Stolen by the Beastly Lycan King-Chapter 33: You Owe Me an Answer

'The Gypsy kiss...' Lorelai silently repeated the name of the outrageous action performed by the lycan king, her heartbeat ringing loudly in her burning, red ears.

A new, persistent shade of pink flushed over her cheeks as her mind drifted back to the night they had spent together. Surely, there had been worse things the man had done to her that night, but all of them were done by a beast.

Tonight, the man before her was a Gypsy and yet, he was no less shameless.

'I wonder if all of them are like this...'

As she pondered this idea, Rhaegar pushed another puff of gray smoke out of his mouth, his glowing eyes still locked on the princess' blushing face. He chuckled.

"Why are you so red, Princess? Did you like it? Do you want me to do it again?"

He leaned closer to her face once more, the black cigarette between his lips hissing gently as he took another drag. Lorelai pulled her face away and shook her head, pursing her lips tightly just in case.

"You are shameless!"

Rhaegar could not help but laugh again, tossing his cigarette on the ground.

"You haven't even seen the half of it, Princess. Or... perhaps this is what you're getting at, huh? You want to see it all? The real shameless Gypsy in me?"

The warning glint in the man's eyes made Lorelai believe that Rhaegar was not joking. The best tactic was to get him distracted with anything, and the princess did exactly that.

"Why did you come to Erelith?" Shifting her body on the bench, Lorelai moved slightly away from the king, keeping a safe distance between them.

Rhaegar silently watched her do that, then moved his eyes back to Lorelai's, crossing his muscular arms in front of his chest as he leaned back in a relaxed manner.

"I don't think I am ready to give up on this information so easily."

The lycan king grinned and Lorelai felt a slight tremble of irritation wash over her body. The man continued. "How about I give you an answer in exchange for an answer of your own?"

The princess wanted to refuse but the avid politician in her instantly took over. "Very well. But I get to have my answer first!"

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Rhaegar chuckled again and nodded.

"I decided to attend the celebration because there is something I need to check here, in Erelith. Something that has been disturbing my people for quite a while."

Lorelai arched her eyebrows. "Oh? What are you talking about?"

"That's a whole different question now, Your Highness!"

"Come on!" The princess protested. "You barely told me anything!"

"Fine," he submitted, "Someone has been desecrating the beast's burial grounds for a few months now, taking not only all the gold and gems but also the corpses themselves."

Now, Lorelai was genuinely shocked. "How awful! Who would do such an unthinkable thing? And why?"

The princess' innocence combined with ignorance made Rhaegar stretch his lips into a bitter smile. She really had no idea, huh? Perhaps, it was better this way.

"The graves are close to the Erelith's border, but we do not want to rush to conclusions and randomly blame your people. The purpose of my visit was to make sure I do not do exactly that."

Lorelai chewed on her lower lip. Now, it all began to make sense to her.

'He is suspecting Duke Kalder because his Duchy is in that area. But why would he do that? He has enough money as is, he does not need to rob the graves in search of gold. However...'

As if knowing what she was thinking about, Rhaegar leaned a little closer to Lorelai and said, "It's your turn now. You owe me an answer."

"What would you like to know?"

Suddenly, the king's voice became colder and sharper, his face hardening with a blend of unpleasant emotions. "Why can not you oppose your marriage? Don't you know what kind of man you are about to marry?"

For some reason, his question made Lorelai feel offended and hurt. "Do you know what kind of a man my future husband is?"

Rhaegar scoffed. "Would you like me to tell you? Alright. He is old. He is ugly. He is fat. He is disgusting. He is a liar. He is a cheater. He is an abuser. And most importantly... he is a murderer."

"Enough!"

Lorelai nearly jumped to her feet the moment she heard him say that last word. Her entire body was trembling and she felt as if it did not even belong to her anymore.

Yes, Rhaegar was right––Duke Kalder was all that and even more. And yes, Lorelai knew it too. She knew everything. But what could she do?

And the thing that annoyed her the most was the fact that the lycan knew how powerless she truly was, but still chose to sting her with that insensitive question.

The princess was ready to offer him a piece of her mind when the man suddenly stood up as well, shielding her with his tall, broad body.

"Hide your face," he commanded coldly and Lorelai obeyed right away, gathering the black fabric of the cloak around her fair face.

"What is going on?" She asked unexpectedly quietly but then heard distant commotion which explained Rhaegar's alertness.

Peeking carefully from behind the man's back, Lorelai noticed several knights in familiar uniforms, and her heart began to gallop like a wild horse. "Duke Kalder knights?!"

She was not mistaken. Five knights dressed in the Kalder Duchy's colors stood next to one of the Gypsy tents, their sharp swords glistening under the flickering lights of the lamps around them.

It was clear that their appearance had created some sort of trouble for the nomadic tribe, but Lorelai was more concerned as to why they were in the slums to begin with.

Then, one of the nights took a step toward a couple of middle-aged people, grabbed a young girl standing next to them, and pulled her closer to him, pointing his sword to prevent others from taking action.

"Step back, you filthy beggars! His Grace Duke Vincent Kalder had paid a generous price for this girl and he sent us to take her!"