Mated To The Barbarian King Who Is My Ex-husband's Father.

​"Ragnar," Cassius called out, waving a hand to draw his attention.

​The young man began walking over toward him, but the moment he arrived, Cassius didn’t waste any time getting straight to the point. "Since when did you become such a liar?"

​"What are you talking about, Cassius?" Ragnar asked smoothly, addressing him directly by his name. Unlike Samantha whose late father had been Cassius’s elder brother—Ragnar shared no blood relation with the Beta.

​"Stop acting like you don’t know exactly what I’m talking about," Cassius growled, dropping his sword to the ground with a heavy clatter and turning to face him fully. "You were ordered to gather intelligence from the West."

​"And I did, Beta. You know I always carry out what my Lord and Alpha commands."

​Cassius bit his lower lip, staring in disbelief at the young warrior who seemed to have grown up overnight, now lying to his face without a shred of hesitation. "Stop playing games with me. You told the king that Arianna had no prior connection to Ethan before arriving here. That is a blatant lie."

​"Is it? That’s news to me," Ragnar lied smoothly, his eyes locked onto Cassius’s.

He didn’t flinch, his unyielding composure making Cassius second-guess whether he was deliberately covering up the truth or if his investigation in the West had simply been a failure.

​"You’re covering for them, aren’t you?"

​"No, Beta. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have matters to attend to."

​"I’m not finished with you," Cassius warned.

​Ragnar turned to walk away, but paused after a single step. Changing his mind, he cast a cold glance back over his shoulder.

​"Some things are better left in the dark, Cassius. The king will come to know about it at the appropriate time."

​With that final warning, he turned and walked off, leaving Cassius standing in stunned silence.

​Had the boy just subtly admitted to knowing the truth about Arianna and Ethan all along?

*******

Arianna sat on the edge of the bed, nervously waiting for Ragnar to arrive. She had sent for him moments ago, praying he would honor her invitation.

​"I am taking the king’s garments down to be washed," Eira said, holding a woven wooden basket loaded with laundry. "Would you like me to attend to anything else before I go, My Lady?"

​"No, Eira. That will be all for now," Arianna replied, her fingers tightly interlaced in her lap. The crushing tension of everything that had transpired today held her in a vice grip, and she knew she wouldn’t find a moment’s peace until she had spoken to Ragnar face-to-face.

​Eira bowed, turning toward the entrance just as Maria ushered Ragnar inside. Eira paused, her eyes lingering on him for a brief, heavy second before she bowed her head. "Your Highness... welcome back."

​"Thank you," Ragnar replied coolly, his gaze barely brushing past her.

​With a quiet ache in her heart, Eira bowed once more and slipped out into the afternoon air.

​"You sent for me, Your Highness," Ragnar said, turning his full attention to the queen.

​"Yes, I did," Arianna said, rising from the bed. She walked toward him, her heart pounding so loudly against her ribs that she was certain he could hear it.

​"You should learn to suppress your emotions—especially now that you live among werewolves," he advised unexpectedly, his voice low. "It will serve you well when standing against your enemies."

​"My enemies?"

​"I heard about what happened while I was away," Ragnar revealed.

​Arianna’s eyes widened slightly in surprise; she hadn’t expected him to uncover the incident so quickly.

​"The assassin has yet to be found," he added.

​"So the king told me," Arianna murmured, her mind racing. If he could gather such sensitive pack intel within minutes of returning to the tribe, it meant discovering the true nature of her past with Ethan would be far too easy for him.

​"His Grace is always right," he added smoothly.

​"Why didn’t you tell him about your findings?" she summoned the courage to ask, looking him dead in the eye. "This was your golden opportunity to get rid of me once and for all."

​"That would have been stupid of me."

​Arianna blinked, completely caught off guard by his response. She had assumed he wanted to tear her down just as desperately as his mother and sister did. "W-why, Ragnar?"

​"I did it because of my uncle," he admitted with a tired sigh. "I do not want him to suffer simply because he opened his heart to someone."

​"I should have told him from the very beginning. I was a fool," Arianna whispered, her voice trembling. "But trust me, I’ve made up my mind now. I’m going to tell him the truth."

​"Forgive me, Your Highness, but that would be incredibly unwise."

​"I have to. I need to face whatever consequences come my way..."

​"The punishment he would be forced to hand down to both you and his son is death," Ragnar interrupted, shaking his head in firm disagreement. "I will not stand by and watch my uncle make the horrific mistake of executing the woman he loves."

​Arianna stared at him in quiet shock. How was he so certain his uncle was in love with her? Ragnar seemed to understand the intricate dynamics of the tribe far better than anyone else, despite having barely been present.

​"I am not going to allow it," he repeated, his tone leaving no room for argument.

​"So what are we supposed to do?" Arianna asked, tears welling in her eyes and blurring her vision. "I can’t keep hiding the truth from him forever..."

​"I will come up with a plan," he told her. "You don’t have to be scared, because I will take the full blame when my uncle eventually finds out the truth."

​"Why are you doing this, Ragnar? Why are you risking getting involved?"

​"I told you before, Queen Arianna. It is for my uncle’s sake. Kane has always looked after everyone in this pack and ensured their happiness. It is my turn to do the same for him."

​"Thank you, Ragnar," Arianna whispered softly.

​He nodded quietly and turned to leave, but halted in his tracks after taking just a few steps. Pausing, he turned back to face her. "Would you mind if I asked a few questions regarding your past relationship with the prince?"

​"E-Ethan?" Arianna swallowed hard, nervously rubbing the back of her neck. Talking about him was the last thing she wanted to do, but she offered a slight nod anyway.

​"Forgive me for bringing up the past, but what really happened between the two of you?"

​Maria, who was still standing near the entrance, bowed quietly and slipped out of the tent the moment the conversation shifted to Ethan.

​"The first time I ever saw Ethan, it was in my father’s garden," Arianna began, stepping back into a memory she thought she had buried long ago. "I was strolling through the grounds and wanted an apple from a high branch. My maid went to fetch a servant to climb the tree, but Ethan appeared out of nowhere. He climbed up and picked the apple for me."

​"Okay..." Ragnar nodded. He sounded slightly underwhelmed by the romance of it, but he kept his thoughts to himself and let her continue.

​"We spoke, and I quickly realized I wanted to be around him. We started meeting in secret, and eventually, it reached a point where I went to my parents and told them I wanted to marry him."

​"I take it they said no?"

​"Yes. My father had crossed paths with Ethan before any of us knew, so he refused to accept him as a son-in-law," Arianna added. "I mean, why would he? There were plenty of noble princes he could have given his daughter to."

​"What was the primary reason you rejected Ethan and married his father instead? Was it because of Selena?"

​"Not entirely... though that was part of it," Arianna said softly, hesitating as she pondered whether she should entrust him with the whole truth. She looked up at him. "Do you believe in rebirth?"

​"Y-yes, though most people view it as nothing more than a myth."

​"Would you believe me if I told you I died, and was granted a second chance at life?"

​Ragnar’s brows knit together tightly as he stared at her. The direction of the conversation was beginning to unnerve him, but he gave a cautious nod. Whatever bizarre story she had to tell, he was willing to hear her out first.

​"Go ahead, Your Highness. Explain."

​Arianna held nothing back. She recounted her entire past life, omitting no detail, while watching his expression closely as the weight of her words settled over him. When she finally finished, Ragnar stood speechless, the sheer truth of her trauma echoing in her eyes.

​"That is vile," he spat, his face twisted in absolute disgust. "No one deserves to suffer a fate like that."

​"I suffered through it," she said quietly. "And that is why I made up my mind to choose a completely different path this time."

​"I am so sorry you had to endure all of that," Ragnar said softly, his disappointment in his cousin deepening to utter revulsion. Rebirth was a difficult concept to grasp, but looking into her eyes, he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that she wasn’t lying. "My uncle will be beyond furious when he discovers this. There have already been far too many reports regarding Ethan’s disgraceful behavior."

​Arianna opened her mouth to respond, but a sharp, blood-curdling scream suddenly tore through the afternoon air. Her heart violently skipped a beat.

​Fear seized her chest as she whipped her head toward Ragnar.

​Ragnar recognized the scream instantly. "That’s my mother’s voice... that has to be her."

​"Let’s go see what happened!"

​"Right behind you," he nodded, leading the way as they rushed outside toward the noise.

****

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