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 thest five years.


    Was this young woman trying to fool her?


    Ahh... Queen Marianne knew her son wouldn''t have really hurt this girl. Nichs 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 meantplications. The reality of what probably happened scared the queen far more than the usation of rape that Karenina was throwing at the king.


    Perhaps… there was a misunderstanding. Nichs might scare Karenina because he…


    Did he shift into a werewolf? Was he not fully cured of lycanthropy?


    This was the most usible 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 Nichs will be held ountable 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 n worked.


    ***


    Meanwhile, Nichs, 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 pce to another.


    His head still hurt, and his mind spun as he looked at his surroundings.


    Nichs ran fast and broke through the darkness of the night. Unknowingly, he ran towards the royal vi 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 pce to the Alpha, were surprised to see Lnd look very worried and tense.


    Lucas wanted toe closer, but Duncan grabbed his arm and shook his head.


    When Lucas looked at him, Duncan mouthed, ''don''te 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 Lunay 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, Lnd immediately gave him a sharp nce. 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 Lnd so coldly that Lucas froze in his ce. "If you still want to live, get out of here."


    Duncan, who listened to Lnd''s words, gulped again. While Lucas immediately nodded and walked out, Duncan followed.


    Luciel and Jan, who saw the Alpha''s attitude, exchanged nces. 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 Lnd in an icy tone..


    The events in the pce really made him feel tense. When he recalled Nichs Hanenbergh''s face, it made Lnd feel extremely angry, and he subconsciously took it out on everyone.


    The healer started to approach to check on the Luna''s condition, while Lnd 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.


    Lnd''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 Nichs 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 momentster, 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, Lnd immediately grabbed the man''s cor 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?!"


    Lnd tightened his grip even more, that the healer was having a hard time breathing. Lnd was so upset that he almost choked the healer to death. Fortunately, before he could kill the healer, Lnd 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.


    Lnd instantly felt like he got pped, 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, Lnd forgot that Jan and Luciel were still in the room.


    He finally released his grip from the healer''s cor.


    ? "Now exin what you mean by her being alright?" asked Lnd while the healer was still coughing.


    After a few seconds and he calmed down a bit, the healer exined Luna''s real condition.


    "Lu-Luna is currently pregnant. She passed out because she was exhausted, that''s all," he exined. "She is not sick."


    Upon hearing this exnation, Lnd''s eyes that had been ring 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?" Lnd''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..


    Lnd''s nerves that had been tense now loosened, and he felt like all his anger was washed away by cold water.


    Lnd 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?" Lnd 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 exnation, Lnd felt extremely relieved. He then told the healer that he could go.