CHAPTER 421: A QUEEN’S STAND FOR HER WOLF

"You foul beast!" Ilyana yelled, pointing at Edmund like he was a villain in a theater play. "You didn’t even let Rosie come home by herself!"

Cassandra gasped dramatically. "Seriously?! Are you that obsessed? You couldn’t give her even a tiny bit of freedom?!"

Aster tried to join in, voice shaky like a trembling bunny. "Y-yeah! I-I won’t let you t-take her away again!"

They tried to glare at him, but honestly, it was hard to look intimidating when all three of them were hiding behind Primrose’s back, pushing each other forward like cowards trying to sacrifice their friend to the dragon.

"Aster, you go talk to him!" Ilyana whispered harshly, nudging her.

"W-why me?! Cassandra can do it!"

"No way! Ilyana’s the oldest, she should go!"

Primrose pressed her hand to her forehead, sighing. In her eyes, her elegant noble friends suddenly looked like three frightened kittens trying to hiss at a giant wolf with their claws out, fur puffed up, but absolutely terrified.

Meanwhile, the so-called "terrifying wolf"—Edmund—was literally just standing there quietly behind a pillar, doing nothing but existing.

"He didn’t come here because he refuses to let me go alone," Primrose said, firmly defending her poor husband. "He came because he wanted to protect me. He didn’t want me to get attacked by bandits or wild animals on the road."

"And please..." Primrose warned softly but firmly. "Don’t insult the man I love the most. Other than my father, of course."

Her friends froze. Their eyes widened and they all jumped back like someone had thrown boiling water at them.

Ilyana was the first to speak, "You... you love the beast?!"

Primrose furrowed her brows, truly looking angry now."He’s not just a beast! He’s my husband. Look at him, he literally looks harmless right now!"

"H-harmless?" Aster repeated, slowly peeking at Edmund again. The moment she met his bright blue eyes, she squeaked and hid behind Cassandra.

Cassandra threw her hands up dramatically. "Rosie, you are clearly confused! You think you love him because you had no other choice!"

Right after Cassandra said that, she suddenly heard Edmund’s thoughts. [That... does make sense. What if she really had no choice?]

Primrose almost smacked her forehead right there. Her overthinking husband should never meet her friend who speaks without thinking.

"I am NOT confused!" Primrose said firmly. "You literally married a merchant you only met three times!"

Cassandra immediately defended herself. "T–that’s different! My husband is human!"

[He even treats me better than my own father! And he never gets angry even though I haven’t had children yet!] she thought bitterly.

Primrose frowned. "And what’s the difference? Just because your husband is human, he’s automatically better than mine?"

She crossed her arms. "Humans also beat their wives and murder people. My husband has never hurt me, not even once, and he does everything he can to take care of me."

The tension grew so thick that her friends began to suspect she had already been brainwashed by the beasts.

But how could they say that, when they were clearly brainwashed first by years of false propaganda about beasts?!

Primrose understood her friends meant well. They were trying to protect her, and that warmed her heart... but she wouldn’t allow them to keep insulting Edmund.

Still... she could never give up the friendship they had built over so many years. She loved all of them deeply, and Primrose could not choose between her husband and her friends.

"Can’t you at least give him a chance?" Primrose pleaded quietly. "How can you call someone evil when you’ve never even spoken to him properly?"

Her friends fell silent, not knowing how to respond.

Deep down, they still believed giving a beast a chance was pointless because in their eyes, once a beast, always a beast.

But they also knew Primrose extremely well, and they had never seen her look so desperately in love, nor defend a man as if her life depended on it.

[What if the King forced her? What if this is part of a plan to invade Illvaris and he made Rosie convince us to trust him?!]

Primrose’s eyes dimmed slightly. Was it really so hard for them to think positively instead of always assuming the worst about her husband?

Why did they act like being born a beast was an unforgivable sin? It wasn’t as if they chose to be born that way. She wished, just for once, people would try to see him the way she did.

"If you don’t want to trust me, then at least trust my wife," Edmund suddenly said, catching even Primrose by surprise. She hadn’t expected him to step in.

Edmund finally stepped out from behind the pillar. Three heads snapped toward him at the same time, and their hearts dropped to their stomachs.

Even though he walked toward them calmly, to Primrose’s friends it must have looked like a great mythical beast approaching, ready to devour someone.

Her friends clung to each other like terrified ducklings. But then Edmund spoke again, his voice surprisingly gentle.

"You can think anything bad about me all you want," he said softly, "but don’t doubt her. Maybe you don’t realize this, but my wife is definitely not someone who can be controlled easily."

Primrose blinked.

Was that a compliment? Or a polite warning that she is, in fact, terrifying? Either way, her heart warmed.

He continued, calm and honest, "She chooses for herself, and she chose to be with me."

The three ladies looked confused. They were still scared, yes, but also startled by how... sincere he sounded.

They loosened their grip on each other a little, still peeking at him like nervous kittens staring at a very large dog who promised not to bite.

Cassandra swallowed hard. "Well... words are cheap."

Aster nodded shakily. "Y-yes... we need proof..."

Ilyana crossed her arms, trying to look bold even though her knees were trembling. "We will... observe you."

Even though they still didn’t fully trust him, at least they had started to open up a little after seeing how gentle the "beast" in front of them really was.

Primrose clapped her hands lightly and said, "Why don’t we have a proper conversation first? Maybe... we can drink some warm tea together? Aren’t you cold right now?"