Tired to deal it.

Bree didn't want to draw a line between her and her four mates like this, she knew how important it was for a mate to be by her mate's side but she was just so tired of dealing with men who were far too dangerous for her. Back when she was living a normal life, she had to go through so much. From being stalked at night, to receiving gifts in the middle of the night—— her 'admirers' would ring the doorbell in the middle of the night and would leave gifts that would terrify any sane woman into fits of crying.

At first, she was scared, then she cried, asking herself why she was the one who had to go through all of that but at last she accepted it all. After getting used to it, she wouldn't even flinch if she were to receive a bloody skull of a cat that was carved into something more horrifying.

Because there was nothing else she could do, she tried to call the police but they weren't able to catch the culprits behind these atrocities and even if they did catch some, new admirers would pop up pretty soon. After a while, even the police officers stopped treating her with courtesy and started to believe that she was the one who was the cause of it, nevertheless why was it only her, who would receive such things?

Why weren't the other women of the company or the apartment targeted and only she was the one who was stalked like this? Doesn't it mean that she was the one with whom the fault lay with?

Those men were not even transcendental, yet they terrified her until she started to feel scared of her own shadow, questioned herself for acting like her true self and couldn't even enter her house without a baseball bat, in fact, she was even murdered by one of them.

What kind of life will she be living if she were to get entangled with these four mates who were far too dangerous and powerful than the ones she knew?

She clenched her fists, though she was an alpha Queen with powers that were as strong as that of the dragon, she was in no delusions that she will be able to take on four numinous males who were after her life. One, maybe but four? It was impossible.

Life had thrown a lot at her and she had always stood strong in the face of everything but not anymore… she didn't want to deal with anything that would threaten her.

" Your majesty?" She could feel the surprise in the head maid's voice and knew that the latter was shocked by what she has said, they were her mates. The other halves of her ripped and tattered soul, yet she was letting them do as they please… if they were to betray her, the pain that she would feel wouldn't be as simple as that of a few prickles of pins and needles sticking to her skin.

No, she would have to feel it, sense the pleasure that they were giving another woman through their bond.

It was a humiliation that knew no bounds and the pain—— it was ineffable.

But she would rather take that pain than prepare herself for another death.

" Firing Harley would not only upset the consorts, but it would also upset the other workers who are on friendly terms with her." nursing the dull throbbing ache in the glabella, Bree smoothly explained, she wasn't lying anyway. The maids who were working with Harley currently were indeed in a rather 'close relationship' with the female protagonist, she was the ugly demon Queen to them while Harley was a pitiful omega who was often bullied by the Demon Queen.

It was occasionally mentioned in the book that the maids including the chef and butler of the palace would often hide extra pieces of cakes for Harley in the kitchen as an omega and a maid at that, she wasn't allowed to eat the same thing as the Dragon Queen, or it might be considered a felony. Yet the workers of her palace would often bring Harley her leftovers, by rule the leftovers should have been handed to the head maid or maids working at a higher position than Harley but that wasn't the case.

She narrowed her eyes and rested her chin on the back of her hand, twirling the feather quill with her fingers. " If we fire her without any reason, then the workers might revolt. It's not worth it."

The head maid immediately jerked violently. "But your majesty, that girl has been visiting the consorts——"

" I know." Bree was calm as she looked at the head maid who was jumping with anxiety, as Bree's nanny it was only right for her to worry about her but —— " But if the consorts are willing to allow her to do as she pleased, then who am I to stop them?"

The head maid turned to Dion who shook his head, there was nothing he could do at the moment. Even if the Dragon Queen didn't mention the crimes of the four consorts clearly, anyone with wits would know that for her to get so angry, the outlawry committed by the four consorts wasn't as simple as the Queen made it look like, after all, she wouldn't have suggested breaking the mating bond with all of them for such a petty reason as not coming to meet her while she was sick, it there was something the Queen was hiding from everyone and without knowing about the entire thing, he cannot suggest the Queen forgive and forget.

Dion didn't help her but the head maid wasn't willing to give up like that but that was until there came a loud bang from the floor above, that shook the Queen's office.

" MYRA!" screeched the head maid, Myra was one of the bewitched skeletons of the elders of the Dragoniere family, till date no one knew whose idea was it, to instil magic in the skeleton of these elders who acted and behaved like they did when they were alive. And Myra was a little girl who despite her old age was named the elder for her wits, though she was still as naughty as a child.

Even now she loved to pull pranks every once in a while.

Just as the head maid turned, the door to Bree's office was pushed open and in came a walking skeleton who was dressed in a pirate's costume. " Ahoy, matey, there is an emergency and I hope you would you know weigh the anchor if you could?" Then to Bree's amusement he took out a jar of wine and gulped it down—— of course, it all trickled down the floor, creating another big mess.

The cadre gave an over-exaggerated gasp before saying, " Blimey, looks like you gotta clean this up to, sugar."

Then ——-

" Carlisle!"