"Karenina, please open the door. Stop doing this," Nicholas kept banging on the door. "Listen, I'm sorry for offending you and accusing you carelessly. I really don't remember what happened that night."
Karenina's sobs became louder.
"Can we talk about this after I return? I need to go somewhere urgently. You should take the time in my absence to calm yourself down. I beg you, don't do this," Nicholas said.
He really chose the words he wanted to say very carefully for fear that if he said the wrong thing, Karenina would be offended and jump right up. He couldn't deal with his fiancee killing herself at this moment. He must focus his attention on finding the truth about his past.
He was worried about his mother's health if the queen heard that Karenina killed herself because of him. Queen Marianne had been holding on so well for the past five years. Nicholas didn't want her to die now. She was all he had left.
Karenina ignored Nicholas' words and walked closer to the edge of the window. A gust of wind blew around at a height and it ruffled her hair.
"Nicholas... I have been so dumb all these years," she spoke weakly between her sobs. "I have been patiently waiting for you to open your heart for me. I have also endured so much ridicule from outsiders. I am now 24, a spinster, mocked by all the noblewomen in the capital."
Tears spilled down Karenina's cheeks, but her lips were curled up in a smile. She was smiling bitterly. "Today was a wake-up call. I now realized that I had been so infatuated that I revolved my life around you. Now, I have lost myself in the process. Without you... I don't have a life."
She wiped her tears with her sleeves. "I know you didn't want me, but I stuck around because I thought you would change. Now, I know that I was wrong. You will never change."
"You still have a life, Karenina," Nicholas insisted. "You already admitted that revolving your life around a man is a bad decision. Then, why are you still doing it? You can still get out of it and get your life back!"
"I can't!" Karenina cried despondently. What was there for her? For the past five years, she was preparing herself to be his wife, the future queen. That was what she focused on. If she lost them, what could she do?
She was right. She didn't have a life outside of her relationship with him. She didn't even have real friends. They were all jealous of her. If she had to let him go... because he didn't want her, she didn't have anything to live for.
It was better for her to just die.
"Goodbye, Your Majesty, I hope you will find a woman that will tug your heartstrings and make you feel love. I wish you will live a happy life." Karenina closed her eyes. "I ask your permission to leave."
She closed her eyes and dropped herself.
Everyone below screamed when they saw Karenina was falling down. Nicholas became panicked. He kicked the door as hard as he could, and immediately jumped up and grabbed Karenina's hand. At the last seconds, he could exert his Lycan's strength and reflexes to save Karenina from her death.
Once Nicholas grabbed her arm, he pulled her back to the tower. Everything happened in a blink of an eye and the crowds below couldn't register what happened.
The next thing they knew, the princess' body was nowhere to be seen on the ground. Everyone exchanged glances.
"W-what just happened?"
"Did you see where she went?"
"Did somebody save her?"
"Gosh...!"
There was an uproar in the courtyard. Meanwhile, Nicholas who pulled Karenina back inside the tower hugged her as both their bodies hit the floor hard.
Nicholas was flabbergasted when he saw that his right arm had turned into a lycan arm and hand covered in thick fur and sharp claws.
"Ahhh...!!!" Unfortunately for him, Karenina saw this too.
Her eyes bulged and she couldn't breathe. She didn't know what to say. Her eyes widened as she stared at Nicholas' transformed arm and then put two and two together.
Karenina immediately realized that Nicholas was a lycan.
Stories of monsters and poor soldiers filled her mind as her heart pounded wildly.
As someone who once lived in Hautingen, so close to the borders, she was quite familiar with terrifying stories about lycans. How those who were bitten became mindless beasts out for blood.
Suddenly, her vision turned dark.
Nicholas was tense and feeling distraught because he was aware that Karenina saw his partial transformation. Earlier, he just wanted to help her, who almost fell to the ground and would have died if he didn't take actions. He really didn't expect that he would shift partially in front of Karenina.
"I-I…." Just as he was about to say something, Karenina suddenly fainted.
Nicholas barely caught her before she passed out. This annoyed the king greatly.
"Karenina." Nicholas tried to call the girl, but she gave no response. Nicholas saw his arm and hand had returned to normal. "Shit!!!"
Nicholas immediately carried Karenina and took her down from the tower. Once he reached the ground, he handed her to a knight.
"Take her to her room and call the doctor to check her condition."
"Will do, Your Majesty," the knight replied respectfully.
For a moment, Nicholas exhaled tiredly. Why did trouble never stop coming to him? For now, he focused on finding out about his past in Hauntingen because he believed that if he found out about it, many questions could be answered.
"If she said anything, people would more likely believe she's delusional," Nicholas said. "That'd make her a terrible candidate to be a queen, right? But that depends on whether my mother will interfere."
He massaged his temple and walked back toward his horse. He had to continue his journey to Hauntingen. He must find out the truth about his past.
.
.
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From Missrealitybites:
Yes!! I can't wait for Nicholas to reach Hauntingen. I think I will publish one more chapter in a few hours so we can reach that part quickly.
If you are reading The Cursed Prince, I will try to update regularly again ASAP. I have returned home and everyone is doing fine now. I couldn't really write for TCP these days because it was stressful. Now that things are better, I will soon pick that back up.
PS: I replaced this book's cover back with the original one. It's my favorite. I only changed it to the other ones because my friend kept telling me it looks like a wefie picture of three friends. Well... now that I think of it, I do want to see Leland, Sophie, and Nicholas on good terms with each other.
Also, the other covers didn't seem to work to attract new readers. So, I'll just stick to my original (favorite) cover.
R𝑒ad latest chapt𝒆rs at f(r)eew𝒆bnovel.com Only