"Sir, what are you planning?" The alpha King's beta, who was an alpha by rank, asked.
Alpha King Cyrus Valentino looked at his subordinate briefly, lazily standing near the lake as they walked around while the girl he married was packing her stuff.
Fabian cleared his throat.
"We came here to avenge what the healers' did to us. How come this turned into a marriage alliance? And why did you agree?" Fabian asked.
He wasn't against the idea of his king marrying anyone. He just didn't understand why his king agreed to do it when the man didn't want any woman in his life, and that to be a woman from the same family who betrayed their trust?
Cyrus didn't say anything for some time.
"Curiosity," He murmured after some time, looking at the shining water of the lake.
Fabian- "(●__●)" Please, someone tell me that my alpha king didn't get married just because he was curious about this marriage. And why now? Why with the traitor's daughter?
He couldn't be serious.
Fabian waited for his king to say something, but when he didn't, he asked again.
"She was there when we attacked them," Cyrus said.
Fabian furrowed his brows. Well, obviously, she was there. Wasn't she the one who rushed to her father to help him? What did his king mean by that?
"There were many people there, sir. I think the entire healers' community was there. Wasn't that the reason we attacked right at that time? To capture the leader and his subordinates," Fabian said.
Cyrus smirked.
He remembered feeling like someone was watching them when they entered the area.
He didn't know she was the same girl he saw until she rushed to save her father.
It was peculiar. One moment, she stood in the building and watched everything from a distance; the other, she dared to stand before him to help her father.
And the gaze with which she looked at him… as if she was looking at her only savior…
That gaze was something he had never encountered. It made him think about her more than thrice in five minutes, and for someone like him, it was a big deal.
Cyrus looked at his subordinate.
"I think it would be fun," he said without explaining anything and started walking towards the town.
Fabian- "..." Sir, why are you acting like you just bought a pet for yourself? It's a freaking lantern bloodline you got married to, not even a proper she-wolf.
Fabian pitied the girl who got married to their king, not even knowing what kind of problem she landed herself into.
Once everything was settled and Amelia said goodbye to everyone around her, which tested her acting, she sat inside the car, where the Alpha King was already seated.
She hesitated briefly as her gaze met him briefly before turning to the window.
None of them spoke for half the journey. Amelia sat there, doing her best to look confident, but she knew her fast-beating heart was giving away her nervousness.
Fabian looked at his King from the rearview mirror, unsure what was going on inside his head.
"Why did you take your sister's place?" The alpha king finally asked after a dragging silence.
"To pay a debt," She answered..
Her words made Cyrus raise his brows.
"You are in debt?" He asked, intrigued now.
What kind of debt was it that she thought marrying in her sister's place would pay for it?
Amelia nodded.
"A debt of life. When I was born, my twin brother died because I took all the nutrition, leaving him to starve, and due to the complicated operation, my mother died too. So, I took my sister's mother away along with her brother. That's how I have been paying since then," Amelia said.
She looked out the window, thinking about everything she did to protect her sister and how Hannah still complained that it was never enough.
"I should do that much," Amelia said with a smile as if she didn't just say the most depressing thing.
That was what she thought in the past life. In this life, the reason she agreed to marry him in Hannah's place was to treat him right and protect him from his uncle's scheming tricks, just like he protected her with his life.
However, she wasn't going to voice that out.
The king looked at his phone before keeping it aside.
Since they were in a limo, they sat facing each other.
The king leaned back in his seat and observed the girl. She was skinny. Though her eyes were full of light and a strange hope, her complexion was pale, like she wasn't fed properly.
Why was it like that? Was she hurting herself with such words and publishing herself daily for something that she couldn't control? He thought, placing his chin on his hand as he gazed up and down her figure.
"And why is it your fault? Did you kill them?" He asked.
Amelia froze in her place.
Did she kill them? Of course not. She would've traded her life for theirs if fate had given her a chance.
Tears welled in her eyes. This was the first time someone unknowingly tried to tell her to not punish herself for something that was out of her control..
This wasn't a pity story, but a reason she told herself repeatedly to pacify herself as she went through everything.
Amelia would tell herself that it was her fault their mother was not alive so she could bear the injustice she always got from her father and aunt.
Though Thames was a loving father for the world, he was partial.
He didn't beat her, but he didn't love her either. It was as if whenever he looked at her, she reminded him of his dead wife. Thus, she consoled herself, saying that was what she deserved.
Even if she became the doormat, protecting her sister, she was ready to do it because, though Hannah used to complain, she was the only one who cared about her well-being, keeping tabs on her and hearing her out.
But who would've thought there always had been a hidden motive behind those concerned messages, those late-night calls, the clothes she made her wear, even the food she made her eat?
Amelia's hand reached for her abdomen. She remembered giving one of her kidneys away when she found out that her sister had renal failure.
But then she came to know that the kidney she gave away was wasted just like that, leaving her bleeding and impaired since she couldn't even go to the council and apply to become the soldiers' healer.
Amelia didn't say anything and just returned to gazing outside.
Feeling sleepy all of a sudden, having not gotten much sleep due to her anxiety all night about marrying the alpha king and unraveling her sister's tricks, Amelia closed her eyes.
"I am sorry, I couldn't sleep much due to excitement. Please let me have some rest," she said without caring about the world.
A man who saved her life by risking his life wouldn't mind her sleeping a little when they had nothing to talk about, right?
The Alpha King, who has been watching her facial expressions change to almost all the emotions he ever thought existed to humanity, couldn't help but smirk.
He removed his overcoat and threw it on Amelia. It almost looked like, as much as he didn't want her to catch a cold, knowing how weak these lantern creatures were, he was disgusted that he would catch her depressing germs, too.
'Weird, indeed,' The alpha King scoffed before looking out, his blue eyes cold and undecipherable.
Fabian pressed his lips into a thin line.
A depressed soul, unloved by her family, and a monster who married her for fun. Why did it look like things weren't exactly good? He wondered.