Aster’s face slowly darkened as she listened. "They... they did that to the poor girl? And our Emperor didn’t truly give justice to the beastkins?!"

Primrose let out a soft sigh. "No... he didn’t." She paused for a moment, then added, "We’ve never even heard anything about it all this time, right?"

Aster’s face turned red, and she looked like she was about to blow steam out of her head right then and there.

"That’s so unfair!" she shouted, stomping her foot. "Rosie, it’s really not fair! We’re always fed with terrible news about beasts, but when it comes to humans, those stories just disappear like nothing happened!"

Among all of Primrose’s close friends, Aster had the softest heart and the strongest sense of justice. So it wasn’t surprising at all that she looked this furious after learning the truth.

"It really isn’t fair," Primrose said softly. "But... please lower your voice."

"That’s alright," Edmund said suddenly. He sat on the couch in front of Primrose and Aster. "I have shielded this room with magic, so our voices can’t be heard from outside."

The moment she heard his voice, Aster quickly turned toward him. Her eyes filled with tears, and before she could stop herself, she started crying.

"Your Majesty... I’m so sorry for thinking you were a monster when we first met!" Aster said, her voice shaking. "Cassandra and Ilyana would apologize too if they knew about all of this."

"You were only trying to protect my wife back then, Lady Aster," Edmund replied calmly. "I don’t hold any hatred toward you, so please don’t worry."

[Dear Heaven! The Lycan King is truly forgiving!] Aster thought, her heart filled with emotion. [How could I and the others ever call him a foul beast? At this point, our kind are the real foul beasts!]

Primrose had thought about that for a long time as well. But sadly, it wasn’t easy for a race that had been seen as villains for thousands of years to suddenly be accepted as the good ones.

Although... now that she thought about it, she had once heard that beastkins were not always seen that way, but that was a long time ago, and there didn’t seem to be any records explaining why.

Well, she would try to dig deeper into that later.

"I know this is hard to talk about," Primrose said, turning to Edmund, "but we don’t have much time. There’s something more important we need to figure out, such as how we can prove that there are beast prisoners inside this palace."

Not long ago, Edmund had already ordered Callen to bring Cecilia and Evelia’s family from Noctvaris. He had even signed a royal decree himself, so their family wouldn’t mistake Callen for a fraud.

But the problem was... even if the Moretz family arrived in Azmeria, they still couldn’t open a case legally if they couldn’t prove that Evelia was inside the palace.

If they said they had entered the west wing by accident, it would cause trouble for three sides.

Primrose’s mind-reading ability might be exposed. Edmund would be suspected of trying to frame the King of Azmeria, especially since he had already caused the Count of Veloria to take his own life. And Lord Keirwyn would likely be punished by Averon for failing to create a secure lock.

No... there would be too many bad possibilities if they used that reason to explain how they found the prisoners in the west wing.

They needed another reason. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

"Wife," Edmund said at last, leaning forward as he looked at her seriously. "What I’m about to say is quite risky... but I think this is the only way we can bring this case into the open."

Primrose looked at him with curiosity. "Tell me."

Edmund took a slow breath before speaking. "First, I need to go back to the west wing..."

He then told his plan to Primrose and the others. Aster and Solene frowned, thinking that what Edmund was planning was too risky.

But Primrose, who knew that her husband wouldn’t do something unless he was truly sure about it, said, "Alright, let’s do that."

===

People often say that when men share the same way of thinking, they can quickly become allies.

In Averon’s mind, he believed Edmund was just as fake as him, especially after the long conversation they had the day before.

"Remember, Your Majesty, if you ever need my help, you can come to me anytime." Averon smiled brightly as he looked at Edmund.

[If he can make the Duke of Illvaris suffer, I’ll throw a grand celebration,] Averon thought with satisfaction.

[That man humiliated me years ago, and his foolish daughter even dared to reject me. But now... look at what has become of them.]

His gaze briefly shifted to Primrose, who stood behind Edmund.

[Now that I look at her more closely... she’s not even that pretty. I must have been blind to want to marry her back then.]

Primrose’s eye twitched slightly. If she remembered correctly, this same man had once thought she was prettier than Bianca, his own wife.

Not only was his heart rotten, but his eyes also seemed to have serious problems.

"It’s been a pleasure getting to know you better, Your Majesty," Edmund said as he reached out his hand. "And please forgive my wife for how she behaved back then. I will make sure to discipline her properly so she won’t act out again in the future."

Oh... well, she wouldn’t mind if the handsome Lycan King wanted to discipline her in bed—damn it! This was not the time to think about that.

Fortunately, Edmund’s inner thoughts immediately shattered her imagination, allowing her to think clearly again.

[Discipline my wife? Who the hell am I? Her teacher?] Edmund clicked his tongue inwardly. [My wife doesn’t need discipline because she has never done anything wrong!]

Of course.

No matter how perverted her husband could be, it seemed like Primrose was even worse when it came to thoughts like that.