The Mind-Reading Mate: Why Is the Lycan King So Obsessed With Me?!-Chapter 212: The Kid They Failed to Love

[His whole life has been filled with violence and hate since the day he was born. Maybe Her Majesty can give him peace, even if it’s only for a few decades.]

Leofric didn’t say much, but it was enough.

Primrose knew in her heart that Edmund’s parents had never treated him the way a child deserved. She knew it was them—they were the ones who planted the idea of "monster" in their son’s mind.

"You matter to me," she whispered again, softer this time. "Whether it’s the cruel part of you, the kind part, or the cold part, every part of you matters to me."

Edmund closed his eyes the moment her tear landed on his face. A single drop slid down his cheek, but Primrose couldn’t tell if it was hers ... or his.

"My parents ..." he opened his eyes slowly and took a deep breath. "They weren’t gentle people, not even to me." He paused, then added quietly, "But they believed it was necessary."

"Why?" Primrose asked softly.

"They were the leaders of our tribe," he said. "And in their eyes, leaders had to be feared. They couldn’t afford to look soft. If people thought they were weak, they’d lose respect ... or worse."

Edmund clenched his jaw. "And me? I was their greatest disappointment."

Primrose finally got up from him, then gently lay beside him, not caring if the wet grass soaked her clothes or if the cold wind made her shiver. She wanted to be close to him, more than anything right now.

"Did they call you a failure?" she asked gently.

Edmund lowered his eyes. "No ... they called me something else." He continued in a low voice, so low that Primrose almost couldn’t hear him. "A monster, a curse, something they should’ve killed the moment I was born."

After a moment, he added, "And maybe ... they weren’t entirely wrong."

Primrose immediately turned his face toward her, her heart aching. "No. Don’t say that," she whispered. "They were wrong. You’re not a curse. You’re not a monster. You were just a kid!"

Edmund slowly shook his head. "I was a kid with something dangerous inside me," he said. "My wolf ... he’s different from other Lycans or even werewolves."

"Back then, he was more dominant than I was. He had the mind of a grown man, while I ... I was still too young and stupid."

Primrose’s brows furrowed. She hated hearing him talk about himself like that. He wasn’t stupid, he was just a scared little boy who never had the chance to grow up safely.

But she decided not to interrupt and let him continue his story.

"I couldn’t control him, and sometimes, I hurt people around me. So my parents decided to lock me in the basement," Edmund said. "It was dark and cold down there, but I thought I deserved it."

"They often forgot to feed me because they were busy, but wasn’t that normal? I was just a burden in their house, so I had no right to ask for food. I had to wait until they allowed me to eat."

Primrose felt like her heart had been stabbed. What kind of parents starved their child and locked him in the cold basement like that?

They didn’t deserve to be called parents at all. They were the real monsters!

Primrose caressed his face. "Why would you think you deserved that?"

"Because I hurt people," he said. "I couldn’t stop it. I couldn’t stop him. Of course they had to lock me away. If they didn’t ... the rest of the tribe would’ve turned on them. Maybe they would’ve been thrown out."

Primrose stared at Edmund for a long moment before finally speaking. "Then tell me, Edmund," she said gently, "if our child ever hurt someone by accident because they couldn’t control their power, would you lock them up in a dungeon? Would you starve them? Would you hit them if they turned out differently than you expected?"

Edmund’s eyes widened. He immediately sat upright. "No!" he said quickly. "No, I would never hurt our children!" He grabbed Primrose’s hands in panic. "I swear I would never do that!"

"Why not?" Primrose asked gently, still holding his gaze. "Why wouldn’t you do that to your own child?"

"Because I’m the reason they exist in this world!" Edmund shouted, his voice filled with guilt and pain.

"I’m the one who brought them here, so I’m supposed to take full responsibility! If something goes wrong, I ... I should be the one punished, because I—"

His words broke off suddenly. He fell silent, the truth behind Primrose’s question finally hitting him.

"You’re right," Primrose said gently. "Children exist because their parents brought them into the world. How can they grow up properly if the only things they see are violence and dirty words?"

She moved closer and sat in front of him, gently brushing her fingers over his hand. "The same goes for your parents."

"Yes, you weren’t an ordinary kid. And yes, your wolf accidentally hurt the people around you."

"But does that mean your parents had the right to lock you away in a basement? To let you starve? To leave you cold and scared?" She shook her head, her eyes filled with pain. "No. They shouldn’t have done that to you."

Primrose smiled bitterly. "They were supposed to guide you. They were supposed to protect you. They were supposed to be patient, to help you understand what was happening inside you."

They shouldn’t have left a little boy to face something he couldn’t understand alone. His wolf might’ve frightened him, but it was his parents who failed him first.

"You didn’t kill them because you were a monster." Primrose tilted her head and looked at him with soft, loving eyes. "You killed them because you were scared."

His wolf might’ve been out of control, but she knew that the wolves inside Lycans and werewolves were meant to protect their host, just like Edmund’s.

When his parents became too cruel, when they hurt him more than he could take, his wolf stepped in to protect him.

Deep down, Edmund probably knew that too.

That it wasn’t just some violent outburst, it was his survival instinct kicked in. But because his parents always told him he was a monster, that’s all he could remember.

Even after they died, their voices still haunted him.

This 𝓬ontent is taken from f(r)eeweb(n)ovel.𝒄𝒐𝙢