CHAPTER 382: THE QUEEN’S PLAN (II)

Who would have thought that once she no longer had a beautiful face, all those men would run as fast as they could, as if they had just seen a terrifying monster?

The opera houses turned their backs on her too, whispering that an "ugly" singer would never draw an audience.

It wasn’t until the Duke of Illvaris built his own opera house in Azmeria that things changed. He often invited Rowena to perform as an honorary guest, giving her a stage again when the world had abandoned her.

"Lady Rowena met the King of Elandria when she was singing at my father’s opera house," Primrose explained softly. "So you could say ... our bond is rather good, and I believe her husband is not a vile man."

In fact, back then, Primrose had thought Rowena’s husband was the most generous man she had ever seen.

Only two weeks after hearing Rowena’s beautiful voice, the King of Elandria sent a marriage proposal. Along with it came fifty horses, ten chests overflowing with gold, and a fortune of food supplies delivered to Viscount Lyselle’s home.

For years, people had whispered that Rowena would remain a spinster forever, that no man would ever want her. But they were wrong.

Not only did she gain a kind and generous husband, she also found a man who could see her as more than just her scarred face.

Primrose had once felt so jealous when she first heard about it, and bitter when she was suddenly sent to the beast kingdom instead of being married to a generous king like the King of Elandria.

But in the end ... her husband turned out to be just as great—maybe even greater—than she had imagined.

"I can’t be sure they’ll help us, but ... it’s worth trying," she said. "What do you think, husband?"

Primrose honestly wanted to use some foul trick if they couldn’t get help, probably use her mind-control ability to snatch supplies from others.

But well ... that would be bad in the long run, so she wouldn’t use that forbidden power on other rulers. Maybe ... she could try it on someone else though.

"If we really want to try, how would you earn their trust?" Edmund asked, his voice more serious than usual.

Primrose matched his tone. "I can send a letter to Lady Rowena first, then we’ll wait for her reply. But if she doesn’t answer within three days, or flatly refuses, then we’ll let it go." She paused, then added, "Still, we can’t just tell them we lost our supplies because of something as bloody as this."

"We can simply say there was a ’personal matter’ that caused us to miss our supply target," Primrose suggested. "That way, they won’t see us as savages."

Edmund had cloaked the palace with his magic yesterday, so the beasts outside the palace wouldn’t be able to see clearly what had happened inside, and even the spies sent by the Emperor wouldn’t be able to learn the full details.

At most, they would think there had been a fierce fight between the Blackpeak Pack and the palace.

No one would know that Edmund was the only one who had killed all of the Blackpeak Pack yesterday. After all, no matter how bad the rumors about him were, it was hard to believe he could pull something like that off alone.

Even Primrose hadn’t believed him at first when he said he had handled everything himself. But in the end, he truly had.

"Then let’s try it," Edmund said at last. "I’ll have Penny deliver your letter to the Queen of Elandria."

"Penny?" Primrose frowned. "Who’s that?"

"My phoenix." Edmund blinked. "I thought you already knew her name."

Primrose froze. She hadn’t even realized the phoenix was female! All this time, everyone had simply called it "Edmund’s phoenix," so she had never thought to ask its name.

"I ... only just found out now." She chuckled softly, a little embarrassed. "Thank you for telling me."

A moment later, Sevrin spoke up. "What about our meat supply? With all the work needed to repair the palace, we might not have the strength to keep hunting."

Primrose turned to Edmund and asked, "Didn’t you say there were traitors in this palace? The slaves from the last king?"

Edmund only nodded in answer, so Primrose asked again, "So what do you plan to do with them?"

He replied, "Leofric has gathered them all, but we still don’t know who betrayed us and who did nothing. If someone is proven guilty of treachery ... then I have no choice but to behead them."

[Will my wife think I’m too cruel?] Edmund thought, unable to stop his mind from running. [I killed so many people yesterday, what if she starts to think I’m frightening if I kill more—]

Primrose suddenly pulled his head down and kissed his lips so deeply it startled him and stopped the flow of his negative thoughts. On the other side, Sevrin widened his eyes; he hadn’t expected the king and queen to display their affection in public.

[W-what happened? Why did my wife kiss me?]

Once Primrose let go of his lips, she whispered, "Like I said before, I’ll kiss you if you start overthinking."

Edmund swallowed hard, still surprised that his wife was no longer ashamed to kiss him in front of so many people. Even a soldier who was carrying boxes nearby was so startled he tripped over a stone and all the boxes he held fell on him.

"All right." Primrose gently patted Edmund’s cheek a few times, trying to bring him back from his daydream. "Let me see your prisoners. Maybe I can help you find the rats among them."

Edmund blinked at her words, still reeling from the kiss. "You ... want to help me interrogate them?"

Primrose’s lips curved slightly. "Not interrogate. Observe. People reveal more with their thoughts than with their mouths." Her gaze softened as she lowered her voice, meant only for him. "If anyone secretly betrays you, I’ll be able to tell easily."