[{"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-166":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},1732047,2214,"Chapter 166 A Kings Unshakable Resolve","marked-by-the-mad-king-alpha-chapter-166",166,"\u003Cp>Phoebe’s POV\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Terror gripped me when I learned Perry planned to lead the war against the Valerium and Reginald. He was taking this personally—that made it deadly dangerous.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[It can be a trap.] I trailed behind Perry, clutching my notes, shoving them in front of his face until he had no choice but to read my scrawled words.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Frustration boiled over inside me. I was so desperate I tried to force actual sounds from my throat, anything to make him stop dismissing my warnings.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"If that’s a trap, so be it,\" Perry said with a shrug that made my blood run cold. His casual tone suggested he genuinely didn’t care. What could they do to him anyway, even if it was a trap?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He commanded superior numbers and knew every inch of this terrain. This was his kingdom, after all.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But his indifference only fueled my panic.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I kicked his leg hard enough to make him wince, needing him to see how deadly serious this was. Perry couldn’t treat this like some minor skirmish!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Phoebe,\" he said my name like a warning, but when his eyes met my frantic expression, his stern facade cracked. \"I’ll be fine. I’ll come back as soon as possible.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I shook my head violently and threw my arms around him, clinging tight, refusing to let go.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>We stood in the war room where I’d rushed the moment Marcela told me about the attack on Sunstone Creek pack.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The news had already spread like wildfire through the kingdom. People were on edge, knowing their home was under assault—this was the Valerium’s retaliation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I lifted my face to his, letting all my desperation show in my eyes. ’Please.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Damn. The word flickered across his features as he fought against giving in to me. But I could see his resolve holding firm.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He needed to leave, to end this—especially Reginald. He was going to tear that bastard apart for what he’d done to his mate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If I thought this was personal, then yes—it was personal. Would it make him reckless? Probably. But he’d get them one way or another.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was still kicking himself for not killing that bastard the first time he’d set foot in the palace. If he had, Helen would still be alive.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was living with the consequences of that mistake. Helen had been one of his people.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I can’t, Phoebe. I’ll give you anything else you want, but not this.\" Perry pressed his lips to my forehead.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My heart shattered. All I wanted was for him to stay safe, but he was refusing the one thing I’d ever truly begged him for.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I buried my face against his chest, not crying but feeling like I might break apart.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Come, I’ll show you the plan.\" Perry guided me to the massive table displaying the kingdom’s map. \"Here’s Sunstone Creek pack.\" He pointed to an area marked with a red flag.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Five red flags dotted the kingdom’s southern border—five packs that had fallen to enemy hands. Most were small, but Sunstone Creek was the largest.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Apparently, Reginald had been hiding there, making it easy for him to bring it down from within.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But there was another problem: the sheer number of Valerium warriors inside Perry’s territory meant someone had bribed their way in. Perry was going to make them regret it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Elder Tricia was currently investigating that angle.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Here’s a dam...\" Perry began explaining his strategy involving the dam.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>You’re going to kill civilians too. I wanted to protest, but Perry shook his head before I could write it down.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"No, we’ll evacuate them first. That’s our main priority.\" Only after securing the innocents would they blow the dam to wash away the mutts who’d invaded his territory.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Perry planned to catch Reginald first. That bastard didn’t deserve such an easy death.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Relief flooded through me when I heard the full explanation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I didn’t want Perry killing innocent people, but I had no problem with him destroying the enemy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Still, my worry for him remained a knot in my chest.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Want to learn about defense and attack strategy?\" Perry seized this chance to teach me about our kingdom. Yes, ours now.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was also a distraction, I realized, to keep me from spiraling into panic.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He wanted me to feel his control over the situation. And he was in control.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I listened intently. According to what Perry had heard from Sir Corey, I was a quick study. He was one of my teachers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Since Perry couldn’t spend as much time with me as he wanted, he’d arranged for several mentors to educate me about the kingdom.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My medicine lessons with Marcela continued, of course—that was my favorite time, aside from being with Perry.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Now you know everything. You can stop worrying.\" Perry smiled at me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[I’ll never stop worrying when you’re in danger.] The truth stung because I felt like a hypocrite. There’d been a time when I was the danger threatening Perry. I’d tried to kill him more than once.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When we lay together in bed, skin against skin, I could still see that scar on his chest where my knife had nearly stolen his life.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I won’t be in danger,\" Perry said gently.\u003C\u002Fp>",871,"2026-06-06T16:11:22.572Z",1,"novelbin.me","63d87efc9492a9a01a03c79633d23c44460d9b065e305536b1c4f53ea90f6a16","marked-by-the-mad-king-alpha-chapter-167","marked-by-the-mad-king-alpha-chapter-165",302,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fmarked-by-the-mad-king-alpha-cover.jpg"]