The Lycan King' Chapter 176: A Friend In Need

Chapter 176: A Friend In Need

Her guard tried to stutter a response but fell silent at the end.

Yeren just stared at him.

"And what do you have to say for yourself?"

He just bowed his head and stared at the ground.

"Well?" Yeren prodded.

"I can find her and bring her back if it pleases you, Your Grace."

Bring her back? If she was determined enough to leave in such a storm, then it ant she had no intention to living on the castle even a second longer.

And it hurt, even though he would rather die than admit it.

But he had made it clear that he wanted nothing to do with her... hadn’t he?

"Since your senses seem to have returned, you should do as you have said."

The man glanced at the sky behind Yeren before nodding and leaving.

Normally, he would never send any n out in such a weather, but he needed them to catch up with her before sothing bad would happen.

And he had the feeling that sothing bad would happen.

He returned to the parapets and looked down the path that led away from the gates.

They were far along now.

The thought of not seeing her moss green eyes ever again made him feel...

There were no words to describe the way he felt.

After brooding for a while longer, he changed his garnts with the assistance of his attendants and went to review the accounts with Malrick. Since discovering Redmare’s fraud, he had developed an interest in balancing the inventories, instead of always leaving it up to Lord Malrick that was going blind a little as each day passed.

But he couldn’t bring himself to find anyone else. Finding people to trust was harder than finding pigs that fly. Which was why he never thought of getting another First man. He would wait a year for Andon, and hopefully, Andon would still be willing to resu his office.

"Your Grace." Malrick said, struggling to his feet as Yeren entered.

The man seed to have aged a decade since they had t last. And his hands were trembling.

Was sothing wrong or was it his old age taking it’s toll.

"Lord Malrick." He nodded and took the seat beside the man.

Malrick didn’t et his gaze, nor did he speak much. He just handed him the new inventories and returned to his estimations.

"I hope everything is well, Lord Malrick?"

The man glanced up fleetingly before casting his eyes away.

"Ah, yes yes, Your Grace. My son’s just keep mumbling that I haven’t died yet. They think I’m still alive because I don’t want them to inherit." he said, then laughed at his own joke.

"Except that I might die sooner than they think, Your Grace." He said, still laughing. Then out of nowhere, he burst into tears, sobbing like a child.

Yeren was completely taken aback. He was unused to seeing n cry. It had to be his old age, he thought to himself.

The awkwardness of the situation made him unsure of how to offer comfort.

A pat on the knee? A soft word? Before he could co up with sothing, Malrick blurted, "He ca to my house and threatened

in the dead of the night. He accused

of exposing the inventories to you. I was terrified for my life. He held a blade to my neck and I thought... he would kill . But one of my sons knocked on my door and he fled out the window like a ghost."

Yeren didn’t need to wonder who he was talking about.

The nerve...

"Did you have your n chase after him?"

Malrick nodded, too overwheld to speak. "They couldn’t trace his scent all through the night. My sons don’t believe

- they think I was just trying to tire out the guards before dawn."

Yeren sat back in his chair and leaned down.

"So you knew about the discrepancies in the inventories all along?"

Malrick fell silent.

But his silence was answer enough.

"I was afraid of him, Your Grace. I was hoping you would discover it yourself as you have finally done."

"But if you had told , we wouldn’t have lost so much coin." His voice was cold and tight as he spoke.

Malrick looked terrified, his face ashen white. But not of Redmare, of him.

Yeren stood to his feet and smoothed his garnts.

"The mistake people often make is being afraid of the wrong people." A small smile touched his lips. "When the real person they should be afraid of is... ."

Then he walked out of the room and closed the door behind him.

Malrick was just an old fool, even his father always said so. There was no need to punish him.

As he walked, he had no direction in mind.

"Your Grace!" Soone called behind him.

He turned around, signalling for his guards to clear a path for the person to approach him.

He recognised the boy as the squire of one of his guards - Miss Stenly’s guard to be precise.

From the way he was short of breath, it was clear that he had been running, or riding as fast as he could.

The man pulled out a letter from within his coat and handed it to him.

He gave the man a look before unfolding the letter and reading through the contents.

From the look of the handwriting, the letter had been written in a hurry, and just as he had expected, sothing bad had happened.

Your Grace,

We reached Lady Stenly and her sister just in ti, but they had slipped down a hill and suffered a severe crash. When we arrived, their horses had run off, although the carriage rider has made us understand that the horses were led away by a band of masked n. Both Lady Stenly and her sister are unconscious and have been checked into a nearby inn.

However, they have neither coin or items of value, and I and my companions are without as well. Their clothing have been damaged as well.

Please do send your assistance.

He read it again, letting his eyes linger on the lines about them being unconscious.

The urge to go to her picked at him but he ignored it.

"Who wrote the letter?"

"I did, but he instructed

on what to write, Your Grace."

"Visit Lord Malrick and take a bag of coin that would last the journey and tell him to see to it that she receives the best of their services. Clothes for her and her sister should also be bought, and he should ensure that she doesn’t leave until she is well rested."

The man nodded and rushed off.

For so reason, his feet led him to the foot of her tower.

Her tower - why did he still call it that even when she noticed longer stayed there?

"Leave

be." He said to his guards as he ascended the stairway.

If he was standing face to face with her, he would have shaken her until all the stubborness left her body.

What good did she think would co of leaving in such a storm? But knowing her, she would rather die than admit she was wrong, or that she needed his help.

He reached the landing and walked towards the door he knew by heart was hers. When he turned it, her scent bathed him.

He remained at the doorway for a few seconds before summoning the courage to go inside.

The gowns he had gifted her were folded on the bed, along with all the other accessories.

She left behind his gowns even when she had no real clothes of her own? He hadn’t given her the gowns to be charitable, he had given them because she desperately needed them... and because he hated the rubbish she liked to wear.

For a woman as proud as her, it was simply... unbefitting.

A movent at the corner of his eyes caught his attention.

He half-turned, expecting her to be standing there and glaring at him.

But instead, it was a man dressed in dark clothes. He was trying as hard as he could to blend into the walls.

Alarm coiled through him.

"What are you doing here?"