Morgan Shangguan sighed in resignation and answered his previous question, "The current situation was started by Crown Prince Adrian, so he must have discovered something that made him eager to act." Although Crown Prince Adrian is not as deep and patient as Prince Ethan, he is no fool. As the crown prince and the rightful heir, there’s no need for him to impulsively provoke a battle for the throne—unless he realized that Emperor Alexander’s true preference is not him!
"Didn’t the crown prince interact with Claire Yi before?" Morgan’s lips curled into a faint smile and her eyes flashed with keen light as she continued, "Claire Yi is your junior disciple, so of course you’d trust her. Now, the crown prince faces not only Prince Ethan but also Emperor Alexander. If he uses Claire Yi to expose my identity to you, you and Emperor Alexander would naturally become adversaries. No matter your strength, it would still cause trouble for Emperor Alexander, which benefits the crown prince. Faced with your suspicion, I must find a way to clear myself. Now, as the Princess Consort, I risked my life to save the Ghost King. Surely His Highness should feel a little moved and give me a bit of trust, right? Although I used Prince Ethan, can’t I make up for it later?"
Prince Ethan never fully trusted her, and now he’d be even more suspicious. But that’s no big deal—as long as he’s half-believing, that’s enough. Right now, he needs people, and with her complex identity, there will be plenty of times he’ll need her. She wasn’t worried at all!
In reality, the crown prince had no idea she was sent by Emperor Alexander to Damien Gray’s side—he simply wanted to eliminate Damien Gray as a threat. But her explanation made perfect sense; the crown prince did interact with Claire Yi, and although it was secretive, Prince Ethan’s abilities should allow him to uncover traces, which only proves her words true. Her explanation, mixing truth and lies, made it impossible to distinguish reality—that was exactly the effect she wanted!
Damien Gray curled his lips, finding her explanation quite reasonable. Suddenly, Morgan remembered something and said, "By the way, I saw your junior disciple was so sad, so I found her a man!"
"Oh…" Damien Gray seemed distracted. Although Morgan’s abilities surpassed most men, she was undeniably a woman—and a rare beauty at that. Most importantly, she was the woman he loved!
Her delicate, soft skin was irresistibly tempting. The smooth warmth under his palm made his mind wander; he didn’t want to resist such allure. Rather than concerning himself with trivial matters, he preferred to savor the joy of holding his beloved in his arms.
Seeing how indifferent he was, Morgan couldn’t help but sigh, "Truly heartless!" she said with a laugh. "I never heard that Lord Ghost was so lustful!" As for the Ghost King, the rumors about his fondness for men were even more notorious.
Damien Gray lowered his head to her neck and mumbled, "You’ll hear about it from now on!"
Morgan couldn’t help but burst out laughing. Playing with his hair, she teased, "So Lord Ghost plans to fill his harem now?"
Damien Gray reached out, pinched her chin, and kissed her lips before saying, "Hasn’t the harem already been filled? Or does my princess consort still plan to run away?"
At that moment, the carriage slowly came to a stop. Damien Gray helped straighten her disheveled collar, then calmly got out, picked her up, and carried her through the manor gates toward the Shadow Court.
Seeing Damien Gray carry her straight toward the bedroom, Morgan Shangguan raised an eyebrow and asked, "What are you planning to do?"
Damien Gray’s lips curled in a wicked smile. "What do you think?"
Morgan couldn’t help but roll her eyes and said helplessly, "Is it really that urgent?"
Without answering, Damien Gray carried her into the room, placed her directly on the bed, and pressed his body over hers, kissing her deeply. His large hand slid to her waist and tugged at her sash.
This kiss was different from before—far more passionate and domineering. Morgan was speechless; whether gentle as jade or cold and cunning, it was all a façade. In truth, he was just a big, lustful wolf!
"Miss..."
Susie Yun, hearing Morgan Shangguan had returned, happily ran over. She pushed open the door and froze, meeting Damien Gray’s icy gaze. Startled, she stammered, "S-sorry..." then turned and fled.
Morgan Shangguan couldn’t help but laugh at Damien Gray’s dark expression. In truth, it wasn’t Susie Yun’s fault—someone was just too eager!
Damien Gray snorted, lowered his head to silence her laughter with a kiss, and pinched her waist just firmly enough to make Morgan Shangguan shiver—finally satisfied.
Once again, Susie Yun’s voice came from the doorway. This time, she didn’t dare peek inside, so she stood with her back to the door and said, "Miss, Master Liam seems to have something urgent for you. He’s already come twice. And... I forgot to close the door..." With that, she squinted and fumbled to shut it for them.
Damien Gray glared unhappily at the tightly closed door. Just as he was about to continue, another knock sounded, making him grit his teeth in anger. "Will this ever end?" he snapped.
Maxwell Jing innocently rubbed his nose. Why was His Highness so irritable? "Your Highness, it’s urgent!"
He and Ethan Gu hadn’t entered the palace because they were the ones who sabotaged the altar. Emperor Alexander didn’t plan to target Damien Gray, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t cause trouble for them. Naturally, they wouldn’t put themselves in danger. As long as they didn’t show up, Emperor Alexander wouldn’t insist on punishing the two attendants—they were only following orders, after all.
Still, even if Emperor Alexander wanted to make an example of them, Damien Gray had plenty of ways to protect them.
Morgan Shangguan pushed Damien Gray away, sat up, and dressed herself. "You’d better go check," she said. "I’ll meet with Liam Duanmu."
Damien Gray grabbed her wrist, pulled her into his arms, and locked his hand around her waist. His thin lips pressed together in displeasure as he glared at her—she was actually leaving him to see that hypocrite? Not a chance!
Morgan Shangguan raised an eyebrow, hooked her arm around his neck, and laughed softly. "Relax, I’m not interested in just anyone!" As she finished speaking, her lips brushed his, gently licking and biting.