“Are you blaming me?” My father’s eyes narrowed, and his tone became dangerous.
The atmosphere around us suddenly dropped to a freezing point. But I was already used to such a tense scene. I smiled at him indifferently. “No, I don’t dare. After all, you are my father.”
“I order you to discard that humble mate of yours right away,” my father said firmly.
“No, I can’t do that. I’ve already accepted her as my mate,” I countered calmly.
“If that’s the case, then I will deal with that she-wolf myself.” My father sneered coldly with depraved indifference to life in his eyes. “You are the eldest prince, the legitimate heir to the throne. You must never accept a traitor’s daughter as your mate.”
“Heir to the throne?” I took two steps forward with a self-deprecating smile on my face. I looked my father straight in the eye and asked, “Didn’t you already start training Richard to support him in his succession? Why still bother?”
“You…” My father was rendered speechless for a moment, staring blankly at me.
“Do you want to ask me how I found out?” I sneered coldly. Looking at my father’s wrinkled face, I felt that he was getting more and more hypocritical. Then I said in a plain tone, “I understand what you are doing. The witch’s curse made me destined to have no descendants. How can a prince with no descendant inherit the throne? Now that I have lost everything, are you really going to deprive me of the right to choose my mate?”
Ethan’s POV
Rufus’ words pierced my heart like sharp daggers. It was my fault he had become like this.
Many years ago, there was a witch who I had an entanglement with, and she had fallen deeply in love with me. But I refused to promise her anything. This made her so angry that she cursed me and Rufus, who at the time was only seven years old.
She cursed his bloodline, saying that he would never bear any children and that every full moon, he would transform into a vicious monster.
It was my debt that I owed, but my son was paying the price. I would always be ridden with guilt whenever I was reminded of it.
At the same time, one of my mistresses was already pregnant with my child, but fortunately the witch did not know of it.
I had to come up with a plan. I sent out some of my men to find a way that my son’s curse would be removed.
But just in case, I had brought in my newborn illegitimate son and named him Richard, announcing that he was the queen’s second son.
After all, I was going to need an heir to the throne no matter what was going to happen. This illegitimate son of mine still had my blood anyway.
If the curse could not be removed and Rufus wouldn’t be able to have children, the Duncan family bloodline would end with him.
So, as a king, I had to make a tough decision and be ready with a backup plan. If Rufus’ curse still had not been broken by the time I died, I would have no choice but to bequeath the throne to my second son.
It was only Rufus and I who knew about his curse. Even the queen did not know. Fortunately, she was sensible enough to accept my illegitimate son as her own eventually, although we had quarreled about it many times. Deep down, I also felt guilty to my queen.
As my first child, of course I looked forward to Rufus taking on the world on his own. I loved and raised Rufus just as much as the queen. He had been excellent since childhood. I was impressed by his talents and courage even at a young age. If he were to end up on the throne, I had no doubt he could become an even better lycan king than I.
But now, I was already getting too old. My health worsens every waking day. Yet until now, we had no clue as to how to undo Rufus’ curse.
I had to consider the future of the royal family and thought carefully about who the heir of the throne was going to be.
I just didn’t expect Rufus to find out that I had been training my second son in secret as well.
“I’m sorry,” I sighed. I was afraid this would make Rufus distance himself from me.
“Maybe Sylvia isn’t the daughter of a traitor. I’m going to find out the truth,” Rufus said softly, purposefully changing the subject.
I had known Rufus since he was born. Never had he ever come to the defense of a she-wolf like this. A part of me was relieved, but I was also a little sad.
I decided to let him be. As long as he really liked the girl, I guessed it was okay. Like he said, what was the meaning of his life if he could not even choose his own mate? Besides, I did owe him a lot.
“Fine, I can let the she-wolf stay with you. Although I didn’t have time to stop the news about the traitor from spreading, I was able to suppress the fact that she is your mate.”
I had taken the initiative to compromise. Rufus was still my son and I had to protect him. With the she-wolf’s lowly status, I supposed she could stay with him as his mistress.
“I’ll deal with the traitor news myself.” Rufus seemed so determined to find the mastermind behind this.
This boy was always sharp minded. He was decisive and tough. I couldn’t help but feel proud of him, but regretful at the same time.
“That’s up to you. I just hope you will also consider the dignity of the royal family. Do not expose her identity or get too close to her. At least not until you figure out the truth,” I reminded him.
He looked at me for a while before finally nodding.
Rufus’ POV
“You may go.” My father seemed a little tired already. He waved his hand and dismissed me.
I nodded expressionlessly and left.
Although I got Ethan to agree to keep Sylvia, it didn’t mean I could delay the investigation on Sylvia’s mother any longer. Otherwise, we could get into more trouble later on. If that were to happen, the problem would not just be as simple to solve as gossip.
“Anything about the investigation I assigned to you?” I asked my attendant in a low voice.
“The file indicates that Miss Todd’s mother was indeed a Beta. She rebelled later on and was said to have killed the former Alpha. Because of this, she was executed by her own pack members,” the attendant reported back.
“Mm. Anything else?”
“Yes, well. It seemed all this information came from one source- the Gamma of Miss Todd’s pack.”
So, it turned out to be Mateo after all. I honestly thought it was going to be that bumbling idiot Shawn. I did not expect that a Gamma could make so much trouble. Immediately, I was put in a bad mood, but I did not let it show on my face.
“However, there does seem to be some loopholes in this case. The witness of the trial instantly disappeared after the execution of Miss Todd’s mother. Along with this, all physical evidences also seem to have been since destroyed.”
Upon hearing this, I finally felt like this case was getting somewhere. The mastermind behind all of this probably never expected that this case would be dug up one day. The more seemingly flawless the case appeared to be, the more suspicious it actually sounded. Disappearing witness and evidences were something that did not happen every day.
“Alright. Keep investigating. Start with the missing witness.”
After giving out the order, my mind immediately went to Sylvia, who was probably waiting for me in my living room. I walked back as quickly as I could.
As soon as I entered my room, I saw Sylvia sitting obediently on a chair. She wore a white dress and had simple make up done on her face. She smiled brightly when she saw me, which was undoubtedly enough to overshadows everything else around her.
Her beauty stunned me for a moment. I couldn’t take my eyes off of her. Until I felt that there was something wrong. I could tell she wasn’t really in a good mood. Although she was smiling, it looked fake, which made me uncomfortable.
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