Karenina clenched her jaws. "No, if I didn't experience it myself, I would never believe that you are capable of such a thing. I was so shocked and devastated after the assault. However, after thinking about it all night, I decided to forgive Your Majesty by convincing myself that sooner or later we will get married."
She looked at Nicholas angrily. "I am so stupid… I should have stuck with my story and not tried to protect you. You don't even appreciate what I did. I never thought Your Majesty would ever run away from your responsibilities."
Nicholas' hands clenched into fists when he heard Karenina's last sentence. He glared at her again.
"I'm not that kind of man, Karenina. You have been accusing me of things that only you know what happened. How can I be sure that you are not trying to trap me into marrying you?" he said coldly. "For all I know, you could put something in my drink and that caused me to lose my mind for a while last night."
Karenina's heart skipped a beat when she heard Nicholas' words. Gosh! Did the king suspect her now? She clenched her fists to the sides, trying to keep her composure. She must not give it away.
Meanwhile, Nichola looked at Karenina intently. He remembered when Karenina came to his study last month. She asked Nicholas to throw her a great birthday party for her as well as to announce their wedding plans. That memory made Nicholas even more suspicious.
Karenina bit her lower lip when she heard Nicholas' words, she felt devastated. Even though she had done something despicable to get the king, her desire for the king was sincere.
It wasn't hard to fall for someone like Nicholas. She had once hoped that, after some time, he would grow fond of her. Karenina and he would fall in love and she would no longer have to be tied to her father. She could get her own happily ever after.
And yet she was foolish to believe that perhaps his heart would soften and Nicholas would see her good side, but he never did.
His Majesty the King did not hesitate at all to accuse her of all kinds of crimes, including scheming to get on his bed.
For five years, Karenina had tried so hard to patiently win over the king's heart. She only used the aphrodisiac because of her desperation, and the response the king gave her was completely beyond her expectations.
She thought that Nicholas would never consider that she was lying to him because she had always been patient and kind for the last five years. However, the king did not hesitate to accuse her at all. He did it so easily and acted so heartless toward her.
That meant all this time, in the eyes of the king, she had never been good. Why did it take her too long to realize that whatever she did, good or bad, she would never get his heart?
This time, Karenina's eyes met Nicholas' eyes, who were looking at her intently. She was too broken, that she didn't care anymore how those amber eyes looked at her.
Perhaps she truly was unlovable. Her father used her, so she didn't really expect much from Viscount Verhove.
As for Nicholas, she knew that the man was actually a good person, but even someone like him didn't have room to give her love.
"Have I really been nothing to you all this time, Your Majesty? Is there really no place in your heart for me, even if it's just a little bit?" Karenina spoke bitterly. "I sacrifice so much for you, and I have been nothing but a good fiancee to you for the past five years. However, it doesn't take much for you to toss me away and accuse me of crimes when it suits your needs."
Karenina bit her lip and cried inwardly. 'If you could have shown a bit of interest, then it wouldn't have come to this. But everything's too late now and there's nothing left for me at all but ruin.'
Her tears were flowing down like a river. This time, they were not fake tears, in an attempt to push them for marriage… Karenina had truly felt defeated and found no way to move forward.
Nicholas was so stubborn. She thought she could scheme him, but apparently, he didn't want to relent. Karenina could imagine the king would not even care even if she provided all kinds of witnesses or proof. He would reject them and find excuses not to give in to Karenina's demands.
How long could she keep up with this and how much more embarrassment could she suffer?
She was just a young woman who dreamed of finding true love and lived happily ever after as the queen of this country. She was not a heartless witch who couldn't feel the shame and pain of rejection.
Right now, Karenina thought she was at her wit's end.
Karenina's gaze that had looked at Nicholas' face now stared down hard. She saw her tears that fell on the table and smiled bitterly. Viscount Verhoven was going to be livid if she failed and yet he was the only one who still cared.
"If Your Majesty thinks I am such a wicked woman and I trapped you to sleep with me...." Karenina rose from her seat. She threw Nicholas one last look. He could see bitterness and pain in her eyes. Her voice was hoarse when she uttered her last words. "Then I don't want to live anymore."
"..."
"I can't live with the ridicule of people calling me a dirty woman and the pain of being accused by my future husband," Karenina cried and ran outside, leaving Nicholas standing dumbfounded in his study.
"What the...?" Nicholas massaged his head. The conversation didn't end well. He wondered what Karenina meant by her words.
Would she try to kill herself?
Nah... she probably only said that to make Nicholas feel guilty of accusing her.
The king tapped his fingers on the table. After Karenina ran out, Nicholas took a deep breath and exhaled roughly.
He didn't know if Karenina meant what she said or not. The king didn't have time to chase after that woman and soothe her feelings. He had other more important things to do. Now that he knew he was actually a lycan, he must investigate what happened in the past.
He must know who the girl who saved him was and if she had anything to do with... Sophia Romanov.
Thus, Nicholas decided to immediately leave for Hauntingen. The man strongly believed that the key to knowing everything could be found in that place.
Nicholas went back to his chamber and packed for a short trip. He would leave the royal palace under a disguise, so he could have more freedom and flexibility. He called his butler and gave him orders to cover for him during his absence.
No one must know that the king was leaving Livstad alone.
Nicholas was restless all night. He couldn't wait for morning to come. His injuries also felt so painful and made it difficult for him to sleep.
When he finally closed his eyes, he wondered if that other Alpha survived. Nicholas remembered his opponent also sustained quite some severe injuries.
***
Sophie and Leland were sitting together on the sofa in their bedroom. She had just finished applying some ointment on his wounds. She looked devastated.
"I'm fine," Leland said again. His injuries were bad, but with Sophie by his side, he didn't feel awful at all. He imagined his opponent, Nicholas, didn't have anyone to care for him.
Well... He could have 1000 doctors to treat his injuries, but they were not Sophie.
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