Richard followed Prince Wilder when he returned to the palace a few months later.
The first thing Wilder did when he arrived was go find the king where he was looking out into the lake and grab him by the neck until Eli's back was against the wall of the podium behind them.
Wilder squeezed viciously, and even Richard had been too shocked and scared to know what he was supposed to do. Seeing how there were no guards around, he didn't know whether that was a good thing or a bad thing.
"You must have really lost your mind!" Eli spoke in a strained voice but made no effort to fight off Wilder.
"You really listened to him and took our own people as slaves," Wilder said in disbelief.
"My... Prince..." Richard called out in fear when the two just kept staring heatedly at each other, and Wilder was not leaving him alone. If other people saw this, they would tag Wilder as committing treason and trying to get rid of the King.
Just then, someone showed up. A servant.
She carried a tray of tea in her hands and looked absentminded. She also looked very weak and fragile, and her eyes were lifeless.
Her whole look made her appear like an empty vessel and not a person. It didn't help that she was walking like a zombie. What stood out the most about her was her white hair and ethereal beauty, which were still obvious despite how badly she looked now.
It was the first time Richard had seen her, and from the marks she had all over her body, he could tell she was one of the slaves because if someone like her had been in the palace the entire time, they would all have known.
When she got closer to the men, who looked ready to rip each other apart, she said no words and just stood there with the tray in her hand as if waiting for them to just kill themselves so she would serve the king's corpse the tea.
Wilder spared her a glance before he let go of Eli's throat and stepped back from him, turning his attention to the maid.
He simply stared intensely at her before asking in a deadly quiet voice, "How old are you?"
She raised her eyes and looked directly at him. There was no fear or intimidation. There wasn't even hate or anger. They were simply lifeless.
"Seventeen." She answered without showing him any form of respect by addressing him with a title.
Wilder furrowed his brows and took a step toward her but got pulled back by his brother.
"It's enough! We can discuss all you wish to discuss in your chamber." Eli said to him before he looked at the maid, "You may return."
"Eh?" Wilder asked, looking between the maid and his brother before he let out a laugh as he asked, "What is this?"
Eli glared, and even his pheromones began to spill out, but Wilder seemed unaffected.
"Does your madwoman know about this... fascination you have?" Wilder asked Eli in a taunting tone as he looked back at the maid, who still had an unreadable gaze but seemed very uncomfortable with Eli's pheromones in the air.
Luckily for them, Eli suddenly stopped doing that, but he was still very angry as he yelled at his brother to stop.
Richard was confused at this point, not sure what was happening.
"I SAID LEAVE!" King Eli said sternly to the maid.
She was about to before Wilder quietly said, "You won't dare take a step."
Just like that, the maid remained where she was.
The utter disrespect made Eli's face burn, and the look on his face made Wilder smile in pleasure.
"How do you feel about being in the palace?" Wilder asked the maid rhetorically before he continued.
"How do you feel learning that your puppet king took his own people as slaves and is trying to make himself feel better by keeping some of you in the palace like other servants as if you asked him for that in the first place?"
"Enough"
"He killed your people, didn't he? Took away your dreams. I'm sure you never wanted to be a servant who wanted to serve others. You probably had someone you wanted to get married to and start a family with. But what happened? Your dear king here allows his wife's father to control him and make him ruin your lives, and the same person dares fancy you like an idiot—"
"ENOUGH!" Eli yelled and charged at Wilder to strike with his sword, but suddenly stopped when the maid let out a croaked sob and dropped the tray on the floor with a loud clatter. And then she began to cry.
Eli seemed very shocked when he saw her. It was as though it was the first time she was letting out any emotion since he knew her.
She cried. It was so heartbreaking that even Richard felt like comforting her but he stood where he was.
He wasn't sure why Prince Wilder had done that or why he had sounded so affected. Yes, Wilder held their kind in high esteem, and to him, werewolves were the ultimate. So seeing how the King was ruining their kingdom like this and even going as far as having some killed just to capture the others as slaves made Wilder mad. But he didn't think that was just it.
Eli stared at the maid, who had fallen weakly to the ground and was weeping. From the look on his face, he looked miserable. He looked like his heart had broken into a thousand pieces. Without another glance, he hurried out of the place.
"I will give you some advice," Wilder said, crouching down to face the maid.
"Whether you choose to kill him or kill the queen or decide to take over the queen's seat, just get your revenge. And if you are lucky, the Moon Goddess may take your side."
He said before he stood up and walked out of there.
Richard heard a vague "thank you" from the maid, which made him a bit shocked. It was the first time that someone had said that to Wilder.
Richard felt bad for her. Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do.
The next day, Wilder dropped shocking news for the elders.
This content is taken from fr(e)ewebn(o)vel.𝓬𝓸𝓶