"I won't hesitate to kill you if I have a reason to," Cedric replied calmly. "But why do you ask?"
"Nothing. I am just curious what kind of a man you are. I heard beasts are horrible, so I expected an exemption from their king," she replied calmly, smiling faintly.
Cedric didn't utter a word until they arrived at Eldrid kingdom.
It was an exhausting journey. Adelaide was already asleep when they arrived. Cedric ordered one of the maids to take her to the queen's chamber and take care of her until he returns since he is going back to Shin-ey kingdom to help fight the vampires with his warriors.
After leaving, the maids took Adelaide to the main room at the senior maid's order.
They placed her on the soft mattress before covering her with a blanket.
For the first time, Adelaide had a comfortable sleep. She slept for straight eight hours like a baby, forgetting she wasn't in her chamber.
"Where am I?" She asked no one in particular after waking up.
Her gaze scanned everywhere, trying to remember where she was but couldn't. The last thing she remembered was being in the carriage with King Cedric.
'Did he lock me here so he could kill me?' She asked herself, trembling at her own thoughts.
"Your Highness, your bath is ready. You have to attend the royal meeting in the absence of King Cedric," the maid informed her with her gaze lowered.
"Am I not locked in here? And why should I attend a royal meeting in place of my husband?" Adelaide asked suspiciously.
"It is a culture every queen must adhere to. The title of a queen in this kingdom means the king's supporter. You are to support the king and be present in his stead in important meetings," the maid replied.
Her eyes rolled at her words. This is the first time she was going to hear that a queen could attend a meeting in place of the king.
Unlike Shin-ey, their king has his assistant who always oversees everything whenever he is not around. It is either the assistant or the prince.
"I can't believe I am not informed about this. Like, how could he keep silent about this?" She asked, sounding displeased.
"You are not the first queen who he did that to. They always complain—"
"Wait a minute, I am not his first wife? If he is married before, where is his wife?" Adelaide was quick to ask, interrupting the maid.
The maid hesitated before replying, "You are King Cedric's fourth wife. He murdered his wives during the full red moonlight." Knowing Adelaide had many questions, the maid added. "You don't have to be too curious. Beasts could read minds."
Her eyes widened upon hearing the maid's last statement. The maid's words made her wonder if Cedric read her thoughts.
If he did, then she is in trouble because he already knew what she was up to and the fact that she knew he had an ulterior motive.
"Does that mean you can read my mind?" She asked to be sure if what the maid said was true.
"I can't. I lost my beast during my eighteenth birthday. I couldn't do many things ever since then," the maid replied.
***
"Wow, so Cedric brought a fae rumored to be a daughter of a witch to Eldrid?" Cedric's brother, Devric, asked his spy.
"Yes, Your Highness. I heard she has no magic too. Maybe he married her hoping to unlock his curse," his spy replied with his gaze lowered.
He burst into laughter at his spy's response. He thought his brother was intelligent, but he was just too dumb. This is the fourth time he was going to try to unlock his curse, but it was all futile.
He kept getting the same result. Isn't he supposed to know he was destined to die with that curse?
"I think it is time to overthrow the cursed king. I fear he might kill us when he goes crazy and has no one to murder," Devric muttered coldly, not caring if Cedric got cursed because of him.
To save him, Cedric killed a witch, resulting in the curse which disrupted his life.
"How is his wife? Is she going to attend the royal meeting in her husband's stead?" He asked, his gaze fixed on his spy who seems to know about literally everything.
"She might, but I doubt she would since she had been sleeping until we arrived at Eldrid," his spy replied before leaving.
A cunning smile crept up to Devrick's lips as his plan unfolds the way he pictured it. Finally, he is going to depose his brother and become the king.
"My lord, the meeting has begun," his guard's reminder made him hurry out of his chamber.
He took the fastest hallway to the royal meeting hall.
The moment he arrived, everyone raised their gaze to look at him aside from a familiar lady. The lady looked like the witch Cedric killed fifteen years ago—the witch that cursed him.
The only difference was the lady's red hair and amaba eyes. Aside from that, they looked so much alike.
"Who is she?" Devrick asked one of the elders after sitting down, pointing at Adelaide who only chuckled.
He tried reading her mind, but it was blank. Every time he tries it on anyone, it always works. Witches included.
"She is our new queen. Queen Adelaide Woodshine," one of the elders introduced, urging Adelaide to introduce herself.
"I am Adelaide, the only daughter and youngest child of the King of faes. I hope to get along with everyone here."