4

The two didn’t eat dinner together that often. And when they did it was usually silent or the Alpha vexed for being in front of a demon’s spawn. But once, Selene had been the first to speak during their usual silence-filled meal. It had been about four months since their wedding.

“Your Majesty, might I suggest that you sleep in my bed chamber tonight?” Selene asked in a nonchalant tone, as if she was only offering for the sake of asking.

“Why should I do that, my queen?”

“I thought it might be good to do so at least once.” It was an ambiguous and boring reason.

“Why? Is your father urging you?” Lucan asked with the usual mocking expression he wore whenever he spoke with the queen.

Lucan was well aware that the duke had begun going in and out of the queen’s chambers more often recently. The queen spent a long moment cutting up her food, then finally answered, “Father is only worrying for his daughter. He doesn’t want me to be lonely”

“I’m sure you know better than anyone, my queen, that I am not the least bit concerned with lessening that worry,” Lucan answered.

“I say this for your sake as well, Your Majesty. I do not know what you may think, but I’m being sincere.”

The queen sounded like she was warning Lucan that if he didn’t do as she said, he would severely regret it.

“I know best what is best for me,” Lucan replied.

“Your Majesty…”

“Unless you mean to make me lose my perfectly healthy appetite, you best stop at once,” Lucan snapped.

He wasn’t even trying to hide the irritation in his scathing tone, and the room grew even colder. The frigid atmosphere made even the butlers and the maids in the far corner tremble.

For a while, Selene continued to eat as if she complied. But she soon opened her mouth again.

“What must I do to make you visit my chambers?”

Her whisper was so small that it was barely audible. It was then that Lucan saw Selene’s face properly for the first time. There was a hint of a strange emotion on that face, which he disliked so much because it was usually expressionless. But it was hard to read what that emotion was.

And yet, her eyes were the same. The same piercing emerald eyes as the duke’s. Insistent and unpleasant. Lucan felt a sense of deja vu as he stared into those eyes. It was unpleasant that he found them familiar.

“I don’t know… Perhaps I might go if you stopped existing there.”

Even the ice on the table would have been less cold than Lucan’s voice.

There were gasps from a few of the butlers.

“I— But—” Selene spoke up again, refusing to yield to his cold response.

She had always looked indifferent to everything, so Lucan couldn’t understand why she was suddenly being like this. He irritably struck the table with his hand.

“That is enough, my queen.”

Then, he left right away without finishing his meal. Since then, they had only dined together a few times. Selene never spoke first to the king again. And Lucan didn’t speak a single word to Selene either.

Time passed. Lucan always brought other women to balls, and Selene always ignored Lucan’s existence.

It was a week after the royal wedding anniversary banquet where out of nowhere, the king chose a woman to become a concubine.

The king was scheduled to have lunch with the queen. The lunch was to be held in the back garden of the queen’s chambers, and it was full of coldness as usual. The difference this time was that apart from the icy air, there was also horror on everyone’s faces.

“I trust this is all right with you, my queen. The concubine will lessen your burden going forward, so it would be good for you to dine together to

grow closer,” the king said with a pleasant smile.

Next to him was Odette Oakheart, who had pretty much been the center of attention at the wedding anniversary banquet. But Odette didn’t seem to be as pleased as the king was. The maids were so appalled by the king’s audacity to bring a new woman over to dine with the queen that they forgot about lowering their eyes. He hadn’t notified anyone beforehand, and the woman wasn’t even a concubine yet! Lessen the burden? Had there been any burden on Selene, to begin with?

Selene was banned from engaging in any duties as the queen. That was why it wasn’t Selene but others who were dealing with the procedures related to the concubine, which the queen was supposed to manage.

Selene had always maintained an impenetrable expression of indifference, but she seemed dumbfounded at the situation before her, unable to hide her disbelief.

Lucan felt a strange sense of satisfaction from her expression. She had never felt human, devoid of any expression or emotion. But it seemed she was human after all. This was the first time he had gotten any sort of reaction from her.

“I hear no response, my queen. You might do well to offer a kind word to the concubine as her superior. They must not have taught you about benevolence in the duke’s household. Well, considering Duke Dreadmoor, I suppose such a thing would be impossible.”

The king spoke so detestably that the maids grew fearful that the queen would lose her mind and hurl something at him. They stole glances at the queen. Thankfully, Selene had regained her look of indifference, as expected of someone well-known for being unfeeling. Selene gazed at the king without any expression.

“Forgive me for saying this, but the Lady is not the concubine yet, Your Majesty,” she said, her voice gentle but stern.

And she didn’t look apologetic either.

“Your Majesty’s announcement that this lady is to become the concubine came so suddenly,” she continued. “I hear everyone is working as quickly as they can to go through the necessary steps, but it has only been less than a day. What’s more, this will mean restoring a abolished law. I’m sure that speaks for itself.”

Lucan had never heard Selene speak this much, and he stared at her with surprise on his face. But Selene only shifted her gaze to Odette.

“Lady Odette, I hope you understand I’m not doing this to spite you. It is only that His Majesty’s name might be tarnished should rumors arise from matters that are not settled yet.”

She seemed to imply that he could go down in history as a tyrant who was so mad at a woman that he ignored proper procedures. The butlers startled and searched Lucan’s face, but he didn’t seem angry. He was only frowning slightly.

“I think it may be best to consider this as a meal between His Majesty and me, and yourself as the daughter of a noble marquis. How does that sound?” Selene asked, her eyes fixed on Odette as if she couldn’t care less about Lucan.

Odette Oakheart was quick-witted. She was also quite tall. She had been darting her eyes back and forth between the couple and responded respectfully as soon as Selene finished speaking.

“Of course, Your Majesty. Allow me to properly introduce myself. I am Odette the eldest daughter of Marquis Oakheart. Forgive me for the rudeness.”

The situation seemed to be somewhat settled, so the butlers quickly began setting her side of the table with ornaments and tableware befitting a noble lady instead of a concubine. Although, tableware for concubines had long

since disappeared from the empire.

Soon, the troubling trio all took their seats at the table. The butlers habitually glanced at the king given the unexpected tension between the couple, but he didn’t seem aggravated. In fact, Lucan already had a pleasing smile on.

“Well. Apologies, my queen. I was so caught up in these feelings of love that I’ve never felt before, and I failed to think that far ahead,” he said.

Lucan looked at Odette with an affectionate gaze, and Odette looked down and murmured something shyly under her breath.

Selene continued to move her knife as usual, but there was something like a scraping sound against her plate, and the maids glanced over at the queen’s dish.

“But I’m sure you cannot blame me, my queen. The duke ignored all protocol when you became queen, so I assumed the same would apply to become a concubine,” Lucan said, not taking his eyes off of Odette once. “You were treated as the queen even before the proper procedures were completed, so there was no way for me to know. You must understand.”

Lucan’s tone and voice were gentle, but his words were mockery he was throwing in the queen’s face.

He had made Selene look like someone who was lenient on herself, but hypercritical toward those she considered beneath her. It made it seem like she was enforcing procedures on others while she herself ignored them. And the person who was doing so was none other than the king, her husband.

Selene’s hands almost seemed to be trembling.

“In any case, Odette will take over your duties, so treat her well,” Lucan said.

“Did I have any duties to begin with?” Selene questioned after a short pause.

“Oh, were there none? My mistake. I never concerned myself with that, but weren’t you too fragile? But then again it is probably due to fact that you are without a wolf” Lucan answered.

Selene looked up and her eyes met his. Lucan’s lips were pulled up in a smile, but his eyes were cold.

The couple’s conversation was deviating down an irreversible path, and for a moment, the space was only filled with the sound of cutlery clinking against each other. Just then, an unfittingly bright voice cut through the sharp noises.

“Oh, Your Majesty! How about asking Her Majesty to manage the concubine coronation procedures?” It was Odette oakheart’s. She was grinning brightly, and it was hard to tell whether she had any sense of awareness. Even Lucan seemed surprised as he stared at Odette, forgetting to answer her. Odette laughed and placed her hand on Lucan’s.

“Come now, Your Majesty. Everyone knows Her Majesty is renowned for her intelligence. Would she not execute the procedures faster than the servants? The sooner my official coronation is complete, the easier and better it would be for Your Majesties.”

This was the first time anyone was hearing such information. It must have been new even to the queen, as there was a clanging noise. The knife in Selene’s hand had dropped to the floor.

Lucan stared at Selene as the butlers moved hastily. Selene was staring numbly at a single spot. He followed her gaze and found that it was Odette’s hand over his.

It was that look again. That insistent and unreadable look. Lucan felt strangely disgruntled and bit down lightly on his lip. He was getting sick of this feeling. A familiar feeling, even though it seemed impossible. The ridiculous feeling that he was doing something horribly wrong.

It was truly, inexplicably strange. Even though this was the daughter of the duke that he so hated, Lucan hadn’t expected to despise even the man’s daughter this much. But there was something about Selene that made him

irritated… In a different way than the duke.

“Your Majesty?” Odette asked again, squeezing his hand.

“Yes… Do as she says, my queen. I thought you were enjoying your comfort, but now you’ve been quite disappointed not to have any work. This could be something to do, a starter to many others to come,” Lucan said.

Selene looked up and stared at him without answering, as she always did.