As she spoke, she stretched out her hand and tried to grab me as if she was going to rip me apart right then and there.
Fortunately, Rufus stopped her in time and gave her a stern lecture, “I’ll forgive you this once because your father just passed away. But if you dare try again to hurt Sylvia, I won’t spare you.”
Rufus threw Alina onto the stairs. The black veil on her head fell down, revealing her face that scrunched up in rage. She laughed sourly and declared, “Prince Rufus, are you going to punish me? What did I do wrong? Are you ganging up on me now that my father is gone?”
Rufus held back his impatience and took a deep breath. His face was indifferent, and his eyes were as cold as ice. He cast a piercing glare at Alina and uttered, “I just have one question for you. Why are you not letting anyone see Leonard’s body? Even the coroner is not allowed to get close. What are you afraid of? Leonard is the Alpha. We must find the truth behind his death.”
Upon hearing what Rufus said, Alina slowly got up from the ground. She threw the black veil away and grinned at him. “Well, since you want to know the truth, then let me tell you.”
She then raised her hand and signaled to the soldiers at the door. Several troops arrived shortly carrying an adult male corpse. His dark hair had lost its shine, and the corpse had become stiff.
This was probably Alina’s fiance, Chet. Rufus told me he had met him in Leonard’s office a few days back.
He struck Rufus as a decent, reserved, and intelligent young man. He was a man with great potential and a bright future ahead of him. To be honest, he was a good match for Alina.
What a pity that he died a miserable death.
The soldiers brought a tray with them, on which there was a bloody dagger.
“The murderer and the weapon are here. You can investigate them as you like.” After saying that, Alina scowled at me.
Rufus reassured me before approaching the body to inspect it. After a quick check, he looked at me seriously.
“I could sense Noreen’s scent on the corpse.”
I pursed my lips and took the dagger, only to find that it also had a faint trace of Noreen’s scent.
Suddenly, a realization hit me. When they were in the forest, the soldiers were affected by the white smoke and attacked each other.
There was no doubt that Noreen was the mastermind behind all these.
In this case, could it have been Noreen who manipulated Chet to kill Leonard?
Thinking of this, my hatred for Noreen rose to its peak.
Sylvia’s POV
Resentment accumulated in my heart. I couldn’t control my emotions as I held the dagger tightly. I didn’t want to jump into conclusions yet, but I couldn’t shake off the possibility.
Rufus put his cold hand over mine and carefully chose his words. “We haven’t seen his corpse yet. We still don’t know anything for sure.”
He then took the dagger from my hand and threw it on the tray.
“Leave it to me,” Rufus whispered to clear away my fog of thoughts.
His voice unknotted my tense nerves. I looked up at him, and then slowly I nodded. “Okay.”
Rufus gave my little finger a light squeeze, as if comforting me in silence. That was a brief gesture, but it mattered a lot for me.
“That’s enough. The truth is right before your eyes. What else do you want?” Alina cut in angrily.
A low chuckle broke free from Rufus’ throat. When he turned to look at Alina, his cold and indifferent look dominated his face once again. “We just saw the assailant and the weapon. We can’t definitely assume that the same person killed Leonard. Leonard is an esteemed senior official of the empire, yet he’s strangely claimed to have been killed, and without a solid motive at that. As the prince, I have the right to dig into this matter more and find out the truth.”
“There’s no way that’s going to happen.” There was no trace of hesitation in Alina’s tone as she refused, and then sneered. “I’m his biological daughter, so I’m the one who has the right to deal with his funeral. I’ve handed over the murderer to you. But if you don’t believe me, then there’s nothing I can do. Insisting on doing the autopsy will be an outright disrespect! My father has fought countless battles for the empire. Don’t you want to give him the peaceful rest he rightfully deserves, even in his death?”
Her remark made my blood boil. “I’m fed up with your nonsense. How can we believe that Chet is the murderer just by your mere words? Alina, I’m guessing you’re just feeling guilty.”
Upon hearing what I said, Alina’s eyes were glaring at me as she spat, “Who do you think you are? How dare you say something like that?”
Rufus pulled a long face and stood in front of me to protect me. “Alina, don’t be so unreasonable.”
Rufus emitted a domineering and imposing aura, forcing Alina to lower her head instinctively and not daring to raise her voice in his presence anymore. She was, after all, under Rufus’ command.
“Anyway, just let my father rest in peace!” Even so, Alina refused the autopsy.
At this time, a voice laced with grief and indignation resonated from the door. We turned our heads to see who it was.
“Alina, are you going to stop me too?”
It was Edwin. By the looks of it, it seemed that the soldiers in the forest were all safe.
Edwin was with a lot of people, including professional forensic experts and criminal detectives. They immediately surrounded Alina, just doing what they had to.
Alina was at a loss. It was so sudden that she didn’t know what to do. She looked at everyone present and let out a heavy sigh. She had no choice but to concede. She unwillingly stood aside and let Rufus, Edwin and the others go up the stairs. Her protest was the least thing we wanted to deal with.
I followed them in a hurry, but Alina stopped me again and signaled her men to surround me to completely block my sight.
Damn it! She was utterly despicable!
I reined in my impulse to curse at her and just settled on giving her a glare. “What’s the meaning of this?”
As if my inquiry was ridiculous, Alina sneered and crossed her arms over her chest. “Who are you? What right do you have to go in? Princess Sylvia? Ha! You’re funny. You’re not a princess until you get married to Prince Rufus. From where I’m standing, you’re not, so you have no right to follow them.”
“You-“
I wanted to retaliate, but Alina leaned over and whispered in my ear, “Or do you want to go in as my half-sister?”
Her words stunned me. I froze as my eyes bore at Alina.
“You…” I couldn’t say another word. I felt a lump forming in my throat, making me unable to make a sound.
Alina snorted at my baffled reaction. “Isn’t it time you ask me how I knew it?” Without waiting for my answer, she answered her own question. “Of course, my dear father told me personally. He added he didn’t want to acknowledge you as his daughter at all. Now that he’s dead, the little reunion you might have worked out inside that head of yours is now impossible.”
I gritted my teeth and tried not to shiver. She had been getting into my nerves, but hearing her say that to me was more like an electric drill was boring through my bones.
I didn’t believe a single word that came out of her mouth. She must have tried to sow dissension between us. Now that Leonard was presumed dead, she could hide the truth from me and even lie straight to my face. Letting her get to me was like believing her woven lie.
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