The Mind-Reading Mate: Why Is the Lycan King So Obsessed With Me?!-Chapter 501: The Burden of Not Knowing (I)

Primrose understood that trust could not be rushed. If she wanted the children to feel safe with her, she had to move gently, step by step. She could not force them to laugh, to play, or to pretend everything was fine.

So she simply showed them how to shape the snow, how to roll it carefully, and how to build a small snowman with hands. When she was done, she quietly left them alone in the ballroom.

"For now, it’s better if they stay together like that," Primrose said softly to Edmund and Lazarus as they stepped outside. "We must keep the room warm and prepare comfortable bedding for them." 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Her voice grew even quieter. "They’ve been locked inside a tiny cage for so long... I’m sure all they want right now is to hold each other."

Edmund nodded in agreement. "I’ve already asked the maids to lay out floor mattresses instead of beds."

On the other side, Lazarus still looked absent-minded. When he finally spoke, his voice was low. "I still can’t believe there are monsters capable of doing such cruel things to children, and that it happened so close to my home."

[I even hung the painting given by one of those bastards.] Lazarus gritted his teeth, feeling angry at himself. [If only I had known from the beginning, I would have stomped on that damn painting right in front of that damn bastard.]

Primrose took a deep breath because she did not know what to say. She had tried to comfort her father before, had told him again and again that it was not his fault. But guilt was not something that disappeared just because someone said the right words.

Anyone standing that close to such horror would feel responsible, just like Edmund.

He still carried the weight of knowing that the Marquess of Moonshadow had twisted his donation into something terrible, a place that brought suffering instead of hope.

"I don’t think it’s necessary for us to dwell on things we didn’t do in the past," Primrose finally said. "What matters now is what we choose to do next. These children need help, not our regret."

Sometimes, Primrose felt that she was a hypocrite. She said that, yet she still blamed herself for Zarius’s death in the past.

However, there are times when even a loser encourages others, so that the positive words she says can sink into herself as well.

"Primrose is right, Father," Edmund agreed, supporting her words. "These children do not need our guilt about the past. They need us to guide them toward a better future."

[But it won’t be easy...] The sadness lingered in Edmund’s eyes, even though his face stayed calm. [The children I rescued in Moonshadow still carry so much trauma, and some doctors told me that the chances of them fully recovering are small.]

Primrose could see his shoulders slumping little by little, and she immediately knew that, just like Lazarus, her husband was drowning in his guilt again.

Back then, she told him that it was not his fault that he did not know about the cruel things the Marquess of Moonshadow had done to those children.

But deep down, both of them knew the truth was more complicated.

Even without meaning to, he had helped clear the road the Marquess walked.

Edmund had not been the one to hurt the children with his own hands. He had never raised a whip, never spoken cruel words to them, but he still had to take responsibility for his negligence.

He had tried to make things right. But sometimes, no matter how hard they struggled, there came a point where the only thing left was to hold on to hope and learn from what had already happened.

"These children are strong," Primrose said with a bitter smile. "Yes, they look scared. But did you notice what they did when they thought danger was coming?"

Lazarus answered immediately. "They held each other."

Primrose nodded gently. "Yes. They held each other." She took a deep breath before continuing, "It may look like something trivial, but the truth is... that is not only the reaction of people who are cornered, but also of people who trust one another."

Earlier, she had heard their thoughts. Even though they all spoke about their fears in different ways, there was one thing Primrose did not find there: none of them wanted to die.

That was a good sign, because most victims who had gone through that kind of suffering usually developed thoughts of ending their lives immediately. Well, some of the older children showed traces of that, but it was not too vivid, and it seemed they still had hope of being saved.

The children in Moonshadow might not be able to fully recover, but now they had a chance to save the other children before they completely lost their minds.

"I know it will be a long journey, and it will be very difficult, but we have to try," Primrose said firmly. "And first of all, we must find a way to uncover the connection between this case and King Averon."

Based on the children’s thoughts, the Count often spoke about the King in front of them, even boldly saying that the King would punish them severely if they did not obey their master’s orders.

Primrose was certain it was not just empty talk, and Averon was truly involved in this case.

Still, suspicion alone was not enough to bring down the King of Azmeria. They needed proof, something solid and something undeniable.

"We still have the Count of Veloria’s subordinates," Edmund said. "But we’ve left them in Veloria County for now. Bringing them all to Illvaris would only slow us down."

But Primrose believed Edmund had left them behind because he and Lazarus needed to return to Illvaris immediately because of her.

If she had not gone through something terrible, they would surely have found a way to take them along.

"Before you start blaming yourself," Edmund cut in gently, catching her off guard, "no. This is not simply because of you."