Following behind him, I got the chance to stare at his stalwart shoulders. My mind was in a mess.
“I’ve already sent someone to investigate your mother’s case and the witnesses who disappeared back then,” Rufus suddenly said.
My eyes widened in pleasant surprise. “Really?”
I didn’t hold out much hope that Rufus would really help me. In fact, I had already prepared myself mentally that I would do the investigation on my own. I didn’t expect him to act so fast.
Rufus turned his head and looked at me. “But there’s one thing I’m sorry about.”
“What is it?” I asked, looking into his deep eyes.
“We need to keep our relationship under wraps for a while until we find out the truth,” Rufus whispered in my ear.
I was stunned for a moment. I felt like my heart was suddenly grabbed by a giant hand, and I couldn’t breathe. But I quickly suppressed this emotion.
I smiled and said, “I understand. I am staying with you because we need each other. It doesn’t matter whether you make our relationship public or not.
All you need is my blood, not me. So you can just disregard me. Besides, I don’t want to delay you from looking for your next mate.”
Rufus didn’t respond. He just continued to walk forward, but his pace became faster and faster. I had no choice but to trot with heavy chunky heels to keep up with him.
“Rufus, wait… Please slow down. I can’t keep up with you anymore,” I couldn’t help but plead.
Finally, he slowed down. Then after a while, he said, “I don’t know yet why your blood can soothe me when I go berserk. What if it’s because we are mates? I still have to figure it out, then we’ll talk about it.”
“Okay.” I thought that what he said was reasonable, so I readily agreed.
But the atmosphere around us inexplicably became a little suffocating. I vaguely felt that he was unhappy. But he was still expressionless as usual, and his lips were tightly pursed, so I couldn’t guess what he was really thinking. Maybe I was just overthinking.
We walked down the golden staircase and arrived at the banquet hall. The dome was painted with colorful murals, and countless lights were hung high. The entire banquet hall looked more glorious.
“Rufus! You’re finally here.”
As soon as we entered the banquet hall, a beautiful woman dressed in gorgeous and extravagant clothes appeared and greeted Rufus.
“Mother…” He greeted the beautiful she-wolf back.
She was Queen Laura, and I had already heard about her. With her delicate features and thick hair, she looked very young. Only the fine lines at the corners of her eyes revealed her age.
“You’ve been on a long journey. Now that you’re back, you should take a good rest for a while,” Laura said. She acted like a loving mother to Rufus. Standing at the side and watching them, I felt a little embarrassed.
“Mother, let me introduce you to…”
“By the way, I forgot to tell you,” Laura interrupted Rufus before he could even finish his words. Then she turned around and pulled over a brunette with a good figure and beautiful features. “This is Alina Quinn, the daughter of the Alpha of Silver Moon Pack. You two are about the same age. Thanks to her company, my life has not been so boring recently. And she is very talented in the military stuff. I believe you must have a lot to talk about.”
Laura gently pushed Alina in front of Rufus and added, “Such an excellent girl is the fiancee I’ve found for you.”
My heart inexplicably sank when I heard her words.
Laura’s POV
“Mother, you are messing around,” Rufus snapped coldly. He was instantly displeased with me.
I knew that he would react this way. After all, he was my son, and I knew him. But not everything would be up to him.
“Your father and I have already discussed this. He is satisfied with Alina too.” I put on a loving smile and deliberately mentioned Ethan’s name to make Rufus accept the arrangement.
“I have never thought of finding a fiancee,” Rufus said coldly. He didn’t even spare a glance at Alina.
“You are already twenty-eight years old. You can’t delay getting married any longer. Besides, the ministers have been urging you,” I continued to persuade him. But I also couldn’t help feeling helpless. Rufus had been very assertive since he was a child. And convincing him to do something he didn’t want was extremely difficult.
“I am responsible for finding my own mate,” Rufus insisted.
“No. When it comes to this matter, I have the final say,” I said angrily. I was his mother, but he didn’t respect me at all. When I noticed that everyone’s eyes were on me, I softened my voice. “Alina is a good girl. She is gentle, considerate, and talented. I think you two are a perfect match.”
“Since you like her so much, why don’t you introduce her to Richard?” Rufus’ mouth curled into a sneer, his eyes full of sarcasm.
“Rufus!” I snapped in a low voice. Since there were so many people around, I didn’t dare to go too far. I could only swallow my anger, which made my temples ache. He knew I didn’t get along well with Richard, that illegitimate child of my husband’s. But he still used Richard to provoke me.
I also noticed that he looked nervously at the lowly slave beside him. It was as if he was afraid of angering her. Had he forgotten that he was a dignified prince? How could he be controlled by a she-wolf of low status? It would be such a shame if this news spread.
I clenched my fists so hard that my nails dug into the palms of my hands. I was getting more and more unhappy. How dare the daughter of a traitor enter this place aboveboard! Rufus must have been seduced by her.
Alina held my hand and interrupted with a smile, “The queen is just joking. I’m just here as a guest. Prince Rufus, we can be friends first. So we can get to know each other. It’s too early to talk about marriage yet.”
In the end, Alina seemed to be a little embarrassed. Her snow-white face flushed, and her beautiful jawline lowered like an elegant white swan.
I patted her hand to comfort her, feeling more and more satisfied with her. Only such a sensible girl like her was qualified to be a member of the royal family.
And the most important thing was that her father was Alpha Leonard Quinn, the werewolf who used to be mighty and influential. He also had powerful lycan blood. With his support, Rufus would not have to be afraid of Richard anymore.
I glanced at the slave in front of me indifferently. She was so timid that she didn’t even greet me. While looking at her, my heart was filled with disgust.
How could a daughter of a traitor like her have the audacity to approach Rufus? Did she really think that even a nobody like herself could marry into the royal family? She must be so shameless.
But what pissed me off more was that I couldn’t deal with her yet, because I couldn’t afford to anger Rufus. Even Ethan couldn’t do anything to quench Rufus’ anger, let alone me.
If I got rid of her, it would directly destroy my relationship with Rufus. And judging from his attitude towards her, I could guess that this she-wolf was not that simple.
So the best way now was to ignore her, find an opportunity to secretly humiliate her, and force her retreat on her own.
Sylvia’s POV
The tit for tat conversation ceased because Ethan, the lycan king, arrived. I breathed a sigh of relief. I also realized that the queen, Laura, wasn’t easy to get along with, and she didn’t seem to like me either.
But it didn’t matter. Their opinions didn’t mean anything to me, Once my mother’s case was redressed and Rufus’ curse was removed, I would leave here and find a comfortable place in the mountain, along the banks of the rivers to live. That was the only thing that seemed to comfort me.
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