The Mind-Reading Mate: Why Is the Lycan King So Obsessed With Me?!-Chapter 56: Red Paint (I)

She lowered her head slightly, but her wide eyes still peeked up at the soldier. "Please ... can you let me see my husband? Otherwise, I won’t be able to sleep."

Her little act worked perfectly. The soldier’s tough expression melted in seconds.

Not only did he let her through, but he even insisted on escorting her all the way to the palace main entrance.

But the second Edmund and the other soldiers crossed the palace door, the poor soldier ran for his life, terrified the King might punish him for letting the Queen see him in such a state.

Primrose rolled her eyes at his reaction. How bad could it be? A little blood was nothing.

Oh, how wrong she was.

The moment she caught sight of Edmund, she immediately held her breath. She stood frozen in place, too stunned to even move her feet.

His usual attire, along with his majestic white fur cloak, was completely drenched in red.

It didn’t look like he had just fought on the battlefield, it looked like he had bathed in the blood of a hundred enemies.

Every step he took left a thick, crimson trail of footprints on the marble floor.

Primrose’s golden eyes met his cold, sharp blue ones.

For a moment, they just stood there, staring at each other like they had both accidentally saw a killer clown on the street.

Edmund’s eyes shifted awkwardly. He glanced down at himself, clearly realizing how horrifying he looked.

"Wife, this ..." he said, lifting his head again with a stiff expression. "This is just ... red paint!"

[WHY THE HELL IS MY WIFE HERE?!]

[She should be asleep at this hour! Not ... not running to me and seeing me like this!]

[Shit! I should’ve changed my clothes before entering the palace.]

Edmund frantically tried to wipe the blood off his clothes, but the moment he realized the blood had already seeped deep into the fabric, his face darkened.

[I can’t clean this off! Should I just take all of my clothes off?]

What did he mean by that?!

Primrose’s eye twitched. Was he seriously about to strip in the middle of the grand hall? In front of the maids, guards, and worse, her?!

Before Edmund could make a fool of himself and ruin both of their dignities, Primrose finally managed to move her stiff legs.

"Your ... Your Majesty," she called out softly, her voice sweeter than usual, filled with genuine worry. "Are you alright?"

Edmund blinked, completely taken aback by her reaction. His mind, which just seconds ago was filled with nothing but panic, now felt like it was about to explode.

[I’m standing here drenched in blood, and instead of being afraid, she’s ... worried about me?]

[How ... how can she be this adorable?]

"Don’t come closer," Edmund said firmly, his cold voice cutting through the silence of the hall.

Primrose immediately stopped, standing there like a startled deer, her eyes wide as she looked at him.

When he realized that his tone had come out too harsh, Edmund quickly added, "I’m dirty ... really dirty. If you come any closer, you’ll get stained too."

[I don’t want my wife to touch this filthy blood.]

But instead of stepping back like he expected, Primrose ignored his warning completely.

Without hesitation, she kept walking toward him.

Edmund’s face turned pale. He instinctively stepped back, startled, and the soldiers behind him, seeing their king retreat, also shuffled awkwardly out of the palace doorway like a confused flock of sheep.

Yet, as Primrose continued to approach, the soldiers finally noticed something that made their hearts sink, there were tears glistening in the Queen’s eyes.

[WHAT HAPPENED TO OUR QUEEN?!]

[WHO IN THEIR RIGHT MIND MADE HER MAJESTY CRY?!] novelbuddy.cσ๓

Their hands instinctively reached for their swords, ready to punish whoever was responsible.

But as they exchanged glances and took a second look at themselves that were covered in dirt, blood, and scars, a horrifying realization hit them.

[Wait ... are we the reason?]

[Did we scare Her Majesty with how terrible we look?]

[Why is she walking toward us?!]

While the soldiers silently panicked, Edmund was screaming inside his head.

[WHY IS SHE STILL COMING CLOSER?!]

[SHOO! SHOO! GO AWAY, WIFE!]

He wanted nothing more than to somehow push her back without actually touching her, like swatting away a butterfly, because if she touched him now, she’d be covered in blood and filth too.

"Your Majesty! I’m really worried about you!" Primrose called out as she rushed toward him, but what happened next left her completely speechless.

Before she could even get close, Edmund and the soldiers did something she never imagined, they turned around and ran out of the palace like frightened children, slamming the heavy door shut right in front of her face.

Primrose blinked.

What the hell ...

Weren’t they supposed to be the brave ones? The fearless King and his warriors? Why did it feel like she should be the one running away, not them?

She grabbed the door handle and tried to push it open, but it didn’t move an inch.

It didn’t take a genius to realize that Edmund and the soldiers were holding the door shut from the other side.

"Your Majesty!" she yelled, pounding on the door hard enough to shake it on its hinges. "Why are you running away from me?! I just want to make sure you’re alright!"

"I’m fine, wife!" Edmund shouted back, his voice slightly panicked as he clung tightly to the door handle.

Primrose eventually stopped when her hand started to ache. She leaned her forehead against the door, took a deep breath, and whispered softly, knowing well that Edmund, with his sharp Lycan hearing, could hear every word.

"Edmund ..." her voice came out gentler than before. "Please ... I just want to see you with my own eyes and know that you’re okay."

There was silence on the other side for a few seconds.

Then Edmund muttered weakly, "You don’t have to worry about me. I’m really fine. This ... this is just red paint."

Primrose almost laughed.

Red paint? Really?

What a bad liar.

If it truly was just paint, why did he look so desperate to avoid her? Why slam the door and hold it shut like a child hiding after stealing cookies?

And don’t even get her started on the metallic, bloody scent clinging to the air.

Even a clueless maid would know it wasn’t red paint!

Primrose gently pressed her palm against the cold door. "Husband," she whispered, "I’m not afraid of you.

She meant it.

"I just ... want to see you. That’s all."