Chapter 72

Aldric’s POV

“I don’t think I can grant you that through royal favour,” I said, watching her face fall in utter shock. She definitely wasn’t expecting that blow, but what could I do? I wouldn’t let a maid who washed feet beat me in a game I knew how to play best. It would be humiliating.

“But why? You said you wanted to compensate me. Or am I asking for too much…am I not knowing my place?” she asked, her voice suddenly meek, and I smiled. Her confident tone from earlier had been getting on my nerves.

“You’re not ambitious enough. I love my woman greedy,” I whispered, running my finger along her lips, watching her shiver beneath my touch.

What a sight.

“Then I can be more greedy. How greedy do you want me to be, Your Highness?” she asked, and Byron shot me a surprised look. But I wasn’t stunned. A desperate woman like her would definitely know how to play.

“If you really want to be by my side, don’t you think you should dream of the highest place?” I murmured. “How does Luna sound?”

Her face dropped again, this time in disbelief, and I smiled inwardly, knowing I had just trapped her in her own web of deception.

“The Luna? But… isn’t that for Lady Yana?”

“No. Luna's seat isn’t designed for anyone. Only the capable get to sit on it. So do you think you can be that capable?” I asked, and she nodded vigorously.

“Definitely. You can use me however you want. I will definitely be a woman of substance,” she vowed, and I sighed, knowing I had just broken her.

“All right. But you must prove it with actions,” I said. “Get me anything that can help with Draven being overthrown. That’s the only way you can become Luna.” I lied smoothly, watching her eyes light up again.

“I won’t disappoint you,” she affirmed.

I let her leave after giving instructions, knowing I had just gained another ear in the balance, another desperate and ambitious one.

“That cunning woman,” I chuckled, shaking my head at her naivety.

She really thought she had me wrapped around her finger just because she told me something as small as a fight between women at the cliff. Madness.

“Since no one is here, don’t you think we should leave, Byron?” I asked, but I noticed he was lost in thought. “What’s the matter?”

“Did you not hear that maid say Aveline’s eyes turned silver during the fight?” he asked. I nodded, unsure where he was going. “Do you think Aveline could be the silver-eyed wolf? Isn’t that the reason you said you needed her?”

“Yes, I need her. But what does that have to do with anything?”

“Do you not know about the silver-eyed wolf?” he asked, and I could only shake my head.

“Then I should enlighten you,” he said, beginning to narrate the legends he’d heard about the silver wolf—how she hadn’t surfaced in a thousand years, how her existence terrified the wolf clan after she betrayed it for a lover.

“What nonsense. Don’t tell me you expect me to buy into that absurd story?” I asked, but he gave me a blank, serious look that didn’t sit well with me.

How could a weak omega like her suddenly become powerful overnight? Was that even possible?

“If you want..” Byron started, but I cut him off, realizing I was the one being unreasonable.

I definitely felt strange energy around her that day, and the witch must have sensed it too, enough to tell me to keep Aveline close. But why would she hide something this enormous from me?

“That witch! Is that what she’s been keeping from me?” I screamed, blood boiling with anger. How dare she withhold something like this?

I had always wanted a way to wipe Draven off the surface of the earth, and now I found out Aveline could wipe out everyone, including Draven. She tricked me.

“Where are you going?” Byron asked as I stormed out of the hideout. I turned and shot him a cold look.

“To put someone in her place,” I breathed, before striding away.

I slipped into the palace and headed straight to her cave. She was performing some ritual, and I waited barely until she finished. The moment she was done, I grabbed her wrist tightly, fury flaring in my eyes. I wanted to crush her.

“Did you know about Aveline being the silver-eyed wolf? Is that why you asked me to keep her around?” I roared. Her eyes lit up.

“You found out already?” she asked, walking back to her shrine to pick up a black, transparent egg that was fading as if its essence was being drained.

“This is her,” she said, pointing to the egg. “I sensed her before, but the energy I felt tonight confirmed it. She’s back!” she beamed, eyes gleaming with excitement. I couldn’t help wondering what the silver-eyed wolf meant to her.

Because of werewolves, she was meant to be killed immediately so the clan wouldn’t face future trouble.

“Oh, it seems this silver-eyed wolf is truly powerful,” I probed, and the witch began recounting everything she was capable of. She even told her history though she conveniently skipped the reason for the ancient grudge. The more I listened, the more convinced I became that the werewolf clan wouldn’t survive with the silver-eyed wolf alive. Wouldn’t that mean Aveline would hinder my plans, not help them?

“She’s going to wipe out the entire werewolf clan, and that includes Draven. No one will be spared!” she beamed, and I felt a chill at her delight.

“Really? Why are you so happy?” I asked, stunned that she was finding amusement in a moment where my life could end because of a thousand-year grudge.

“Don’t you smell it already? It’s victory,” she murmured, but her words felt anything but beneficial to me.

Why would I benefit from a wolf who held a centuries-old grudge and intended to erase the clan? Who would I rule then?

“If she’s going to wipe the clan out, doesn’t that put me at a disadvantage? Why should I involve myself in something like that?”

“That’s because if you get involved, you’ll be spared,” she rasped. “You will rule alongside her and be saved. So don’t be greedy.”

Her words took me by surprise, and a sinister thought tugged at my mind.

It seems I’m not the greedy one… you are, I thought, staring down at the witch.