CHAPTER 384: A TOUCH OF MADNESS

Lorelle had once said that only a woman with a touch of madness could truly accept Edmund completely, and in the end, it wasn’t just a metaphor.

Edmund was a man full of layers. He could be kind, gentle, and sweet toward the people he loved, especially his mate. But when it came to those who betrayed him or even thought of hurting his mate, he was merciless.

He would forgive mistakes that didn’t cause real harm, but he never gave second chances to traitors or anyone who had bad intentions toward his wife.

"Your Majesty, have mercy!" a woman screamed as Edmund cut the men’s tongues one by one. "What have we done to you?! They didn’t even do anything wrong!"

They were still crying and begging for mercy, pretending to be innocent lambs when, in truth, they were nothing more than cunning wolves waiting for the chance to strike.

"My Queen! Please stop His Majesty from hurting our people!" they suddenly turned to Primrose, pleading desperately. "Please! Show us your kindness!"

[She’s always smiling and acting sweet around the palace, so why is she being such a bitch now?!]

[Why did she ask her husband to cut off their tongues?! Is she actually a rotten woman pretending to be innocent?!]

Meanwhile, Primrose was nearly dozing off in her chair while Edmund finished his business. He had positioned her seat so that her back faced the cell, ensuring she wouldn’t see the gruesome scene, and had even stuffed her ears with cotton.

Because of that, Primrose couldn’t clearly hear their screams, and she only understood what was happening through their thoughts.

Earlier, she’d heard about five men thinking disgusting things about her body, and that was enough to make Edmund lose all restraint. He used a pair of dull pliers—not sharp ones—to cut their tongues.

The pain was unbearable, but since they were beasts, their wounds would eventually heal, so Edmund would cut their tongues again.

After what felt like forever, Edmund finally threw the pliers aside and shoved the men back into their cells. Their tongues had been cut off again and again until they couldn’t even scream anymore, their throats dry and raw.

"Stop begging for mercy," Edmund said in an icy tone. "I’ve already been merciful once. But instead of being grateful, you turned against me and tried to take what’s mine."

"Your Majesty!" someone cried from behind the bars, stretching her hand out as if trying to reach him. "We don’t know where you got that information, but we swear we never had bad intentions toward you!"

"We swear we’re loyal to you!!"

If Primrose couldn’t hear their thoughts, she might have felt sorry for them when she saw their tears. But unfortunately—or maybe fortunately—their tears meant nothing to her.

"Edmund, are you done?" Primrose asked, stretching her arms as she fought the urge to fall asleep.

Edmund walked over to her and stood behind her. His hands rested gently on her shoulders as he said softly, "Don’t look back, they’re still too ugly to see."

Then, without looking back, Primrose said, "Earlier, Sir Dorne mentioned that we don’t have enough people to go hunting."

Edmund frowned, confused as to why his wife suddenly brought that up out of nowhere. "Don’t worry, I’ll handle it," he said.

[If I don’t sleep for a week, maybe I can gather enough prey and return to my wife,] Edmund thought, clicking his tongue. [But if I do that, she won’t be able to sleep peacefully. Should I just take her with me to the forest and let her rest in the carriage instead?]

Primrose actually liked that idea because it meant she could stay by his side all day, but ... no.

Her husband would probably get sick again, maybe even worse than his previous fever. Still, Primrose was impressed that he already looked fine after slaughtering all those wolves yesterday.

"We can use them," Primrose said finally. "That’s actually why I wanted to meet them here."

Edmund narrowed his eyes, sensing something unusual. "What do you mean, my wife?"

Primrose lifted her head to look up at him. "I can use my mind-control ability to make them hunt," she said calmly. "It’ll be a good way to train my power, don’t you think?"

He didn’t answer right away, and Primrose knew he was hesitating. He clearly wanted to stop her from doing it but was trying to find a gentle way to say it without upsetting her.

"It’s fine," she reassured him, motioning for him to kneel beside her so she could whisper quietly. "I used this ability back in the library, and our baby is still fine. Besides, my mind-reading ability is always active, and nothing has ever happened to me."

Leofric had already examined her thoroughly and concluded that even when she used magic, it had no negative effect on the baby.

Maybe it was because both Edmund and Primrose had strong magical energy. Their child would probably inherit that too. Still, no one could say for sure because after all, Primrose herself was born with weak magic and only gained her powers after dying once.

"But if you’re still worried," she said softly, taking his hand and intertwining their fingers, "you can lend me some of your magic. Sir Leofric said your energy matches mine perfectly. He said it’s normal for fated mates."

Edmund took a deep breath, unable to resist his wife’s soft, hypnotic tone. No matter how hard he tried, he could never find a reason to refuse her.

It felt as if he was always drowning in her magi, even though she had never actually bewitched him.

"Alright," Edmund finally said. "Try it on one person first. Once we’re sure you’re fine, we’ll go from there."

Primrose smiled brightly and placed a gentle kiss on his cheek. "Thank you, husband."

The prisoners stared at them in disbelief, thinking that Primrose looked like a wife asking her husband for permission to eat cookies, and then getting all happy when he said yes.

But little did they know, she wasn’t asking for cookies at all.