The aura was almost suffocating, and the two omega maids were trembling where they stayed but the king wouldn't punish them so much for harming a maid, right? It's just a scrawny maid.
Alpha Aurelius was livid within him, and Kiel threatened to take over and tear the maid with the bloodied hands apart. The scent of her blood had pervaded the whole room, and it was driving Aurelius crazy. He could sense her emotions, and she was terrified and… furious. She was clutching onto something in her skirt, and he could guess that it was a knife.
Aurelius appeared before Magh and with two clean swipes, her face was completely scarred. He wanted to do more than that, but there was something more important to him.
With just a sound, the guards rushed in. "Prepare to those two maids till their flesh can't heal." Though he was angry at the guards, their case was for later.
"Out, everyone. "Everyone scampered out of the room, and Charlotte dragged her feet after them; he could sense her fury morphing into resentment.
"Who said you could go?" Aurelius snarled, and she turned back at him. She neither bowed nor did she fidget like usual. She looked at him straight in the eye like he was Magh. She didn't even know why she was so livid. Maybe because she had never met someone so barbaric to that extent.
He came to her front and suddenly held her tight by the waist.
She was staring at him as he leaned in.
Just as Alpha King Aurelius was about to reach her face, she pointed her dagger at his neck. He chuckled as he held her hand and dragged the dagger down to his chest. It pierced his skin and formed a trail from his neck to his chest. Charlotte was stupefied for a moment, and Alpha Aurelius used that moment to act out his plan. He licked her across both sides of her face, and the bleeding stopped instantly.
He ordered another guard to get a physician.
"Make the scar disappear," he ordered.
The physician brought out a bottle and poured a bit of the liquid content into it. Numerous questions floated in his head. Why does the alpha king want to treat a maid in his bed chamber? Using a very rare potion at that?
Since werewolves are very strong and immune to many diseases, physicians weren't many in the land. Each state in the country had only three to four physicians. He was very worried when he was told that he was summoned by the alpha king.
In 5 minutes, the wound had disappeared.
The werewolf physician was then excused, leaving Alpha King Aurelius and Charlotte in the room.
She didn't look appeased; her expression was the same all through. Aurelius was trying not to be worried about her, but he knew that if she confronted the other maids, she'd be brutally wounded.
"Do you want to watch them receive their punishment?"
She didn't respond; she just stared down at her fingers, but it was apparent that she wasn't going to let it slide.
Charlotte thought about how Magh slashed her across the face, and tears pooled at the corner of her eyes. If she wasn't around the benevolent alpha king or didn't know him at all, her face would be scared for life. The fact that all she could be in that case was a damsel in distress was disheartening for her.
"May I go now, Your Majesty?"
Aurelius glanced at her one more time before letting her leave.
"Don't do anything silly," he said as she was about to reach the marble double door.
Charlotte went to the punishment ground and watched the two maids whipped mercilessly. They were omega werewolves, so their healing isn't quite as rapid as the other classes of werewolves.
Unlike her, whose scars have vanished, they would have to carry those scars for a long time. Maybe months. That should make her happy that they got more than what they deserved, but she still didn't feel better.
She tried hard to fight back her tears as she walked back to the maids' quarters.
As she curled up on her little mattress, she couldn't hold back anymore. She sobbed, cursing them under her breath. She finally fell asleep after a while.
When it was the evening after Alpha King Aurelius had ended his routine, he strode back to his chamber. Charlotte was on his mind all day, and now that he wasn't busy anymore, a part of him longed deeply to see her. Though he hasn't accepted her as his mate, he couldn't stand her being mistreated.
His guards were summoned, and he gave them an earful. When he was done with them, they were excused.
Follow me, Joe.
Joe was also one of the Alpha King's four werewolves; he was the youngest among them. They both walked to the sparring ground.
"Fight me," Alpha King Aurelius suddenly said before morphing into his wolf form. Joe shifted immediately, and the bloody brawl began. They fought fiercely. Growls and howls filled the grounds as they tore into each other with claws and teeth. Blood sprayed around as they battled, making a gruesome scene. Joe slashed Alpha Aurelius close to his neck, and he groaned, shifting back to his human form. All other wounds inflicted on him during the fight had already healed except the one on his neck down to his chest.
Joe panicked as he saw Alpha King Aurelius wounded.
"It's not from you," he said.
His guards were omegas carefully picked by the Alpha king himself, and they passed through gruesome training before they could become guards. Even with this fact, an omega can't inflict a serious injury on the alpha king.
"It was a silver dagger," Aurelius said, smiling as he remembered the look on her face when she pointed the dagger at him.
Joe panicked even more, and he couldn't understand why Alpha King Aurelius was beaming.
"Joe."
"Yes, my source."
"Do you know the frail omega girl who serves at my chamber?"
"Yes, Your Majesty, why do you ask?"
"I want you to always be around her."
"You mean I should guard her?"
"Yes, but not openly."
"Okay," he stuttered.
The full moon would come in two days, and he was thinking about how to keep her safe during that period. He as an alpha king could control himself in his wolf form so as not to conform to the lunacy, but maids like omegas won't have the mental capabilities for that. There must have been a way she survived till then, but it was the first time she would be experiencing the full moon.
He didn't call for the maids that night; he changed his clothes by himself and rested on his bed trying to channel his mental energy into something up the healing process.
Charlotte had her dinner and changed into a cream peasant top and black harem pants.
"Where are you going?" Ella questioned.
"Let's train outside today. In an actual fight."
"Oh, let's do that if that's what you want."
"Are you going to wear that?" Charlotte asked, pointing to Ella's maid outfit.
"At this level, you won't be able to even touch me even if I'm in a ball dress," Ella smirked, and that renewed Charlotte's anger.
They went to a secluded place behind the palace to train.
"You're not focusing, Charlotte, force-filled but blind strikes will do you no good."
"Are you even listening, Charlotte?" Ella groaned after 20 minutes of sparring.
Charlotte lunged forward once more, unleashing a barrage of full-force strikes with the dagger.
The dagger dropped from her hands and she sat on the ground afterward, breathing heavily.
"Is everything all right?" Ella asked, placing her hands on Charlotte's shoulder.
Charlotte shrugged her hands off and stood up.
"Let's continue," she muttered.
"Precision matters more than speed. Blind attacks leave you vulnerable," Ella enunciated as they continued.
"Channel your emotions and energy into controlled strikes."
Ella took the dagger from Charlotte and slashed it across the air continuously. Even though she didn't have a definite target, it was obvious that her strikes were more refined and planned.
"See how each move is deliberate. You're not just slashing randomly. You need to observe, find openings, and strike with purpose. Blind aggression won't win a fight."
Slowly, Charlotte began to replace blind strikes with more calculated movements. She didn't get to rip Ellas' dress with her blade talk less of injuring her but she had improved a bit more.
"We should stop now, you need to rest."
"I'm not tired," Charlotte grouched.
"Then fight yourself," Ella scoffed.
They walked back into the castle, and Charlotte lay on her bed turning to the wall. She didn't want to tell Ella about what happened.
"Are your mood and the beatings your seniors got today tied together?" She asked subtly.
Charlotte did not respond to her.
"Should we go train some more until you feel better?"
"I'm fine now," Charlotte said, sitting up.
"What happened?"
"One of them attacked me and slashed me across the face with all her nails."
"Oh my," Ella gasped.
"If not for the king who was nice enough to summon the physician quickly. My face would still be riddled with scars now."
"The King summoned a physician for you." Ella was perplexed.
"Yes, he did. He's a very nice king."
"The king is just and fair but I would never associate the word nice with him." Ella rebutted.
"He has always been nice to me." She recounted how he saved her, tended to her injury, and fed her.
"He always comes to save me whenever I'm around."
Ella looked like she was in deep thought for a while before she widened her eyes and snapped her fingers.
"What if he always came around because he could sense it whenever you're in danger?"
"I thought only your mate could do that," Charlotte scoffed before widening her eyes as the realization struck her like thunder.