Chapter 24

VIOLET'S POV

I woke up with a pounding headache. My head felt as though it was about to split in two.

I tossed and turned, enjoying the comfort of the silky sheets beneath me. They made me feel as though I were sleeping on a cloud.

"Hmph." I groaned, turning around as I tried to remember when I had fallen asleep.

It didn't feel as though it had been more than an hour since Kyran left me alone in the room. I remembered sitting on the bed, wondering what I should do next.

Yet, here I was, still lying on the bed with my eyes half-closed, wondering how much time had passed since I fell asleep.

Had Kyran even returned?

My head was a jumble of thoughts. I couldn't think clearly, and my mind felt unsettled.

"I feel weird," I grunted, slowly dragging my eyes open.

The room was filled with bright light. Rays of sunlight streamed through the glass windows, illuminating the room in a way I hadn't seen when I first arrived.

Alas, it was morning.

Which meant I had been asleep since the previous night, when I had been waiting for one of the Lycan King's men to return.

Wait!

Thinking about the Lycan King brought back a blurry memory I desperately wanted to believe wasn't real.

The Lycan King had come to my room the previous night. He had been in such a terrible state that I thought he might actually die.

"The Lycan King?!" I gasped, sitting upright on the bed and throwing the duvet off my body.

My eyes instinctively darted toward the door, and I gasped in shock when I saw it lying on the floor.

I slapped a hand over my mouth.

"He... He was really here. It wasn't a dream?"

I jumped off the bed, my eyes scanning the spot where he had been lying before I eventually fell asleep.

I remembered him bleeding so much from the stab wound in his gut. But there wasn't a single bloodstain on the floor.

"H—how could that be?" I stuttered, searching every corner of the room for even the slightest trace of blood.

But it seemed I was either imagining things or someone had come into my room and cleaned up the mess.

"Maybe the Lycan King was never in danger. Maybe he was never here," I whispered aloud, my chest tightening with fear as I looked around the room.

My gaze stopped on the door lying carelessly on the floor.

That wasn't how it had looked when Kyran brought me to this room after we arrived at the royal palace.

"If the Lycan King was never here, then there's no explanation for why the door came off its hinges and ended up on the floor."

My shoulders jerked as terror washed over me. Fear gripped my soul.

"The Lycan King was here. He was right here, lying lifelessly on this very floor."

I swallowed hard and dropped to my knees, rubbing my hands against the polished floor as though I could somehow find traces of his blood and prove that I wasn't losing my mind.

But if the Lycan King had truly been in my room, half-dead, where could he have gone?

Where was he now?

Who had taken him away?

Had something terrible happened to him while I was asleep?

"I was right next to him," I panted, my chest heaving with terror. "I was lying next to him, but I woke up on the bed. What's happening?"

I hadn't even realised I was crying until I felt tears rolling down my cheeks, their salty taste slipping into my open mouth.

"What's going to happen to me?"

I clutched my dress tightly, dragging myself backward across the floor to move away from the spot where the Lycan King's body should have been.

"If something happened to him, what's going to happen to me?"

I was still wallowing in self-pity when I heard footsteps approaching my room.

My ears twitched, and my head snapped toward the doorway. I could hear my heartbeat growing louder in my chest.

It felt as though I was going to die of anxiety as the footsteps became more audible.

Had the rest of the royal family sent someone to kill me for finding their King's body in my room?

"No," I cried, squeezing my eyes shut as the footsteps stopped.

I could feel someone's presence in the room.

There was one person... or perhaps two.

Were they here to kill me? To avenge their King's death?

"I didn't do it!" I cried, raising both hands to shield myself from whatever they might have intended to use against me. "I swear to the Moon, I didn't do anything to him!"

Silence.

No one said a word, and I wondered if they were simply waiting for me to finish my nonsense before carrying out whatever punishment they had planned for me.

"I... I swear," I sniffed, slowly lowering my hands to my sides.

I felt sorry for myself. Sorry for the life I had been living all this while.

I shouldn't have come here. I should have just died when I had the chance.

"I'm afraid I don't understand what you're saying."

A calm voice broke through the silence.

My heart skipped a beat as I tried to process what was happening.

No one in their right mind would send an inexperienced lady to capture a criminal like me.

If the Lycan King was truly dead and his family wanted my head as punishment, the last thing I expected was for them to send a woman to carry out the deed.

What happened to all their masculine warriors?

Or perhaps the Lycan King wasn't dead after all.

Maybe he was the one who had sent this woman here.

But why?

"My name is Lilian, and I'm the head maid of the royal household. It's nice to meet you."

A maid?

It was a maid standing in my room, not some angry-looking warrior who had come to take my life?

What did she want? Why was she in my room when I hadn't asked for anything?

I wished I had someone to talk to. At least then, I might have known what to do in a situation like this.

I slowly opened my eyes and found myself looking at a woman who appeared to be in her late fifties.

She smiled warmly at me, extending her hand for a handshake.

I shifted my gaze from her hand to her face, then back to her hand.

I wondered if it was some sort of test or if she genuinely meant it.

It didn't make sense. No Lycan would willingly be nice to a werewolf like me unless they had some other plan in mind.

I said nothing. I simply stared at her outstretched hand while sitting on the floor like the prey I was.

I felt so small beneath her gaze.

When I made no attempt to respond, Lilian said something I couldn't quite make out, and another person stepped into the room.

I slowly lifted my gaze and saw a young woman who appeared to be around my age standing beside the royal head maid.

Her head was bowed, and her hands were clasped neatly in front of her.

"My name is Rae, and I'll be your personal maid from today onward. It would be an honour to serve you and attend to your every need."

She slowly raised her head, and her golden-brown eyes met mine.

Something about her stirred a strange feeling in me, as though I had seen her somewhere before. Yet, she didn't seem familiar at all.

How could I possibly know a Lycan?

I had never met one before.

"His Majesty ordered that you be assigned a personal maid. As the head maid, it is my duty to bring her to you myself. I hope you won't hesitate to make your requests or ask Rae to run any errands you might have."

Lilian's soft voice rang out again.

My ears perked up at the mention of the Lycan King.

If he had given such an order, as she claimed, it could only mean one thing.

The Lycan King hadn't died while I was asleep.

He had made it through the night, and I wouldn't be meeting my end anytime soon.

"Then..." I gulped, finally finding my voice.

If I had to live among the Lycans without revealing my identity, I needed to start acting like one.

I sucked in a sharp breath and raised my head to meet Lilian's gentle gaze. She seemed to be assessing me as I stared back at her.

"Can I meet the Lycan King?"

I shook my head slightly, gathering the courage to speak again.

"Can I meet His Majesty? I need to have a word with him."