Chapter 7: Royal Garden of Thorns

The cat maids returned with a comfortable wheelchair that surprised Odette. She knew what a wheelchair was, because one of the elders in her pack used it, but the wheelchair that the elder used looked like junk compared to this.

"A-are you sure that's a wheelchair for me?" Odette asked. "It seems to be a wheelchair reserved for royalty."

"Oh, don't worry, Your Grace. This wheelchair has been stuck in storage for so long, and nobody in here needs it. So we cleaned it up for you!" Ruru said excitedly. "We will help you to sit in the wheelchair, then we can go to meet His Majesty!"

Since Odette was still unable to get up, the cat maids helped her to sit on the wheelchair. She was surprised by their strength. The cat maids looked quite petite in stature, yet they lifted her up with ease. 

As they pushed the wheelchair out of the room, Odette found herself in a long corridor without any windows. There was a long carpet that seemed to have no end, and the lamps on each side felt quite strange because in Odette's pack, nobody used lamps or torches at night as they all had a great night vision… except her, of course.

Since she had no wolf, she didn't have great night vision and had to rely on torches to look at her surroundings at night inside her small den. 

But these lamps weren't torches, because they didn't use fire. 

Instead, there seemed to be something stuck inside each glass ball.

Rori seemed to have realized Odette's fascination, and explained, "Those are glass balls that have been infused with magic, Your Grace. Each of them will automatically light up at night because some of the beastmen in the castle don't have good night vision."

"Infused with magic?" Odette was intrigued as she kept staring at those shining glass balls. "This Kingdom of Hollow Beastmen… I've never heard of it before. Well, I've never been out of my pack domain in the first place, so I don't know much. But I assume everyone here can use magic?"

In Odette's pack, only the pack's shaman could do rituals and magic to help them in a battle or ask for guidance from their ancestors. The shaman would follow a long and exhausting ritual until he could finally hear the whispers of the ancestors. 

So, to use magic as mere lighting at night here was fascinating. 

"Mm, not really. We have a few beastmen studying the art of magic in this castle, especially the snake beastmen because they seem to have an innate ability to use magic," Ruru commented. "But the magic used in this kingdom has always been supplemented by His Majesty himself."

Odette was impressed when she heard that. She remembered how that man seemed to have killed a dark bear in the forbidden forest and ripped its head, so he must've been using magic at that time.

"Is he a snake beastman too?" Odette asked.

"No, no, he is a wolf beastman—a werewolf, just like you!" 

"Then I'm even more impressed! It's so rare to see a werewolf with magical ability!" Odette said excitedly. 

"Our King is a special case, that's why he's a king," Rori chuckled. As they walked towards the spiral stair, the staircase moved on its own, so they didn't need to carry her since she was on the third floor.

Again, Odette was impressed by the moving staircases, a magic that she had never seen in her life before. This kingdom was definitely one of those powerful kingdoms that had hundreds of years' worth of legacy, and with that imposing name Kingdom of the Hollow Beasts, Odette could only guess the ruler must've been a powerful beastman that could unite all of those beast tribes.

'But, how come I've never heard of this kingdom before? I should've heard at least some of the powerful kingdoms around the continents once or twice,' Odette pondered.

However, it didn't take long for her question to be answered. By the time she stepped out of the door leading to the royal garden, she saw the ominous dark purple cloud hovering above the castle. 

Odette held her breath, as she was overwhelmed by the strange sight in front of her.

The sky was deep purple, like the color of fig. There was no breeze in the air, and the dark cloud continued to circle at the top of the castle nonstop. She could see every tree in the area had withered as if the entire area had been frozen in late autumn. 

On top of that, the scent of blood was truly overpowering, and it made her shudder, thinking that it was the same scent of the masked man who helped her before. 

Odette subconsciously clenched the armrests of the wheelchair as she was pushed into the garden of tall shrubs that looked like a maze. The shrubs acted like the wall, and were filled with thorns.

As Odette walked through the confusing maze, she realized the tip of the thorns were coated in a strange purple sap. 

"Don't get yourself prickled, Your Grace. It has a poison that's as potent as a snake's venom," Rori warned. 

Odette gulped nervously, "Is this the royal garden? Why would there be a bunch of poisonous thorns in it?"

"It is the royal garden, but only His Majesty and a few special beastmen could enter this place," Rori replied. "The maze is confusing, and there are many dangerous plants that could kill you easily."

"T-then, how are we able to find His Majesty?" Odette asked. 

"His scent, of course," Rori replied. "Can you smell it, Your Grace? His Majesty has a very unique scent of blood that puts fear in your mind and heart."

Odette nodded reluctantly.

She remembered the strong scent of blood that made her almost faint when he drew near her. 

"His aura truly makes us all tremble in fear," Ruru confirmed. "But don't worry, Your Grace. I'm sure that His Majesty will make you an exception."

"H-how can you be so sure? I-I'm just a nobody…" Odette said nervously. She was so scared that her already pale face got even paler. 

She had a feeling that she needed to turn back and leave this maze immediately, or else she would be trapped for the rest of her life.

But it was too late, because the moment they walked into the center of the maze, she already found herself facing the masked monster from that night.