The Mind-Reading Mate: Why Is the Lycan King So Obsessed With Me?!

Chapter 553: A Vessel for Something Evil (I)

"Oh, Rosie... you really don’t want to give me any time for dating, do you?" Lorelle complained the moment she stepped out of the carriage with Leofric.

Despite her words, there was more amusement than annoyance in her voice.

Primrose smiled apologetically, though a small sense of guilt still lingered in her chest. "I’m sorry for dragging you here, Lorelle," she said. "But unfortunately, emergencies don’t wait for a convenient time."

Lorelle let out a long, tired sigh before waving a hand dismissively. "It’s fine. I’m only teasing you anyway." A small laugh escaped her lips. "Let me guess. Is this about the skull?"

Primrose nodded. "Yes. It’s about the skull."

Lorelle clicked her tongue and turned to look at Leofric with a completely unimpressed expression. "This is exactly why I told you I wanted to examine it yesterday," she said. "If you had listened to me, we might not have to deal with this today."

Leofric simply smiled, looking completely unbothered by the accusation. "Oh, my dear Lorelle," he said as he spread his hands, "even if you had examined it yesterday, there’s no guarantee that nothing would have happened today."

Then, as if he had just come up with a brilliant idea, he flashed her a charming smile. "Come on. Let me carry you to the warehouse as an apology."

Lorelle immediately rolled her eyes. "Or," she said dryly, "you could just get me a wheelchair."

She could walk now, but every step was still slow and careful as she continued adjusting to her new body.

Because of that, whenever they had to travel a long distance, Leofric would simply carry her instead of making her walk the entire way.

"I’ve been asking you for one for weeks. Why do you keep pretending I never said anything?" she complained. "At this point, I’m starting to think you enjoy carrying me around against my will."

"Against your will?" Leofric repeated, placing a hand over his chest as if he had just suffered a terrible insult. "You’ve never once told me that you hated it."

Lorelle let out a soft snort. [I don’t hate it... but it’s still embarrassing whenever people keep staring at us.]

Judging by the looks on their faces, another one of their usual arguments was about to begin.

Fortunately, Primrose stepped in before either of them could continue. "How about we examine the skull first?" she suggested. "You can argue about the wheelchair later."

Leofric immediately nodded.

"Of course. Of course. How could we forget something so important?"

A second later, he carefully lifted Lorelle into his arms and carried her toward the warehouse.

By the time they arrived, Nina was still waiting near the entrance with Solene. Edmund, on the other hand, had been called away to meet an envoy from the Vellmoria Empire and would be gone for a while.

Even so, before leaving, he had specifically instructed Solene and Callen not to let Primrose get too close to the skull while he was away.

"You must be Lady Lorelle," Nina greeted with a warm smile. "Her Majesty told me that you’re very talented at seeing things beyond normal sight. I was hoping you could tell us more about the skull inside."

Lorelle raised an eyebrow before glancing at Primrose. "I think you praised me a little too much in front of other people."

Primrose simply smiled. "We’ll see."

Lorelle shook her head but said nothing else. Instead, she entered the warehouse and walked straight toward the skull.

The others watched quietly as she circled around it several times. At one point, she even leaned forward until her face was only inches away from the glass case.

"You said this skull once affected Edmund’s mind?" Lorelle asked while continuing her examination.

Primrose nodded from where she stood. "Yes. It tried to convince Edmund not to trust me. Maybe it wanted to drive a wedge between us."

"I see." Lorelle’s answer came almost absentmindedly because her attention was completely focused on the skull now, especially the thin cracks spread across its surface.

The warehouse fell silent, but a few moments later, Lorelle narrowed her eyes slightly. "Interesting," she murmured.

Primrose immediately looked at her. "What is it?" she asked. "Did you find something?"

Lorelle did not answer right away. Instead, her fingertips tapped lightly against the glass case as her eyes followed one particular crack running across the side of the skull.

"Yes," she said. "I found something."

Primrose immediately stepped forward. "What is it?"

Lorelle pointed at the skull. "That crack shouldn’t be there."

"It’s a skull," Leofric said. "A crack doesn’t seem very surprising."

Lorelle shot him a flat look. "Thank you for your valuable contribution."

Leofric grinned. "You’re welcome."

Ignoring him completely, Lorelle turned back toward the others. "This skull looks like it was broken into pieces before being put back together by someone," she explained. "And there’s a possibility that person placed something evil inside it."

She paused for a moment before continuing. "In other words, the skull itself isn’t evil because it’s only a vessel. But whatever was placed inside it..." Her expression darkened slightly. "that’s the thing that’s truly evil."

Nina took a step forward. "But what exactly is it?" she asked. "Can you see it?"

Lorelle shook her head. "It’s difficult to see because the skull itself is also covered by protection magic. If I want to see what’s hidden inside, I would have to break it open first." She paused for a moment. "The problem is... I have no idea what will happen if we do that."

Nina gritted her teeth. "But we can’t just leave it here." Her voice grew more serious. "The longer that thing remains inside the skull, the more time it has to recover."

She pointed toward the glass case. "Lady Lorelle, this isn’t just some cursed object. Whatever is trapped inside could be the very thing capable of awakening the Angry God."

A heavy silence filled the warehouse.

"Unfortunately," Lorelle said at last, "the protection magic surrounding the skull would almost certainly kill anyone who tries to break it open, and I’d rather not take that chance."