I'm The Queen Of The Wolf King

The shack and dirty house in the middle of the forest was built with trees and used grass and leaves as a roof. Inside, the hoarse man's voice continued to let out unearthly curses, accompanied by the horrible sound of whips.

"You're useless! This bastard! I asked you to serve the guests, not asked you to hit them! I have warned you many times already. You cost me a lot of money again. Shit! You pissed me off and asked for it!"

The thin and small figure curled up tightly, shivering and receiving each cruel whip lashing down. The dirty and ragged old dress couldn't cover the pale skin bleeding out from the new wounds that stacked up against the old. No matter how much the whip struck her down, that poor girl still didn't let a groan of pain, a scream or a beg for forgiveness come out of her mouth. She just shivered from the pain that was constantly torturing her body.

After about a hundred times of hitting, kicking, and cursing, it seems to have calmed down a bit. The skinny man with a fierce face was panting for breath finally stop. He wiped away forcefully the sweat on his face, his red eyes were still glaring at the girl who was lying on the dirty floor.

"Chuck chuck chuck, Alice. If you were obedient, you wouldn't have been beaten, and I wouldn't have lost my money. So why do you keep driving me crazy? Do you need to make it so hard?"

He squatted down next to the girl, mercilessly grabbing her long, messy silver hair, then tugging, forcing her to look up. He said:

"Look at this pretty face. You look like a lady from a noble family, but unfortunately, you are just a lowly commoner, the daughter of a dirty prostitute."

"..." - No, her mom was not like that. Her mom... she was the most beautiful and wonderful woman in the world.

"I was too kind and it was enough to take care of you and your mother. I also gave you food and accommodation. And now, two of you have to work to pay off my debt. Understand?!"

Ever since the day her father, the Marquess of Rothnor, received authorization from her mother in the most despicable way possible, by forcing her to give up the inheritance, he officially became the heir to all the power and wealth of House Rothnor.

He immediately took his mistress and stepdaughter back to the mansion to live like the real owner. Seeing Alice and her mother as parasites, despite his lover insulting his official wife and children, even the servants in the mansion have the right to trample on them.

Alice's mother had an accident that caused her to lose her voice and had a great psychological impact. After that, she was betrayed and deceived by her own husband for so many years. She was like a gold mine that he was trying to exploit to the end. Now that it's worthless, he didn't even care for a single glance.

About his lover and daughter, two of them were not satisfied with what they had stolen. They spread the news that Alice was not actually the biological child of the Marquess of Rothnor, turned her mother into a womanizer, branded her an illegitimate child, and kicked Alice and her mom out of the mansion without bringing anything.

The girl trembled slightly. Her long eyelashes were tightly closed, her eyebrows were furrowed, her pale, chapped lips were pursed tightly, and she tried not to utter a word.

"You just need to work here and obediently serve the guests that I bring instead of your mother. You will be happy, and I will get more money. Isn't it very simple, huh?"

Alice opened her eyes and glanced at the man who was babbling nonsense, silently cursing him to get to hell without the body.

"Ah, actually, if you're unwell, your mother can take her place temporarily. She must have been a prostitute after all. Why was she not giving you some hands-on experience serving men?"

Alice's eyes widened when she heard the mention of her mother, and she glared fiercely at the bastard in front of her, as if she was touching the scales backwards. She finally got up to protest and used her fingernails to scratch his face:

"Shut up your mouth! How dare you mention my mother? If you dare to bring her here, I will definitely risk my life with you!!"

Her mother was a noble Marquise, and many men had bowed to her. Now this bastard dared insult her, looking down at her and insulting her.

Alice's body was really thin and weak, and she had just received a brutal blow. Her strength was nothing compares to this man. On the contrary, it made his blood boil even more. A merciless slap fell directly on Alice's face again, causing her mind to buzz, her eyes blinding with difficulty.

"Shit! You sl**! Do you still dare beat me? All right, if your mother didn't teach you, today, I will show you how to act as a prostitute!"

Before Alice could regain her senses, she felt that the man was climbing up her whole body. He gripped the lower half of her body so that Alice couldn't swing. His hands began to riot, he didn't slow down, but just tore off each piece of the old dress that was soon too old and tattered on her body.

The man turned her over. His eyes were full of red floating blood. His hand hastily touched the wounded but still soft flesh of the person below without noticing what she was plotting. He quickly glanced greedily at the tender body of the girl exposed in front of him, swallowed twice, and bent down to kiss her.

Alice was aware of what she was about to face, her hands trying to reach out, flailing around on the ground, then grasping something that appeared to be quite hard. It was the wooden stick she used to hit the guest that was brought in before.

She thought to herself: "I don't want to end like this..."

.....

Alice wasn't in too much of a hurry to wait for the right moment, but she truly loathed every inch of her skin that he touched. The golden eyes shone with coldness. The thin arm raised the staff high, aimed at the man's head straight, and then used all her strength to smack it down.

The man was suddenly attacked . He was stunned and slowly straightened his back to sit up. Unable to speak, just 'ah... uh... oh...' for two times more, he reached out his hand to touch the nape of his neck. The whole hand was covered with blood. His face was pale and he fell down. As an aside, his eyes gradually lost focus as he looked at the girl with long white hair was holding the stick out of nowhere, saw her take it and smacked it down again.

Alice, with a bloodless face, stared at the bloody stick with a few spikes on it, gasping for breath. She tossed the stick aside, then grabbed the thin blanket on the bed and wrapped it around her body. She didn't know if it was her own blood or the bastard's, but the stench of blood made her nauseous.

She needed to get out of that place before his accomplices found out about this and things got worse. Alice took his knife, and struggled to get out of the nightmare house and find her way out of the woods.

She had to go back to find her mom and get her away from those monsters. They didn't need this kind of help anymore. As quickly as possible, she must saved herself and her mother.

Alice was both in pain and hungry, but the desire to run away, the desire to be freed, made her very alert at this time, her little feet injured and stained without slowing down. Every time she fell, her whole body became more and more muddy. Her platinum hair was also black and gray, messy. Her small face could only be seen with tired eyes. She couldn't really see a human figure. It looks both scary and pitiful.

She walked without direction, only knowing how to follow the sun that was about to descend the mountain. Suddenly, there was a rustling sound from the trees around.

Tiger? Bear? Or wolf?

She forgot that this was a place where there were so many dangers that could kill her in an instant.

The rustling sound coming from the bushes made Alice extremely nervous.

The tired Alice became more and more afraid. She pulled out the knife she had brought and pointed it in the direction of the sound. As long as something jumped, she would immediately stab it.

The 'scratch' grew louder, closer and closer to her, Alice's heart pounding, her fists clenched at the knife ready.

"Squeak! Squeakkkk!!!"

A black huge wild boar burst out of the bushes, running straight towards her, looking extremely agitated. Alice was startled by the big animal and couldn't dodge it. She stepped back but fell down. At the time the wild boar was about to ram, something flew up, accurately 'fuff'. One hit the back thigh, the other skewered the wild boar's neck, causing it to painfully swerve. The boars hit a big tree and then lay struggling, writhing.

Its ear-piercing 'squeak' didn't stop until something else swam straight into its head, ending it in a matter of seconds.

Alice sat back down, pointed her knife again, and glared at the wild boar that had rushed out. She was out of breath.

"Hah...hah...hah..."

A man in a black robe, covering the lower half of his face with a black cloth the same color as the cloak, appeared. The two stopped, eye to eye.

Alice spent about five seconds dumbfounded looking at that person. He has extremely beautiful and rare red eyes.

The man was a little taken aback. He almost thought this was some animal that knew how to handle a knife.

Realizing that the person was very cautious, maybe "he" would attack him if he kept going. He carefully observed the person and signaled that he held no hostility. Carefully step sideways. That weird person was always watching every step, the tip of the knife was always raised.

What caught his attention was that person's special eyes. The golden pupils were so bright that it was difficult for him to pull away when he looked at them. The fear, loss of composure, and pity from those eyes seemed to tell him:

'I will kill you if you dare to come near.'

It was awkward. Sure, "the man" was in a panic, but he needed to come and take his prey before the sun went down on the mountain.

Finally reaching the wild boar, just as he was about to bend down to check on the animal's condition, the boar rose up. It used its two sharp fangs to stab him. The man did not panic, but jumped over the boar, pulled out a small knife hidden in his boots, and then looked back at the large animal lying on the ground, struggling to escape death.

The man calmly walked over to the animal, and just as it raised its head to attack him again, a stream of blood spurted out. The blood of the wild boar almost wanted to stain everything from the trunk to the bushes. Drops of blood flew to where Alice was hiding, they splashed on her face, overlapping with the old dried blood.

The man slowly wiped his knife. Only after determining that the stubborn animal was really dead did he show a satisfied smile with his spoils. He turned his head to look at Alice, who was shivering, opened her eyes wide to look at him, then stood up, leaning against the tree as if waiting for someone.

Alice looked at the sight of the pig with its throat slit mercilessly and shivered. More special were that man's fiery red eyes, without any mercy or warmth. It made her feel threatened. But fortunately he never approached her.

Soon after, about two more men who cut down the bushes in the way also appeared. They reverently worship.

"We're late, please forgive us prin-"

Before he could finish speaking, the mysterious face-masked man waved his hand and said:

"Quickly tie up this pig and take it to the horse."

The other two nodded to move forward, only to realize that there was something black hiding behind the tree. They opened their eyes to look, immediately drew their swords and were stopped again.

"Don't mind him, we'll come back home soon. I'm tired."

They hesitated to withdraw their swords, hearing orders to quickly cut down a small tree and use it as a burden to carry the big wild boar back.

When the three of them were about to leave, the masked man turned his head to check, 'that man' was also following him slowly.

Does it look like 'he' wants to get out of this forest?

There was no reason at that time, but he automatically slowed down to lead the way. It seems to show pity for the person who is struggling.

After about fifteen minutes, they finally reached the path at the edge of the forest. The masked man stopped his horse, turned his head slightly and said:

"If you want to go to town then go in the opposite direction, don't follow me anymore."

Then they spurred their horses to keep going.

....

Alice breathed heavily and followed the masked man's horse. Whether she should say "thank you" or not, it was clear that he was walking very slowly to guide her to get out of this forest.

Once she reached the trail, the man pointed her in the direction of returning to town. It was a pity that she couldn't see his face, but she was sure that he was a good man and would have no reason to deceive her.

Alice went to the stream beside the road, looked at her face covered with mud, and smiled bitterly. She carefully washed her face, groomed herself with her now graying white hair, and cleaned her hands and feet, which were riddled with wounds, with the cold, fresh water. Reflecting on her figure once more time in the clear water, Alice let out a long sigh and continued towards the town.

If possible in the future, she would definitely find a way to thank him sincerely. And now, she needed to hurry back and take her mother away.

The town where Alice lives was Lentia, it was not too far from this mountain, but it was already dark by the time Alice arrived. Here, people still move on the streets, but it was quite sparse. Sometimes there are horse-drawn carriages passing by. The light from the pubs and inns helped Alice see the way back home more clearly.

Occasionally still seeing lovers hugging each other on the street, then pulling each other into the carriage. Alice tried to hide in the dark and moved quietly. In this town that's famous underground was the prostitute village, no one knew what would happen to the girl dressed in rags walking alone in the night.

Crossing the main street with lights still on, Alice hugged her body and turned into a dark alley. Now, the light from the other half of the crescent moon was the lamp that shines for her. In a long alley with sloping, moldy steps, both sides could hear the rat screeching, running back and forth. As long as she was not careful, she may slipped and fell, of course, if she didn't break a bone, she would also dislocate somewhere.

At the end of the street was a house, or rather a dirty tent with no door, only a few blankets overlapping to cover the door.

Alice hurried come in, and as usual she called out:

"Mom. Alice is here. I'm back."

No one answered but a rustling sound was heard somewhere.

"Mom? Is that you? Have you slept already?"

Alice knew her mother could not speak so she thought she was somewhere, groping towards her. She waited a bit but her mother still did not appear.

"Light up the lights."

Alice heard a familiar voice and jumped back in fear. Her back hit something hard.

Two candles were enough to light up this tiny tent. Alice looked at the small, sharp, cold face of the woman opposite, her legs could barely stand. Her noble image did not fit the tent scene at all. Behind her was a big guy, he grabbed her thin arms to prevent her from running away.

"Hello Alice. Long time no see. How are you?"

"..."

"It's been so hard to find you guys. And... you kept me waiting for a really long time, you know?"

The woman sitting opposite Alice was her father's lover. She was the person who spread the fake news that ruined her mother's honor and kicked two of the, out of the mansion. The girl right behind that lady was her father's second daughter, the evil sister.

"Ah, have you just served a guest? The dress was torn like that... How filthy it is."

"Mom, if you're here, what else can you do for a living?"

"You... Why are you here? Where is my mother?!"

Alice paid no heed to her scornful words, what she cared about now was her mother. Her mother was nowhere to be seen.

The woman snigger:

"Fuh fuh fuh, that poor sick lady??"

Then she stood up, leaning to one side. The henchman behind pushed someone with messy hair, the body only wrapped in a dirty and thin towel to the floor.

Alice saw the familiar white hair that had been cut jaggedly, the thin figure lying motionless on the cold ground, her heart seemed numb. Alice slumped helplessly on the ground, unable to control her trembling. She crawled closer and turned the person over. Her mother's pale face and purple lips made Alice think someone was squeezing her neck. Her yellow eyes widened in despair, her fingers slowly wanted to touch her mother but her hairs were pulled back by the man behind.

The woman lying on the floor trembling looked up at Alice. Her emaciated, old face, gray-black eye sockets and lifeless crying eyes made Alice felt as if she had been stabbed in the body.

"Mom... Mommy... Alice is here...It's hurts a lot, isn't it? I'm sorry mommy... I'm still so late."

The mute woman said in weak words:

"Alice... my little poor girl... Alice..."

"Mom, wait a minute, I'll save you from this place. We'll get out of here, okay?"