CHAPTER 137: THE BRANDING ROD

"Are you okay?" Caelum asked, his right arm stretched protectively across Lethia’s chest to keep her from lurching forward at the sudden brake.

Lethia nodded, eyes still fixed on the dark plume of smoke in the distance before her. It wasn’t large, but it was too close to the main house.

"What is that?" Caelum asked.

"I don’t know. That’s clearly coming from around the main house—and my father always strictly forbade burning anything, even grass, near the main house or anywhere on the ranch. We have a special annex for that behind the hill near the forest. So... that must be something unusual," she explained, her voice tight with unease.

But a small voice inside her whispered that everything could’ve changed in the month she’d been away.

"Should we just stop here and walk over?"

Lethia bit her lip, her thumbs fidgeting in her lap. Showing up unannounced would definitely startle a lot of people.

She hadn’t contacted anyone to inform them or ask about the ranch’s current state. She couldn’t be sure if her return would bring trouble or not.

According to the schedule Chasey gave her, Varrel should be busy flaunting himself at some social event in Ashenhold, which was why she chose today, specifically to avoid an encounter with him.

But really, what could go wrong when she had Caelum and six beta-level buff butlers tailing her?

"No. Let’s go through the gate and stop at the main house."

"I’ve never been to the countryside before, you know," Caelum muttered as he slowly drove through the entrance. "The law in Ashenhold doesn’t apply here."

Lethia glanced at him as he maneuvered the car forward, then smirked.

"Why? Are you afraid they’ll skin you alive?" she chuckled. "Don’t worry, they should be the ones afraid, no one here’s ever seen a lycan before."

"Afraid? Yeah... I’m afraid I might kill someone if I have to shift. And killing without reason is prohibited in Ashenhold, so... I’m just holding it all in. And not gonna lie, the air here... it smells wild, crisp, and primal."

Lethia just smiled at Caelum’s uneasy explanation.

"Just say it’s fresh and pure. There’s nothing artificial here." She rolled the window down a bit to let the breeze in. The familiar scent of the ranch swept across her face—the air she’d missed deeply.

As Caelum’s car neared the main house, they saw a crowd gathered outside. Lethia could recognise a few familiar faces—long-time employees of both the ranch and the cheese farm.

The gathering forced Caelum to stop the car before they reached the front yard. The moment Lethia opened the car door, his hand instinctively gripped her arm.

"Are you sure? It doesn’t look good," he muttered, his eyes sharp with concern as they scanned the crowd.

"It’s fine. If anything happens, you and those six beefy bodyguards won’t let me get hurt, will you? And they wouldn’t dare touch me anyway—I’m part of Ashenhold now." She gently touched the back of his hand.

"And you should be the one worried, Cael. People here might recognise you," she added, suddenly remembering how some of the ranch staff were practically his die-hard fans.

"I’m used to this," Caelum smiled, pulling on a cap and mask smoothly.

The moment she stepped foot onto her ranch, several pairs of eyes from the crowd turned toward her. Stunned expressions and gasping mouths greeted her coldly.

Though she was used to cold gazes from those around her, this time her calm palm fidgeted, clenching and unclenching the fabric of her dress in restless tension.

If Caelum hadn’t instinctively wrapped his fingers around hers, she might’ve lost focus altogether, because with every step she took toward the main house, hushed murmurs and soft gasps kept surfacing from the crowd.

She never expected a warm welcome from these people, but she also hadn’t anticipated they would still look at her like some sort of alien.

However, this time, the stares weren’t filled with disdain or mockery—in fact, they were strange. Lethia couldn’t quite place what kind of look she was receiving, but it made her feel oddly unsettled.

"Hey, Queen, are you really not planning something big here?" Caelum whispered close to her ear as they kept walking side by side up the dirt path, the bodyguards trailing a few paces behind.

"No. I just want to casually check the ranch’s overall condition."

"Didn’t you hear what they were murmuring?"

Lethia shook her head.

"They said something about you maybe saving them," Caelum muttered again, his gaze still fixed on the crowd, sharp and cautious.

"Really?" She blinked. Somehow, she missed the advantage of fox hearing.

She’d been too anxious, too focused on calming her thudding heart to care about what anyone was saying. Could that explain the strange looks they gave her?

The smell of burning smoke grew stronger, stinging her nose until she coughed into her palm. The closer she got to the main house, the clearer it became where that dark smoke was rising from.

Lethia’s eyes widened as her jaw fell open, stunned by the blurry scene before her.

She tore her hand away from Caelum’s grip and broke into a small run, slipping through the crowd toward the flames.

But just as she was about to scream and rush forward, Caelum seized her arm and spun her around to face him.

"Don’t look!" Caelum ordered.

"No..." Lethia shook her head, her breath short and uneven as her eyes welled up. "No..."

The moment she tried to turn back again, Caelum pulled her into his chest, wrapping his arms tightly around her, one hand shielding her ears to block out what they both feared to hear.

But it was useless.

"Aaaarrggghhhh... No... Aaaarrggghhhhh—"

The screams pierced through.

Lethia shut her eyes tight with each pained cry she heard, her fists curling, trembling.

The sound of agony set every fibre of her on fire.

Gritting her teeth, she pushed Caelum gently away and dropped her gaze to the ground, where stones of all sizes littered the dirt.

She bent down, snatched a medium-sized one, and strode forward with long, purposeful steps, eyes locked on the silver rod glowing with cursed fire that used to brand a werewolf’s skin.

Without stopping, she raised her arm and flung the stone at it.

Claaang!

The branding rod clattered loudly as it hit the asphalt, metal against pavement ringing through the tense silence.

"Turn off that fucking disgust spell!" Lethia screamed at the pregnant woman who had held the branding rod.

"Or when I get there, I swear I’ll pick it up and burn it into your flesh myself."