Chapter 133

“Your Grace, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” The young female Lycan said and offered an obligatory bow to

Annie.

Annie retumed the gesture and smiled warmly at the brown-haired beauty as she said, “It’s a pleasure to

meet you too. May I know your name?”

“I’m Dorothy Dawson, your Grace. I’m here as someone’s plus-one. And if I may, your Grace, I have a

buming question that I hope you don’t mind me asking.” Her green eyes sparked mischief as her pastel

lips curled up into a grin, showing her braces holding the two rows of teeth together.

Annie continued smiling as she asked amicably, “What would you like to know, Dorothy?”

“How do you do it, your Grace? How do you be okay with…not being able to give the Duke a child?”

Annie’s eyebrows raised in surprise before she asked in concern, “Dorothy, are you facing pregnancy

problems? Because…” 1

“Oh, I’m not, your Grace. I doubt I would. I just wanted to know how you mustered the self-esteem to

stand next to the second most powerful creature in the Kingdom with so little to offer.” She blinked her

green eyes like she was just asking an innocent question, when in fact, it was clearly an attempt to make

Annie feel small and unworthy. 1

When Annie realized what Dorothy was doing, the Duchess put aside her sympathy she initially felt for

this young woman before she said, “A woman is more than a baby-making machine, Dorothy. I’m here to

support my husband as a wife and as Duchess.”

“But we’ve never seen you before in these things. Why the sudden need for support? Is the Duke facing

a certain problem that requires your presence with him?” There was that glint in her eye again. She knew

more than she was saying. Seeing that Annie was speechless, Dorothy continued, “Your Grace, you

seem a little tongue-tied. I hope I didn’t make you uncomfortable. I was simply trying to understand the

level of self-entitlement one requires to…”

“To join a government event and speak to anyone she pleases?” Lucianne’s stern voice came loud and

strong from the side. The fast clicks of her heels itself exudes confidence.

Xandar mind-linked her that Annie needed help when his sharp hearing caught bits of the conversation

between the Duchess and Dorothy. Lucianne abruptly paused her own conversation with Phelton and

excused herself before making quick steps towards the Duchess.

“Your Highnesses.“ Dorothy bowed in the King and Queen’s way. They both nodded curtly in

acknowledgment.

When Dorothy’s head was raised, she let out a light chuckle before she said, “Well, this is quite a

surprise. I didn’t expect to have the opportunity to speak to you so soon, my Queen.” She knew that

pleasing Lucianne was more important than pleasing the King, so her efforts were solely to butter-up the

wolf, as much as she was dreading it on the inside.

Lucianne smiled menacingly as she said, “Well, perhaps you didn’t expect to speak to a Queen-to-be but

creature-to-creature, we’ve already spoken in last year’s collaboration, Dorothy Dawson.”

Her eyes widened in genuine surprise at Lucianne knowing her full name even without an introduction.

Dorothy faked an apologetic look as she said, “Oh, this is embarrassing. I don’t seem to recall our

encounter, your Highness.” On the inside, she prayed that she didn’t do anything to insult her. 1

Her prayers were denied when Lucianne said, “Hm. That’s hardly surprising. I doubt you remember the

number of wolves you insulted in the ladies room last year. When I was defending my Luna after you

insulted her dressing, you told me to shut my mouth before you used your boyfriend’s influence to burn

m y pack to the ground.” Dorothy froze in fear as Xandar’s eyes turned onyx. And as if the King’s

seething anger wasn’t enough, Dorothy began to feel something else.

There was something radiating from Lucianne, an energy which was compelling Dorothy to avert her

gaze and hold her head down. Even Xandar and Annie felt it. Dorothy’s mouth quivered, and her mind

suddenly felt like a vacant room. Hollow, cold and lonely. Her own animal was covering its eyes and

curled into a ball in fear of what was going to happen next.

Just then, Christian returned and asked Annie cheerfully, “Hey, sorry I took so long. What did I miss?”

Registering the daunting energy from the Queen, his cousin’s onyx orbs, and his mate’s discomfort,

Christian’s smile faltered as he studied the woman before them.

A young man appeared by Dorothy’s side, and bowed without greeting the royals. He then tugged

Dorothy’s arm as he whispered, “Dory, what are you doing? Come on.”

Lucianne’s sights shifted to him as she asked, “Mr Martin, is this your girlfriend?”

“Uh…y-yes, my Queen.“ The young blonde responded carefully. The chatters in the hall were dying

down.

“What an interesting creature you’ve chosen, one who has the audacity to question the presence of a

Duchess.” Lucianne noted, making Christian’s own eyes turn onyx.

Herbert Martin immediately fell on one knee before he apologized, “I am deeply sorry for my girlfriend’s…

insubordination, my Queen. Please, forgive us. It won’t happen again.” Like his girlfriend, he knew better

than to anger the Queen.

It was clear from the collaboration mishaps that if the King was angered, the Queen would calm him. But

the King himself would never think of restraining his mate from unleashing her wrath on any of them. The

whole dining hall was silent at this point when everyone saw a Lycan kneeling before Lucianne.

Toby, from afar, muttered to himself, “Oh, goddess. What now, Lucy?” Juan and Hale were getting

worried, too.

Lucianne looked at Herbert Martin, who, in the previous year, touched her lower back with no remorse

before she slapped him. He smirked coyly in retum like she did no damage to his very thick skin.

Lucianne would’ve pounced on him right then and there if Juan hadn’t held her back. Tate and Toby

growled to shoo Herbert away before Juan released his grip on his frantic sister. As furious as they all

were at what happened, they knew that challenging a Lycan would never end well for the wolf so the

matter was swept under the mat. But that was last year.

This year, Lucianne was not going to let Herbert or his girlfriend get away with disrespecting her or

Annie. Lucianne simpered, “Insubordination, Mr Martin? That’s putting it too lightly, don’t you think? This

is a matter of willful disrespect, the respect that should be given to any individual, not just to a superior

figure in the Kingdom.”

Lucianne’s sights returned to Dorothy before she said, “You seem a little tongue-tied, Ms Dawson. I hope

I didn’t make you uncomfortable. I was simply trying to understand the level of self-entitlement one

requires to poke into the personal life of another.”

After a moment, Dorothy quivered as she said, “I-I apologize, my Queen.”

“Whatever for? Was I the one you said those insidious words to?” Lucianne continued to press

mercilessly.

Dorothy’s head raised to meet Annie’s eyes before Christian’s glare compelled her to look down as she

uttered as loudly as she could manage, “I’m sorry, your Grace. I am so sorry for my behavior.”

Herbert stood slowly, and placed an arm over his girlfriend’s shoulder before he asked cautiously, “I can

assure you that it won’t happen again, your Graces. Would you forgive her?”

Annie threw Lucianne a grateful smile, which seemed to have calmed Christian a little. The Duchess

gave Herbert and Dorothy a nod, and one could see the relief in their eyes as they started taking steps

back.

Just then, Lucianne spoke again, “Now, where are you two going?”

Their relief vaporized as Lucianne noted, “Forgiveness is not a dismissal. None of us have dismissed

you two yet.”

The two stood rooted to their spot, and Xandar had to close his eyes to take a whiff from his mate’s hair

to calm himself as Lucianne spoke, “Dorothy, what business do you have here?”

*I-I’m his plus-one, y-your Highness.” “That wasn’t the question, Dorothy. I asked: what business do you

have here? In other words, what contribution are you intending to make by being here? Are you here to

contribute as a minister, a future minister, a warrior, a leader, an expert, perhaps?”

“N-No, my Queen.”

“And you, Mr Martin. Are you here as a future minister, the son who will follow in his mother’s footsteps?”

Lucianne questioned. Anyone could hear the sarcasm in her voice, and things weren’t any better when

everyone knew that his mother was arrested for corruption charges.

“W-Well, I hope to do better, my Queen.”

“Better how?”

He was dumbfounded. No one had ever asked him that before. He fumbled over his words unintelligibly

for a moment before Xandar decided he had had enough of the nonsense. The King pecked a sweet kiss

on his mate’s temple before he glared at the two youngsters and said, “If you two have no business here,

then you shouldn’t be here in the first place. Do you need to be escorted out?”

“N-No, my King. We’ll take our leave now. Thank you.”

As they made their way out, Lucianne pecked a kiss on Xandar’s jawline. The lilac shades were returning

a s they focused on her soft, black orbs but the moment was short-lived when Xandar’s eyes caught

something at the dining hall entrance.

Lucianne turned to see what her mate was seeing, and was surprised to see two policemen behind four

ministers. The two men in uniform stood in front of Herbert and Dorothy, preventing them from leaving.

And the four ministers were pacing towards the royals in quick steps.