Chapter 57 - Nicholas Is Heading To The Forest

Note:

OMG... I was rendered speechless today. Thank you so much, Maude, for gifting a spacecraft to Nic and Sophie T_T. Hope you are having a wonderful weekend!

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"I don't want you to get hurt, so please come back soon." Sophie looked him in the eye. "Don't force yourself, okay? If you think that you'll get hurt, there's nothing wrong with running away. Promise me you will prioritize your safety for me…. Please, Nic…"

"I won't endanger myself because I know that someone is right here waiting for me." Nicholas raised her hand and gave it a soft kiss. His eyes were filled with so much love for her and his voice sounded so firm and confident when he spoke. "I will be back, Sophie."

Nicholas found it incredibly hard to leave Sophie. He remembered his promise, but how could they live in peace if there was a Lycan on the loose and was probably on the hunt? 

It was up to him to take care of it. He must make sure Blackwoods forest would be safe for his wife before he could even let her step back into it.

Perhaps that was why Nicholas still had his lycanthropy despite consuming some wolfsbane? Only another lycan can successfully kill another one without injuring himself. Or even if he injured himself, his body would regenerate quickly.

That was an advantage that he would use right now.  Instead of cursing himself for still being a lycan, for once, Nicholas was relieved that he was, or else he might have needed to bring soldiers here.

He didn't want them trampling on life, and he was also not ready for Sophie to find out his identity before he could get rid of this curse.

"I love you," he kissed Sophie deeply and closed his eyes as if imprinting her scent and her face on his heart. When he opened his eyes, Sophie looked away, hiding her tears so Nicholas wouldn't see them.

"Please come back for me…" she whispered hoarsely.

"I promise, Sweetheart," Nicholas wanted to cry too, but he held back his emotions. "You are my reason to live. I will come back for you as soon as possible."

He turned around and left the chamber in long steps. He knew he had to go immediately. Otherwise, he would become weak and wanted to stay behind so he could be with Sophie.

No, he was trained to put the crown's interest above his. And now, it was his duty to rid himself of this lycanthropy so he could be a good king.

After Nicholas left, Sophie dropped to her knees and cried despondently on the floor.

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When Nicholas returned to their hut in the Blackwoods Forest, except for the tree still lying on the ground… there was no more scent of that lycan. 

His gaze narrowed imperceptibly as he approached the tree. Nicholas was about to give it a punch to see how strong he was compared to the one who brought it down but then decided against it. 

Instead, he used his entire strength to roll the tree further down away from the hut. He knew this could possibly be made into firewood.

He wouldn't have to do this when they were in the palace now, but he secretly enjoyed his and Sophie's activities so much together. 

While he'd become extremely busy once he became king, he was looking forward to seeing Sophie after the day was over. He couldn't wait to bring her to the capital to introduce her to his parents and announce their marriage.

They wouldn't be able to reject Sophie because they were already married.  Especially because Nicholas and Sophie had consummated their marriage. They had done the deed several times now.

Wouldn't it be better if Sophie became pregnant? That would secure their relationship even more. The royal family wouldn't want to send away a royal baby even though the mother was a mere peasant.

Thinking about Sophie pregnant with their child made a smile curve up on the prince's face.

Gosh… he loved her so much.

Nicholas shook his head and muttered, "Concentrate."

He needed to be extremely alert even though the scent of the other lycan no longer appeared in the air. Nicholas glanced around and even used his other senses to track but he didn't find anything else.

"Has it already gone far?" Nicholas asked himself warily and took another step deeper into the forest. He was extremely guarded as his gaze darted around as if waiting for the creature from his nightmare to emerge.

Unlike before, when he was a boy, Nicholas now had a reason to fight for and he wasn't going to back down at all. So it was his disappointment and also wariness when he discovered that he couldn't even hear or sense another lycan in the forest.

If the lycan left, then it meant that it must have either returned to its pack or continued moving forward. 

Perhaps both.

Nobody knew where all the lycan packs were hiding or whether they were blending with regular humans. Nicholas knew that an incident like this that was certified by him brought more attention to the issue of the war between humans and lycans.

"I need to report this to the palace once I return," he muttered. He hoped it would help him prove himself to his father for once.

However, Nicholas still needed to cure himself. So, he headed deeper into the forest to return to the wolfsbane area.  It was impossible to see so many wolfsbane flowers, but the place that Nicholas arrived at was filled with it in abundance.

He wondered if magic was working here because wolfsbane flowers shouldn't be growing this fast at all.

"There's no time for me to spend it on these thoughts," Nicholas muttered to himself as he pulled out gloves from his bag. 

He cut down a couple of branches from trees to create a fire and also pulled out a small cauldron from his holding bag. Without it, Nicholas might have returned home to actually cook there, but this time he was more than ready.

Nicholas took out the almanac and looked at the suggested recommendations and separated the flower bulbs from the stems and leaves. These purple flowers were nauseous inducing for someone like him who could even just smell it.

He held his breath as he prepared the potion for lycanthropy cure.

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Thank you so much for the wonderful reviews you wrote for this book.

I am sorry, a few got flagged by the system and not showing on the app, I don't know why. The algorithm can be weird at times.. But, please know I am very grateful you took the time to write them. xx