The Cursed Prince's Strange Bride

"THEY BURNT HER ALIVE TO MAKE A POTION FOR THEMSELVES!"

Richard had to admit that what the Moon Kingdom had done to them was even more ridiculous now that Anne's mother had put it like that.

Anne's eyes widened at the words her mother said, and she turned to look at Wilder. From the look on her face, the cut on her stomach was nothing compared to what she felt in her heart.

"They... are monsters." Her mother cried. "Please, Anne."

Richard felt his emotions rising again. The woman looked really broken standing there and facing an enemy she could not bring herself to hurt because of her daughter.

"I... he... Wilder is... is not that kind of person." Anne said with tears in her eyes. "I trust him. He won't do something like that to Aunt Leah."

Wilder simply stared at her without saying a word.

"You are really naive. Prince Wilder is the worst of them all."

"Do you think they would have still been alive if we had planned to get rid of them too, just like they did with us? But we already swore on our lives that we were not going to take the lives of other people. But they... they are not like that."

"But you tried to hurt him just now when you came here, and he hasn't tried to hurt you!"

"ANNE!" Her mother yelled at her in frustration.

"Take your daughter with you. They are coming soon." Wilder said in a hoarse voice as he wiped off the blood on his mouth with his sleeve.

True to what Wilder had said, they could hear hurried footsteps and voices approaching.

"W-Wilder..." Anne called him with tear-filled eyes.

"Save yourself and your people." He said, looking straight into her eyes.

She shook her head as more tears flowed down her face.

"DO NOT BE STUBBORN!" He yelled at her.

"I... cannot save... you." He said in a broken voice and turned his face away from her.

"Please, Anne, let's go." Her mother begged.

"I have always allowed you to do all you wanted to do. Please, do this for me now." The woman pleaded before she chanted a spell that opened up a portal.

Anne cried loudly as she looked at Wilder, who had turned his back to her.

"We need to hurry! I can't keep holding it." Her mother urged her before she hurried to pull Anne along with her, but she was careful so Anne wouldn't get hurt more than she already had.

Dejected, Anne realized it was the only option she could choose.

"BE SAFE, WILDER!" She called loudly as her mother pulled her towards the portal.

"LET'S... LET'S MEET AGAIN." She yelled amidst her tears.

He turned to look at her just as they stepped into the portal, and the last thing they saw was her teary face.

"We... won't," Wilder muttered just as the portal disappeared together with them.

"Anne," Wilder said her name for the first time as he looked at the empty space.

He stood there for a while before he began to laugh. He continued to laugh even as tears rolled down his cheeks, and when he touched it and looked strangely at the liquid, his laughter increased.

He took out a bottle from the pocket of his robe, and Richard's eyes widened when he realized that was the potion Lord Zealot had given him. He had no idea how long Wilder had been with it or how much he knew.

Richard's feet were locked to that spot. He could not move. He could not go and meet Wilder. He had done this himself.

He had caused everything.

Wilder walked barefooted away from there, absentmindedly.

Richard didn't follow. He stood there. Waiting. Not sure what he was waiting for.

Eventually, he got some news.

Another round of fighting had started. Wilder had been cut a lot of times. And... he had also fallen off a cliff.

They all knew it. Prince Wilder died that day.

By the time night fell and the full moon was up in the sky, the barrier eventually broke, opening them to a rather surprising small village. Some people had been able to escape, but they were also able to slaughter many more people.

Richard felt sick to his stomach. In all his life as a warrior, he had never encountered something so troubling. The worst part was that the witches weren't exactly fighting to kill them, or maybe it was because they were too weak during the full moon, unlike wolves who were stronger. But Sir Zealot was ready to get rid of every single one of them, even making the warriors all shift into their wolf forms and tear them apart.

Richard had recognized one of the witches who had stayed back. It was Anne's mother. However, Anne was nowhere in sight.

Lady Avery continued to use her strength to build a barrier against the warriors' penetration while the others fled. But the barrier wasn't as solid because it was the full moon, which meant they weren't as powerful as they were during the blood moon.

She coughed up blood and even had a severe nosebleed; however, she didn't stop until blood started rolling down her eyes like tears.

While she was doing this, Sir Zealot had ordered more incense to be lit, which made it difficult for her.

With her bloody face, she looked at the soldiers all around her and at Sir Zealot as she said,

"Under the full moon, I curse the land you come from." She said before her voice grew louder, "YOU WILL ALL REGRET THIS DAY. THE DAY YOU HURT THE PEOPLE WHO DIDN'T FIGHT BACK! YOU WILL ALL DIE LONELY AND MISERABLE DEATHS. ONE FILLED WITH EMPTINESS AND REGRET. ALL OF YOU!" She coughed out a mouthful of blood and fell to the ground just as the barrier around them crashed.

Sadly, that was the end of her life and the lives of all the others who couldn't make it in time to escape. Their screams echoed throughout the night before silence befell them.

Under the full moon, the wolves had a great feast--a feast they celebrated every year in their kingdom to commemorate that moment.