Beast King's Crippled Mate-Chapter 152: Mourning

"H-how could that be?" Blaze was utterly confused. There was zero chance that Princess Swan would survive the suppressive aura emanating from the Beast King’s body, especially since she was inside that cave with him.

Even if she somehow survived the suppressive aura, she definitely wouldn’t survive the cursed beast’s gaze or his claws.

’His Majesty must be in denial. He’s so in love with Princess Swan, that’s why he cannot accept that he had accidentally killed the Princess...’

Blaze didn’t want to anger His Majesty, so he simply played along, "T-then, I’m glad she is safe, Your Majesty. And thank you for sparing my life..."

"Hm," Gale nodded nonchalantly. He turned his head towards the direction where the other beastmen stayed to guard the area. Blaze Silverfang might’ve survived his aura, but he didn’t know about the rest.

Thus, he ordered, "Once you’ve recovered, go and find the rest of the entourage. Report to me if they are safe, and tell me if I’ve accidentally killed anyone tonight. I will give compensation to the tribe of those who died."

"Understood, Your Majesty."

"I’ll return to the cave. My wife must’ve been very cold right now," Gale said before he turned around and returned to the cave.

Blaze watched His Majesty walk away and couldn’t help but grieve over Princess Swan’s death.

When His Majesty said that she must’ve been very cold, he probably hinted that Princess Swan’s body had become cold after her death.

’I’ve never seen His Majesty to be so in love with someone,’ Blaze thought. ’I should’ve ignored those rumors about her. No witch would be brave enough to accompany THE cursed beast, and brace herself even in the face of death.’

**

Gale returned to the cave and saw Swan who was in a deep sleep.

She must’ve been exhausted after what happened tonight, and though Gale still had many unanswered questions, he decided to cast his worry aside and joined Swan inside the blanket.

He hugged her naked body, skin-to-skin under the blanket to give her even more warmth, and Gale’s heartbeat gradually slowed down as he felt at ease.

’The biggest sin I can ever do in this life is hurting you, Swan,’ Gale said in his heart. ’You are my other half. So if you die—especially by my hand—then I will follow you even to the depths of hell. I will beg for your forgiveness, even though I already know that you will forgive me either way.’

’You are always like that, sweetheart. You are so kind and gentle that I can’t bear to see you in pain,’ Gale hugged her tighter as he wanted to make sure that this wasn’t just a dream, and Swan wouldn’t disappear by the time he woke up. ’I will find my fated mate as soon as possible, and break this curse. That’s the only way.’

Gale closed his eyes and fell asleep rather quickly as he felt at ease with Swan in his embrace.

For the first time in decades, after Gale got cursed, he passed the coldest night without rampaging around. The blood moon slowly disappeared as the dawn came.

*

Blaze regained his strength right before dawn. He got up and rushed to the location where the other beastmen were staying far from the cave.

Once he was there, he saw that everyone had collapsed, but none of them were dead. Thankfully, they stayed far away from the cave, otherwise, there would be casualties. However, this didn’t mean they were fine. The way they weakly lay on the ground was proof that they were almost on the brink of death.

"Are you guys okay?" Blaze asked as he helped them to sit up.

"We are okay..." a rhino beastman replied as he tried to catch his breath. "His Majesty’s aura last night was insane. Had it lingered for more than five minutes, we would’ve died."

"What happened to His Majesty? This is the first time I’ve seen him releasing such an insane aura that kills every animal around," a boar beastman asked. "And how come we didn’t see a giant wolf rampaging around tonight?"

"He..." Blaze bit his lip. He couldn’t bear to tell the truth about how he had killed Princess Swan.

It was the bunny maid they brought as Princess Swan’s attendant who asked, "How about Princess Swan? Is she dead?!"

"Hey! Watch your mouth! How could you say that to Princess Swan!" an elephant beastman yelled.

"I-I just want to make sure..." Alice pouted.

...

"She is probably dead by now," Blaze replied in a low voice. "I don’t know the exact details, since His Majesty didn’t leave the cave until he came to check on me. But I think it’s safe to assume that Princess Swan is dead since there is no way she can survive in that cave with His Majesty. I assume that His Majesty finished his rut once he realized that he had killed his beloved..."

The atmosphere around the soldiers was depressing.

"No, that can’t be..." the boar beastman muttered. "Princess Swan is such a kind woman..."

"She helps us, so we can bring our offspring to train in the castle, so they can be soldiers like us..." the elephant beastman added. "I don’t care about the rumor that she is a witch. She’s been nothing but kind to us and His Majesty."

"Yeah, who the hell spread that rumor about her being a witch anyway? There’s no proof!"

"I heard it’s the servants who spread the rumor first."

...

All the beastmen soldiers darted their eyes towards Alice who was the only beastman maid in here. The latter quickly shook her head, "I-It’s not me! I don’t know where that rumor comes from, but I’ve told my friends not to spread stupid rumors like that!"

Alice quickly lowered her head as if she was grieving over Princess Swan’s death, so the soldiers stopped accusing her.

Little did they know, Alice was actually celebrating. She was so happy that she could dance around the field right now.

’Hihi, Lady Jade’s plan must’ve succeeded. That witchy bitch must’ve been raped to death by His Majesty!’ Alice thought. ’Ha! That’s what you deserve for charming His Majesty with your dark spell, you witch!’