Chapter3

"My King! You must go in and check on Princess Anya!" a maid's scream pierced from outside the door.

I crouched beside the dining table, my stomach feeling as if it were being churned by a wild beast's claws. The only thing that could suppress this agony was bone-eroding grass. I stumbled and crawled out the door, throwing myself onto the grass outside before I finally caught that familiar bitter scent in the soil.

When Kaelen burst in, my hands were already clawing the dirt, shoving handfuls of grass roots and soil into my mouth.

"What are you doing!" Kaelen dragged me up, glaring at my mouth full of black mud. "Spit it out! You are the future Queen, yet you crawl on the ground chewing mud like a beast. Have you no shame?"

Suspended in mid-air, the excruciating cramps in my stomach caused my entire body to convulse. "It hurts... I'm in pain..."

He stiffened abruptly, turning his head to shout for the guards to fetch the witch doctor.

"Kaelen!" Elara hurried over, grabbed his arm, and sighed, "Anya's old habits are acting up again. She was perfectly fine just a moment ago. The second she heard your footsteps, she deliberately threw herself down to eat dirt. She wants to use this pitiful act to force you to revoke that order to apologize. If you call the witch doctor now and they find nothing wrong with her, where will your dignity rest?"

Kaelen's brow furrowed, and he cast a glance at me. That momentary hesitation was quickly suppressed; the flicker of doubt in his eyes vanished entirely, replaced by mockery. He let go, and I crashed onto the ground.

"It seems I spoiled you too much." He looked down at me from above. "Since you want to act like a beast so badly, I will grant your wish. Take her to the Colosseum."

...

The Colosseum. I was dragged inside and thrown onto the sand. High up in the stands, Kaelen and Elara stood side by side. Across the arena, a door rose, and a rabid fighting hound with bloodshot eyes stepped out.

"Tame it, and I will believe you truly know your wrongs." Kaelen's voice drifted down from above.

Tame it? Staring at the rabid hound, I only found it ridiculous. In the hound-breaking camp , if anyone dared to stand upright in front of the feral hounds, their legs would be shattered. The absolute rule of survival was to act more like a dog than the dogs themselves.

I did not resist. I dropped onto all fours, let out a submissive whine from my throat, and kept my tail tucked tight.

"Good heavens!" Elara gasped. "She is wagging her tail at a beast! She has completely thrown away the honor of the Wolf Clan!"

The rabid hound did not shrink back at my submission; instead, it lunged forward fiercely, sinking its teeth right into the juncture of my neck and shoulder.

I did not dodge. I merely closed my eyes. Bite me to death. Let it end just like this.

A heavy broadsword was hurled from the sky, piercing straight through the hound's skull. Kaelen vaulted off the stands, ripped off his cloak to press against my wound, and practically carried me as he dragged me out.

Looking at his panicked face, I wanted to tell him—Kaelen, I regret it.

I regretted casting aside my rightful place as princess to recommend you to my father for the throne. I regretted willingly carving out half of my beast core just for you. I regretted ever believing your vows.

But as I opened my mouth, I could not utter a single word.

He pressed desperately against my wound, his eyes completely bloodshot. "Call the witch doctor! If she dies, I will kill every last one of you!"

...

On the bed, I lay weakly; the wound on my shoulder had been simply bandaged. The witch doctor sat by the edge of the bed, suspending his hands over my abdomen. His eyes were closed, and a faint silver glow shimmered from his fingertips—this was the ancient ritual unique to witch doctor to sense the breath of life. Through those swirling rings of light alone, he could perceive everything within the body.

Kaelen stood at the foot of the bed, his fists clenched tight.

From the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of Elara standing in the shadows. She swiftly shot a knowing glare at the witch doctor.

As if receiving a silent command, the silver glow at the witch doctor's fingertips suddenly trembled, and he dropped heavily to his knees with a thud.

"How exactly is she!" Kaelen seized his collar.

"My King, please calm your wrath... Princess Anya has suffered a severe injury, but that is not the most critical issue—"

"Get to the point!"

The witch doctor squeezed his eyes shut and shouted through gritted teeth, "Princess Anya... she is pregnant!"

I had been confined in the Dog Training Camp for three solid years, where not even a fly could have escaped. Where this child came from was horrifyingly self-evident.

Kaelen froze in place, his breathing halting completely.

"Furthermore," the witch doctor delivered the final cut, "the bloodline of every clan carries its own unique aura. A child of the Wolf Clan should possess the breath of a wolf, but what I sense from the Princess's womb is a wildly savage beast aura—it is absolutely not our bloodline. It is a bastard spawn of the Lion Clan."