Chapter 3

“Where am I?” Amelia jolted when she noticed a different ceiling and recalled how she was chased out of the village.

Something happened before she passed out. She couldn't remember. But when her eyes linger around, a man appears before her.

“Trying to act innocent, are we?” He said, chuckling devilishly.

And the fact that nothing went through her mind made him even more unbelievable. He's been waiting for her to wake up for two days in a row and to know who she is and who sent her. And this is what her reaction is? Her first reaction was completely different.

Her first question was too silly and didn't comply with what he had in mind.

When Amelia looked at him, she was unable to set her eyes aside from him. It was maybe the first meeting or impression, but he just made her go into heaven without killing her. How can there be such a fine and handsome man alive on earth? She questioned herself, totally drowned in his handsomeness and beauty, unable to come out.

“Wow! He is too good-looking. I feel like hovering over his body,” Amelia thought to herself, drooling over him. And she was hardly able to resist herself.

Edmund clapped his hands several times to take her out of the imaginary world. She returned to reality, shook off those unholy thoughts from her mind, and looked at him.

“Who sent you?” Edmund asked again.

His voice, undoubtedly holding ice cube-like coldness, spread all over her, and even the room temperature dropped suddenly.

She was confused. She has been kicked out of her home and village. So why would someone send her to him?

“No one sent me. And where am I right now?” Amelia asked innocently, ignoring his first important question.

“You are in the East Wind Mansion. You were unconscious for two days straight,” he replied.

She gasped when she heard she had been unconscious for two days. And the way Edmund was sitting on the chair with his legs folded and his hands elegantly placed on his thighs, she immediately knew he was the house owner.

Amelia scratched her head. This place is still unfamiliar to her, and how did she end up here? The last thing she remembered was that she was knocked up by something and fainted on the spot. And yeah, she also heard a person talk while she was still half-conscious.

She touched her head and found a big bandage wrapped around her head. Yeah, she hurt her head in the process, and that's what it is—the reason why she was unconscious for the last two days straight.

Even though she is awake now, Edmund is still suspicious of her, still watching her with the eyes of the hawk, unable to trust any of her words.

Amelia started thinking about where to go next.

She doesn't have a place she can call home. So finding a low-rated job or any job is the most important task for her. Life has to keep on going anyway. Her little misery won't do her any good.

“So, what were you doing in the middle of the road?” Edmund asked with his one brow hanging high.

“I was climbing down the mountain,” Amelia answered.

He tilted his head to the side, not convinced by her answer.

“Look, mister, I am not lying. I have already been kicked out of my village and family. I was depressed. There was nothing in my head at that time. So I didn't see what was in front of me. If I am the one who gave you trouble or messed up anything, please forgive me.” She explained.

If he has any misunderstanding regarding her, it's not a good thing for her. She can't have him misunderstand her.

It felt like if she didn't speak the truth, he might just kill her with his sharp and thin knife-like eyes. She felt somehow scared of him. Her thoughts just came out on their own.

“So you have no place to stay?” Edmund asked curiously yet suspiciously.

Amelia nodded in answer. But then she recalled something. She looked around and realized that the place where she is right now seems to be too luxurious.

“Master, please take me in,” Amelia shouted politely as she bowed before him. Shamelessly looking him in the eyes.

Her sudden change in temperament made him flinch miserably.

If her guess is right, this man before her belongs to an upper-class level of social standing. Isn't she about to go job hunting? So why not start from here?

Edmund flinched, almost falling backward, but balanced himself at the end. This woman before him was all innocent and scared a moment ago, so where did this sudden confidence come from?

“Hire you to work here? What can you even do?” He mocked.

“I can do everything and anything. From cooking to cleaning, just give me any task and I will complete it without any complaints. I promise,” she stuck out her index and middle finger for sincerity. She is pretty desperate to find a place for herself now.

There's no one for her in this world. If she wants to keep on living, money will be the biggest obstacle in the way. She needs a job to earn money. Only then she will be able to find a house for herself.

Edmund keeps on looking at her, studying her before he speaks. “Alright, you can start working from today onward. Just don't sneak around the resident,” he agreed after a brief thought.

Did he agree? How? Why? It doesn't make sense to him.

“Really? Are you hiring me? Thank you so much, master. I will always be grateful to you,” Said Amelia excitedly. Her little hopes were everything for him to know how happy and excited she was.

Finally, something good is happening after so many days.

Edmund ignored her excitement and got up from his seat to leave the room. “Rest for a little while. A maid will come to you after an hour. Listen to her.” He left after saying those words.

The sound of his footsteps disappeared along with his bulky body.

After he left, Amelia curled herself into a fury ball, spacing out and replaying the same scene again and again about how her parents didn't ask her to stay and declared their decision, forcing her to comply with it.

She slapped herself multiple times. “Stop it, Amelia. It's not them who abandoned you. You left them. Where there is no respect, there's no need to stay. You did a good job by taking that decision,” she convinced herself.

She lay down and saw a book on the side. She was getting bored anyway, so reading a book was no bad idea.

While she was reading the book about supernatural beings, she suddenly remembered the infant Lycan prince.

It's not like she witnessed it herself, but she heard many stories regarding it.

It happened twenty-four years ago. 24 years ago, the first official Lycan prince was born, the firstborn of the Lycan King after many years of marriage. The little Lycan prince lived for ten days before he was killed in an assassination.

If the infant was still alive now, he must have been 24 years old. Unfortunately, God never granted life to that poor baby.

Amelia has been hearing about the infant Lycan prince from the villager since she was five. And every time they would talk about him, an evil laugh and an atrocious smile would always be on their faces.

And she wasn't surprised about it. Because it would be pretty insane if they were to show kindness and sympathy towards the enemy kingdom.

Her parents and the whole village have always regarded the Lucan King as their enemy. But Amelia is different from the rest. Whenever they would talk about the prince or the Lycan king, she, without knowing a single thing about them, would always defend the child and the king.

She was halfway through the story while thinking about the Lycan prince when she heard a knock on the door. It was a woman in her forties who entered the room and walked to the bedside.

She was expressionless, with no feelings being shown on her face, and there was only a cold surface.

Amelia wonders to herself. “Do all the people in this mansion behave like their master?”

Meanwhile, somewhere else in the same mansion.

Edmund had his feet put on a large wooden table and his whole body against the chair. There was a book in his hands. One may think he was reading it, but only his subordinate, Ashley, knew that his master's whole attention was on him right now.

“We were so close to catching him. How did you lose him?” Edmund asked in a cold tone.

“Prince... My lord, we were watching him closely, and our men were behind him. We watched his every small activity, but then someone blasted a smoke bomb right in front of us on the way where we were chasing him. It was too sudden, and we lost track of him.” The subordinate explained, but he was feeling ashamed.

Ashley didn't want to make any excuses, but whatever he said was true. They were just one step behind catching the criminal, but somehow he just disappeared in the smoke.

Edmund put the book down and tapped his fingers on the table multiple times. “You said he was unarmed when you were following him. That means he had someone backing him up. That person knew we were chasing him. He had his eyes on us all the time,” Edmund concluded.

“Your Highness, please punish me according to the crime I have committed,” Ashley bowed his head and kneeled in front of Edmund.

“We are not in a palace. Must you call me Your Highness? What if someone hears you? You should know that I am Edmund here.” Prince Edmund scolded Ashley.

Edmund never went to the palace as a Lycan prince or royalty. He always went there secretly when he had to report some important information. So it was forbidden for anyone to call him by his original title before the succession.

“Forgive me, my lord. I will be careful next time. Oh! My lord, what's with that woman? Why did you bring her here? It's too unlikely of you.”