Still in the king's chamber.
After a few seconds of silence, Queen Marianne stepped closer. She touched Karenina's arm. The young woman immediately rose from her father's arms and looked at the queen with puffy eyes.
The queen wiped the tears from Karenina's eyes and cupped her face gently. She looked at the face of the young woman who had stayed by her side for the last five years.
Was this young woman trying to fool her?
Ahh... Queen Marianne knew her son wouldn't have really hurt this girl. Nicholas may have hated the betrothal between him and Karenina but surely he wouldn't harm his fiancee at all.
It was true that he ran away and disappeared into the night, but it only meant complications. The reality of what probably happened scared the queen far more than the accusation of rape that Karenina was throwing at the king.
Perhaps… there was a misunderstanding. Nicholas might scare Karenina because he…
Did he shift into a werewolf? Was he not fully cured of lycanthropy?
This was the most plausible scenario. This was something that needed to be hidden and never talked about.
For now, Queen Marianne decided to just keep up with the facade.
"Don't worry, Karenina. I will make sure Nicholas will be held accountable for his actions. I promise you," the queen said and hugged Karenina.
In the queen's embrace, Karenina smiled faintly. She was satisfied with the result, as did Viscount Verhoven who was standing next to Queen Marianne.
Finally… their plan worked.
***
Meanwhile, Nicholas, who had jumped out of the balcony of his room naked, already transformed into a werewolf. It was totally out of his control. The huge grey wolf jumped from one roof of the palace to another.
His head still hurt, and his mind spun as he looked at his surroundings.
Nicholas ran fast and broke through the darkness of the night. Unknowingly, he ran towards the royal villa outside the city of Livstad, which happened to be located near Duke Romanov's manor.
***
Lucas and Duncan, who had just arrived at the manor and were about to report what had just happened in the palace to the Alpha, were surprised to see Leland look very worried and tense.
Lucas wanted to come closer, but Duncan grabbed his arm and shook his head.
When Lucas looked at him, Duncan mouthed, 'don't come any closer, or you'll get in trouble'.
The Beta understood the man's concerns, but Lucas still ignored Duncan's warning and approached the Alpha who stood by the bed. At the moment, the Luna lay unconscious.
Luciel and Jan looked up as the Beta stood by them while Duncan stayed where he was.
"Alpha." For a moment, Lucas bowed respectfully, and as Duncan had expected, it looked like Lucas was really going to get into trouble.
As soon as Lucas called out to him, Leland immediately gave him a sharp glance. His gaze was like an ice sword that was thrust at Lucas and froze his heart. For three seconds, Lucas forgot to breathe.
Duncan, who saw the scene from afar, swallowed hard.
"A-Alpha, I want to report that–"
"Do you think this is the right time?" asked Leland so coldly that Lucas froze in his place. "If you still want to live, get out of here."
Duncan, who listened to Leland's words, gulped again. While Lucas immediately nodded and walked out, Duncan followed.
Luciel and Jan, who saw the Alpha's attitude, exchanged glances. They had never seen their father so quick to anger like now.
Not long after Lucas and Duncan left, a servant came along with a healer.
"Check my mate and make sure she's okay. If you can't cure her, I'll take your life," said Leland in an icy tone..
The events in the palace really made him feel tense. When he recalled Nicholas Hanenbergh's face, it made Leland feel extremely angry, and he subconsciously took it out on everyone.
The healer started to approach to check on the Luna's condition, while Leland watched intensely.
Being stared at by the Alpha intensely made the healer feel nervous, and he started to tremble. He still tried to focus on checking Sophie's condition.
Leland's eyes didn't blink even for a second. He kept looking at his wife, who was being examined. His head was filled with all the worst possible scenarios.
What made Sophie faint? Did she recognize Nicholas and feel shocked by what she saw? Did she remember what happened in the past and it was too hard for her to bear?
A few moments later, the healer moved from Luna's side and stood facing Alpha.
"Don't worry, she's fine." The old man's face looked so relieved. "She is not sick."
When he heard the healer's words, Leland immediately grabbed the man's collar and said with anger that he didn't fully let out.
"Are you blind? Or do you want me to gouge out your eyes? She's unconscious, and you're saying she's fine?!"
Leland tightened his grip even more, that the healer was having a hard time breathing. Leland was so upset that he almost choked the healer to death. Fortunately, before he could kill the healer, Leland felt a small hand touching him.
The Alpha looked down, and he saw Luciel and Jan were looking up at him. Out of the two, the one holding his hand right now was Luciel.
"Don't be angry," said Luciel.
"Mom said we have to respect our elders," Jan said in his childish voice.
Leland instantly felt like he got slapped, hearing the words of the two children. Sophie really taught Luciel and Jan all human manners very well.
Because he was too anxious and tense, Leland forgot that Jan and Luciel were still in the room.
He finally released his grip from the healer's collar.
"Now explain what you mean by her being alright?" asked Leland while the healer was still coughing.
After a few seconds and he calmed down a bit, the healer explained Luna's real condition.
"Lu-Luna is currently pregnant. She passed out because she was exhausted, that's all," he explained. "She is not sick."
Upon hearing this explanation, Leland's eyes that had been glaring at the healer for a long time suddenly opened wide in surprise. For a few seconds, he was dumbfounded, couldn't believe his own hearing.
"W-what did you say? She's pregnant?" Leland's eyes started to tear up. Gosh.. So, Sophie was pregnant.
The Alpha couldn't hold back his smile and happy tears as the healer nodded in confirmation..
Leland's nerves that had been tense now loosened, and he felt like all his anger was washed away by cold water.
Leland had wanted a child from Sophie for a long time but all these years they had always avoided pregnancy because he didn't want to burden the frail Sophie with a difficult pregnancy.
"But… will she be okay?" Leland looked at Sophie, who was still tightly closing her eyes.
He was still worried about Sophie's condition but the healer assured him that Luna's body was healthy enough and her pregnancy would go well. "There is nothing to worry about Luna, my lord. This time, her pregnancy is very healthy."
After hearing the explanation, Leland felt extremely relieved. He then told the healer that he could go.
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