The Princess And Her Alpha Bodyguard

38~ HEART’S DILEMMA

It couldn't be. I was a hundred percent sure that Valdemir and Edward were the same people. So, how could things turn out this way? I'd never expected the two of them to appear in front of me simultaneously like this. It was as if they could see through what my head was thinking about this entire morning.

"Why do you look so surprised to see me? I thought Lumina had already told you of my arrival," said Valdemir.

"Well," I cleared my throat as I snapped out of the shock. "I thought it'd take until nightfall for you to arrive. I heard you didn't just visit the border. You were visiting another kingdom. Where is that?"

"I'll tell you about that when you're better. Now, we have something else more important to discuss."

"What is it?" I frowned in confusion.

Valdemir turned to Edward as if to give him a signal.

"It's about Zelda, Petra, and Avice," said Edward after he bowed his head once at Valdemir. It was as if he received the command to speak on behalf of his king.

"What about them?" I asked.

"King Valdemir wanted to know what you wanted him to do with those three."

"Why are you asking me? They are your people. There should be a law to punish them. Just follow the procedure."

"That's the problem." Valdemir leaned forward with his elbows placed on his knees.

"Huh?"

"What King Valdemir meant was that what he wanted to do wasn't in the law. As you've already known, Ascian is a werewolves' kingdom. Because of what happened to our ancestors, our races kept decreasing. That's why our kingdom has never written an execution law before." Edward explained.

"I see." I lowered my gaze to the ground for a split second. "What? Execution?" My eyes widened in shock as I looked up at both of them.

Edward nodded. "His majesty wanted to behead the three of them for the crime they'd committed against you."

"Hold on." I raised my hand from the mattress. The action was more effortless now that I'd eaten and moved my muscles this morning. "Valdemir, you wanted to kill them?"

"Killing sounded way too lenient. I wish I could do better." His hands balled into fists. "Right. Maybe I should do it that way."

"Err… what way?" I gulped, wondering what he was thinking. My heart was touched that he was angry about what they had done to me. Still, I shuddered at the thought of hearing someone get killed. Since I was born, the most severe torture I had given someone was flogging. I'd never given the order to kill.

The fact that my parents kept me from practicing martial arts and handling court matters must have been why I got soft-hearted. I knew I would have to face it some days when I became a queen. Yet, it was still terrifying to think about it. It might sound exaggerating or childish, but I believed even the most heartless assassin was affected by the first person he killed.

"King Valdemir was thinking about using the same thing they'd done to you back to them. He wanted to cut their backs open and tie them to a tree, leaving them to die from blood loss," said Edward in a low voice.

"That's way too cruel!" I exclaimed in shock.

"They deserve it!" Valdemir snapped, making me flinch.

I'd never seen him lose his composure before. He'd always been calm. Then again, this just proved how much he cared for me. The thoughts made my heart flutter a little, but it was only short-lived. It disappeared when Edward's voice filled my ears. It was like how the new wave overtook the old one.

"Lae, you almost died. Have you forgotten about it? If I wasn't there on time, Thomas would have killed you," said Edward. "What they did to you was this cruel. You shouldn't have mercy on them."

"Of course, I remembered. I hated them for doing that to me. I want you to punish them. Still,…" I trailed off, giving it some thoughts.

"Still?" Edward prompted after a short while of silence.

"I don't want Valdemir to kill them," I finished the sentence.

When I accepted Valdemir's punishment to go to the training camp, I'd made up my mind to get along with the people here. Valdemir had already gone through the risk of keeping me in Ascian. He went against the council and his people. It was bad enough that my presence here made him break the rules. Now, if he killed the trio, wouldn't it make things worse? Wouldn't everyone hate me even more? Wouldn't this cause a problem between the king and his people?

No matter how guilty Zelda, Petra and Avice were, they were still werewolves. They belonged to Ascian. This was their home. As for me, I was only an outsider here. A refugee, on top of that. I didn't want to cause more problems than I'd already had.

"That's absurd," said Valdemir. His hands balled into fists, and they were shaking. "How do you expect me to let them live when they almost kill my mate?"

"I had my reason, Valdemir. I… Hold on." I looked at Valdemir with my jaws dropped open. "What did you just say?"

"King Valdemir wanted to keep this a secret until the right time comes. But it looks like he can't hold it in anymore," said Edward. "Since it comes to that, I might as well help him give you an explanation."

"Why don't you let him do it himself?" My eyes fixated on Valdemir.

Valdemir looked away as he leaned back in the chair and crossed his legs. "Let Edward do the talk."

"Why can't you do it?" I challenged him. "This is your matter. Why do you let others do the talk?"

"It's a long story. I don't have time for that. I already called the council members in for a meeting. Now, it's already time. We'll discuss how to punish those three. Don't worry. I won't kill them since that's what you want." Valdemir put his legs down. It was as if he was about to get up.

"Don't you dare leave this room without giving me an explanation!" I pushed my body up from the mattress when I saw he was about to leave. Sadly, the wound on my back acted up, making me drop back to the bed. "Ouch." I squeezed my eyes shut and yelped in pain.

"Lae, are you okay?" Edward rushed to my side at once. "I've told you before. You can't move too much. Do you want to tear the stitches? Can't you take better care of yourself?" His voice sounded rougher than usual. Still, I could sense the care embedded in it. I guessed he only lost it because he was too worried about me.

By the time I opened my eyes, Valdemir was nowhere to be found. "Where is Valdemir?" I asked, looking up at Edward, who was standing next to my bed.

"The council members are waiting. In fact, they'd gathered for a while. But King Valdemir insisted on seeing you wake up first."

"It doesn't make sense. How could he leave things hanging like that and disappear?" I gritted my teeth in anger. "I felt like he was avoiding me on purpose."

"You're overthinking, Lae. He didn't. King Valdemir has a lot on his mind right now. He's furious that a bad thing happened to the most important person in his life. That's you."

"Me? I'm his most important person?"

"Yes." He nodded. "A mate for a werewolf is as crucial as a soulmate for a human. I believe you've heard from the girls, haven't you?"

"About what?" My brows furrowed in confusion.

"How King Valdemir was adamant in marrying no one except his mate. This proves you're significant to him. He's been waiting for you for two decades, Lae. Now, he finally found you," said Edward with a weak smile.

I hope I didn't see things. But I seemed to detect dejection in that smile. If I had heard about this mate thing before getting to know Edward, my heart might've swelled with pride. But right now, what I felt was a dilemma. I was torn between my own feelings, not knowing what exactly my heart wanted. Or rather, who was it that my heart desired?

Was I being a b***h here?

"Well,... I-I…" I stuttered, not knowing what to say. A pang of sadness hit my heart when I looked into Edward's eyes. It took me back to Lumina's words when she told me about Edward's confession.

Did he already know this when he said I Love You to me that night? A question popped up in my head. If he hasn't, does this news also turn his heart upside down the way it does with mine? If he has, what is he thinking about when he's said those words to me? Doesn't he fear punishment from his king for loving his girl?

All these questions were killing me. I wanted to convey what was on my mind aloud and asked him these. I wondered if he would tell me the truth.

"I was taken aback to know that the king's mate is a human. It has never happened before. At least not in Ascian. Still, a mate is a mate. No one can intervene. That was why the council members had no choice but to let you stay. They couldn't refuse. Though they didn't let it slide easily, either. There were more conditions."

"What are those conditions?" I asked, trying not to sound disappointed. It seemed Edward already knew I belonged to his king. Still, why did he confess to me then?

"I'm sorry. I'm not in a position to tell you that. King Valdemir only allowed me to speak this much."

"Another secret, huh?" I hissed.

"Lae, I know you don't like being kept in the dark. But you have to trust King Valdemir. He does everything he can for your own good."

"I doubt that."

"Please. You need to trust him." He fixed his eyes on me. It was as if he begged me to trust another man.

"I'll try." I sighed and averted my eyes to the bedsheet.

"I was against it when he said to keep this a secret. You being his mate, I meant. But now, I'm glad that things turned out this way. I'm happy for you, Lae."

His words made me look back at him. I stared into his eyes in silence for a while before parting my lips and asked, "Are you sure that you're happy?"

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©️StellaKMary | The Princess And Her Alpha Bodyguard

A/N: I saw many of you commented that you're on both teams (#TeamEdward and #TeamValdemir). Are you expecting me to write a threesome? lol...O.O