Chapter 190
Evelyn’s POV
That Friday evening, Kane and I were in the midst of getting ready to head to the private gathering with the King. I decided to wear a dark, crimson-colored gown along with a pearl-collared necklace.
While I finished with the last touches of my makeup, I stole a quick glance at him through the mirror. I could tell that the man was more on edge based on the scowl that had permanently fixed itself across
his face.
“I hope you’re able to fix your face when we’re in front of the King later,” I giggled.
Kane gave me a pointed look while clipping on his cufflinks. “I just don’t understand why we need to make a whole outing of this,” he gruffed. “Whatever he has to tell us could easily have been placed in a fucking letter.”
He had a point. I wasn’t too keen on the idea of dressing up to impress a group of people I didn’t even
know.
The letter had said a ‘private gathering.’ I hope that meant there wasn’t going to be more than twenty people there. Although my nerves had been steady for the last few days, I wasn’t looking to cause anything to suddenly spike.
Once we were ready, Kane and I headed out to the car, where I carefully climbed into the backseat. He took his spot next to me and laid his hand on top of my thigh.
“Do you think it’ll be considered rude if we leave the moment he finishes talking to us?” he said tensely.
I fought back a wry grin. “What problem do you have with the Alpha King?” I asked curiously.
Kane shrugged. “It’s not so much of a problem really. I’ve just never been too close to the man, unlike my parents,” he explained. “I find him to be exceedingly ostentatious. The man has always been an exceptional public speaker. But when it comes down to taking a real action, he’d much rather pass it off
on to someone else.”
I gently leaned my head onto his shoulder as he continued.
“My main concern, apart from whatever it is that he needs to discuss with us, is that he’ll try to market
the two of us.”
I raised my brows. “Market us? What do you mean?”
“I mean that he’ll try and use us for some sort of victory campaign,” he said. “I don’t have the desire, nor the time, to travel around the region accepting speeches and selling the promises the King is looking to make.”
A small line formed between my eyebrows. Considering the connection the Alpha King had to my mother, I hated to think that he would try and rope me into something so chauvinistic.
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“Well then, we’ll just have to make it clear that we’re only interested in hearing the important information he’s looking to tell us,” I said pointedly.
Kane chuckled, giving my leg a slight squeeze.
We made it to the restaurant within the next hour, where the head hostess escorted us to one of their back rooms. The place was unsuspectingly large but seemed to be perfect for hosting smaller gatherings.
And much to my pleasant surprise. There didn’t seem to be more than fifteen people present. Granted, I didn’t recognize a single person here, aside from the king, who was speaking to one of his associates.
The moment he caught sight of us, he cut his conversation short and turned his attention to us.
“Ah, the two conquering heroes!” he shouted with a boisterous smile.
Everyone around us paused their own conversations and proceeded to clap. I immediately flushed under the unwanted attention as Kane tightened his hand on my waist.
“Oh Gods,” he muttered under his breath.
I subtly nudged his side and stepped forward. I offered a soft smile as the king took Kane’s hand. The older man swiftly guided us over to a small, secluded table.
“I appreciate you both coming out,” he started. “I know it seems rather redundant; however, you must allow me to extend my gratitude for your efforts in undertaking this precarious endeavor.”
Kane kept his resolve in place as he bowed his head forward. “You have always known about my disdain toward rogues. It was just a long time coming that they were finally dealt with.”
Leave it to Kane to play off such a monumental moment.
The king suddenly turned his attention toward me. His eyes lit up with parental approval.
“And you, little miss, since when are you so inept within a chemist’s lab?” he asked with wonderment.
A bashful smile curved my lips. “Hoenstly, I just sort of fell into it. We needed a potential cure, and I had the time to persistently work on it. It sort of came as a surprise that I ended up feeling so at home within a lab.”
The king gave a hearty laugh. “I’m pleased to hear that you’ve found something that’s yours. This Wolfsbane serum, I can easily imagine it flying off the shelves of every store in the region if you were to
market it.”
Kane nudged my knee under the table. I forced myself to stifle back a laugh while maintaining my
composure.
“While I find that very flattering, Your Majesty, I have no desire to make any real profit off of this serum. I mainly developed it so that we could cure the infected rogues and gain some real intel on what was happening on their side,” I explained.
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He waved off my humble reply. “That may be so. But what about developing it in terms of allowing the public to be prepared in case something new should happen?”
I felt Kane grow tense beside me. “What do you mean by that?”
The King kept his voice low. “The thing is, we still don’t know who’s behind the Wolfsbane poisoning in the first place. Until that person is caught, there’s no stopping them from trying to infect other rogues, or perhaps even normal civilians.”
My eyes went wide as I sat back in my chair. Holy shit. He was right.
While the battle may have been won, the very heart of the war was still very much alive. The person responsible for creating the Wolfsbane poison hadn’t been brought down. It made our victory seem
almost pointless…
What the hell was the point of celebrating when something this horrible could happen all over again?
“Well, then it looks like we’re going to need to form a new plan,” Kane said firmly. “We will track down whoever is responsible for developing the poison.”
“Yes,” I agreed sternly. “And will ensure that they never hurt another living soul again.”
The king smiled and nodded. “I knew I could entrust the two of you to jump back on this,” he boasted. Now that the heavy news is out of the way, we can move to much more intriguing topics.”
“Such as?” Kane prompted.
“Such as your public image. Even though the issue at hand is far from over, the two of you have become quite the dynamic couple. People all over the region are eager to know what is to become of your circumstances next.”
“Ah, that’s rather obvious, I would think,” Kane said. “I fully intend on starting a family with my wife.”
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