Chapter 244 "Make Sure You Live,"

That evening, there was pin-drop silence in the entire kingdom. Even those far away from the palace knew that something was wrong. Doors closed silently, and all torches and candles were blown off in every chamber.

The one who was responsible for it all walked gracefully in slow strides as if he had no hand in it.

Harold wore a long black flowing cloak whose hood covered his head up to the centre. He had blood all over him and some were also on his face, matching the colour of his eyes that was yet to change.

If Susan, who had been far away from the execution ground, had felt his impact where she was, imagine what happened to those close to him. Some weak ones amongst them had unfortunately died, some had collapsed, and when he shifted into his wolf form, that was the highlight of it since almost all of them had never seen him in this form before. And even those who had accidentally seen him at night in this form had been surprised by how huge his wolf had gotten. The dark fur was even darker, and his previously blue eyes had become blazing red, almost as if they were on fire.

But one thing that stood out to them was the fact that he had shifted. In broad daylight! And he had done it so effortlessly in a split second.

The curse... it was broken.

He went on a rampage, tearing apart every guard who had dared to touch Alicia, regardless of who ordered it. Of course, the aristocrats had to fight for the guards to be singled out since they didn't want to be the ones to die. And most of them denied their involvement in the trial, pointing to Damon, who was still trying to breathe, and the queen, who was already shaking and trying not to pass out.

They didn't know whether to be thankful that they had not succeeded in executing his wife yet or not. Imagine what he had done simply because she was tortured. What would he have done had they succeeded in killing her before he regained consciousness? The thought of it made most of them shudder, including the queen.

When he shifted back to his human form, Alvin was behind him, covering him with the black cloak.

They all cussed Alvin in their heads for two reasons. One, he was supposed to be stopping his master, but he wasn't doing anything. Two, his choice of clothing for Harold right now was bad as it seemed to make him appear scarier and darker.

Seeing how he was approaching the queen next, she took a step backwards in fear while shaking.

Ivan, who was also trembling where he stood, fisted his hands beside him as he watched Harold slowly approaching the queen with expressionless eyes.

"I will pay you back for today," Ivan swore in his head before he turned around and scurried away. Of course, he needed to be alive to pay Harold back. Now wasn't the time for bravery.

"Prince Harold! Do not do this," Benedicta cried pathetically as she went to block his path. She spread both arms wide open as tears ran down her cheeks.

The tears were both from anger and frustration. On one hand, she was angry, and on the other hand, she felt shattered. Shattered because she was supposed to be Harold's bride, yet she had been stopped from marrying him because of the rumors of a curse. After seeing what had happened, she doubted the existence of the curse that had stopped her from marrying him.

Aside from the fact that he was an alpha, seeing how much power Harold had and how everyone feared him, she could see that he was more likely to be king than the cowardly Ivan who had run off. And who else but her was meant to be his Queen?

She had been eagerly waiting for Amber to drink the poison, but everything had suddenly turned out this way! She wanted to cry. She wanted to yell. She wanted to squeeze the life out of Amber. But all that was for later.

Now, she had to be their saviour and stop Harold. That way, everyone would see she was meant to be queen since she was even braver than this pathetic queen. And the entire royal court was going to be on her side and support her being queen. She was willing to forgive Harold for how he treated her earlier. But for Princess Amber, she was going to think of something later.

Both Harvey and their father looked at her in panic. What had come over her? How dare she do that when even men were avoiding Harold right now?

Tears dropped from Benedicta's eyes as she said in a weak, frightened voice, "Please, get a hold of yourself and—"

Everyone gasped again when he flung her out of his path with one hand until she crashed into a group of guards who were standing some feet away, causing two to fall to the ground along with her.

Defying Harold's orders not to move, Harvey and his father ran towards Benedicta, who had passed out.

Harold didn't bother to look back and just kept approaching the queen until she had nowhere else to run to, and then he stopped in front of her, making it even more difficult for her to breathe.

"Make sure you live," he said calmly.

"Live... until she is proven innocent."

"And then... you die," he concluded with a smile while she panted in fear.

Although he was still very angry, he was satisfied with what he had done. For now. After he was done fishing out the person behind this, every one of them was going to pay the price for humiliating his princess in that manner.

"Nobody leaves the palace until I allow it," Harold ordered in a booming voice before turning around to walk away with Alvin behind him.

Immediately he left, every one of those that were left let out a breath of relief as most of them hurried away from there lest he changes his mind and returned.

,m Harvey and his father carried Benedicta, while Susan's father left there to check on his family, not bothering about his sister, the Queen, whose trembling legs had given in, and she had collapsed on the floor with no care as to who was watching.

Apart from the fact that she had never witnessed anything as terrifying as this in her life, she couldn't believe that Harold's curse was broken. The curse was broken and he was so powerful. Not even the king was as strong as he was.

How did it happen? She needed answers, but how could she get them when her only hope was outside the palace and she had no idea where she was? What had happened? This was the dread she had been feeling since the beginning of the banquet. She had known something terrible was going to happen. But she hadn't planned for this.

They were all in trouble and the only one that would be able to save them was the King. He had to wake up.