Hades' Cursed Luna novel Chapter 30

Hades~

"You are the reason why she is like this," Amelia said. "You scare her."

"Don’t I have that effect on most?" I wasn’t bragging; it was an objective fact.

"You are backing her into a corner," she continued, ignoring my tone.

"So? Is that really news?" I asked. "A blind person can see that."

She took an exasperated breath as if steeling herself from not losing her mind. "I know you want her to submit because it has worked on others, but she is different."

I scoffed. "She is just like all the rest. She’s not the first to try this rubbish."

"I am pretty sure she is the first to put your gun to her own head and tempt you into pulling the trigger."

"She’s just being dramatic." I shrugged it off. "Theatrics."

"You and I both know damn well that isn’t true," her voice was harder now.

My eyes narrowed. "Don’t tell me you’re pitying her."

She readjusted her glasses on the bridge of her nose. "Don’t be silly." But her voice was strained.

I could have laughed. "It seems that the princess is already manipulating you. You do know what she is. What she does to her own people. Do you think, if you were at her mercy, she would hesitate to send you to hell?"

"I am well aware of what she did," she said. "But everyone has a story. Monsters are not born, they are made." Again, she gave me that pointed look as though she was not only speaking about the princess. "You should understand that more than anyone."

"I would remind you to watch yourself, Miss Taylor," I said coolly. "I am not the patient here."

"I apologize, Your Majesty," she muttered quickly. "In essence, what I am saying is that you could treat her better."

"Treat her better, how exactly? Bake her muffins or perhaps rethink putting a shock collar on her?" _{freёwebnovel.com}

Her eyes widened, mortified. "A shock collar?" she gasped. "You’re joking."

"You know I’m not the type to joke."

Her face turned pale, her lips parting in shock. "A shock collar? Can you hear yourself?"

I shrugged, indifferent. "What else can be done? She has done nothing but cause trouble and resist me since she got here, and I am not in the business of playing games."

"Resist you?" Amelia echoed, incredulous. "Maybe she’s resisting because all you’ve done is treat her like an animal, a prisoner. What did you expect, Hades? What the hell did you think would happen?"

"How should I have treated a werewolf like her exactly? Like she was not born of deception and treachery? Like she is not Darius Valmont’s daughter?" I gritted my teeth. "If you believe that she deserves better, you are fucking deluded."

"Yet you need her for your plans," she countered. "You need her, essentially, whether you like to believe it or not, on your side. You want to use her, don’t you? You have to nurture her first. You just don’t want to admit it because that would mean letting go of this image you’ve built of yourself—the unbreakable king who bends others to his will."

My patience was wearing dangerously thin. "You are crossing that line, Miss Taylor," I gritted out.

"You need to rein in that hatred of yours before you lose the edge you have just acquired in the war to come. You need her. You have to remember that. She doesn’t need you."

My hand twitched, but I held myself in check, my voice lowering dangerously. "You forget who you are speaking to."