Would Ethan tell Richard about this? But even if Ethan had told Richard the existence of this secret passage, Richard would never return to cause al] of this havoc now that he had been banished.
I scratched my head and felt very regretful.
Time and again, the clue was interrupted just as it was about to reveal something important.
I was mentally exhausted by despair and anxiety from excessive worrying about my son.
I squatted on the ground dejectedly, grabbed my hair, and forced myself to think about the whole situation at hand.
Who could it be? Who would think that my son had offended their interests? Who could make such a meticulous plan? I pounded the floor angrily, feeling hopeless and anxious.
Then, I slowly sank to the floor, leaned against the wall, closed my eyes, and kept thinking.
Suddenly, an idea occurred to me.
Perhaps the ringleader once lived in this area of the palace and stumbled upon this hidden passage! Thinking of this, I immediately took out my phone, quickly edited the message, and sent it to Rufus.
Seeing the notification of a successful message sent on the screen, I felt relieved.
But I immediately regretted it.
It was already four o’clock in the morning.
Rufus might have already fallen asleep.
It would be inappropriate to ask Rufus to verify documents regarding the layout and owners of the palaces at this hour.
Before I could think about it more, my phone buzzed.
I felt surprised and lowered my head.
It was a reply from Rufus.
Crystal’s POV
Rufus texted back with a question mark.
I was a little bit flushed with embarrassment. I felt like I acted too hastily. How shocked he must have been to read my message.
I hesitated for a while and didn’t know how to explain. Rufus would definitely ask me why I insisted on the layout and the owners of the palaces back then. There were too many things that I couldn’t tell Rufus. What if he questioned me?
I regretted my recklessness and hesitated about whether I should call him and explain myself or not. But he didn’t ask anything and promptly sent me what I wanted the next second. Just then, Rufus called me. I hesitated for a while before answering it.
A deep and pleasant voice came from the other end of the line. His voice was steady as he said, “This is the best I can do for now. If you need a more detailed version of the document, you’ll have to file an application tomorrow.”
I replied immediately, “It’s okay. This also works. Thank you for answering me despite the time.”
“It’s not a big deal. ” After that, Rufus was silent. There was a moment of awkward stillness before I heard the sound of pages being turned on the other end of the phone.
It seemed that he had not just woken up. I hesitated for a while and asked dully, “Haven’t you gone to bed yet?”
“I’m following up on the interrogation of the groom and investigating the surveillance footage in every corner of the palace. ” The sound of Rufus suddenly traveled far, followed by the sound of glass colliding.
I assumed he was currently having a cup of coffee to keep himself awake.
I felt a little guilty and grateful. Rufus could have asked others to deal with these things, but he didn’t.
“Thank you so much. I really don’t know what to do without your help. . .”
It was true that force could eventually solve any problem, but if I acted recklessly and simply turned to violence, I would only make things difficult for Rufus.
Rufus cleared his throat and responded in a raspy voice, “Not a big deal. I promised I would handle this, didn’t I? I’m the king, and I have to keep my promise. And I also don’t want anything to happen to Arron.”
Suddenly, a servant’s voice resounded on the line. It seemed that there was something wrong.
“Sorry. I have to hang up now. I’ll call you later.”
“Alright, go ahead with your work. Bye,” I hastily answered, and suddenly the phone was silent. After he hung up, I reluctantly put down the phone.
Then, I sat quietly by the window for a long time. When I finally calmed down, I focused on the document Rufus had just sent.
There were many pages in that document, covering not just the layout of the imperial palace, but also the history of who lived in which palace.
I turned off the light in my room, leaving only a small night lamp on the desk so I could focus more. As I sifted through the files on the computer, I could feel my heart sinking.
The palace I lived in now was located in a remote corner of the imperial palace, and only a few people had lived there before. One could even call it a palace that nobody cared about. Had I not requested Rufus to arrange a quiet palace for me, this place would still have been empty.
A good six or seven years ago, Richard took over this palace and invited Lucy, who had just moved into the imperial palace back then, to live here.
Richard had probably used this hidden passage to secretly meet with Lucy.
That meant Lucy was also aware of the secret passage!
Lucy’s POV
Wrapped in a blanket, I sat on the balcony and watched the snow fall from the sky as night fell. My thoughts were all over the place.
It was yet another winter without Kyle by my side.
When springtime arrived and the air warmed up, I wondered if I would finally feel better.
With that, I straightened up and drank some wine. I had to think on my feet.
Apparently, Rufus had called a doctor urgently earlier, but after that, nothing else happened. I thought that Beryl should have survived.
But it didn’t matter.
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