Chapter 16HopeShe was staring at me with a sly look in her eyes. This library was forbidden, I knew it. And now, she would tell Darius about it and I would be stopped from coming here.'What do I do? What I do? What do I do?'"I see you're into books." Annalise's eyes slowly glanced at the book in my hand. I yelped and hid it behind me with a nervous smile plastered on my lips."Yes," I answered, breathlessly.Annalise smiled, taking two slow steps closer to me. "You haven't been hearing any kind of chiming noise inside, have you?" she asked cautiously.I shook my head immediately. "Of course, not." I quickly dismissed it but she looked unconvinced."Are you sure? It's an old library. Such things tend to happen." She spoke in a tone that made me know that she knew everything about me."I- I'm- I—""Shhh," she cut me off, placing her delicate hands over my shoulder. "It's alright. There's no need for you to get so scared. I understand you. You're alone in this castle, no one talks to
Chapter 17HopeHow was I going to get out of this problem of mine? The four Lycans were staring at me, waiting for a reasonable explanation as to why I visited a witch secretly. But if they didn't want me to visit her, why wasn't I banned from that area? No one told me it was restricted. I think I should use my lack of knowledge to my advantage.I cleared my throat awkwardly. "I didn't know that I was not supposed to go there." I said, using a meek voice.My husband was the first person to react as he pushed his chair back and basically flew to my side. He grabbed my right forearm and drew me out from my chair to stand head-to-head with him. I had never seen his eyes so dark before. His veins were twitching, depicting his anger clearly."I know that is not the explanation you're going to go with." He gritted out in a tone that made me believe he was trying to control his anger.Before I knew it, my eyes turned glassy and I started to tremble. "No one here cares about me. Why is it on
Chapter 18HopeIt has been a rather boring week for me. No one came to summon me for dinners. No one visited me except the haughty maids who came to serve me food with evident distaste in their eyes, like I had wronged them in some way. The only thing that has been keeping me company was India's diary.I read a page in the morning, a page in the afternoon, a page in the evening. I was persistent in savoring it because I had no idea the next time that I would have access to such a thing. The next time might be when I got out of this lockdown and went ahead to secretly visit Amara once again.Yes, that was my plan. Just because Darius commanded me not to go there again didn't mean that I would blindly obey him. Without any friends or source of entertainment in this entire castle, I might lose my mind without a doubt. So, as soon as the ban of my movement was lifted, I would return to my place of comfort. But for now, I would continue to seek my comfort in the pages of someone who was
Chapter 19HopeI woke up in the arms of someone. When my eyes fluttered open because of the bright sun rays, I felt like I was being cocooned by something strong—someone strong. The person's arms were around me and we were both sitting on the floor. I stared at the sight in front of me and suddenly remembered everything.The assailant, Darius saving me, me crying on his chest. And I was still resting on his chest! His arms were strong around me, I couldn't get him to let go. I tried wiggling out of his hold, but I felt something. Something long and hard."Stop wiggling," a raspy voice breathed down my neck and I stiffened.My goodness, that was his… A strength I didn't know I had coursed through my veins as I ripped his arms away from me and stood up at full force, only for sharp pains in my heels to shoot up. I hissed closed mouth, then plopped down on my bed, facepalming myself internally.I forgot about the shards in my heels and I stood up too quickly. What is wrong with me? Now,
Chapter 20Hope"I don't want to." I said with a slightly shaky voice. After my sentence, it was as though the entire world had come to a standstill because Darius froze up. I gulped down on my saliva, regretting those words immediately."What?" Darius said, sounding flabbergasted that he even had to ask that in the first place.I cleared my throat. "I said I don't want to. I don't want to train for anything. I'm not even going to be here for long. Once you find Light, there'll be no need for any of this."I was going to die for saying such things. I was going to die a slow and painful death after this. The expression on my husband's face said as much. He burned with fury."I- I," I tried to take back my words but I couldn't. Unfortunately, I couldn't form any complete sentences under such a gaze of terror."The choice was not yours to make in the first place. I am ordering you to report for training by tomorrow. I am not suggesting it." Darius gritted out forcefully, like he was try
Chapter 21HopeKyle was no longer by my side. Instead, he was a few feet away, sparring with one of the men. I had taken a seat on a box and grabbed a rag to clean the armory. Thankfully, my heels hurt less since I wasn't standing on them. But all my muscles hurt and my stomach kept on growling at me due to the lack of content in it. I ignored the gnawing pain and did my task. Before this, I had never cleaned weapons but that didn't mean I didn't know how to. Back home, I used to be friends with a couple of guards and I would watch them wipe their weapons. I was just vexed about the fact that I was the one who was going to do such a task.The men around had transitioned from gawking at me brazenly to whispering about me secretly. I wondered what they were thinking. They were probably jeering at my situation. How the mighty Vitalis princess was the one cleaning their stuff. I tried not to let those kinds of negative things get to me, but it was hard not to.As I picked up the next ar
Chapter 22DariusStorming woman. We haven't even been married for long and she has given me more trouble than that useless twin of hers. I walked down to my study with an evident scowl on my face. The council meeting was what put me in a bad mood before I had a conversation with the human princess.All everyone had to say was how less than I was in comparison to the kings before me who had treated the tradition of being married to a human, solemn and sacred. But it wasn't entirely my fault. What else should I do to make the brat happy? Nothing I haven't given to her but she still isn't satisfied and prefers to go back to her family.I stepped into my office and made straight for my leather chair. Not even a second yet, the door flew open and marched in Orion and Talia. Both had the same pissed off expression on their faces as I did."Is she alright?" Orion asked, begrudgingly.I made a triangle with my fingers as I rested my elbows on my desk. "The doctor said that the wounds weren't
Chapter 23HopeI was going back to training today. I loathed it more than anything else in the world. I could still remember the mocking faces of the soldiers weeks ago and it haunted me. I was doing better now, my wounds were roughly healed and I've been eating well.Though there was an incident before I was cleared to come back to training. Darius had wanted to dismiss Kyle and behead him for not paying close attention to me and letting me faint in the middle of the hallway. I had to convince Darius that there was no need to do all that to Kyle and by convince, I mean, stand there and look at him with pleading eyes.It must've worked well because Darius had let go of Kyle and given him one last chance to prove his worth. Because of that sole deed, Kyle became a little less hostile towards me. For example, this morning, he asked if I was alright when I stepped out of my room and before then, instead of banging on my door and demanding that I come out for training, he had sent the thr
An excerpt from the diary of the last Vitalis Princess to ever marry a Lycan King:My name is Hope Vitalis-Moratis. I am the last Vitalis princess to get married to a Lycan King. Hundreds of years ago, humans were the only superior species on Earth. However, Lycans suddenly invaded the earth and dominated humans—this is what is written in the history books.The truth is that, more than thousands of years ago, humans and Lycans lived in peace. But humans grew afraid and envious of Lycans who were more talented, stronger, and powerful than them. They all put out their hands to drive away Lycans and surpress them within a hidden kingdom known as Moratia. Many years after, a Lycan King decided to change history by coming out of the shadows and breaking out from the hidden Kingdom, making it known to everyone.The king did this with the help of a powerful witch who only appeared when the situation suited her. Thus, this particular Lycan King and his descendants punished humans for drivin
HopeI could sense everything and nothing at the same time. I could hear everything and nothing. I could feel everything and nothing. All this without opening my eyes.As I finally pried my eyes open, I saw a little crack on the ceiling above my head. I have been living in this chamber for months, but this was my first time seeing this crack. Every single morning when I woke up and looked at this ceiling, I have never seen the crack before. Where did it come from?I turned my head around. I could hear thousands of footsteps from outside. I felt like I could hear the footsteps of people outside the castle as well.My entire body felt light, as I thought I could rise up and fly. At the same it was hard for me to lift my body up. But once I managed to do just that, I realized something."I should be dead." I said out loud.I looked down to my stomach. I was wearing a blue night dress. I rolled it up to check my stomach, and there was no mark of the stab wound that Light had designed on
Hope "What are you doing?" I asked Light, trying my best to keep my voice leveled and hide the fear I felt in my chest."You are not ready to join me. Without you being with me, I can't let other people have you and use you against me." Light explained with a detached tone."Are you crazy?! You want to kill me just because I don't believe in your nonsense and cruel actions!? Light, what is wrong with you?!" I exploded at her, but she wasn't fazed by my words."You are a disappointment to all Vitalis princesses." With that said, Light lunged for me. The angle she used was well thought out, and I wouldn't have enough time to dodge the knife even if I attempted to move.I closed my eyes and waited for the impact. However, it did not come. But I heard a clank and a thud sound. I opened my eyes to see that Light was on the floor, and that the Morati knife was at the far corner of the kitchen. This scene was not as surprising as seeing Thaddeus in front of me, standing like a shield."Wh-w
Hope "A way to redeem myself?" I asked Light slowly.Light nodded, the light in her eyes brightening even further. "Your child... The child you have with that monster. It could guarantee peace forever. After you give birth to it, we will work to permanently separate his human and beast side, killing the latter off. Then follow through to do the same with every other surviving Lycan to exterminate all beasts."My eyes widened in surprise as I didn't bother to hide the shock in my expression whilst staring at Light."Light, are you listening to yourself? What do you think you're talking about? Even without the child and this lunatic idea of yours, there would have been peace forever! That was what the treaty was for! You-""Oh, stop that! Don't talk as though that nonsense treaty was fair to humans. We basically became a different type of slaves to these monsters because of that treaty!" Light exclaimed."A treaty that we, humans, came up with!" I fired at Light.If she wanted to prete
Hope After receiving the report from Orion, everything happened so fast that I didn't get a chance to understand anything. One second, Darius and I were sitting next together, the next, he was locking me inside my room for protection and leaving the castle with a large army of soldiers.My heart was in my mouth, I couldn't breathe. Badum. Badum. Badum. Badum.I could feel my heartbeat in every part of my body. Why was I so afraid? Why did I feel there was something terrible waiting for me? I managed to get myself a glass of water but it did not calm me down a single bit. I looked out the window. The army who had been waiting around the castle on standby were no longer there.They had been moved to the scene of action. As for the few soldiers remaining to protect the castle's gates, I couldn't make them out as they were too far away from my line of vision.I knew that this castle was safe, but I still felt like there was trouble lurking around. "Darius isn't here anymore." I told m
HopeToday was the day of the Blood Moon. But everything was weird. Things were too peaceful. It was like the calm before the storm. From morning till this very evening, there have been no reports of rebels, attacks, riots, or anything.However, that didn't mean that things were fine. Light might as well be bidding her time until the Blood Moon was fully out. From the room's window, I stared at the red moon hanging on the dark night sky that was shrouded with dark clouds.It was seriously ominous, to the point where I got chills just by looking at it. However, if things went according to plan, I would be fine. And I would also carry out a personal plan of mine.Soldiers and guards were stationed all round the kingdom and this very castle. We were prepared for anything. Yet, I still felt like we were missing something.I couldn't place my finger on what exactly it was, but I knew that something was wrong somewhere. If I could bring this to Darius' attention, maybe he would do something
Kyle "This is all your fault!" I accused Thomas, cutting off his air supply.To this, he smiled maniacally, but there was a hint of regret and guilt in his eyes. He didn't hide them well."You're a fool. Did you expect me to blindly follow your commands and help that queen of yours?" Thomas spat.I tightened my grip on his throat. "Don't you dare!"Thomas coughed and said, "I did my best. She wanted to be stabbed. So I stabbed her. What are you getting so worked up about?" I wanted to kill the fool right now. But I couldn't. At the end of the day, it was all my fault. I flung him away and turned my back to him.I shouldn't have asked him to be the one to fake stab the queen. I should've done so myself. I should've obeyed and sealed my feelings to myself. Instead, I'd done something stupid—placed my trust on a fool and betrayed the trust of someone dear to me.Fuck!I kicked the air, not knowing what to vent on. I heard a mocking scoff from behind me. I was forced to turn around and
Hope The baby was fine? How could the baby be fine? I had taken an abortion tonic. I had also gotten stabbed in the stomach. How could the baby still be fine after all of that??"The baby's fine? Did a physician check me and-" "Don't worry, Hope." Darius said with soothing tone, placing a hand on my shoulder to comfort me. "The physician checked. I even had other renowned physicians check as well. The baby is fine. Everything is in order. You shouldn't worry so much."This child is a royal Lycan. Nothing can harm him. Everything will be fine." A royal Lycan. The kid growing inside of me was a royal Lycan. I had forgotten about that. How could that important fact slip from my mind?This child was not a regular child. It had the Moratis blood. The only thing that could end its life was the Morati knife.And that was in Light's hands! Shit!"What happened? What's wrong? Are you hurt?" Darius quickly came closer, questioning me with a worried tone.I must have worn my disappointment an
Hope I was still alive. Barely. Surprisingly. But still alive. As soon as I opened my eyes, I let out a sigh of relief. Pain was not fun at all."Your Majesty, you're awake!" I heard someone say.I didn't have the strength to sit up from the bed yet and look at the person. I could only shift my eyes. I saw Kyle already down on his knees on the side of my bed. I instantly managed to find a way to frown."Did you plan to kill me?" I asked, my voice was void of anger and sadness. My intent was to show annoyance and anger, but I didn't have the strength to portray those emotions. "Of course not, your Majesty. The person I hired to... do it, did more than I instructed. But I've disciplined him very well and ensured never to-" "Are you mad?" I cut Kyle off.His throat bobbed, he didn't respond."I ask again, are you mad, Kyle Arsen?!" "... No, your Majesty." Kyle said after a beat."Then why did you let another person in on the plan!? Weren't you supposed to be the one to stab me?! Why