Oops I Challenged The King

Chapter Three

The words left my mouth before my brain could stop them.

"Can't you see?"

The moment they left my lips, the room fell completely silent. Nobody moved or dared to make a sound. It was as though everyone had suddenly forgotten how to breathe.

Lady Mira looked horrified. Her face had lost all its colour, and her hands trembled as she lowered her head. The head maid stood beside her, staring at me with wide eyes. From their reactions, anyone would think I had just announced my intention to murder the king.

Even little Adin had frozen. His eyes moved between his father and me, and the fear on his small face made my stomach twist. He knew what happened to people who dared to speak against the king. Unfortunately, I seemed to have forgotten that very important detail.

And then there was Talon.

The Lycan King slowly turned his attention toward me. His dark eyes settled on my face, and I felt my confidence begin to slip.

There was nothing welcoming about his expression. He looked at me as though he couldn't believe a servant had actually dared to speak to him that way.

For a terrifying moment, I wondered if this was how my second life would end. I hadn't even spent twenty-four hours in this world, and I was already risking execution for opening my mouth at the wrong time.

Talon took a step forward, followed by another. The sound of his boots against the wooden floor seemed unusually loud in the silence.

With every step, the distance between us disappeared, and my heart began beating so hard that I could almost hear it.

He stopped directly in front of me.

Up close, his size was even more intimidating. His broad shoulders and cold expression made it difficult to forget that I was standing before the most powerful man in the kingdom. I had to tilt my head slightly to look at him, but somehow, my feet remained firmly planted on the floor.

"Repeat what you just said."

His voice was low, but the warning behind those words was impossible to miss.

My throat went dry. For a brief moment, several possible responses crossed my mind. I could apologize, pretend I hadn't meant to offend him, or blame my behaviour on the pain from yesterday's beating. Perhaps if I looked sufficiently frightened, he might decide that punishing me again wasn't worth his time.

But then my eyes shifted toward Adin.

The little boy was still standing beside the desk, his face pale and his eyes filled with fear. He looked so small beneath the weight of everything happening around him.

Something inside me refused to back down.

No. Whatever happened afterward, I couldn't pretend that everything was fine when a six-year-old child was clearly terrified of his own father.

"I asked if you couldn't see what was happening, Your Majesty," I replied, surprised by how steady my voice sounded. "Your son is terrified. He's afraid to speak freely. At this rate, he won't grow up to be a confident heir. He'll grow up afraid of his own shadow."

A sharp gasp came from behind me.

Lady Mira looked as though she might faint, while the head maid lowered her head even further. Neither woman seemed capable of believing what they had just heard.

Talon's jaw tightened. A muscle moved in his cheek as his eyes grew colder.

"You dare lecture me on how to raise my son?" he asked, his voice carrying a dangerous edge. "You are a servant who barely escaped punishment yesterday for your insolence, yet you presume to question my authority?"

"I'm not questioning your authority, Your Majesty," I answered, forcing myself to remain calm. "I'm simply telling you what I see. Discipline is important, but making a child afraid of his own father won't make him stronger. It will only hurt him."

The word seemed to hang between us.

For a brief moment, something shifted in Talon's expression. His anger remained, but there was a flicker of something else in his eyes. It disappeared so quickly that I couldn't be certain I had seen it.

I remembered what I knew about his childhood from the novel. His father, had raised him to believe that weakness was unacceptable and disobedience deserved punishment. Talon had grown up under the same kind of strict authority he was now imposing on his son.

Perhaps my words had touched a part of his past he preferred to forget.

His fingers curled slightly, and I noticed the movement immediately. My heart skipped as I watched his hand, wondering whether he was about to lose control. I had already said more than enough to earn another beating, and this time, there might be no one willing to help me.

Still, I refused to look away.

Talon stared at me for several seconds, his chest rising and falling slowly. I couldn't tell what was going through his mind, and that uncertainty was almost worse than his anger.

Then his hand dropped to his side.

"Get out of my sight," he ordered. "All of you."

Lady Mira didn't waste a second. She hurried toward Adin and took his hand, leading him out of the room. The little prince glanced back at me before disappearing through the doorway. The head maid followed quickly, her head still lowered.

I remained where I was for a moment, watching them leave. The moment the doorway became clear, I decided it was time to follow them. Whatever punishment awaited me, facing it outside this room seemed preferable.

"Not you."

My steps stopped immediately.

I slowly turned toward the king. The doors closed behind the others, leaving the two of us alone.

My stomach dropped.

Wonderful. After everything I had just said, Talon NightBane wanted to speak to me privately.

Perhaps my second life was about to end after all.

The king turned his attention toward the doorway.

"Sodom, call the head warrior.”