CHAPTER 203: EVEN A MONSTER DESERVE A DEFENDER

"My pain tolerance is pretty high, my wife," Edmund said gently, squeezing her hand under the table and looking at her with warm, loving eyes. "If it’s you, I believe I can endure any pain."

[Ugh. I feel like throwing up.] Leofric grumbled inwardly. [Can they stop acting like wild animals in heat already?! My eyes are burning from watching these lovebirds for too long!]

Why did people always get bitter whenever they saw her and Edmund acted so lovely? It wasn’t Primrose’s fault that her husband loved her this much.

Leofric cleared his throat loudly, trying to snap them out of their little love bubble. "Since your magic is extremely rare, there aren’t many people who can help you control it."

"But don’t worry, Your Majesty!" he said with a wide grin, patting his chest with pride. "I didn’t become a magic expert just by luck. Give me one week to dig deeper, and I’ll tell you everything I find about your ability."

One week? That sounded way too short. How could anyone find useful information on such a rare magic in just seven days?

But since he sounded so confident, Primrose didn’t argue and simply nodded in response. "You have your time, Sir Leofric." She smiled so brightly her eyes curved into little crescent moons. "Thank you for trying to help me."

Leofric froze for a moment, clearly caught off guard by her smile. [Scary, my ass. There’s nothing scary about her! If Edmund ever dares to hurt her, I’ll chop his dick off and kidnap Her Majesty myself.]

Primrose’s smile twitched slightly. She’d heard that exact same sentence in someone else’s thoughts not long ago.

Why were these soldiers so obsessed with threatening to cut off her husband’s dick? Were they just jealous because theirs weren’t as big as Edmund’s?

"It’s my honor to help the Queen, Your Majesty," Leofric replied with a more respectful smile. "I promise I’ll do everything I can to learn more about your magic ability."

Since there was nothing left to discuss, Leofric asked for permission to leave. It had been years since he last stepped inside the palace, and he wanted to visit the training grounds and see the current generation of soldiers.

As soon as he was gone, Primrose sighed, her body relaxing now that the red mist surrounding the greenhouse had disappeared.

"Why didn’t he just train the new soldiers himself instead of asking Lady Solene to take over the instructor’s role?" she asked curiously.

Beside her, Edmund calmly poured more tea into her cup. "If Leofric trained the new recruits, they’d cry blood."

He handed her the cup and added with a straight face, "He’s a monster."

Primrose chuckled softly. "He really doesn’t look like one," she said. "Honestly, I was surprised. Lady Solene told me he wasn’t friendly and didn’t like talking to people, but ... he was totally different from what I imagined."

"He does dislike talking to people," Edmund replied. "To him, conversations are just a waste of energy. He only speaks to those he considers close."

Primrose lifted her teacup, gently blowing away the steam before taking a small sip. "Then I must be one of the lucky few," she said with a teasing smile. "He wouldn’t stop talking to me."

Edmund gave her a dry look. "My wife, I’m afraid you’ll change your mind if you spend too much time around him."

She lifted an eyebrow, clearly amused. "Oh? And why is that?"

Edmund leaned back slightly in his chair. "Leofric has almost no self-control when he’s around people he feels close to. He’s loud," he sighed, "loud, reckless, and always says whatever comes to his mind. He doesn’t care what others think, so most people think he’s rude."

"That’s why, my wife," he continued gently, "I want to apologize if anything he said made you uncomfortable."

Primrose let out a small laugh and waved her hand as if brushing it off. "Don’t worry about it. He was actually quite polite to me." Then she added more seriously, "But ... I didn’t like it when he spoke badly about you."

"People talk bad about me all the time." Edmund said. "It’s nothing unusual."

Primrose frowned slightly, setting her teacup down with a soft clink. "Yes, but you’re not just anyone. You’re my husband."

Edmund turned to her, a little surprised by how firm and protective her voice sounded.

"I know you’re used to it," she continued gently, "but just because you’re used to being criticized doesn’t make it fine. You might not mind it, but I do."

Primrose had insulted him too, back when she didn’t truly know him. She used to think he was a monster, a cold, heartless man who hated his own wife so much that he couldn’t even spare a moment to talk to her.

But she had been wrong. So incredibly wrong.

Her husband turned out to be nothing like what she imagined.

The man sitting in front of her now was kind in his own way, thoughtful when no one was watching, and far more patient with her than she ever thought she deserved.

Because of that, she couldn’t stand it when someone spoke badly about him.

Edmund didn’t say anything right away. He simply looked at her, like he was quietly admiring her, not as a queen, not even as his wife, but as the woman who saw through all his layers and still chose to stay.

"... Thank you," he said at last, his voice low and sincere. "That means a lot to me."

Primrose blinked several times, suddenly feeling shy after hearing him speak so gently.

"You don’t need to thank me," she murmured, quickly sipping her tea again to hide the blush rising on her cheeks.

"The night’s getting colder," Edmund said softly, watching her with gentle eyes. "It might be a good idea to return to your room soon, my wife."

Primrose closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Actually ... there’s something I want to do before I go back to my room."

"What is it?"

Her fingers curled into small fists as her hands trembled slightly. "I want to meet the Marquess’ brother."