"Oh, I see," said Lily after her father finished explaining. She then looked at Nicholas. "So Your Majesty want to make peace with us since you need our strength to fight the Obsidian Sand Pack?"
Lily's words sounded like accusations that Nicholas' real intention in bringing them to peace was because Nicholas wanted to take advantage of them.
Nicholas smiled and tried to respond calmly to Lily's words. The girl looked smart.
"Not taking advantage but we need each other."
"Then His Majesty just wants us to cooperate, but His Majesty doesn't want to make peace."
"Wrong. I really want to make peace with you and all the lycans."
"Should we believe that?"
"Certainly."
"Why?"
Rad who sat in the middle seat glanced alternately at Lily and Nicholas who sat on the chair to his left and right.
"Because I've come here alone," Nicholas replied looking straight at the girl across the table then continued, "If I only wanted to cooperate with you guys against the Obsidian Sand Pack then I would have given up when Alpha Rad asked me to come here a and chose to cooperate with friendly countries who one hundred percent would not refuse my offer but I chose to still come here because I care about you."
Lily listened carefully to the reason given by Nicholas.
"The Obsidian Sand Pack did not only usurp the power of the king of Armeria but they have also seized the power of the Alphas. They have destroyed and taken over many packs. I don't want the same thing to happen to you guys."
Lily looked deeply into the young king's amber eyes. "Why do you care so much about us?"
"Because I am also a lycan like you, besides that I am also the king of the Riga Kingdom and you live on the land of Riga. Even though you don't think of me as your king but I consider everyone who lives in Riga as my people including you," Nicholas replied, and then added, "To me, you are part of Riga."
Nicholas looked at Lily Moonchester intently when he spoke. He hoped Lily could believe his words because he felt that the girl could influence Alpha Rad's decision.
Rad glanced at the silent Lily, as if thinking deeply about what Nicholas was saying. All this time, his daughter had helped him a lot in making decisions for the pack.
Lily was extremely smart and had also helped her father in solving various problems that occurred in the Pack. Even though she was a woman, Lily had leadership qualities and Alpha Rad could always rely on her.
"Our king? Your people?" Lily narrowed her eyes. "Your Majesty wants to say that we are under you?"
"You misunderstood. I didn't mean it that way. I just wanted you to know that I consider you a part of Riga." Nicholas was almost at a loss for words.
"Why only now does His Majesty regard us as part of Riga?" Lily crossed her arms on her chest and looked at Nicholas with narrowed eyes. "Where were you before today? When we were hunted and chased by humans with pitchforks... killed and displaced?"
'Gosh! What should I do with this girl?' Nicholas desperately wanted to wipe his face in frustration as the girl continued to be suspicious and misunderstood his intentions but he kept his cool.
He had known from the start that his attempts to strike a peace treaty with them would not be easy.
Meanwhile, Lily continued. "We have been here for many years and several times the Royal Lycan Hunter has come to chase us away."
Nicholas fell silent. For a moment he was lost for words and felt like he would fail to convince Lily but suddenly the girl laughed.
Nicholas furrowed his brows at Lily who was laughing while covering her mouth in a graceful but slightly annoying style. The king raised an eyebrow and asked curtly, "Is there something funny?"
"Tsk, Lily stop this," said Rad, scolding his daughter and Lily immediately stopped laughing.
"Please forgive me, Your Majesty." Lily bowed slightly and Nicholas just watched, he didn't understand the girl's attitude at all.
After apologizing, Lily said, "If my father decided to make a peace treaty and therefore trust Your Majesty, then I won't doubt that decision. I know my father has never been wrong in judging people."
Nicholas saw the close father-daughter relationship between Alpha Rad and Lily. This made him feel a bit anxious. How nice would it be to be born as a lycan? His father would love him unconditionally and teach him everything he needed to know to become a good Alpha.
Now, Nicholas had to learn on his own, that was after years of self-loathing and only came to terms with his condition and learned to love himself and accept himself.
"All the questions I asked Your Majesty earlier are just a few of the questions that the Alphas from other packs will ask you when they meet you. If Your Majesty wants them to agree with your peace offer, Your Majesty must prepare the best answers that will touch their hearts and make them agree to a peace treaty," explained Lily.
She no longer looked annoying in Nicholas' eyes. She had smiled sweetly and no longer speak in a curt tone. Now this made sense to Nicholas. Apparently, the girl just wanted to test him.
Tsk... like father like daughter.
Earlier, Alpha Rad attacked Nicholas fiercely... to test him. And now, his daughter did the same.
"I can agree easily to your peace offer, Your Majesty, because none of us from Red Moon Pack have lost our lives due to the battle with Royal Lycan Hunter but the Alphas who lost a lot of pack members because of Royal Lycan Hunter will not agree easily, they have a grudge against the kingdom," this time Rad opened the door.
Nicholas' brows dropped. He thought the same thing actually.
"I know," he said flatly. "That's why I want to break the vicious cycle."
Alpha Rad and Lilly exchanged glances. They were interested in knowing how Nicholas could break the vicious cycle he mentioned. It was easy to say, but so hard to do.
Nicholas continued, "They are not the only ones who lost their family and friends, but the royal side also experienced the same thing."
His words sounded so tired when he spoke. "People from the kingdom killed the lycans then the pack of lycans who were attacked would kill the people from Riga, then the families of the slain people would kill the lycans who killed their family members, and so on. This vicious cycle never ends and I want to end it."
Alpha Rad could see Nicholas' sincerity in wanting to reconcile the kingdom and the lycans.
Somehow, he agreed with the king. He, too, had grown tired of the bloodshed.
"That would be very difficult to do but Lily can help you, Your Majesty," he said, making Lily and Nicholas turn to look straight at him.
"Huh? What do you mean, Father?" asked Lily.
"I want you to represent me to help King Nicholas talk to the Alphas of the other packs," said Rad then looked at Nicholas and added, "Even though she's a girl you can count on her, she's a good negotiator."
"I see," Nicholas nodded. He looked at Lily and smiled. This was a good start.
Lily's face flushed at the compliment, but she didn't refute her father's statement.
***
The Red Moon Pack finally became the first pack that was willing to make peace with the kingdom and was willing to become a citizen of the Kingdom of Riga.
This made Nicholas feel very happy because little by little his hopes of seeing Riga make peace with the lycans began to come true.
After making a peace deal with Alpha Rad, Nicholas finally said goodbye to return to the palace. He was escorted by Lily and two guards to the exit.
"May I ask you something, Your Majesty?" Lily opened the conversation as they walked towards the gate.
"Certain." Nicholas stopped.
"How did you become a lycan? Your father hated lycans but his own son is apparently a lycan. That was a surprise."
Nicholas smiled then walked back and Lily followed him as did the two guards behind them.
"When I was little, I was kidnapped by a lycan pack and I was bitten by Alpha from the pack who kidnapped me. After that, I got lycanthropy."
"Then how did King William Hannenbergh react when he found out about it?"
"My father didn't know about it at all because my mother and I kept that fact from him.."
"Oh..." Lily had suspected that this was the case, but she still looked surprised to hear it directly from Nicholas. She looked at him sympathetically. "Then you must hate lycans because they have made your life difficult."
Nicholas chuckled. He replied lightly, "Well, I used to hate lycans and thought of them as monsters. However, recently, I finally understood that lycans are just like humans."
"What made you finally realize that?" Lily was interested in finding out more.
She didn't think people could change 180 degrees like this unless they experienced something traumatic or life-changing experience. She wanted to know what made Nicholas change.
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