CH 5

Please forget about what happened last night.

QOTD's Thursday Big Show: June ...

After Margaery bowed down on her knees, the silence that followed was suffocating. As the uncomfortable feeling crept up on her, Margaery lowered her head and tilted it to the side.

(Ara? Why is Your Majesty not saying anything?)

It was clear that Julius was getting in a bad mood, but she didn’t know why. Julius himself probably didn’t want to take responsibility for this. After all, they had never even had a proper conversation.

As she tried to lift her face, her shoulder was pulled back abruptly.

A large hand grabbed her cheek as she widened her eyes and puckered her lips like a duck. Confused by the king’s strange behavior, Julius let out a chilling smile and twitched the corner of his lips.

“…Could it be that this isn’t the first time something like this has happened?”

“Huh?!”

“Well, maybe not. If that’s the case, I don’t know. My proposal is perfectly reasonable. How about you? After all, you’ve been playing with the king, toying with him, sneaking into his bed, and now you want to pretend like nothing happened. That’s quite an offer, Margaery du Noel.”

“Wha-what are you talking about? (Sneaking into his bed?!)”

Margaery widened her eyes in anger and instinctively shook off the king’s hand.

“I’m sorry to say this, but Your Majesty was supposed to attend the Royal Academy graduation ceremony as part of your official duties. Even though it was my own doing, I think it’s quite a behavior for the king to bring back a drunken female student and disfigure her. Do you think so?”

Since the founding of the academy, the kings had always attended the graduation ceremony as a tradition. The reason why Julius visited the academy yesterday was for that very reason.

Margaery chuckled as if she had hit a sore spot.

Despite that, Julius grinned.

“Do you not remember? Well, I guess that can’t be helped.”

“D-Did I say something strange?”

Margaery had a bad feeling as Julius narrowed his red eyes and put on a thin smile. Julius leaned his chin on his hand nonchalantly.

“While you were enjoying the party, I had finished talking with the headmaster and was about to return to the castle when I went out to the courtyard. In the shadow of the bushes, I found a dead body.”

“A-A dead body?”

“When I investigated, it turned out to be a drunken female student. Anyway, she was lying spread-eagled on the lawn. That was you, Margaery de Noël.”

Margaery’s face twisted. What was going on? At the beginning of the conversation, she already wanted to plug her ears.

Ignoring her, Julius continued with a cool expression.

“I called the academy staff. After all, even if she was drunk, she was still a young lady. But you cried and clung to me.”

According to him, if her classmates saw her in that state, it would be the end of her reputation. She begged him to take her away from the academy.

“The teachers tried to carry you to the infirmary, but surprisingly, you were strong. It was quite enjoyable to see the teachers’ faces turn pale every time you rubbed your tear-stained face against them.”

“I-I see. Is that all?”

Sweat dripped down her face. She replied as best she could, and Julius chuckled.

“I reluctantly put you in the carriage. I knew you were the Prime Minister’s daughter, so I tried to send you to the Noel family. But then you started crying again. ‘If my father found out about this, he would be angry. Since it’s too late, please don’t take me home.’”

It’s a dead end. Julius shook his head at Margaery, who was busy looking around.

“I can’t send you back to the academy. I can’t send you home. If that’s the case, the only thing I can do is bring you to this castle, right?”

“W-w-wait a minute!”

Margaery desperately resisted, shrinking herself.

She understood why she was ‘taken home’ to the castle. She was so sorry that she wanted to dig a hole and bury herself right away. But that’s that, and this is this.

Margaery jerked her finger at the signal of the counterattack.

“You should have just thrown a drunken little girl around somewhere. But to bring me to your bedroom…did you have ulterior motives after all?!”

“————That’s because you selfishly wanted to see me in this form.”

A voice murmured. The next moment, a soft breeze swept through the bedroom.

Margaery instinctively closed her eyes. When she finally opened them, she gasped in amazement at the pointed ears covered in black fur that protruded from the glossy black hair. The fluffy tail that swayed as if to show off.

Margaery opened her mouth in surprise.

——Atavism. The half-beast form that only the black-haired royal family can take, the same form as the first Wolf King. In the novel, it is only revealed once in an important scene near the end of the story.

Despite exposing it without hesitation, Julius, for some reason, narrowed his eyes proudly, like a real wolf assessing its prey.

“Listen, Margaery. Call me Yuri.”

“Huh? Ah, okay?”

“Yuri. When you call me, don’t use ‘Your Majesty’ or ‘Julius.’ Use that name. It’s your privilege.”

Margaery’s face twisted in fear at his words. Julius took a strand of her silver hair and kissed it.

He showed his fangs and gave her a fierce smile as she stiffened.

“Remember it well. I decided to show this form only to those I truly trust… Once you’ve seen this form, you can’t escape from me. I swear by the name of ‘Legrand’s Wolf King’ that I will definitely get you.”