Chapter 48 - A Favor

Prince Fenris looked at Adeline and then asked in his polite voice, "Please look after Nigel for me, will you?"

His gentle voice and friendly demeanor would have enchanted many woman but not Adeline.

"I was planning to do that even without you telling me." Adeline's brows twitched as she answered somewhat coldly. She just thought that Fenris had come to her quarter with some ulterior motive and was using Nigel for ice-breaking.

But Fenris did not falter from Adeline's coldness. He genuinely cared about Nigel's safety and after seeing Adeline's bond with Nigel as well as her strength, he thought that only Adeline could handle her brother in his wolf form if he was to go berserk. "That is why I am asking you and trusting you for this task."

Fenris continued to explain what he meant by looking after Nigel. "You have noticed that Nigel has grown a lot stronger than before. But the downside is that he will go through a transformation on every full moon. And even though I have not transformed myself, I have seen the people transform and I know how much painful the process is."

Adeline had wanted to ask Fenris about the pain that he said he felt when he was explaining his transformation to Theodore but she had forgotten about it until now. She wanted to know what her brother was going through. "The pain that you mentioned, how bad is it?" Adeline asked in her concerned voice.

Fenris took a deep breath and started fidgeting his legs because the thought of his own brother going through such pain crossed his mind. He remembered how Wulfric would scream in pain during the full moon. Sometimes the pain would be so bad that he would act rabidly to get rid of the agony. And he would have to be held down by four strong men or chained in the dungeon so that he would not cause trouble.

Then he answered in a melancholic tone, "Imagine every bones in your body breaking and twisting to change you completely into another being's form… the pain is unimaginable. Nigel will go through that excruciating pain on every full moon to come, for the rest of his life."

Adeline's heart sank when Fenris told her how much pain Nigel would have to go through from now on. She felt goose bumps all over her body and she rubbed her arms to calm herself down.

Making Adeline sad was not the intention of Fenris. Seeing Adeline so worried about her brother, he tried to console her. "But the pain will gradually decrease over time. With more experience, he will be able to swiftly transform into a wolf in the near future. Unlike right now, how it can take up to hours for him to transform into a wolf."

Prince Fenris asked her again with anticipation, "That is why I wanted you to keep an eye on him during full moons. Nigel also said that he does not remember anything that he did in his wolf form and it is dangerous to leave him alone with no consciousness and control over his body. It will take some time and practice for him to remain conscious even in his wolf form. Until then, please don't let him do anything stupid and attract unwanted attention."

Princess Adeline understood what he meant by that. She remembered Theodore mentioning to them that eating human flesh when Nigel was in his wolf form could make the transformation permanent, turning him into a wolf forever.

And Adeline definitely did not want to lose her brother like that. So she nodded her head and accepted what Fenris had asked of her. "I understand. I will take care of Brother Nigel. I will always remain by his side during his transformations and won't let any harm befall him or the others."

Prince Fenris scratched his forehead as something was still bothering him.

Adeline saw some hesitation on Fenris and asked him, "Is there something more that you want to tell me?"

After getting asked, he finally gave a warning to Adeline, "Yes, I have one last thing to tell you. Please don't reveal our secret to anyone. And don't let anyone else from our clan to find out that you know of our secret. Else they will always be keeping an eye on you to make sure that you don't spill our secret to the outsiders."

Princess Adeline was a little taken aback by this comment. She thought that the Palace was extremely safe place, so how could they keep an eye on her? Yes, she was kidnapped from inside the Palace but that was done by Lillian who was already inside the Palace. So she raised her brows in astonishment and asked, "They can keep an eye on me while I am still inside the Palace?"

Fenris seemed like he also did not agree with the ways of the elders in his clan. His pupils dilated as he was remembering some terrible things that the elders had done to some innocent people just because they happened to cross path with a werewolf. "Trust me, you don't want to know. They can go to extreme extent to protect our secret. Even your father does not know about it."

Fenris gave a stern look as if to warn her and said, "And I am saying that they will just keep an eye on you because you are a Princess of a powerful Kingdom. If it was anyone else who had found out about the werewolves, that person would already have been silenced forever."

This came as a shock for Adeline. She could not believe that she was somehow intertwined with the secret of Siccaldi clan and the burden was huge.

She sprung up from her seat in disbelief. She had a disgusted look on her face as if everyone's sick mentality was making her feel sick to her core. She shouted while holding her head, "Argh! What is wrong with people everywhere? Killing comes so easily to them."

There were some other things that Fenris originally wanted to say to Adeline to warn her beforehand. But seeing the sudden outburst from Adeline, he chose not to share it. It would have been too much of a shock to Adeline, but mainly to Nigel.

And he did not want to alarm Nigel as of yet. He wanted to wait for the things to play out naturally. That way he thought that Nigel would have some more time to understand about the rules of Siccaldi clan. And he hoped that Nigel would be less affected by what was to come.

"Why would they do such a thing as to kill the people who find out? Why can't they just find another solution?" Adeline was still shouting while pacing back and forth in the room.

"Fear… the answer is simple. They fear that if the words spread out regarding the Siccaldi clan to be the one to inherit the werewolf gene, the Kingdom might attract unwanted attention. Fear is a dangerous thing Princess. It can make you do things, far greater or worse, that you would not have been able to do elsewise." Fenris spoke in a monotone while he stared at the wall blankly.

Adeline had no idea how true his words were. She had no idea that the fear had already engulfed Lillian and she was starting to do things that were ten folds evil than before.

For a while, there was a deafening silence in the room as both of them were lost deep in their own thoughts.

Finally, Prince Fenris gathered his composure and looked at Adeline with appreciation. He smiled at the Princess and said while appreciating her, "Thank you for being someone whom I can rely on."

Princess Adeline just gave a smile to him.

And after some awkward silence again, Fenris shot a question at her. "One question has been bugging me. How are you as strong as a werewolf?"

Adeline shrugged her shoulders and said as if she was being sarcastic, "Who knows? Maybe a Devil is looking out for me."

Fenris chuckled not knowing that Adeline had just told him the truth. He simply thought that Adeline was cracking a joke and went with the flow, "Damn! Then maybe I should be afraid of you. What if the Devil gets angry with me?"

Adeline narrowed her eyes and looked dead serious, "Oh he is already angry with you."

But Fenris laughed even more. "Has anyone told you that you are really funny as well? You are just perfect."

Then he got up from the seat and inched closer to where Adeline was standing. Before Adeline could react or take a step back, he took her hand in his palm and then kissed her on the knuckles. And then he stared at Adeline's sapphire blue eyes and said in his playful tone, "I still have not given up on you yet. I think you and I will make a great couple so I will keep on pursuing you."

Adeline abruptly pulled her hand back and furrowed her brows. She glanced back at Fenris to scold him but she could see that his eyes were not lying; he meant what he said. But she was not going to fall for his sweet talks. She sneered at him and then dismissed him, "Keep dreaming."

"Oh that I will…" Fenris gave a whimsical grin and then winked at her before leaving the room.

"That brat!" Adeline stomped her feet on the floor and sat down on her chair with a spoilt mood.