Stolen by the Beastly Lycan King-Chapter 100: He Can’t Die

The hunt concluded in the strangest way imaginable.

The chaos and panic caused by Althea’s spell had nearly driven everyone mad with fear, but the queen somehow managed to convince all who were at the campsite and in the forest that nothing truly dangerous had occurred.

By the time the nobles returned to their homes, they firmly believed the hunt had been a resounding success. Each of them thought they had returned with impressive spoils, and even though many knights and attendants were brought back to the palace nursing serious injuries, the queen’s spell made them recall being attacked by wild wolves whose carcasses they had supposedly brought back as trophies.

As for those who had played the role of wild beasts, dressed in animal furs, they vanished without a trace.

Only Kai resisted the fabricated narrative.

Unlike the others, the crown prince refused to believe he had been wounded by a wild animal. freewёbnoνel.com

To avoid arousing suspicion, Althea ensured he was placed under her spell as well. Yet, while it was simple to confuse the others, the circumstances surrounding Kai’s injury made it far more complicated.

His wound, inflicted by an arrow, was unmistakable. And Kai was determined to uncover who had fired it.

When the crown prince was brought back to the main palace, Althea shed her regal composure entirely. Her behavior, erratic and almost unhinged, shocked everyone.

The usually kind and gentle queen appeared nearly delirious with worry, her frantic cries echoing through the palace halls. Even for a mother distraught over her son’s injury, her reaction struck many as unnervingly strange.

She watched the beasts depart for their quarters, her bloodshot eyes following their every move. Then, without hesitation, she stormed toward Rhaegar, interrupting his farewell to the princess and her aide.

The king remained composed, his tone calm despite the queen’s burning glare of unconcealed hatred.

"It was chaos out there, Your Majesty," Rhaegar said evenly. "Perhaps one of his attendants mistakenly shot him while aiming for a beast."

Althea’s lips curled into a chilling smile, her expression as wicked as it was unnerving. "It had better be true, King Rhaegar," she hissed.

Thus, the hunt ended, leaving the royal palace simmering with unease.

Unwilling to let the matter rest, the queen turned the entire Capital upside down in her search for the archer responsible for Kai’s wound. Yet, despite her relentless efforts, she uncovered nothing. Every arrow and broken weapon recovered from the scene where the prince was shot was identical, leaving her no way to trace the culprit.

Even her attempts to secretly use witchcraft to uncover the arrow’s owner yielded no results. The enchantments seemed to resist her probing, as if deliberately shielding the truth from her grasp.

Though it pained her to admit defeat, Althea had no choice but to let the matter go. Without evidence, she could prove nothing.

***

"Mother." Kai’s quiet, faint voice snapped Althea out of her troubled musings.

"Kai!" She nearly leaped to her feet, clutching her son’s cold hands between her trembling fingers. "How are you feeling? Are you in pain?"

The sight of him made her chest tighten. She bit her lip, knowing all too well the agony he must be enduring. The arrow wound refused to heal, even after Althea had given him both her blood and the king’s. The flesh around the injury was decaying rapidly, the blackened skin spreading at an alarming rate.

I had no idea he’d grown this weak...

Gently, she brushed his sweat-drenched red hair away from his pale forehead and gazed into his eyes. Red. Even after drinking the king’s blood, the vibrant green that should have returned to his irises remained absent. The king’s blood was no longer working on him.

Althea exhaled a shaky sigh, her fingers trembling as she closed her son’s heavy eyelids with a delicate touch.

"Rest some more," she whispered, smoothing a herbal salve across his cracked lips. Kai instinctively licked the soothing liquid, his body too weak to protest. "I’ll take care of everything."

Once certain he had drifted back to sleep, the queen slipped out of his chamber, her expression grim and unyielding.

Lucia, who had been waiting just outside the door, rushed toward her, worry etched across her face.

"How is he doing, Your Majesty? I’m so worried! He hasn’t left his bed since the incident—what if he gets sick and dies? Please, can we call for the doctor—"

Lucia’s frantic plea was abruptly cut off as Althea’s hand shot forward, her long, cold fingers trapping the young woman’s face in a vice-like grip.

Lucia flinched, swallowing hard as the queen’s sharp nails dug painfully into her soft cheeks. Despite Althea’s elegant appearance, her strength was as terrifying as the fury blazing in her dark brown eyes, which now seemed almost black with rage.

"Watch your filthy mouth, you worthless whore," Althea hissed, her voice low and venomous. "The crown prince will not die. Nothing will kill him."

She held the woman’s gaze, her fingers tightening ever so slightly, daring her to argue. When Lucia nodded hastily in submission, the queen abruptly jerked her hand away, shoving the lady-in-waiting against the wall with a force that made her wince.

Lucia pressed a trembling hand to her stinging face, feeling faint cuts where the queen’s claws had broken skin. Althea cast her one final, searing glare before turning away. Her voice, cold and commanding, rang out as she strode down the hall.

"No one goes in. If I find out that someone dares to enter his room, your head will be the first to roll."

The clicking of Althea’s heels echoed ominously as she disappeared from sight. Lucia stood frozen, her heart pounding wildly in her chest. She clutched a tightly clenched fist against it, struggling to calm herself.

Meanwhile, Althea stormed down the corridor, her thin skin flushed with rage and dark veins bulging ominously beneath its surface.

He won’t die. He can’t die. Lorelai...

Her thoughts halted abruptly when she noticed one of the princess’s maids hurrying down the hall, arms full of freshly laundered clothes. Althea snapped her fingers sharply, motioning for the girl to approach.

"You!" she barked. "Fetch the princess and send her to my bedroom. NOW!"