<In Hauntingen>
It was morning, the sun shone in and entered through the window. Slowly, Karenina started to open her eyes and as expected, she didn't remember what happened last night. But she clearly remembered her plan.
Instantly she felt suffocated. She saw her body under the blanket, and she was wide-eyed when she found herself naked.
Karenina woke up, her head felt dizzy, and her body felt crushed. When she realized that she had lost her virginity, she started crying and screaming hysterically.
She felt disgusted with herself, but she kept reminding herself that she did all that to marry the king. It was also to take revenge on the king, who had hung her love for five years by not giving her any clarity.
After days spent on grief and utter regret, Karenina hardened her heart and made up her mind that she was going to keep King Nicholas stuck with her.
Meanwhile, Viscount Verhoven had started an investigation to find out the reason why Nicholas had come to Hauntingen six years ago.
As soon as he returned from the royal palace for his daughter's birthday, he gathered his informants and ordered them to seek information about Nicholas in the surrounding villages. He gave the informants a painting of Nicholas to help with their investigation.
The informants immediately set off to carry out orders. They asked people around Hauntingen while showing a portrait of Nicholas.
"Excuse me, have you seen this man? He is our missing brother," one of the informants said to a middle-aged woman. "We have been looking for him everywhere, and the last news we received from him came from this town."
"Oh, I am sorry, young man," the woman said, shaking her head after she observed the painting. She said apologetically. "I don't know him. I wouldn't forget him if I had met him. He looks very handsome."
"Ah... thank you. Well, if you remember anything or if you saw him, would you mind letting us know? We are staying in Blue Dragon Inn in the town center. We'd really appreciate it and will give you a nice reward for any information on our brother."
"Definitely," The older woman nodded. "Perhaps, you can also try asking our village head. He might know people who have seen him."
"Thank you, Mam. We will do it."
Day after day passed, they moved from one village to another until they finally met the village head who had married Nicholas and Sophie.
When they showed him Nicholas' painting, the village head recognized him immediately. He told the informants how a few weeks ago he met Nicholas Ferdinand.
"Nicholas Ferdinand?" The informant furrowed his brows. "Are you sure that's his name?"
Both of them exchanged glances. So, the village head recognized the man in the picture they showed him, but he called him by another name? This was really interesting.
"Yeah. I can't forget him. He looked like a good man. Together with his wife, they were such a lovely couple. I know the wife well since she grew up in this area and I also knew her parents," explained the village head.
"Oh, that's very interesting. We are wondering if perhaps you can tell us what happened back then? We need to find him."
The village head told the informants about his meeting with Nicholas, and he also expressed his concern with the man's condition.
"He looked very frustrated looking for his wife's whereabouts," said the village head, which surprised the informants.
"His wife?"
"Yes. His wife. He said he lost his memory. And that was how he got separated from his wife. I wish Sophia Hansley well and that she can see her husband soon."
The village head's words provided the information Viscount Verhoven needed. Once the informant returned, they convey everything they had heard and this made the Viscount very surprised.
***
"The village head knew King Nicholas Hanenbergh as Nicholas Ferdinand. He said that a few weeks ago, Nicholas Ferdinand came to Hauntingen to look for his wife," one informant explained to Viscount Verhovent.
"What did you say? Looking for his wife?" Viscount Verhovent looked very surprised at what his informant had to say.
The informant nodded. "That's right. His wife's name is Sophia Hansley," he said and surprised Viscount Verhovent a second time. When he heard the name 'Sophia', he immediately thought of Sophia Romanov. It made him wonder if Sophia Romanov and Sophia Hansley were the same person?
"Alright. You can go and tell the maid to call Karenina to my room."
After they heard the orders, the informants immediately retreated and left the room.
Viscount Verhoven clenched his fists to the sides, as he went into deep thinking. Now, so many things started to make sense. How Nicholas could end up in Hauntingen six years ago, and the fact that he was hiding such a dark secret of him being a lycan.
While he waited for Karenina to arrive, Viscount Verhovent recalled when King Nicholas and Sophia Romanov stood face to face at Karenina's birthday party. At that time, the king looked at Sophia Romanov with great interest.
It seemed that the gaze was not necessarily because the king was fascinated by Sophia Romanov's beauty but for another reason. Even though he didn't remember anything, the king must have felt something special toward that woman.
Then… Viscount Verhovent now remembered the look on Sophia Romanov's face when she saw the king. The woman was very shocked. From there, Viscount Verhoven assured that both Sophias (Sophia Hansley and Sophia Romanov) were the same person.
He pulled out a drawer on his desk and drew out a document. It was a document given to him by the informant he had assigned to find out about Sophia Romanov the day after Karenina's birthday party.
The report had come a few days ago, but he had not had time to check it because his focus was shifted to the news about Karenina trying to end her life.
When he opened the document, his suspicions were proven correct. In the report written about Sophia Romanov's personal data, her real name was Sophia Hansley. She lived in Hastings, at the house of her uncle and aunt and she had studied at the Cawden Academy.
The door opened, and Karenina entered the room. "Father, did you call me?"
"Um. Sit down."
After Karenina sat down, Viscount Verhovent informed her that he had sent people to find out why the king had come to Hauntingen six years ago.
"Then how did it go?"
"Very surprising."
Karenina had a confused expression, but that expression was soon replaced with surprise when she heard the explanation from her father, who said that six years ago, King Nicholas came to Hauntingen as Nicholas Ferdinand and he married a girl named Sophia Hansley, whom they now knew as Sophia Romanov.
Karenina's eyes widened in surprise, she could barely believe her own ears.
Since her birthday party, she had suspected that Sophia Romanov and the king were hiding something, but she never thought that the two had ever been married.
Instantly she remembered the pair of boys who had come with Sophia at that time and suspected that the two children were the king's biological children.
When she thought of this, it made Karenina feel very tense, her face turned pale, especially when she remembered how much Queen Marianne loved the two children. She tightened up even more and started to break out in cold sweat.
"F-Father, no matter what, we can't let them reunite," she said shakily, then quickly got out and ran to her room.
When she arrived in the room, she immediately screamed in frustration and violently threw things out of her sight. Her hatred for Sophia Romanov only grew.
The maids who accidentally passed by Karenina's room and heard the sound of things being broken, along with Karenina's frustrated screams, were both surprised and confused.
When she was younger, the young lady was meek and never even raised her voice. Although curious, they decided to ignore it and chose to get away from trouble.
In her room, Karenina now curled up beside the bed. She clutched her head and started to cry.
She was very frustrated as she realized that her path to being with the king was too difficult. She had done a lot, but obstacles always came.
After a while spent on angry hot tears as she lamented her fate, she stood up and walked towards the mirror. For a few seconds, she was motionless as she looked at her own reflection. But she was surprised when she suddenly saw her reflection change to Sophia Romanov.
"You?" She was wide-eyed and stepped back spontaneously. Her entire body lurched back as if she encountered a monster. "How dare you show your face in front of me," she said with words full of bitterness. Her eyes stared intently at the reflection of Sophie she saw in the mirror.
Her anger only grew when she saw Sophie smile.
"Why are you smiling? WHY ARE YOU SMILING?!" Karenina shouted as she grabbed the vase and threw it into the mirror until it shattered into pieces.
The maid who stuck around and heard the sound of the mirror became worried about her lady. She immediately ran over and reported to Viscount Verhoven.
Viscount Verhoven was taken aback and he didn't waste any more time. He immediately went to see Karenina. When he arrived at the door of Karenina's room, he tried to enter, but the door was locked from the inside.
The man grew worried that Karenina would do something reckless again, so he immediately looked around for a weapon, grabbed an axe held by one of the ornamental suits of armor and then broke down the door.
After the door opened, he immediately approached and hugged Karenina, who was sitting on the floor crying.
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From Missrealitybites:
I'm sorry, I can only publish 1 chapter per day for the next 5 days. I am assigned to work at a conference on another island for 5 days (eight hours a day) and it will be really tiring for me to write anything. I will go back to publishing 2 chapters per day after I return. xx
R𝑒ad latest chapt𝒆rs at freew𝒆(b)novel.c(o)m Only