Chapter 601: A Late-Night Visit

Edmund immediately looked around in confusion. [Who? Who’s that handsome warrior?! Wait… am I getting uglier now?]

“Husband, it’s you,” Primrose said with a soft laugh. “You’re my handsome warrior.”

“Oh…” Edmund lowered his head, clearly embarrassed by his wife’s words. “It’s very kind of you to say that, my wife.”

Primrose tilted her head slightly, a warm smile spreading across her face. “I’m only telling the truth.”

Then, after a short pause, she looked at him with a playful glint in her eyes. “Are you really going to make your wife keep standing here?”

Edmund immediately straightened when he realized what she meant. “Of course not!”

Edmund took his wife’s hand and gently led her toward the entrance of the training ground.

Since this wasn’t Primrose’s first time visiting, the soldiers had already prepared a special lounge chair just for her. They even cleaned it from time to time, making sure it was always ready whenever the Queen of Noctvaris came to visit.

“I suppose missing me isn’t the only reason you came here,” Edmund said as he sat down beside her.

He picked up a small towel and wiped the sweat from his face and hair.

Primrose stared at him for a little too long and for a moment, she almost forgot how to breathe.

“Do I really need a reason just to see my husband?” she asked.

Edmund immediately turned to her. “No, that’s not what I meant, but—”

“I know, I know.” Primrose quickly cut him off. “You’re right. Besides missing you, I just… I don’t know.”

She looked away and let out a quiet sigh. “I wanted to… Actually, I’m not even sure what I wanted.” Her voice became softer. “I guess I just wanted to see you.”

Edmund looked at her for a moment. After making sure his hands were clean, he reached out and gently caressed her cheek. “Is this about Pippa’s tribe?”

Primrose sighed once more and nodded. “Yes.” Her eyes lowered slightly. “I still can’t believe they could be that cruel to their own children.”

But maybe that wasn’t the only thing bothering her. Perhaps, deep down, she was asking the same question about her own past.

“We managed to save some of the younger children from the Holan Tribe,” Edmund suddenly said. “They haven’t been fully brainwashed yet, so there’s still a chance for us to help them live normal lives in this kingdom.”

Primrose straightened her back because this was the first time she had heard about this matter.

“How many of them?” Primrose asked.

“Not many,” Edmund answered in a low voice. “Around twenty.”

He paused before adding, “I already sent them to the same facilities where the children from Moonshadow are being cared for, so you don’t need to worry about them.”

Most of the children were only a few months old to around eleven years old. It wasn’t that Edmund didn’t want to save the older children.

Unfortunately, once children in the Holan Tribe reached the age of twelve, their lives usually changed completely.

They were either sold away or forced through harsh training so they could become warriors for the tribe and once the children had been taught those beliefs for too long, things became much harder.

Some of them would rather kill themselves than follow the people who had attacked their families.

“We could try erasing their memories,” Edmund said after a moment. “That way, they wouldn’t remember what happened to them.”

His gaze became serious. “But I don’t think that would be the right thing to do.”

“Did they abuse their children?” Primrose asked seriously.

“Kind of,” Edmund answered.

“Then we can’t erase their memories.” Primrose explained, “If we forcefully suppress those memories, there’s no guarantee they’ll stay buried forever, and if they suddenly return one day, the children might misunderstand everything.”

“We… destroyed their tribe. That’s the truth.” The words felt heavy even as she said them. “They need to remember that.”

Primrose paused before continuing. “But they also need to understand why it happened. They need to know that the people they called family didn’t even care enough to treat them like living beings.”

“I suppose that’s the right choice we can make,” Edmund said at last.

For a while, neither of them said anything else.

Primrose remained seated beside Edmund, quietly watching the soldiers train in the distance. The sound of weapons clashing filled the training ground, but somehow, sitting next to her husband made everything feel much calmer.

Edmund did not push her to talk anymore. He simply stayed beside her, close enough that their shoulders almost touched.

A few minutes later, one of the soldiers suddenly approached them. “Your Majesty.”

Edmund turned his head. “What is it?”

The soldier immediately lowered his head. “A guest has arrived at the palace.”

Edmund raised one eyebrow. “At this hour?”

It was already quite late, and people normally would not come to the palace without sending word beforehand, even nobles who wanted an audience usually arranged it in advance.

“I wasn’t expecting any visitors,” Edmund said.

The soldier looked slightly tense before answering, “This guest is important, Your Majesty.”

Edmund’s expression changed a little and Primrose also turned her attention toward the soldier.

“How important?” Edmund asked.

The soldier took a breath. “The Emperor of Vellmoria has arrived.”

Both Edmund and Primrose widened their eyes slightly.

They had always known that they would meet the Emperor sooner or later, but neither of them had expected him to be the one who came knocking on their door first.

“Prepare the reception room for him,” Edmund said at last. “Tell him we’ll meet him in an hour.”

The soldier nodded at once and quickly left to carry out the order.

Primrose, however, still looked tense. Her fingers slowly reached for Edmund’s hand, and she held onto him without even realizing it.

“My father still hasn’t replied to my last letter,” she said quietly. “Do you think… the Emperor did something to him?”

At first, Primrose had tried to convince herself that her father was simply busy. Maybe he had too many things to deal with, or perhaps the letter had been delayed.

But now that the Emperor of Vellmoria had suddenly appeared at their palace, she could no longer stop the darker thoughts from entering her mind.

She had not received any letter from Salem either and that only made her worry even more.

Edmund immediately noticed the fear in her eyes. He tightened his hold on her hand and gently rubbed his thumb over her skin.

“Nothing bad will happen to Father,” he reassured her. “I’ve already made sure of that.”

Guys, I need your opinion on something T_T

I recently found a book called Reborn as the Lycan King’s Unrejected Mate by Anezza, and some parts of the plot and the sequence of events feel kinda similar to my Lycan book.

I don’t want to immediately assume anything because maybe I’m just overthinking it lol, so if any of you have read both books, could you check and tell me what you think? Does it actually resemble mine, or am I just seeing things because I know my own plot too well?