[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-marked-by-the-mad-king-alpha":3,"chapter-marked-by-the-mad-king-alpha-marked-by-the-mad-king-alpha-chapter-156":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","Marked By The Mad King Alpha",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1732037,2214,"Chapter 156 The Price Of Silence","marked-by-the-mad-king-alpha-chapter-156",156,"\u003Cp>Perry’s POV\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Marcela shifted uncomfortably before me. Even after countless conversations, my presence still unnerved her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The healer launched into details about her recent talk with Phoebe regarding fertility concerns.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"She asked me to teach her the fertility remedy.\" Marcela’s voice carried an apologetic edge, clearly troubled by the situation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I tried explaining she couldn’t begin yet, but I doubt my excuse will satisfy her much longer.\" She revealed the reasoning she’d given.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What exactly did you tell her?\" My jaw tightened. \"Did you drop any hints about her actual condition?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Absolutely not, my king. That’s precisely why I’m here—Lady Phoebe brought it up again recently.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Marcela steeled herself before continuing. \"I believe you should be honest with her. The pain will be worse if she discovers you’ve been deceiving her.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I understood that completely. Lies weren’t how I wanted to rebuild what we had. We’d gotten a second chance, and I couldn’t poison it with deception that might destroy us entirely.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>We might not survive another fracture.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But how could I possibly reveal this truth? The weight of it crushed me—it would devastate her even more.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I could already picture how it would shatter her, and what if she withdrew from me again?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Give me time to consider this,\" I said finally. \"Meanwhile, keep quiet. Don’t hint at anything or give her clues about what’s happening. Let her enjoy the ceremony.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Marcela bowed her head. \"Of course, my king.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After she left, I remained in the war room until dawn broke, unable to face lying beside her, meeting her eyes when I knew what she yearned for.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A family.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That’s what I craved too. Our own little family. Children with her features, or mine.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>We shared the same dream, but at what price?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Still, I couldn’t bring myself to crush her heart.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>*[You didn’t return last night.]* Phoebe slipped a note into my view as we dined with the elders and other kingdom dignitaries.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Plenty of arrangements needed handling so you can have a perfect ceremony day. How are the preparations going?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Phoebe wrinkled her nose—disliking the fuss but secretly savoring it. She’d never had a celebration thrown specifically for her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wearing an exquisite gown with everyone’s respectful attention focused on her. Not even in her wildest fantasies had she imagined reaching this point.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Two years ago, trapped under Kevin’s control, if someone had predicted she’d have her special day as this kingdom’s queen, Phoebe would never have believed them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The idea of finally having her moment seemed absolutely impossible then.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I’ll join your dance practice later—does that sound good?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Phoebe’s face brightened as she nodded, then returned to her meal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Can you detect any flavors?\" I wondered how she managed to eat normally without tasting anything.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>*[No, but I’ve accepted it. It doesn’t trouble me anymore. You don’t need to worry about it either.]*\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I pressed my lips to her temple.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One truth I couldn’t escape, no matter how hard I tried to ignore it: I had broken her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She’d come to me, lost her taste, and now her voice too. Beyond that, I was responsible for shattering our dream of having a family.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Without the miscarriage, Phoebe’s body might not have weakened to the point where carrying a child became impossible.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But it was because of me. I’d created this impossible situation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Eventually, the issue would extend beyond just having children. The elders would grow restless if Phoebe remained childless after we’d been together for some time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I might hold them off for a year or two, but after that, Phoebe would start questioning herself as well.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>——\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Phoebe’s POV\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That afternoon, Perry made another small sacrifice for me—not the first, and certainly not the last.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Don’t worry, you’re not that heavy,\" he said as I stepped on his foot again for... honestly, I’d lost count.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I felt completely frustrated with myself, frowning as I tried concentrating on my footwork.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Excellent progress, my lady,\" Jocelyn encouraged. She served as my dance instructor since custom demanded the king and I lead the opening dance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She was stunning—blonde hair and blue eyes, though not as vivid as Perry’s, hers leaning more toward green.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The ceremony was two weeks away, and I’d only managed proper dancing about a week ago.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Three weeks of total lessons, and I still couldn’t grasp how to do this correctly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If this were medical training, I’d have mastered it by now, but why was controlling my body’s movement so difficult?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Once more, I crushed Perry’s foot. I stepped back, clearly annoyed with myself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When Jocelyn started to speak, Perry raised his hand, silencing her. He approached me and gently lifted my body.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"If you’re going to step on feet constantly, why not do it intentionally from the start?\" He gripped my waist, letting me stand on his feet as he moved.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This way, I didn’t need to do anything at all.\u003C\u002Fp>",816,"2026-06-06T16:11:22.572Z",1,"novelbin.me","af55c3c4715909125f692aa2d493d0bbd3e4122f101b2266633ca0143bf8326f","marked-by-the-mad-king-alpha-chapter-157","marked-by-the-mad-king-alpha-chapter-155",302,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fmarked-by-the-mad-king-alpha-cover.jpg"]