Chapter 329: The Burden of a King’s Past
When Edmund was born into this world, his parents believed they had brought a monster into their home, someone who, if left unchecked, would bring nothing but disaster upon them.
His parents, along with the people of the village, were so terrified of him that they locked him away in the basement, treating him as if he were nothing more than a wild beast that needed to be chained and tamed.
When he finally broke free from the prison his parents had built for him, Edmund was able to wander the world at last. But his freedom was not the blessing he had imagined.
Even though he was no longer trapped in a basement or bound by chains around his neck, he was still shackled by fear and hatred wherever he went.
People looked at him as though he were cursed. Some whispered that he carried the blood of demons, while others openly called him a monster. No matter where he traveled, their eyes always followed him with suspicion and dread.
It didn’t take long for Edmund to realize that freedom didn’t mean peace. It only meant facing the cruelty of the world head-on, without even walls to shield him. He drifted from place to place, carrying his loneliness like an unshakable shadow.
"Why ... why are they so cruel to him?" Primrose finally asked, her voice tight as she turned to Sevrin.
Sevrin let out a slow sigh before answering, his tone hesitant. "Have you met his wolf?"
Primrose nodded carefully. "Yes, I did," she whispered. "His wolf is ... fine."
She had expected his wolf to be savage, ready to harm her the moment they met. But to her surprise, he had been calm, so calm that he even helped her find her way back to Edmund.
That was why she couldn’t understand why everyone else was so terrified of him.
"He might seem calm now because Sir Leofric has worked for years to help His Majesty keep his wolf under control," Sevrin explained, shaking his head. "But in the past ... it was chaotic. Every time his wolf took over the palace, it ended in disaster."
Edmund became king when he was only twenty-two, which was quite young for a King of Beasts. However, his strength could not be underestimated, since he was able to overthrow the previous Beast King and defeat all of his opponents.
Sevrin leaned closer, lowering his voice as though sharing a secret. "What no one knew was that the power everyone saw was only half of what he truly carried. The other half ... was sealed within his wolf."
Primrose’s lips parted in shock. "Half ...?" she breathed.
"The only way for him to reach his full strength was to completely unite with his wolf. But back then, he couldn’t. It was always one or the other, either His Majesty was in control, or his wolf was."
"His Majesty and Sir Leofric have been trying to find a solution for years, but it took much longer than they expected," Sevrin said. "Sir Leofric needed at least ten years to discover the right spell that would allow His Majesty to unite with his wolf without being consumed by rage."
Primrose’s brows furrowed. "Wait ... does that mean Sir Leofric has been by my husband’s side since he was only fifteen?"
She had always thought their ages weren’t that far apart, but if that was the case, then Leofric might already be more than fifty years old.
"Yes," Sevrin said with a slow nod. "They first met when His Majesty was fifteen."
The wizards of the magic tower had sensed Edmund’s dark energy from the moment he was born, but it took them years to finally track him down.
Just like his parents, the wizards believed he was a monster, a dark creature born under the black star, destined to bring endless misfortune.
That theory did seem to align with Edmund’s life. Even after Edmund became king, misfortune often clung to him like a curse. But that didn’t mean he deserved death!
"At that time, many wizards came to kill him. They even hired werewolf mercenaries to hunt him down. But ... it was nearly impossible to kill His Majesty."
Sevrin sighed, lowering himself into the chair across from Primrose as he pulled out reports from the box. His expression softened with memory. "Still, even a strong lycan isn’t untouchable. Like all of his kind, there is one thing that makes him weaker. Do you know what that is, Your Majesty?"
Primrose held her breath, staring straight into Sevrin’s eyes before replying in a quiet voice. "Is it ... silver?"
Sevrin nodded. "That’s right. All lycans—and perhaps other supernatural beings—are vulnerable to silver. But the stronger the lycan, the more resistant they become."
He leaned back slightly, explaining, "A weak lycan might collapse just from holding a silver spoon or a small trinket. But someone as strong as His Majesty ... silver that simple won’t affect him at all."
Sevrin’s voice dropped lower, almost grim. "To truly bring him down, it would take dozens of silver swords piercing his body, and those swords must be made of pure silver, not just iron coated with it."
Sevrin told Primrose that once, the wizards had managed to corner Edmund. They drove dozens of pure silver blades into his body, forcing him to his knees and leaving him completely at their mercy.
In that moment, he was helpless, and they had every chance to end his life right then and there.
But one of the wizards—someone who had never even set foot on a battlefield nor made any great contribution to the magic tower—suddenly appeared on the battlefield and stopped them.
"Stopped them?" Primrose repeated, her brow furrowing in disbelief. "You mean ... Sir Leofric fought against the other wizards?"
She quickly realized that the word stop
was only a figure of speech. There was no way the wizards would have simply halted their actions just because Leofric asked them to.On the contrary, they must have seen him as an intruder and would have wanted to kill him as well.
Sevrin nodded slowly. "Yes. He stood against them, even though he was outnumbered and had no guarantee of surviving. The other wizards turned on him instantly, treating him as a traitor for daring to shield His Majesty."
Primrose’s heart pounded in her chest. The image of one man standing against an entire group of powerful wizards just to protect Edmund made her breath catch.
"Sir Leofric might not have contributed much to the magic tower," Sevrin admitted with a small shrug, "but he proved himself to be an incredibly strong beast with overwhelming magic. In the end, it was the wizards who ended up at his mercy."
Later, Leofric went before the elders of the magic tower and pledged himself as Edmund’s guarantor. He was the one who placed the seal on Edmund’s wolf, ensuring it wouldn’t lose control and destroy everything whenever its rage tried to take over his body.
"He placed the seal on His Majesty’s wolf for ten years, and only lifted it once he discovered a way to calm all the rage that had been burning inside His Majesty’s wolf."
Many people, even Edmund himself, had often wondered why his wolf was always so full of anger, ready to kill anyone who provoked him. Unfortunately, it was a question that never seemed to have an answer.
But for Primrose, there was something else that weighed on her mind, something more important than the type of spell Leofric had used or the reason behind the wolf’s endless fury.
"Why would Sir Leofric go through so much trouble just to help Edmund?" Primrose asked, her voice quiet with curiosity.
What made her heart ache even more was the fact that Leofric had never once asked Edmund for respect in return. He had never demanded gratitude, never pulled rank, even though he was older and had once been the one to stand as Edmund’s guarantor.
If anything, her husband often acted shamelessly toward him and wouldn’t hesitate to kick him whenever Leofric did something foolish or crossed the line.
Sevrin shook his head and gave a small shrug. "I don’t know," he admitted. "I only know what His Majesty has shared with me. As for the real reason ... only Sir Leofric himself would know."
Which was ... a bit strange.
It reminded Primrose of Hazelle, how the woman had once doubted her sincerity when she tried to help without giving any explanation. In the same way, Primrose couldn’t help but find it suspicious that Leofric would go so far to protect Edmund without offering a reason.
Maybe Edmund knew the truth, but simply chose not to tell Sevrin? It was possible, wasn’t it?
She told herself she should ask Edmund about it directly later or ... perhaps she could even ask Leofric himself and watch closely to see if he was lying.
No, maybe not. That didn’t feel right. It would be safer to hear the truth from her husband.
"Alright, that’s enough talk, Your Majesty," Sevrin cut in suddenly. "It’s time we move on. You’ll be the one in charge of checking the winter supplies this year, so you need to learn how it’s done."