The Mind-Reading Mate: Why Is the Lycan King So Obsessed With Me?!-Chapter 478: The Boy Who Stopped Hoping (I)

After walking around the basement, Edmund finally found out there were twenty children locked up down there.

Some of them looked terrified, their bodies shaking as they held onto the cage bars. But others looked strangely calm... too calm. Like they had stopped caring whether they lived or died.

That was when Edmund understood. The frightened ones had probably only been trapped there for a few weeks, maybe a few months.

But the calm ones? They had been there for so long that their skin had turned pale, so pale it was obvious they hadn’t seen sunlight in ages.

Edmund took a slow step closer. "I’m not here to hurt you," he said softly. He was careful with his tone, because he didn’t want to scare them even more.

Then he lowered himself and knelt in front of the cages, making sure he didn’t look like a threat. "I’m here to save you," he added.

"Is that a game?" one of the older boys spoke. His voice was flat and tired. He stayed in the corner of the cage, not even trying to get closer. "If I run away, what punishment will I get when you catch me?"

Edmund fell silent for a moment. He gritted his teeth and clenched his fists tightly. "No, I’m not playing a game. I genuinely want to save you."

"Liar," another boy muttered. "You’ll just send us to a new master," he said bitterly. "Or maybe you’ll throw our bodies to the demon beasts."

Their words were cold, and that made Edmund’s heart ache even more. It meant the Count of Veloria had probably done this before. He probably had let them out just to give them hope, only to catch them again and lock them up like animals.

The more Edmund thought about it, the more he wanted to kill the Count twice, or maybe three times.

"I will not do that," Edmund said, doing his best to keep his voice gentle. "I promise."

Honestly, Edmund wasn’t good at interacting with children. Even when he played with the children in Illvaris City, it was his wife who made the atmosphere warm and comfortable.

Edmund let out a soft sigh. He couldn’t help thinking that these children probably wouldn’t be this terrified if Primrose were the one standing here.

His wife could surely soften these children’s hearts, even without her magic. Unfortunately, Edmund didn’t want Primrose to step foot in this dirty place, because she would probably be heartbroken, and it could affect her health and her pregnancy.

So for now—whether he liked it or not—he had to be the one to convince these children that nothing bad would happen if they came out of their cages.

"Your Majesty, you have to let me talk to them."

Edmund immediately turned around when he heard Salem’s voice. Salem had come back down into the basement, and he hadn’t brought the soldiers with him.

"Why did you come back, Sir Vesper?" Edmund frowned. Just from his tone alone, it was obvious he wasn’t happy to see Salem here. "I told you to wait outside."

Salem didn’t pay much attention to Edmund’s words and walked toward him. "Unfortunately," He said calmly, "I don’t think you can convince them to leave their cages by yourself, Your Majesty."

He gave a small shrug. "Unless you force them out. But I’m sure you don’t want to do something like that, do you, Your Majesty?"

Edmund stared at him in silence for a moment, then finally let out a sigh. "Alright," he said. "I’ll give you time to talk to them."

"Let me do it alone," Salem said. His eyes shifted to Edmund, and then to Lazarus, who had been silent the whole time, probably still trying to process everything happening in front of him.

"I can’t just leave you alone," Edmund said seriously. "I haven’t even checked this whole place yet."

Salem was one of his wife’s close friends, so if something bad happened to him, Primrose would definitely be upset.

That was why Edmund didn’t want Salem to act carelessly here.

"Oh, Your Majesty," Salem said, "the only dangerous thing in this room is this lock."

He reached out and touched the padlock on the cage. The moment his fingers made contact, his hand immediately burned.

"You can’t open it with your bare hands," Salem said, calmly pulling his hand back. "You need a magical tool."

"Other than this, there’s nothing dangerous to worry about," he said confidently. Then he lowered his voice so only Edmund could hear. "I know that, because I used to be in their position too."

The moment Salem said that, Edmund finally understood. Maybe Salem wasn’t only doing this for the children, but maybe he was also trying to heal himself.

That was why Edmund finally nodded. "Take as much time as you need." He added, "If something bad happens, we’ll be upstairs."

Salem nodded with a smile. "Understood, Your Majesty."

The moment Edmund and Lazarus left the basement, Salem turned around to face the cages again, to be exact to the one filled with older children, the ones who would be the example of the other children.

"Your master is dead," Salem began. There was no smile on his face, and his voice somehow sounded cold. Even so, the words coming from his mouth felt as soothing as mountain water.

The boy who had been sitting in the corner of the cage finally stood up. He looked at Salem with wide eyes, and his thin legs slowly moved forward, step by step.

"Is this just another one of your games?" The boy’s pupils trembled slightly, as if showing that he was struggling not to hope too much. "Whatever you say, forget it. I’m not going anywhere."

Instead of forcing the boy to trust him, Salem simply said, "Alright then. If you don’t want to come out of the cage... then that’s fine."

The boy was too stunned to speak when he heard Salem’s words. That was because usually, his master and his friends would punish him if he did the opposite of what they wanted.