A queen

Their bodies seized action as their eyes widened upon what they were seeing.

Gold, they were seeing pure gold inside the chest, and the blood they saw trailing earlier was from two freshly cut-off arms and a head lying on top of the gold.

The dripping blood flowing and mixing with the gold, staining its precious color. The head belonged to one of the Alpha council members.

The men didn't know what to do, the sight was so horrifying. However, what was under it was precious. They would be rich!

They slowly began to smile, until one of them suddenly vomited all over the gold.

Torak chuckled, watching them with satisfaction in his grin.

"Tsk....such weak men."

The men knew the king had just used them like mere jesters to kill his boredom a little.

"T-Thank you your majesty! You're too generous!" They immediately fell to their knees and thanked him for his mercy whilst still shaking from the intense fear they had felt earlier. And the one who had vomited quickly cleaned his lips in embarrassment. 

"Hmm. Now, continue with your speech." He gestured his hand lazily.

They quickly stood back up and proceeded to speak, looking more relaxed. "W-Well, your majesty, the moon harvest is arriving again and the empire still does not have a queen."

"Yes," the one who had vomited, wiped his mouth and continued.

"Y-Your majesty. The empire has been escaping the misfortunes of the moon harvest all this while. But we fear, we cannot avoid it this time around. Great misfortune will come upon the subjects if you don't have a queen to complete the ritual."

The men would have never gone for such death wish, if they had not received a prophecy which stated that the werewolves would suffer, if the ruler does not find a queen. 

A frown formed upon the king's face whilst listening to them, till he chuckled.

 "Since when did the concerns of the subjects affect me?" he asked.

The men paused. They knew his majesty never cared about his subjects, not even when he wanted to become king. During that time, he didn't even become king by proving that he cared one bit about the subjects. Instead, he bestowed fear on everyone and made no one dare to get in his way. 

"It is not just about the people your majesty but also about you, this may also affect you in ways we might not know of-"

"Get to the point," a scowl appeared on Torak's face in a flash.

The fat one, who had worry written all over his face the most, stepped forward and quickly answered.

"Y-Your majesty, we are suggesting finding you a queen ourselves."

The frown on Torak's face deepened as he remained silent, scaring them the more. They knew their king didn't find the need for a queen. And to be honest, they wouldn't have been bothered about the monarchy dying because of no heir since the king was immortal.

But, having a queen by his side was a sacred ritual that was supposed to be done! Now another moon harvest was arriving, and this was a new opportunity to complete the ritual-

"Not interested." Torak waved his hand, his eyes keen on showing no sign of interest in what they had been saying as he relaxed on his throne and leaned his jaw back on his hand.

The men sighed, knowing fully well how stubborn the king was, it was almost impossible to change his mind on something. And no one in the palace ever dared to bring mention of his curse or inability to have a mate or an heir.

The slim one among them, who had been glancing at the gold in front of him, forcefully took his eyes away and faced the king.

"We understand that his majesty is uninterested at the moment. B-But we just hope you would think about it?"

Torak continued staring at them blankly, making him push himself to go on.

"I-If his majesty finds it boring, then perhaps we could have the ritual during the night of the moon harvest, here in the palace?"

"Then many she-wolves could come. And if you find any of them worthy, she will be chosen as your queen. You could also use the moon harvest as a good opportunity to visit your subjects-"

Torak released a scowl upon hearing the word 'subjects' again, just as the man had guessed. So he quickly added, "a-and let them marvel at your almightiness and glory."

The men stiffened when they saw his majesty's face still not even switching from absolute boredom the slightest. After a while of silence from the king, he took his gaze away from them as he waved his hand, his jaw remaining on his knuckles.

"You're dismissed."

All the council members sighed, before bowing their heads. They turned and began leaving the room, the servant rolling the chest out with them, while they kept praying in their minds that the king would agree to it.

It would be in everyone's favor if they had a Queen-Luna. At least, with a partner by his side, they were hoping she would be able to relieve him of his own madness and darkness. And finally bring some light to the palace.

************************************************

The next morning,

The rays of the sunrise peaked through the small window of the tiny room, unto the sleeping girl as she slowly fluttered her eyes open, before rising from the bed.

Lily slowly yawned and stretched before getting down from the bed and preparing to leave the room, to begin work.

She walked down the hall tiredly, yawning and stretching, only to meet servants running up and down with things in their hands.

Confusion was clear in Lily's eyes even as she glanced around. She saw the head maid ordering the maids around and when she noticed her, she frowned.

"You're lucky Luna didn't hear of you waking up this late Lily. Get to work, there's only little time left.." Mrs Jane said.

"May I ask time for what?" Lily couldn't fight against her curiosity as she asked. The head maid looked taken aback by the girl's silly question. 

"There's only little time to make preparations for young master Adrian's arrival..."