Severin looked like he wanted to strangle me.

He and I would never get along, even though we had been married for three months already.

No. Even if the world collapsed, and he would be the last man, I would never come to like or love my so-called husband.

"Don't idiot me, bastard," I said through gritted teeth, launching friction as if I was rustling some papers. The fountain pen I had in my pocket suddenly wanted to shove on his sapphire blue eyes, letting blood ooze from it until he couldn't see the world again.

Severin's hold tightened, trying to inflict an imprint like a document stamp. But I did not stand there and let him do that as I grabbed him by his collar, coming forth with the strength of a bear's physique. Both of us were flinging deaths against each other.

Dear Moon Goddess, please prolong my patience with this insolent man that I had gotten to marry with. I felt like I wouldn't survive another month with him.

"Severin. Kasumi. What in the world are you two doing?"

As soon as I heard that familiar baritone voice, a wave of chills ran down my spine, and my heart felt as though it had stopped beating, conveying the overwhelming impact of the experience.

Severin and I both turned our heads towards the source of the imposing six-foot-tall wall before us. As we met its gaze, I felt a sharp sensation deep within my core, as if my wolf was reacting to an arrow-like sapphire blue orbs that could penetrate the very soul within my body, indicating the intensity of the situation.

"Father... I..." Severin said, unleashing his handcuff-like hand on my arm. "Why are you here?" Instead of answering him, he asked.

"My next class is around here. Why else wouldn't I be here?" Thaddeus replied, arching his eyebrow.

"Oh... Yes, I remember." That was Severin's answer.

I almost smirked at his foolishness. Of course, Thaddeus, known for tormenting our pack by inflicting threats, was also the head instructor of training the royal academy students and evaluating them to send the result of their physical traits and improvements to their respective packs.

Dumbass... He should have known that was his father's work here in the royal academy.

My eyes caught on Thaddeus, and as fast as the peregrine falcon, my smile vanished, ignoring the tingling sensation swarming my body, averting my gaze when he was also trying to catch my gaze again.

"Don't you have a class with me, Kasumi? So, what else are you doing here?"

Eyes on the floor, finding the speck of dust entertaining, I answered, "I still haven't eaten my lunch, Thaddeus," I lied. I almost licked the dust when I couldn't call him 'Father' since he was already my father-in-law.

It wasn't appropriate that I was calling him by his name when we were still in the royal academy. But I couldn't help it.

Looking up, I anticipated a scolding, but to my surprise, his eyes lit up with a glint of amusement, causing my heart to flip over in response, illustrating the sudden shift in my emotions.

"Make haste. The class is about to start in fifteen minutes." As he walked past us, he casually tapped Severin's shoulder, jolting him awake and emphasizing the suddenness of the action. "Join with her, son."

"Tsk," my bastard husband said, glaring at me. I almost pricked the fountain pen when he looked at me like that.

Severin and I parted ways, not saying anything, walking in opposite directions as we each went our separate paths, portraying the apparent divergence in our choices. As I sat down for lunch, I noticed my heart finally calmed down from the earlier encounter. Despite this, I couldn't shake off the feeling of unease as I realized that I would inevitably cross paths with Thaddeus again, as he would be my next class later.

"Why did he have to be my instructor?" I muttered in annoyance, letting the luscious and creamy smooth, velvety texture of creme brulee play and swirl in my mouth.

I trudged towards the changing room, the weight of my footsteps echoing with each step as I made my way in my training uniform, showcasing the heaviness of my mood. If only I were not aiming to become a royal knight and serve the royal lycan family, I wouldn't have to do this.

If only Uncle Hajime did not kill my father... I wouldn't be in this place to expedite things to take what belonged to me in the first place. I should have been in the successorship training to take over the Red Sun pack.

"I will take back what is mine..." I said through gritted teeth, cherishing the tension in my neck and shoulders, eagerness to let out this remorse tonic poisoning my whole being.

The desire to surpass my tormenting cousins and ascend the royal knights' ranks pushed me to enhance my swordsmanship skills tirelessly. I was motivated by attaining the highest position on the social ladder and proving my worth as the true successor of the Red Sun pack.

But I had another problem to deal with. That was—

"Again!" I jolted back to reality as Thaddeus ordered us in a firm and commanding tone, portraying the suddenness and seriousness of the situation. "Check your rhythm and cautiousness," he said as he paced back and forth, meticulously observing the posture of each of us before his piercing sapphire blue eyes finally landed on me, showcasing the intensity of his scrutiny.

His gaze distracted me shaking my confidence before looking away when he caught me looking at him.

Damn it...

The mere thought of Thaddeus being my instructor made my insides grumble with unease, and my heart would skip a beat every time our eyes met. The obstacle of having him as my instructor ever since I enrolled here three months ago made it seem like an insurmountable challenge to improve my swordsmanship skills, illustrating the magnitude of my apprehension.

Horses galloped inside my ribcage when his footsteps marched in my direction. That shattered my fighting stance as soon as he was behind me.

His imperturbable posture submerged me as a mass of debris moved down to a slope. Getting distracted when his sizeable calloused hand was on my shoulder, and the other hand was on my hand, holding the rapier sword. Chills overwhelmed me. With his exhaling breath fanning my ear and his muscular build leaning my back, gradually loosening the brick walls I built, my wolf was in glee at having him beside us.

"Your shoulders are stiff, Kasumi." His low raspy voice hit the core of my thighs, enveloping me with a strange, melodious lullaby while making my heart ill at ease. "Fix your posture."

His hand traced my back, making my eyes widen as my mouth dry from our closeness, and the sensation was unimaginable to the point that I almost collapsed.

"L-Like this?" Even with my meek, shaky voice, I managed to ask him and did what must I suppose to do.

Thaddeus, whose hand was now on my waist, gently pinched it, making me jumpy before looking at him in surprise. "Yes. That's right," he said, lowering his gaze to my lips and my emerald green orbs again. "Good girl," he whispered, a curvy smile flashed on his lips when he left me astounded.

Our training ended feeling my cheeks flared, storming madness of illusion in my mind. I hastened my pace to leave the training ground after changing my clothes.

"Kasumi."

I halted, enveloped with reverberating chills and chattering teeth when Thaddeus called me.

"Damn it..." I murmured, not wanting to turn my head, but his footsteps and penetrating gaze halted me. It was too late to pretend that I did not hear him calling me. "Yes..?"

I almost stepped back when I caught a whiff of his scent and perfume mixing as my wolf almost urged me to lunge at him. The scent of it enveloped my senses, sending my mind into a haze. It was like breathing in a new concoction of antidote, and I couldn't help but feel intoxicated by its power.

Thaddeus smirked when he caught that I was caught off guard at his presence before clearing his throat. "I came to say something..."

My insides clenched, an uproaring drizzle of agitation. "What?"

His sapphire blue eyes shone under the afternoon sunlight before he opened his hand and showed what was inside it. I swallowed a gasp of solitude when an eccentric agate gemstone embellished in a vine-shaped vessel necklace swayed left and right on his hand.

"That's..." I could not form another word, glorifying relief washed me when Thaddeus grinned. "...mine." My voice choked with tears when I took it from his hand, implying to say something, but I couldn't.

My eyes were fixated on it, not wanting to leave another day just to confirm that I was seeing it properly.

"My necklace..." I bit my lower lip, cradling it like an infant. "H-How did you find it? Sev—" I paused when I realized that I almost revealed Severin was why I had lost my necklace.

That bastard... His annoyance with me was palpable to the extent that he threw the necklace away when I was bathing.

Severin and I fought that we almost wreaked havoc on the De Rosa mansion, but fortunately, it did not come that way.

I only revealed that I lost it due to my negligence.

I had a feeling that Thaddeus was aware of Severin and I's argument since he did not say anything, but he stayed in his perusal silence.

"In the garden," Thaddeus answered brusquely, turning his back on me just as my eyes were welling up with a desperate need for reassurance, highlighting the emotional turmoil of the moment.

As Thaddeus disappeared from view, I found myself gazing down at my necklace, tears welling up in my eyes as I took a deep sniff before pressing my lips against the cool surface of the gemstone, revealing my emotional vulnerability.

"Thank the Moon Goddess..." I muttered. "You're back..."