The Werewolf King's Bride

Chapter 475 A Surprise Attack

(From Ruby's Perspective)

Her Highness had stopped trying to get King Ford to forgive himself. Despite all the odds, I found the situation quite funny. If not funny, so strange that it made me laugh even through all of this.

I started to work at the palace at a very young age. All my life, I had heard about the ruthless King of Trouvaille. When I entered the palace, I heard the same thing. By then, I noticed how our King was also ruthless. But I never thought of him that way. In my eyes, our King and the King of Trouvaille were entirely different, as if I, along with everyone else, never saw what was in front of us.

We looked past everything and antagonized the King of a rival kingdom.

In my life, I never thought that King Ford might be just like everyone else; he could be just a man, a man who could smile, who could laugh, who could joke, who could be a friend, and who could love.

My own foolishness and stubbornness made me laugh. I was ashamed of how I had judged someone without knowing them. It did not matter if he was the King of another kingdom; regardless, it was foolish of me and everyone else. The ones who did not see this side of the King still thought the same.

In their eyes, King Ford was ruthless, disgusting, and the evil of all, while King Demetrius was like a saint, a savior.

It was funny, really funny.

It was Her Highness, our Queen, who questioned our judgments since she had first come to this world; no, she was brought to this world. She said, "Well, Demetrius is no different. Then, why are we antagonizing King Ford when your King is the same?"

That time, the question rang a bell in my head, but I ignored it, as long as I could, as if I did not want to believe King Ford to be a normal werewolf, as if it would be an act of betrayal.

The way King Ford kept blaming himself for Her Highness's fractured arm might be excessive, but it was genuine.

"Uh… It happened very fast. I did not think…"

"King Ford does not need to explain it to me," I said. I was angry at him for seven days, but after that, I just could not. Looking at his eyes and hearing his pleas, it was impossible. However, in the letter, both King Demetrius and Luc cursed him in almost every line. "As it turns out, you did not do it on purpose. It was an accident.

If you keep saying the same things to Her Highness, she might snap like she did this morning."

Her Highness yelled at King Ford over breakfast this morning, because of his continuous apologies. I did not understand why he was going overboard. Everything had a limit.

Her Highness was in a bad mood. Most importantly, she had a bad cramp and the fractured arm did not do any good to her. She lost her temper when everything was going downhill. I knew it was not just her arm and cramps. She was more upset about the war, how it was going in a bad direction, and how His Highness took an arrow the previous night.

She did not hear much about his improvement yet, which was very normal as it took time for a letter to reach here. But Her Highness did not listen, she did not want to understand. The pain in her eyes, and the anger all seemed to just warn me that it could happen to me too. I might feel all she was feeling. As much as my heart ached for her, I was also just as much worried about my husband.

This could happen to him too. An arrow could poke his flesh brutally.

How could I take it? How would I handle my heart?

His Highness was an Alpha. If he took just a simple arrow, it would not be much of a problem as it would not take long for him to heal. But the letter sent by Luc sounded very serious. I just knew that it was more than that.

"What's the point of these many knights here? They could help on the battlefield. They are needed there," Her Highness grumbled at the supper. Her eyes looked haggard and her hair was tied into a braid. She probably did not even want to brush her hair and the maids must have needed to coax her a lot. They looked exhausted when I went to call Her Highness for supper.

"King Demetrius has his reasons," King Ford said. After observing Her Highness's mood, he dared not bring up his apologies again.

"His reasons, my ass! That guy got shot with an arrow! He doesn't understand… I told him…," she mumbled, her lips trembling. Then, she bit down her bottom lip and sat straight, her face composed. "If he dies, I will kill him."

"Well, that's the spirit," King Ford said.

"Where did the arrow stab?" Perita asked. I wanted to smack her behind her head right away. There had to be a reason why Luc did not mention the place.

"… That… I don't know," Her Highness muttered. "Luc did not say anything particularly. If he doesn't do so in his next letter, I will go there and hit him."

But before Her Highness could hit Luc, something that was not in our list happened. And it happened that exact night, proving the importance of the knights.

I was sitting in Her Highness's bedroom as she went to sleep. She hid her face with a pillow the whole time. But I knew her well enough that the fact that she cried herself to sleep did not stay hidden from me.

I sighed and pulled the pillow slowly from her face. Her face was still wet with tears. Her Highness was the first actual friend I made at the palace, regardless of our positions. I did not want to forget how kindly she treated me even though I was just a maid back then. That was why I never called her by her name though she told me to a lot of times.

I just wanted to remember what our positions were when we met and how she still embraced me like she would have if I was someone equal to her.

"Sweet dreams, Your Highness," I whispered, and as I turned to leave, the first thud shook the ground.

Her Highness almost fell from the bed. Fortunately, I was quick enough to balance myself between her and the bed's side.

Suddenly, a fire was blazing outside. The leaves of the trees were on fire. Because of the smoke, it was hard to see much of a thing. It spread too fast. I heard people screaming, and knights yelling commands. Through the smoke, I could make small figures.

"Ruby…! What happened?" Her Highness asked, her voice shaking.

Before I could answer, the door burst open and Calix and Flint ran through. Three maids were on their toes and started to pack the things of utter importance in a bag.

"Calix… Flint… What happened?" Her Highness asked.

"There is an army, Your Highness, led by the master of the magic tower of Mazazine," Calix explained. "An army of mages."

'That's why there were not that many mages on the battlefield. They were planning something else!'

"I am going to kill that motherfucker," Flint cursed under his breath and he took hold of Her Highness's other arm, the fractured one, and gently helped her get down from the bed.

"We need to get out of here," Calix said.

"Where are others?" Her Highness asked, looking out of the window. She let out a small gasp. I pressed her hand reassuringly. I needed to make sure she was not too tense. "Perita, Evan? Where are they?

Doctor Dimitri?"

"Perita is making sure our path is clear. She will give us the signal," Calix said. "And King Ford and Doctor Dimitri are nowhere to be seen."

"You haven't even tried to find them," Her Highness said.

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"Well, Your Highness is our first priority," Calix said. "We need to get you to safety and then, worry about others."

She did not say anything. What was there to even say? She was the Queen. The burden of a Queen was not just the work and title, but also the need to run to safety, leaving friends behind.