The Lycan King's Forbidden Craving - Chapter 141: Chapter 141

“Lylah, focus!”
Lylah snapped out of her thoughts when the head warrior touched her shoulder. Her gaze lifted to him, and she swallowed at the cold look in his eyes.
“You’ve been absent-minded since we started. Care to tell me what’s going on?” he asked.
“I… uhm… I’m sorry,” she muttered.
“You’re sorry?” he echoed, his voice sharper than a blade. “Sorry doesn’t help you out on the field. Now snap out of it. You need to be sharp.”
“Yes, sir!” Lylah saluted and continued the training.
After two hours, all the warriors went on break. Lylah found a corner to sit alone. Her bones ached, but that was the least of her worries.
A question kept ringing in her head:
Who stole Selene’s book?
Last night, they had searched every nook and cranny of the room. Selene had even gone to the cave to check, but found nothing. The head maid said Arianna and Brigid were the only ones who knew about the book.
Why? Why did this unsettle her so much?
“Hey, Lylah,” Amy said, sitting beside her, worry etched on her face. “Are you alright?”
“Yeah,” she croaked, then sighed. “No, I’m not alright.”
Amy blinked in concern. “What happened? You look like someone who hasn’t slept in days.”
“Yeah. I barely slept after that celebration,” Lylah admitted, her gaze fixed on a pebble. “I feel like—” she gritted her teeth, gripping her hair. “I feel like something happened and I can’t remember it. No matter how hard I try, I don’t remember entering my room.”
Lylah’s eyes snapped toward Amy. “Did Brigid leave immediately after I did?”
Amy nodded without hesitation.
“Yes. She said she was pressed, so she left—and then she never came back.” Amy’s eyes gestured toward one of the male warriors. “Bradley was supposed to train secretly with her yesterday. But she never showed up.”
After hearing Amy's words, Lylah went to the head warrior and told him she wasn’t feeling well and needed a break.
To her surprise, he didn’t mind. Perhaps it was because she had no wolf like the others.
As she headed back, she halted at the sight of a pair of royal boots. Without looking up, she already knew who it was—but when she slid her gaze upward, she was surprised to meet a concerned look.
“You look unwell,” Lucas said, stepping forward and placing a hand on her forehead, catching her off guard. “Is the training becoming too hard?”
“I’m fine, my Lord,” Lylah replied, averting her gaze.
“Then why are you leaving training early?” Lucas asked, but Lylah remained silent. "Come with me.”
“Huh?”
“It’s not a request,” he said, not stopping.
The sound of herbal tea being poured into cups made Lylah swallow as she watched the maid serve. This was the second time Lord Lucas had wanted to eat with her.
If her mind wasn’t so troubled, she would have been squealing right now.
Lucas must have sensed it, so he asked, “Are you going to stay quiet about what’s bothering you? The healer said you aren’t sleeping enough. You’re skipping meals. Why are you hurting yourself?”
He had asked a healer to check on her before bringing her to eat.
“I don’t know,” she admitted, keeping her gaze lowered.
“You miss your sister?”
“Hmm… perhaps that’s why,” she muttered.
“Drink up,” he gestured toward the herbal tea. Without arguing, she drank it all. Lucas, who had been expecting her to put up a fuss, blinked in surprise.
“Thank you so much for the meal, my Lord,” she said with a faint smile.
Lucas decided not to press further, and they began to eat quietly. Only when Lylah had eaten half her food did she finally speak, breaking the silence between them.
“My Lord, about my wolf… the attacked wolf,” she said cautiously. “Is there a way to trigger it?”
Ah… could her mood be because of her wolf?
“Pain can trigger your wolf. That’s why you healed faster than normal after sparring with the Head warrior. But that doesn’t mean it has fully manifested,” he explained.
“It takes time for an attacked wolf to fully manifest. It can only be triggered once in a while,” he continued. “And when it does, the owner tends to gain a special, unique ability.”
Lylah nodded, finally smiling. “Thanks, my Lord.”
•
That night…
“Urgh!”
“Ugh!”
Lylah groaned as she slammed the back of her head against the wall, seated in the corner of her room. She continued, enduring the pain that shot through her.
Blood began trickling from her head down her neck. She kept hitting, the impact growing stronger with each strike.
“Remember,” she muttered under her shaky breath.
Thud!
“Remember,” she repeated, harder this time.
The next hit triggered a wave of darkness that blurred her vision. Her chest heaved with ragged breaths as her consciousness began to slip away.
“Remember,” she whispered before her eyes slipped shut.
••••••••••••••••••
The next morning, while Lucas prepared himself for another pile of work, a knock sounded on his door. After granting permission, a soldier stepped in, bowing deeply.
“My Lord, there is a message from the emissaries in the South—from Lord Valoreth.”
Lucas’ brows knitted, forming a crease between them. He took the scroll from the soldier and unrolled it swiftly. As he read, his eyes widened.
“No way,” he muttered in confusion.
They had caught another Ouroboros in the East, claiming to be part of the rogue attack that had been resolved weeks ago.
Didn’t Duncan say the one they had once caught was the only one in the moon realm?
And from the note, Valoreth threatened to release news about them for the safety of the realm. But Lucas couldn’t allow that.
It would cause an uproar. From Valoreth’s perspective, he believed dragons still existed—and that could spark chaos throughout the realm.
He would have sent Falcon to handle this, but Falcon wasn’t around.
“Get my horse ready,” Lucas ordered.
{Brigid's voice}
'Stop! Don’t say anything!'
'Get away from her, you fucking bitch! Lylah, wake the fuck up!'
'Stop talking, goddammit!'
'Lylah!!!'
{Hilda's voice}
'She can’t hear you, Brigid. Stop wasting your energy. I have her ears covered, and the only time dear Lylah is going to stop talking is after she spills out every damn little secret about Arianna.'
'Go on, sweetheart. Give me more about her. Just her.'
{After that, Lylah’s slurred voice rambles all the knowledge…}
{Brigid's voice}
'…I’m sorry. I’m probably the most selfish bitch you’ve ever come across. I used you, and now it’s too late to atone for my mistake. I’m so sorry, Lylah… I hate myself so much for doing this. I let my obsession cloud my mind, and…'
'I’m still in shock about everything you said about Arianna. It was in the book and…'
Sighs
'…Why am I even doing this when you’re not going to remember anything afterward?'
'Once again, I’m sorry. I hope you never remember this…'
•
Lylah woke to reality, her gaze fixed on the ceiling. Her body remained rigid on the bed, expression that of someone whose entire world had crumbled.
Slowly, a tear slipped from the corner of her eye, trailing down to her ear.
She remembered.