The Mind-Reading Mate: Why Is the Lycan King So Obsessed With Me?!-Chapter 468: The Monster Behind Gentle Eyes (I)

"How does it feel to be held captive against your will? Just like what you did to those poor children."

Garrick’s eyes widened the second he heard Primrose’s words. [What? She knows about that? Damn it! Where did she get that information?!]

[No, calm down. Stay calm. If I act normal, no one will suspect me.] He continued thinking, [Besides, it’s not like she has proof.]

Primrose hadn’t expected him to basically confess that quickly. He hadn’t said it out loud yet, but now she clearly knew the truth that was hiding inside his mind.

"Lady—" 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

"Address her with the proper honorific," Edmund cut him off before he could finish speaking.

Primrose lifted her brows in surprise. Edmund usually didn’t care about that kind of thing. But he must have noticed that the Duke was doing it on purpose so he could disrespect her.

Meanwhile, Garrick also looked shocked, but it wasn’t confusion. It was fear. Which made sense, because Edmund really did sound terrifying to people he didn’t like.

"Of course, Your Majesty." Garrick turned back to Primrose. "Your Majesty, this is all a misunderstanding. I don’t know anything about what you’re talking about. Children? Why would I imprison children? I have my own children, so why would I lock up someone else’s?"

Primrose walked closer to his cell, but kept a safe distance so he couldn’t reach her. "Well... maybe because hurting your own children would look horrible in the public’s eyes. So instead, you chose to torture other people’s children."

[What the hell... did she place spies to follow me all this time?!] Garrick panicked internally. [No, no, no. That’s impossible. King Averon placed those children underground, so of course no one would ever see what happens there.]

Primrose suddenly felt like she couldn’t breathe. She clenched her fists so hard that her nails dug into her palms.

As a soon-to-be mother, she couldn’t imagine the nightmares haunting those mothers if they ever learned that their babies had been tortured for so long.

But more than that...

What kind of nightmares did the children live through in that dark place?

Were they cold?

Did they keep hoping their mothers would come and save them?

"No, Your Majesty, I would never do that!" Garrick suddenly stood up from his bed and walked toward the bars. "How could I torture children when I love them so much?"

When Primrose looked into his eyes, it felt like she was staring into a black hole. The kind of eyes that had no soul and acted as a window for demons to peek into the human world.

But Garrick... his eyes were not just a window for demons. He was the demon itself, perhaps even worse.

At least the demons people imagined had frightening faces and horns on their heads. But this one... this demon looked normal, so he could disguise himself as a kind man who would offer candy to children.

The innocent children would happily take the candy, thinking it was just a sweet gift. They never knew that those candies weren’t gifts at all, but they were bait that led them straight into a living hell.

"Tortured, you said?" Primrose smiled, but it was the kind of smile filled with pain, not warmth. "All I said earlier was that you locked up children, not that you tortured them. So tell me, Your Grace, do you enjoy it? Do you actually feel happy hurting those innocent children?"

Garrick didn’t say anything out loud, but Primrose could clearly hear his thoughts. [Innocent? They’re not that innocent when...]

Primrose turned her face away, biting her lower lip. Right then, she wished more than anything that she didn’t have the power to hear people’s thoughts.

"Your Majesty, you’re misunderstanding again," Garrick finally said. But Primrose still refused to look at him, just seeing his face made her stomach turn. "I only assumed it. Usually, people do bad things when they capture children."

"I mean, you understand that, don’t you, Your Majesty?" Garrick then looked at Edmund. "Children these days act and look more mature than their age. You probably already liked your wife back then, right?"

Oh, this bastard.

Not only did he refuse to admit his sins — he was trying to drag her husband into his sick logic.

Primrose was about to speak, but Edmund answered first. "No. Children are children. It doesn’t matter what they look like," he said coldly. "And no. I only met my wife recently, and I’m sane enough not to approach underage girls."

Edmund had met her once before, and he also remembered that. But it was better to let that pass, because Garrick would only use it as a weapon against him.

Besides, Edmund had never been attracted to her back then.

So how dare Garrick compare his disgusting actions to Edmund, a man who married a grown woman and had never once acted like a creep toward children?

Was he trying to say Primrose had a childlike face? Sure, she was young, but she still clearly looked like an adult.

People like him were truly sick in the head.

"But what if they’re the ones who approach you first, Your Majesty?" Garrick asked again. "Would you give them a chance then? That’s not wrong, right? I mean, they’re the ones offering themselves to us men."

[Some of those children even let me touch their hair in exchange for candy,] he thought. [So that’s consent, right? It’s just a simple trade.]

Primrose almost snapped and was about to walk right up to the cell, but Edmund quickly took her hand. He couldn’t hear what she heard, but he still knew that whatever was inside Garrick’s mind had to be truly disgusting.

And of course, they were.

How could he possibly believe that children were capable of giving consent? They probably just thought he liked their hair, that was it.

Damn it.

"Let’s go outside for a moment," Edmund whispered beside her ear. Before Primrose could say anything, he added softly, "I need it."