The Divine Wolf... or?

Chapter 113: Change!

The sad howl interrupted the jovial atmosphere in the grand hall, bafflement and surprise was all that was left. Not many could just go back to having fun after hearing something like that. Most of all, people were frightened.

Hearing such a loud howl of a monster nearby was something that would scare the wits out of most people considering that it had to make it all the way here for them to even hear it, which spoke volumes of its strength.

The people with more acute hearing were able to make out that the howl seemed to have come from underneath them, which only made the entire situation even weirder. Curious gazes bore their way into the king and Oscar as they stood a little baffled themselves.

Oscar was a little distraught, he would prefer if no one had any idea about the wolf that he had been releasing his pent-up anger upon since it would make him feel more at ease.

The little girl couldn't help but tug on her father's sleeves gain, obviously scared of what was going on. The middle-aged man was enraged when he saw his precious little daughter scared for her life, what the hell was the problem with this banquet? "Don't worry, dad is here, nothing will happen to you, ok?"

With her head down, and with tears in the corner of her eye the young girl nodded. "Ok."

With an intense stare, the middle-aged man waltzed up to the king of Estridsen, hell-bent on getting an explanation. The king was intimidated at the sight of the middle-aged man's obvious anger, and he started to sweat a little. He glanced at his son, and his expression soured a little. Ever since that day five weeks ago, this son of his could no longer be called his favourite.

Instead of what he once was, he was disfigured, seemed to have some mental issues, and had now caused even more trouble for him.

"I demand an explanation right this instant!" With his thunderous voice, the middle-aged man wasn't afraid to berate the king at all, and for once, he was actually mad. There was nothing he hated more than his family being sad or discontent, of course he wouldn't let that fly in such an event that was supposed to be fun and jovial.

"Of course, of course." The king was a little frightened, and he only glanced at his son, waiting for him to chime in.

Oscar, knowing that he had screwed up, tried to explain reasonably. "Ah, it's just a monster that's being held captive in the dungeons for, uh, experiments!"

The middle-aged man smelled something amiss, and since his children were scared, he was going to make sure that he knew what was going on, and reassure his daughter. "Then take me there, I want to see what is going on!"

The prince hesitated when he heard this, he didn't want anyone to go down there, especially not now, he was almost certain that the wolf was about to be tormented once again. He didn't want to let the wolf rest for even a day, and he had already planned for Sidulig, the old man who had helped capture the wolf torture him for today.

He didn't really think that the wolf would howl at such an unfortunate timing, and he was hesitating whether it would be a good idea to show him the way down there.

"What are you waiting for you brat? Show him already!" The king was livid at this point, was this idiot of a son going to mess this up even more? He had already assumed that this bastard of his had killed the wolf off, but he still had it for some god forgotten reason. He was going to lose his mind one of these days.

"O-of course!" Oscar stuttered a little, but he managed to say his sentence, before showing the middle-aged man the way down into the dungeons. As they walked down the damp and dark spiral staircase that led to the dungeons, the middle-aged man's daughter tightened her grip on her father's sleeves and made sure that she would never let him leave her sights.

Once down in the dungeons, they passed by numerous criminals behind bars. Even though the palace had a small prison, the dungeon was the place the worst criminals ended up in, or the criminals the Royals didn't want anyone to ever know about. As they walked and walked, a faint almost indiscernible sound was beginning to enter their ears.

At first, no one really paid it any heed, but as they got further and further into the dungeons, the sound became more and more enunciated.

Though it was more obvious now, no one knew what it really was, and still didn't really care about it, it was a different story for Oscar though.

The sound itself would usually fill him with glee and happiness, but right now, it was only feeling the pit of his stomach with anxiety and despair, he could only hope that the middle-aged man didn't mind too much because these were the sounds of Ark getting tortured.

In the narrow and dark corridors of the dungeon, the people were soon able to hear the soft whimpers of a wolf, as well as occasional yelps. Though still uncertain, the middle-aged man had a foreboding feeling, and his expression soured a little, it seemed like these "experiments" were pretty interesting.

He hoped that his gut feeling was wrong, because his impressions of this family had always been good, and he would've never thought they would do something so inhumane.

After a fair share of walking, they all arrived in front of a single cell. The young daughter caught a glimpse of what was going on inside before her dad covered both his children's eyes with his hands, this wasn't something he wanted them to see. The yelps and whimpers were fairly loud now, which was to be expected, they stood just a meter or two outside of the cell after all.

"Experiments huh?" The middle-aged man was both disgusted and angry.

"Uhm, I can explain!" Oscar tried desperately to save the situation, but he knew that it was probably too late at this point.

"Daddy, what are they doing to the wolf?"

Hearing his daughters adorable voice that seemed to be on the verge of crying, the middle-aged man was mad! What the hell was wrong with this family? Was this how they welcomed them? As he glanced inside the cell once more, he saw the lifeless, dull eyes of the wolf inside, as it was covered in blood, wounds covering the majority of its body.

Even though it was a monster in most peoples eyes, the middle-aged man knew that this wolf felt pain all the same, and since it was a magical beast, its intelligence wasn't like that of a normal cow or anything either.

Subjecting someone to this kind of torment was inexcusable, and the middle-aged man could feel some sympathy for the wolf. The old man that was currently in the middle of tormenting Ark noticed these people arriving, and he immediately stopped what he was doing, afraid of doing something unnecessary.

The king was embarrassed when he saw what his son had been doing, but if not for the middle-aged man being here, he wouldn't have even spared a glance, much less been mad.

"Release this wolf this instant!" The middle-aged man snapped at the king.

"Wai-" Before Oscar could say anything, the king smacked him on the top of his head, interrupting what he was about to say. "Just do as he says!" Oscar only nodded with resignation and kept his head down before he took out a pair of keys and unlocked the cell.