āđāļāđāļēāļŠāļđāđāļĢāļ°āļāļāđāļāļĢāđ
Chapter twenty-one
āļāļĢāļąāļāļāļĢāļļāļāļĨāđāļēāļŠāļļāļ:
2025-04-16 16:22:12
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The Cursed Alpha And His Rejected Bride   Chapter twenty-two
DianaMy plan was simple.I remembered how sick I was. I remembered the upset stomach that the foxglove gave Edric.This meant something.While poison couldnât kill him, he could be harmed.If he could be harmed, thereâs no reason he couldnât fall sick.I just needed him to fall sick enough to where he couldnât chase me when I eventually decided to make my leave. This time, I could be more careful about my movements and make sure not to fall into any holes.At this point, I felt guilty even doing this, but the human penchant in me to be free was just too strong.Edric would live. I wasnât sure I would find the need to live if I kept waking up in this old, boring mansion.And so, every day, since I was the one that prepped his meals, I added a little bit of Cangeic spice. It was a naturally occurring intoxicant, but taking it for prolonged periods, usually a week or two, consecutively, no matter how small, had its effect on the body.I knew this because sometimes, part of my punishment
āļāļĢāļąāļāļāļĢāļļāļāļĨāđāļēāļŠāļļāļ : 2025-04-17The Cursed Alpha And His Rejected Bride   Chapter twenty-three
DianaI stood there, trying to comprehend fully, what he had just said.It still sounded like some strange version of the language.âI shouldâĶIâm sorryâĶIâĶâ I couldnât even keep my eyes straight and was blinking heavily, trying to make sure that I was in reality.âIâm telling you to take this knife right now and stab me anywhere you think can kill me. If you succeed in killing me, you get everything. The houseâĶall my gold, my wealthâĶeverything.âI looked at him like he was mad.âAnd I wonât try to stop you,â he added as a cherry on top. âI wonât try to dodge or parry or whateverâĶâThere was something comfortable about the way he talked.The confidence was chilling, downright creepy, and gave me even more reason to be scared of him.But the possibilitiesâĶAs I reached out for the knife, he pulled it back, just slightly out of my reach. âHoweverâĶâ he tsked. âThereâs a caveat. The moment you take this knife, you bind yourself to this house. You can only leave when Iâm dead. But any attem
āļāļĢāļąāļāļāļĢāļļāļāļĨāđāļēāļŠāļļāļ : 2025-04-17The Cursed Alpha And His Rejected Bride   Chapter twenty-four
Diana For a while, I couldnât fully understand what I had just gotten myself into. In fact, for the rest of that day, I stayed outside the mansion. Not far from itâĶjust outside enough where I couldnât hear any voicesâĶany footsteps. It was just me and my thoughtsâĶand the knife that Edric had given me. I was pondering, not knowing what to do with it. Should I use it to stab him again? But Muzan â the nonchalant guy â was angry when I did that. The message was clear. I shouldnât do that. But then again, if I was going to have a solid shot at getting out of here, I would have to try some bizarre things. âCursed with Eternal life,â I mused to myself. Muzan was pissed because I had made a deal with the devil. I had traded a long year of hard labor, for a chance at freedom, the only consequence being that I could be locked in with him for the rest of my life. I refused to accept that he couldnât die. No one on this planet couldnât. I just had to find the right tools to use.
āļāļĢāļąāļāļāļĢāļļāļāļĨāđāļēāļŠāļļāļ : 2025-04-19The Cursed Alpha And His Rejected Bride   Chapter twenty-five
DianaI went back into the mansion when I started getting itches. I needed to take a bath. They were wild wolves after all, and I didnât want to get ticks or fleas.Werewolves wouldnât mind, but not me.I minded.After a refreshing bath, I walked out to begin being bored again.I didnât know what to do around the house, and apart from cooking, I wasnât hard-pressed to do anything.It was almost like they had forgotten that they had brought me in to be of some domestic service to them. It got so awkward, that all I did was wander the house. It was back to me being at home, living the life of a princessâĶchef.A princess chefâĶif anything like that existed.Only this time, I wasnât being ridiculed by anyone. The ground I walked on wasnât spat on after I had passed, and I wasnât getting any nasty glares.Not even from Edric.Also, he had started moving around the house a lot moreâĶso much, that I eventually stopped running and ducking into the nearest room when I sensed him coming.However,
āļāļĢāļąāļāļāļĢāļļāļāļĨāđāļēāļŠāļļāļ : 2025-04-19The Cursed Alpha And His Rejected Bride   Chapter twenty-six
EdricI took her in for a second, not sure she was actually serious, but she had a determined look in her eye, one that said she wasnât going to take no for an answer.I hunched my shoulders and rolled my eyes.âCome outside. If I shift here, Bane would waste no time in tearing down my library,â I motioned to her with my hands.âYou bet I will. I freaking hate this place,â Bane growled inside me.When we reached the meadows, I watched her for some more time, trying to gauge how she felt about me. There was no emotion in her eyes.For now, she seemed to have forgotten her sorrows and the reason she was here, trapped â me.Instead in her large, almond-shaped and colored eyes, was curiosity etched so deep, it threatened to burst out of her and bite me if I didnât do what she wanted.âYou sure about this?â I asked again.She nodded enthusiastically.âAlright. Now, move a little back. Gotta give 'em time to adjust to you,â I said, buying myself time to prep for the transformation, and just
āļāļĢāļąāļāļāļĢāļļāļāļĨāđāļēāļŠāļļāļ : 2025-04-19The Cursed Alpha And His Rejected Bride   Chapter twenty-seven
DianaThe moment Edric shifted back into his human form, he closed up.He didnât want to talk to meâĶor just didnât want to talk at all, and I let him. If I was being honest, the time I had spent with his wolf was enlightening.His wolf was the opposite of him.Or, just a different side of the same coin. You could tell he possessed a lot of energy, but he had this calm to him, almost like he didnât really know his power.He came up to me so easily, that I wondered if I posed that little of a threat, and his way of being vulnerable around me was really endearing.Even in werewolf-dominated environments, it was rare to have people interacting with their wolves, and so, I doubted I would see Bane again in such calm settings.I knew not to ask. I watched him go into the house before letting out the breath that I had been holding. You knowâĶnow that I think about it, save for the feeling of being trapped, this is a much better quality of life than the one I was getting from my father back at
āļāļĢāļąāļāļāļĢāļļāļāļĨāđāļēāļŠāļļāļ : 2025-04-19The Cursed Alpha And His Rejected Bride   Chapter twenty-eight
DianaMy morning routine was pretty simple. Take a bath, cook for Edric and Muzan (because Muzan was nice), and do the dishes after.The dishes were the hardest part.Once that was over, usually by mid-morning, I had the rest of the day to myself till dinner, when I had to cook again.I spent it in the library, doing my research about how to kill an immortal wolf.The thing isâĶthere was no book like that.You could tell that he did spend a lot of time researching how to die since there were a lot of things here that could easily point me in the direction of death, but nothing specifically matched his case scenario.Well, I made him a promise I intended to keep, mostly because it felt like he would kill me if I didnât.But also, because it was my biggest shot at freedom.I needed to kill him if I was going to be free, the promise of the gold and mansion notwithstanding.At least, thatâs what I told myself, even though I was starting to find that this place was not so bad, after all. Bu
āļāļĢāļąāļāļāļĢāļļāļāļĨāđāļēāļŠāļļāļ : 2025-04-21The Cursed Alpha And His Rejected Bride   Chapter twenty-nine
EdricDiana was a sport, and not in the exhausting kind of way.She was more like the wind that rushes through you when youâre mid-sprint, and it was honestly very refreshing. I spent all afternoon with her, correcting her mistakes and teaching her new words.Honestly, for the most part, she was fine.It would have been difficult for anyone to distinguish between her and a well-governed maiden.She was also sharp as a tack.I didnât have to continually repeat myself unless she wanted to annoy me.Once we were done learning, she had gained more knowledge than any student I had ever taught."Wow," I smiled as she stood up proudly, adjusting her shirt and smiling from ear to ear before giving a long stretch. "I should begin to teach you some advanced math concepts." I joked."We could work that out," she shrugged.I didn't expect her to be so open to something as complex as math.It was even mind-boggling that she didn't flinch, especially since I explained to her, some of the things I d
āļāļĢāļąāļāļāļĢāļļāļāļĨāđāļēāļŠāļļāļ : 2025-04-22
āļāļāļĨāđāļēāļŠāļļāļ
The Cursed Alpha And His Rejected Bride   Chapter forty-six
DianaI left his room after a while of what seemed to be meaningless ponders, the both of us too frustrated to even continue.What were we looking for?What did we hope to find?Perhaps that was what sealed our fate from the beginning.A problem shared is a problem solved, they say. So is knowing the problem. Knowing what needed to be solved.To find something, you must be able to identify it. We didnât even know what we were looking for.Was it material? Was it abstract? Was it an emotion?Everything cluttered my lungs â the questions and lack of answers thereof. I needed air, and so, I sought that instead, edging over to the windowsill in the main hallway, overlooking the garden below.There was a ledge opposite me, where Edric promptly sat on, perhaps needing the same thing I did.Air.âI canât even remember the name of the witch who cursed me,â he confessed with a silent tone, one that spelled his embarrassment at the situation. âPathetic, no? Wouldâve been a good start, if you as
The Cursed Alpha And His Rejected Bride   Chapter forty-five
DianaI sat curled on the edge of the bed, refusing to move.I was scared that if I did, in some sick, twisted turn of events, something would happen. Something so wrong would hurt him even more.The paradox of the whole thing was that my being ever closer to him meant that he was weaker. It meant that he could die.And yet, here I was, pretending like I didnât want to hurt him.My fingers lazily grazed Edricâs arm and I felt the warmth and his pulseâĶjust to make sure he was still breathing.Or to be sure it wasnât.I wasnât sure I lived in a world that even made sense.The minutes blurred into longer ones, and each ticking of the clock made me painstakingly aware of my role in this.In the death of a man.Eventually, sleep pulled me under its blankets. It wasnât warm and fuzzy. It was a rough tug. I felt the tiredness gnaw at my bones and by the time I pulled my eyes shut, I couldnât even spare some time for extra thought.I just got sucked into the world of the unknown.Where my min
The Cursed Alpha And His Rejected Bride   Chapter forty-four
DianaI was tending to the crops in the garden when Muzan came to me. His face held concern, deeper than I had ever seen.âIs anything wrong?âHe nodded.I stood up.âHeâsâĶillâĶodd, I knowâĶâI wanted to sprint past him, to go and see Edric, but he held me backâThe curse is not broken, Diana. He stabbed himself with a knife to test it outâĶnothing.âHis words made me relax a little, but still, he was ill. I had to see what was wrong.When I got to his room, he didnât look like anything was wrong with him. He was hunched over his desk, his eyes buried in concentration behind his meaningless calculations.Meaningless at least, to me.âFalse alarm,â he waved dismissively when I inquired about his health and the report from Muzan. âLooks like Iâll be living to see another century,â he huffed.âYou act like itâs a really bad thing,â I rolled my eyes.âWell, when youâve seen fiveâĶmaybeâĶyes.âI wasnât ready for his schematics this morning. I wasnât ready for it today.âIâll check through what
The Cursed Alpha And His Rejected Bride   Chapter forty-three
EdricâWhâĶwhat does that mean?â she croaked frantically, trying to reach her wrist, but I pulled it away from her.I didnât want her to scratch it anymore, because I wanted to see what would happen. I needed to see what the wolf symbol did.To my surprise, nothing happened.âWhat happened?â she asked with a weak sigh.Or, at least, I think nothing happened.I looked around me when I felt the whoosh, and knew for a fact, that this was far from ordinary. If a mark was able to appear on her wrist from nowhere, then something was coming.I just needed to be ready for it.âNothing,â I sighed, feeling frustrated, when this was supposed to be the most upbeat I had been in years.A discovery!Something new! Something new must mean change! And change is good, isn't it?Well, not when the only thing that never changes is you.I stood up and packed everything up.âI should have never let you do the spell,â I said as I walked away. âIâm sorry.âHer hasty footsteps followed my deliberate ones in h
The Cursed Alpha And His Rejected Bride   Chapter forty-two
DianaThe next day was filled with more glee than I ever had in a week. When I offered Edric breakfast, he loved it so much, he wanted to know how I made it.âIt was from a recipe book my mother used,â I admitted as I watched him wolf down the entire meal. âI watched a chef do it, and voilaâĶâThe next moment, I was standing in the kitchen, my hands deep in a bowl of flour.I wiped flour off her cheek with the back of her wrist, my eyes narrowing at Edric, who stood stiffly beside me like the idea of cracking an egg might bring about the apocalypse.âYouâre holding it like itâs a bomb,â I teased him, nudging his elbow as he stared down at the egg with a frown that said he was contemplating war tactics, not breakfast.âI only know how to deal with meats,â I said and studied the egg like there was more to it than just cracking it open and pouring out the contents. âAnything more than thatâĶIâm lost. Itâs why I could hardly tell when you poisoned meâĶunless the poison was something strong.
The Cursed Alpha And His Rejected Bride   Chapter forty-one
DianaHe was mean. He might not have been the best at interpersonal relationships. He scowled like the devil and downright acted like one.That still didnât mean I should hate him.In fact, that just prompted me to look deeper.And I was right.There he was â the mortal that we all were. Hidden deep beneath all those layers of âmonsterâ was the alpha wolf no one wanted to see.Well, I wasnât no one.We sat in the candle room for a while, simply enjoying the silenceâĶor being tormented by it. Each candle forced me to create a picture in my head, one that I might have been exaggeratedâĶor worse.Underexaggerated.I wanted to relate to him so badly. I wanted him to know that someone out there understood. I wanted to be that person.Not because I was trying to be kind to him for any reasonâĶbut becauseâĶhe has suffered.Edric made the twenty-two years I have lived on this earth a childâs play. He made every tear I have ever shedâĶevery night I had ever gone to bed, praying to the moon goddess
The Cursed Alpha And His Rejected Bride   Chapter forty
EdricA sigh escaped my lips, a silent acknowledgment of the inevitable. The very air in the room seemed to vibrate with the unspoken dread of what was unfolding. A mental breakdown. The fragile equilibrium I had hoped Diana had found felt like it was teetering on the precipice. If my recollections served me correctly â and they usually did, in their own fragmented way â this exact emotional collapse had been the catalyst for her initial illness.I desperately wanted to steer her away from that precipice, to prevent her from plunging back into that desolate state. I hated it. I couldnât bear the thought of her tears falling because of me. It felt profoundly unnecessary.I was beginning to micromanage her every reaction, a frantic, internal calculus aimed at ensuring her happiness, or at the very least, the absence of sadness. This wasn't a habitual behavior, not a familiar pattern from my countless lives. This was different. This was herâĶand the intensity of my concern was, fran
The Cursed Alpha And His Rejected Bride   Chapter thirty-nine
DianaI didnât want to enter the room at first. Knowing I could no longer feel the taps filled me with a sense of dread.So, what if I entered the room and found out he was dead? Then what? How do I tell Muzan, who was certainly more attached to him than I was?What would the burial plans look like?I didnât think I had been successful, but I sure as hell hoped so.I hoped so because it would have been inhumane to subject him to the pain that I had just put him through.âPlease, Edric.â I whispered in my head.âPlease, just die.âFinally, I mustered the courage to open the door and enter the room. It was eerily silent, and some of the candles had already burnt out, giving the room a dimmer, more sinister glow. I didnât know what to expect.I opened the spell book and chanted the release spell.With all luck, there should still be no movement in the water.I waited.Nothing.Absolutely nothing at all.I donât know why, but an overwhelming amount of sadness hit me. Now that this was al
The Cursed Alpha And His Rejected Bride   Chapter thirty-eight
DianaWell, that didnât go as well as I planned.I thought I had all the mental resources and preparation to deal with the event that he didnât die.But as I stepped out of that room, shaking and unable to see through the tears that welled over my eyes for whatever reasonâĶI saw that it was the complete opposite.Something inside me was breaking.I had just killed a person twiceâĶand now, I had to âkillâ him again. I had to kill him as long as he stood up.How?I had initially thought the feeling of disappointment was what was going to overwhelm me. I was also readying myself for the fear, in case he got angry or something else.I wasnât prepared for the guilt.I wasnât prepared for the way my conscience felt trapped. Like I was committing the murder over and over again. Two murders in less than a month. It didnât matter if the man was still alive.The fact remained that I had sunk a knife into his chest, and my intentions were the same each time. To end his life.I couldnât process t
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