Ed left the couple's room and Adrianna and Dmitri were left to themselves. While Adrianna was very clear with her stand, Dmitri was having doubts. How could he not let his wife claim her rightful title? Was he so selfish? He looked at her as she sat, looking outside in a pensive mood.
"Adri, there are so many things on your mind…"
She looked outside into the garden and saw that her pet was giving a hard time to all the servants. It had become chilly and he refused to take a bath. He was currently running around while they all chased him. She started laughing.
"Dmitri, you should love our pet. This little guy was presented to me by Ed and ever since, we've been together. It has been only a few weeks that I have had him and I love him so much... How could my father not love me? I have been with him ever since I was born. Was there not even a shred of love from his side? His l.u.s.t for power even surpassed any emotions he may have had for me. I have no idea how to look at him now… He abandoned my mother and left her to take care of herself… Dmitri, how can I ever show my mother just how much I am indebted to her… Just to bring me into this world, she gave up her life…"
Adrianna stopped speaking as the words got choked up her throat. Dmitri stroked her hair lovingly.
When she found her voice again, her expression was serious as she said, "I will take revenge on Kuro. Not because he never took a liking for me, but because he left my mother to die."
Dmitri kissed her hair and said, "Do you want me to kill him?"
"No, that would be too easy on him…" She started forming her plans.
She looked outside again to see that her cub had finally been caught. The servants were currently giving him a bath. Strangely, he was enjoying it. She applauded him for being a good boy, but he smirked and communicated, "This is warm water. Otherwise I would have given them a tough time." Adrianna laughed again.
It was already late in the night. After having dinner, they went to bed, but Dmitri couldn't sleep well. He kept tossing and turning. How could he restrict his wife only because he didn't want to be separated from her? He was also concerned that if she didn't go, the wizard kingdom may take it as an insult and attack the wolves' territory. What kind of a supreme alpha would he be if he only thought of his wife and not his people?
It was in the middle of the night while he was still thinking about the situation when he heard noises outside the palace gates.
He went to peek from the balcony and found that his mother and Keisha were downstairs with a few guards near the palace entrance. Without waking up Adrianna, he went downstairs to inspect. When he got closer to them, he saw that they had called a shaman inside the gates and that the shaman had started a large fire. He was chanting spells to invoke the spirits. Angered at his mother, he stopped the shaman.
"What are you doing?" he roared. "Get out of here right now!"
"No. hHe is here because he thinks that there is great danger surrounding our kingdom," Cora shouted back. "He will finish performing this ritual before he goes!"
"Mother, it is the middle pf the night. Go back to sleep. We don't need foolish rituals here," yelled Dmitri back at her.
The shaman cringed. He started leaving when Cora stopped him. "No, you can't-"
She stopped mid-sentence when she saw that Adrianna had come out to see the chaos.
The shaman looked at Adrianna and slowly moved closer to her. "This is the danger that is lurking around this place. The spirits demand her sacrifice." Then, the shaman turned to Cora and said, "You must sacrifice this girl or give her to me; I will sacrifice her in my cave."
Adrianna rolled her eyes. This duo just wouldn't stop with their foolish antics. She pointed a finger at the shaman and asked, "Who are you?" A truth spell was released from her finger.
"I am the mighty sham-" All of a sudden, the shaman felt as though he was being forced to speak the truth. "I am a peasant that was paid to act like a shaman."
Cora's face puffed up as though bees had stung her. "Shut up!"
The shaman looked at her and became quiet. But Adrianna continued, "What was your motive?"
"I was asked to sacrifice you," said the peasant, slapping his cheek as if to wake up from a dream.
Adrianna started laughing. She looked at Cora and Keisha and then asked, "Cora, did you ask him to tell Dmitri to sacrifice me?"
"What nonsense! Dmitri, you must control your wife. She is going astray!" Cora shouted. "I am sure this shaman was sent on popular demand after today's council meeting incident."
Before Cora could say anything else, she found her mind completely fuddled. It was as though she had forgotten how to speak. Keisha looked at her and remembered her own predicament that day in front of the wives of the chiefs. Cora was unable to speak a word. "Aaa…" was all that came out from her mouth.
Then, Adrianna looked at the shaman and said, "Since you are an imposter, what kind of punishment do you choose for yourself?"
"You can send me to the guillotines," replied the shaman, once again slapping his cheek as though trying to stop his mouth from speaking. He was puzzled as to why was he telling the truth.
Keisha quietly took Cora away from there. Dmitri was left wondering as to who could have done this nonsense, but he was ninety percent sure that it was on his mother's behest.
Adrianna turned to Dmitri and held his hand. She pulled him back to the bedroom. "Let us sleep baby. Don't think too much…"
He looked at Adrianna and asked, "Was that magic?"
She nodded.
"Is it as easy as it seems for you to do magic?"
She nodded again.
"Then you should go and claim the throne Adrianna."