Nicholas thought about Duke Romanov's wife and assumed the woman must be not in her right mind. Or she could be just as vile as the dark duke. Like beget like, doesn't it? Only a wicked woman would marry a wicked duke.
It was a different story if she was forced into the marriage. He could imagine that this was not something beneath the dark duke, forcing a woman to marry him.
Or, she might be a poor woman who needed the duke's money to survive. Being pragmatic was not a sin. Everybody needed money to eat. Nicholas could only feel sorry for the woman if that was the case.
He heard how the duke was ugly and disfigured that he needed to cover his face with a mask just to go out. So, people wouldn't be repulsed at seeing him. His wife would be forced to live with him in that state every day throughout the marriage.
'Ish… why am I thinking about Duke Romanov's life? What do I care if he could marry a woman with his wealth? I am sure many women are only interested in men because of what they have,' he said to himself.
His mind went back to Karenina. She always followed him like a puppy and looked enamored. However, Nicholas was not sure Karenina would treat him the same way if he was not the crown prince of Riga.
Deep inside, he just wanted to meet a woman who would be attracted to him and love him for who he was as a person, not the title and family background attached to him. Nicholas didn't know if that would ever be possible.
He took a deep breath and continued his focus on his mission to infiltrate Duke Romanov's castle. Nicholas wanted to confirm if his suspicions were correct that Duke Romanov had something to do with his uncle's death, and paired with the earlier evidence provided by his father that lycans were involved.
Nicholas was about to make a discovery of a lifetime. Duke Romanov might keep some lycans with him to use at his disposal. Lycans were effective killers. He could send them to kill his enemies or did other crimes to obtain his goal.
Suddenly, the crown prince was distracted by a bright shimmering light that seared his eyes and sudden ringing. Nicholas's eyes widened as he started to locate whatever was making the noise and ruining his chance to discover the truth.
He came across a golden pendant trapped in one of the pockets of his cloak. What was going on? Nicholas didn't remember having this. He quickly tried his best to turn off the artifact.
Instead of turning it off though, something worse and more unexpected trouble happened.
***
Luciel and Jan were pounding their little paws at a wall. The two lycan babies were excellent at tracking scent at even a far better level than older lycans.
They had been very attracted to this particular scent from a while ago. There was something about the scent that made them feel curious.
It was the smell of something so familiar that they kept trying to smell it more to find the source. The two lycans were familiar with the scent of their mother, Sophie, but this was something else.
Dinah was a little confused at why the lycan babies were doing it… but she was actually relaxed about taking care of them. They weren't as bad as she expected, probably because their mother was Sophie.
"I don't know who their father is, but their biological father must be more on the dumb side," Dinah muttered to herself as she watched the black and grey lycan babies cry out.
Eventually, though, Dinah sighed and started to stand up. She made a promise to the Luna that she would take care of the children. So, she needed to fulfill the end of her agreement.
Dinah bent down and started to look at the two lycan puppies with a more consoling look. It would be a terrible thing if the Alpha realized that Dinah made the children cry while under her care.
"Come on little guys, don't cry. You're messing up the chance for your mother to be with the Alpha for real," Dinah said and smiled kindly at them. "Wouldn't a little brother be nice? Don't you want a cute younger brother to play with?"
Luciel took one look at Dinah and hurtled forwards. He bumped into the female Lycan's leg as the woman howled a little in pain. The boy didn't actually like the sound of having another brother.
Jan was already more than enough! He growled.
"Ow." Dinah winced a little.
The maidservant was actually starting to get close to the wall and she thought she heard something, but she kept getting pushed back by Luciel and eventually found herself lying down on the floor.
"Ugh, these lycan babies." Dinah eyed Lucien as he slobbered her cheek and panted innocently at her. "You're lucky, you're cute. Did you hear rats in the walls? Human architecture is stupid."
***
The kingdom of Riga was not known for its magic users or magical might at all. Witches were a menace to the kingdom and thus even those who practiced magic were not well received in fear of being seen as a threat.
King William Hannenbergh and his bloodline were all ill-opposed to anything that might have shifted the power balance of the royal family towards those who were powerful.
However, the king and queen were not above using magical artifacts themselves. They considered those powerful tools that assisted the kingdom but did not offer any sort of insecurity with the king in fear of rebellion.
Queen Marianne had decidedly gifted and given her blessings to the lady who had been at Nicholas' side for all these past months. She hoped that by giving one pendant to her son and one to Karenina, the two would become closer.
Lady Karenina appeared in Nicholas' vision from the pendant.
.
.
_____________________
From Missrealitybites:
Thank you so much for your support by commenting, writing reviews, gifts, and casting your golden tickets to this book. I am humbled by your support and I will keep working hard in 2022.
This book is written to join the "werewolves writing competition" that will end on January 5 and the winners will be announced on January 28. I only have several weeks to show Webnovel that this book can perform well to win the contest.
That's why I've been busting my butt off to add many chapters to the privilege. I am so thankful if you support this book by purchasing the privilege. Any tier, even the first-tier (1 coin) is much appreciated. Thank you, thank you so much!
I would like to give special thanks to all the Golden Tickets Contributors in December 2022. You managed to send this brand new book to the Top 10 golden ranking and keep it there. You are amazing!
I would like to thank the Top 3 golden tickets contributors, Maude Fluckiger, Kelly Goodwin, and DespinaNY. You girls truly robbed Willy Wonka and sent his golden tickets here. I am still in awe. Thank you!
The source of this c𝓸ntent is fr𝒆e(w)𝒆bnovel