Beast King's Crippled Mate-Chapter 249: I expect my death

Gale bit his lips as his heart ached so badly he felt like it could explode anytime soon.

"Don’t do this to me, wife. Do you not remember how many times I told you that I hate traitors the most?" Gale bit his lower lip until it bled to endure the pain in his heart, but it didn’t help at all. The what-if scenario of his wife cheating on him was enough to almost send him into a frenzy and turn him into a true cursed wolf.

He shook his head, trying to dispel the horrible thoughts about his wife, "No, Swan loves me as much as I love her. There must be some misunderstanding here. She won’t hurt me like this."

Gale looked up at the window where their love den was. He couldn’t face his wife right now, so he decided to bring the evidence somewhere far and read it all by himself, so he wouldn’t accidentally harm his beloved even if he was enraged.

*

Meanwhile, Swan was feeling restless in her room. She waited for Gale to return to their room, but he never did even after an hour passed.

Swan finally couldn’t stand it anymore and called the cat maids. She asked them, "Can you find His Majesty and tell him to return? I’m worried about him."

The cat maids exchanged glances at her request. They also heard the screams, and the guards’ rumors spread fast and wide within an hour in this castle.

Considering these facts, they replied in unison, "The guards told us that His Majesty had left for the forest in the west right after he told them to imprison Alice, the bunny maid, Princess."

The bunny maid.

That sentence was enough to make her feel faint at this point because she knew that Alice must’ve sneaked into Long Xiurong’s room, stole whatever was inside to be used as proof, and gave it to Gale.

Swan felt stuffy in her chest, but she endured it as she said, "C-call Lady Long, now."

"Yes, Princess!"

*

Long Xiurong entered Swan’s bedroom with puffy eyes and a disheveled dress. She must’ve been crying for a long time and probably understood that her end might be near.

Swan was clenching the sheet as she tried to suppress the suffocating feeling in her chest and asked Long Xiurong, "Lady Long, about what happened just now—"

"It was all my fault, Your Majesty," Long Xiurong admitted defeatedly. "I should’ve carried Rock’s letter and keepsake all the time. I was scared that His Majesty would find out about it when you called me for tea time, so I hid them inside my study desk’s drawer. When I returned to my room after our tea time, the letter and gray mammoth tusk were already gone."

"It was that bunny maid," Swan said. "She’s the one sneaking into your room at noon."

Long Xiurong’s heart skipped a beat, and her tears began welling up again, "Then, what should we do now, Your Majesty? I-I don’t want to die. I told Rock that I wanted to leave this castle and live with him."

"I will protect you," Swan stated firmly, knowing it wasn’t Long Xiurong’s fault. "Your life has been full of misfortune since you left your home country. I still want you to have a happy ending with Rock, as I’ve wronged him as well..."

"But what about you, Your Majesty? Who will protect you?" Long Xiurong asked. She had a crazy idea that had been lingering in her mind since noon. "M-Maybe we should escape together, Your Majesty. I’m sure the cat maids are taking your side. The Beast King isn’t in the castle right now, so we can take this chance to run away as far as we can!"

Swan curled her lips and replied, "I’ve told him I will never leave him, no matter what. So I will stay. But you... You need to escape, Lady Long. I’ll tell the cat maids to prepare a way out. Run as far as you can."

"Queen Swan, this is not the time to talk about love!" Long Xiurong yelled desperately. "T-the Beast King will definitely be enraged after he reads the letter. He will k-kill you!"

"Then so be it," Swan replied as she turned her head towards the drawer where she put the pearl necklace gifted by Gale back then. She rarely wore it because she was afraid of accidentally losing it, but it was something she truly treasured, as it felt like a wedding gift from her husband. She always wanted to wear it whenever she felt her end was near, just like during the coldest night before. "Maybe it’s time for me to wear that pearl necklace again. I can feel my life at the end of my throat already."

Long Xiurong stared at Queen Swan in disbelief. There was no panic or grievance on the latter’s face, and she didn’t show any reluctance to what would happen next, even though her life was on the line.

Swan returned her gaze towards Long Xiurong, and smiled, "The Beast King, Gale, is my husband. He is the only reason I am still alive. He is my reason to continue living in this dark world, and if he thinks that he doesn’t want me anymore, then I am as good as dead."

"D-don’t say that Swan..." Long Xiurong muttered as she even forgot to address Swan properly. "I know that you love him. But this..."

"Lady Long, I am a cripple," Swan interrupted calmly. "I was never loved and wanted by anyone growing up. There was nobody in my life who ever genuinely loved me. In this harsh world, a useless woman like me will either end up in a brothel or dead."

"When Gale married me out of the Holy Achate Palace, I was already expecting my death, and I still hold onto that. I still expect my death," Swan said as she gently caressed her belly. "I just wished to be pardoned until I can give birth. This baby is still his, and shouldn’t bear my sins with me."