Rufus glanced at me with a frown and a puzzled expression, “I don’t understand why you’d even consider it. Beryl is Crystal’s daughter. They will return to the border pack sooner or later. Keeping her close to me at the moment is purely for practical reasons. Just because you like her doesn’t mean we can take her away from her mother.”
Hearing what Rufus said, I felt relieved. His words suggested that he hadn’t recalled anything from the past yet.
Laura’s POV
Faced with Rufus’ inquiring eyes, I adopted the stance of a mother once again and said in a nagging voice, “It’s just that you won’t find a mate and have a child. All my friends already have grandchildren. And you? You don’t even have a girlfriend. At your age, I still have to worry about this for you every day.”
Rufus was at a loss for words, and he flushed slightly.
I scoffed and continued, “Of course, we’ll have to invite Crystal to the ball, since we’re extending the invitation to all the Alphas. But I’m not sure if she will come or not. That’s up to her. We can’t force anyone to attend the ball.”
In fact, I was sure Crystal wouldn’t attend. She was doing everything in her power to avoid Rufus. Why would she come to the party he threw?
Rufus didn’t continue the topic. In an indifferent voice, he said, “I’ll leave this matter to you, mother.”
I nodded and calmly picked up my phone, asking my subordinate to come and help plan the ball with me.
Soon, he arrived, bearing a stack of delicate invitation letters in his hands. I gave him the guest list and asked him to start addressing the invitations.
Then, I handed a few blank invitations to Rufus, in case he needed them.
After we were done with the invitations, I instructed my staff to deliver them to the representatives of all the packs. That concluded the ball arrangements.
“I’ve also ordered someone to create a mask for you. You can try it on later. ” After deciding on the food menu, I turned around and looked at Rufus, who had been quietly sitting on the sofa. He was just as obedient as Aaron. The scene reminded me of Rufus’ childhood. He would always sit in one place quietly and wait for me when I was occupied.
My heart softened. I asked him, “Do you have any other pending work tonight? Would you like to have dinner with me?”
“Sure,” he instantly agreed and came closer to go over the ball arrangements with me.
He suddenly shot me a glance and commented, “You seem to be familiar with the process of planning such a ball?”
Without thinking, I automatically said, “It’s not my first time. I’ve thought of many things just to get you married, and I also held a similar ball. You weren’t willing. . .”
I suddenly realized that I’d said something I shouldn’t have halfway through my explanation.
I inwardly screamed, instantly filled with regret and anxiety. Crystal was also at that ball, and Rufus wasn’t supposed to remember any of that! Gosh, I was so stupid!
I looked up and scrutinized him. As expected, he was scowling as he tried to recall the ball I had just mentioned.
“You held a similar ball for me before? I can’t recall such a thing at all.”
“Don’t dwell on it if you can’t recall it,” I hastily interrupted him.
I was afraid that he would actually remember something.
He ignored me and asked, “When was it?”
“Several years ago. It’s natural for you to have forgotten about it. ” In an effort to distract him, I quickly spread out the thick palace blueprint and asked him to pick a banquet hall for the event.
He didn’t even give it much thought. He just randomly pointed at one banquet hall, which turned out to be the same one where I had held the ball for him before.
I numbly rolled up the blueprint and pretended I didn’t see where he had pointed. I would decide on the venue later, and this time without him.
“So why don’t you remember anything?” Rufus seemed to be trying hard to recall the past, and his face was slightly contorted in pain.
“Don’t dwell on it now. It was just a small ball. You’ve attended numerous parties over the years. Do you remember each and every one of them?” I was a little agitated and did my best to stop Rufus from remembering anything.
He pursed his lips tightly, still sifting through his memories, and said, “But even if I can’t remember any details, it’s impossible that I have zero memory of it.”
Rufus’ POV
I tried hard to remember it. Although my head ached, my intuition told me that whatever that lost memory was, it was very important.
It was not the first time I felt so powerless. I’d been feeling like I’ve lost something significant since I came out of my coma five years ago. But no matter how much I tried, I just couldn’t figure it out.
I endured the headache and let myself be immersed into my recollection. At first, all I could see was a white mist. Later, a scene depicting a lively dance party emerged. At one point during the party, my parents stopped dancing and stood in the middle of the dance floor, talking about something. At that time, my mother was much younger and more indifferent than now, and my father was much stronger and healthier.
I walked up to my mother and found that she had a grimace on her face while talking to a girl. I was intrigued by the girl and wanted to know why she made my mother so displeased.
However, all the guests at the ball vanished as soon as the scene in my memory shifted. Now, there was only that girl in my sight. My heart beat inexplicably. I really wanted to get close to her, hold her hand, and dance with her.
But as soon as I got closer, something about her air turned me off.
At this time, my mother interrupted my recalling.
“Don’t think too much about it, Rufus. That ball was a failure. You didn’t find anyone you like. You danced with Alina for a few songs. I liked her very much, but unfortunately, you didn’t. It turned out later that I was wrong about her. Anyway, your feelings are the most important thing in choosing a mate. It’s the same this time.”
“Is that Alina?” I murmured to myself. Thinking of Alina’s face, I felt disgusted even just at the thought of her.
The she-wolf who killed her biological father was still imprisoned in the deepest dungeon. Despite having only read about Alina killing Leonard in the investigation report, I strangely felt as if I was there and witnessed it myself. Unfortunately, I couldn’t remember any details either.
“Well, don’t think about it anymore. We should think about how to make this ball more perfect,” my mother persuaded gently.
I didn’t answer, and instead clenched my fists and resisted the voice in my head. I knew I shouldn’t think about it anymore, because every time I tried to recall fragments of my blurry memory, my head would hurt so much.
I had once sought out medical help without telling my mother, but the examination result showed that I was very healthy and had no disease at all.
I took a deep breath and closed my eyes to calm myself down. But that beautiful figure appeared in my mind again.
This time, the scene seemed to be on a grassland. She had her back to me, and I couldn’t help but be intrigued by her pleasant scent.
Then it became clear to me that she was a different person from the one I had seen earlier. She was not Alina! Who could she be?
I felt compelled to walk closer to her. My heart beat faster and the moment I was about to hold her hand, my heart seemed to have stopped beating. The only thing I could hear was my breathing.
I stared nervously at the person in front of me, fearing that she would disappear if I blinked.
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