Loving The Cursed Werewolf King-Chapter 163: Ronan And William

***

It was getting late, and Ronan was sitting alone in a remote inn in the border area. Not far from where he was, there was a neutral area that brought the three kingdoms together.

He was now in Duke Pellington’s territory. After wandering around the capital and finding no additional information, he went to the final rendezvous point, awaiting the arrival of William and an answer from King Hugo.

He could see a magnificent manor almost as large as the Nieverdell palace from his bedroom window. He could not contact the spies who had entered the manor.

According to the information he received, employees were only allowed to leave the manor once a week. It was only to meet the needs of Duke Pellington himself or his wives.

Ronan was playing with the sword in his hand. According to his estimate, William would arrive in a few moments. He had warned the man not to linger in the Southern royal palace. He wanted things to move quickly.

From a distance, Ronan could see several people riding towards the inn. It was the horse that belonged to William and the others. They had changed into simple clothes with shabby thin coats to look like an ordinary group.

He closed the window tightly, waiting for William to meet him. Not long after, the door opened without knocking.

"Ronan, their conditions are no joke," William said without greeting Ronan, who was waiting for his arrival.

"Asking for neutral territory?" asked the king casually.

William was surprised by how casually Ronan said it. "What are you planning? Ronan, even though it is the Northern region, it has been agreed for decades that the region is neutral."

"I know."

"Then?" asked the impatient William.

"I’ll show you on the way home tomorrow. You’ll see for yourself."

William frowned. Ronan didn’t try to explain anything at all, which made William start to get frustrated.

"Besides that, what else did they ask for?" asked Ronan.

William handed over the scroll from the conversation with King Hugo. Ronan read them one by one and then rolled his eyes.

"I have to send Arielle back in ten days?" the man asked in disbelief.

"That’s the condition. You can bring Arielle back to the North after you fulfill everything they ask."

Ronan laughed a little wryly.

"Old fox," cursed Ronan, scrolling through the South’s wish list again.

"Ah! And I don’t think we should be relaxing, Ronan," William said as he remembered something.

"Why?"

William handed over the piece of paper Prince Archie had given him earlier.

"What’s this?" asked Ronan, who did not find the three red dots that marked the identity of their secret message.

Ronan opened it and then read that one sentence. His jaw clenched, and his eyes stared intently at the piece of paper.

"What does it mean by Arielle will marry Duke Pellington?" asked Ronan in a sharp tone that gave William the chills.

"I couldn’t find Archie who can explain this, but it seems it still has something to do with what Tania said to me. That the South was ready to sacrifice Princess Arielle for other things. And it looks like they made an agreement with Duke Pellington long before we came."

Ronan threw the paper on the floor. He rose from his chair. Instantly the room became hotter and Ronan slammed the bedroom window wide open.

He saw the sky was getting darker, and he could no longer see the sun. He stared intently at Duke Pellington’s manor. His anger was burning. Now he was beginning to connect one point of information with another, the relationship between Duke Pellington and the royal family of Nieverdell.

The old fart man provided a pair of wolves so that Arielle could return to the South immediately and marry him. And just like Ronan’s hunch at the beginning, Duke Pellington must have offered his diamond mine to King Hugo and therefore, the man accepted the proposal.

So, when King Hugo learned that Ronan could offer a neutral area that contained the diamond mines too, King Hugo did not hesitate to break the agreement with Duke Pellington unilaterally, as long as Ronan could give him what he wanted.

Ronan grew disgusted with King Hugo. He did not mind about the neutral area, which he would transfer to the South. He only felt hate and anger because King Hugo easily played with Arielle by marrying her off to an old man who already had two wives just for his interest.

"We’re heading straight back North without resting tonight," Ronan scoffed.

William knew that would be the outcome. He had not slept during the journey from North to South, and now the king was restless because of the news he had just conveyed. Even though the original plan was that they would rest first tonight and continue their journey home tomorrow.

"All right, it’s up to you," answered William, who didn’t hide his tired face.

Ronan led the group of horsemen. He predicted that they would arrive in the North at noon the next day. Ronan continued to gallop his horse rapidly. Likewise with William and the other guards.

***

Ronan stopped his horse so suddenly. They arrived at an area with several old-looking buildings. Only one or two people were seen sitting in front of the house, smoking. Not far in front of the area was a large dry rock field.

"What is it?" William asked Ronan.

"After we passed the red rock earlier, we have entered the neutral area."

"Huh? It’s not like what I remembered a few years ago," William exclaimed in surprise.

The area looked deserted and unkempt, even the river that was usually passed by ships had now shrunk to reveal the rocky bottom. No large ship would be able to pass through it.

The area that should be crowded with travelers also looked very neglected. Even Frostmount, which incidentally was a village that connected two kingdoms, was far more crowded than an area that brings together three great kingdoms at once.