Richard then gave the signal for his subordinates to surround Rufus and me.
Rufus quickly stood in front of me protectively, glaring at his brother coldly. “Richard, you keep testing my patience. If you’re really so tired of living, I can help you end your life.”
Richard feigned a smile and walked towards Rufus. “My dear brother, do you really think there’s someone coming to save you this time? The landslide completely blocked the entrance to the forbidden forest. Father’s busy having the obstacles removed, so he won’t have the time to even think about you.”
Rufus sneered, his voice thick with disdain. “Good. That means I can deal with you myself.”
Richard clicked his tongue impatiently, as though he didn’t give a damn about Rufus’ threat. “No matter how strong you think you are, you’re vastly outnumbered, dear brother.”
“You’re wrong. Rufus has me.” I stepped out from behind Rufus and glared at Richard. “Don’t you ever worry that your father will find out about all the dirty tricks you’ve played? You’ve hurt your brother time and time again!”
As I spoke, Richard casually pulled out a handkerchief from his suit pocket and wiped some mud off his sleeve. The gesture made him look inexplicably arrogant. “It doesn’t matter. I’ll just have to make sure you take my little secrets with you to the grave. If my father asks, I’ll just tell him that you all died in the landslide.”
Rufus sneered. “Do you seriously think he’ll fall for such bullshit? Richard, you’re going to regret everything you’ve done. Because I’m not going to tolerate you anymore.”
Richard shrugged indifferently. “It doesn’t matter. With you dead, I’ll be the sole heir to the throne. Dad can’t do anything to me.”
“Are you sure about that? I’m going to make you eat your words. How many men did you bring this time? I’m afraid they’ll all be knocked out before I even warm up.” Rufus sneered at Richard with unmasked disdain.
This time, Richard looked a little flustered. He clenched his fists and pointed an angry finger at his brother. “Don’t be so sure, Rufus! Even if you manage to survive this, father won’t give the throne to you. After all, a barren man doesn’t deserve to be king!”
My heart instantly leapt into my throat.
How on earth did Richard know about the curse?
Rufus’ POV
Upon finding out that Richard had known about the curse this whole time, I was surprised to find myself calmer than expected.
Over the years, Richard always played tricks behind my back. Of the countless times he had set me up and framed me, I knew he was capable of anything in the future.
So when he mentioned my curse, I wasn’t so surprised anymore.
What I did not know, however, was how he found out. Very few people knew about this. Had our father told him?
“What a pity it truly was that the bomb didn’t kill you today…” Richard said, his voice dripping in sarcasm. There was a pair of glasses sitting on the bridge of his nose which he pushed up a bit. He was squinting at Sylvia, but he was looking at her with lust.
My face darkened as I pulled Sylvia behind me to keep her out of Richard’s sight. The small amount of patience in me was running very thin at this point.
I felt Sylvia grab the hem of my clothes as she scolded Richard, “Do you still have a conscience left in you? You killed so many soldiers today just for power! Because of you, those people are now buried alive under the ruins!”
Richard no longer faked niceties and snorted. “Well, those people chose to follow the wrong man. To me, it’s good that they died and I don’t feel any guilt at all.”
“You are out of your mind!” Sylvia’s face paled with anger and disbelief.
I couldn’t help but recall now what Blair had asked before. Was I really going to let Richard have the throne?
In the past, I thought Richard was just always opposing me. I also didn’t think inheriting the throne was all that important. All I knew was that as long as I lived, I would not allow anyone to destroy the country under my watch. It was only now that I was realizing Richard did not deserve that position of great power at all.
Not only was Richard a foolish man, but he was also vicious. He did not care about the lives of other people.
If the entire country would be put into the hands of such a person, there would be a great disaster.
“What? Do you think I’m so heartless that I didn’t want to save those who got buried underground? Well, if you had just accepted your fate and died, no one else would have had to lose their life!” Richard feigned kindness. “You know what? Why don’t you just go and kill yourselves now? That way, the soldiers’ sacrifice won’t be in vain!”
“If you want a fight, you’ll get one. There’s no need to keep talking nonsense.” I had to interrupt him as I was losing my patience.
Richard burst into a hysterical laughter. “Oh, you are such a hypocrite! You’re always pretending to be the kind and righteous one. But when it comes to the critical moment, you are actually unwilling to die for your own men!”
“How stupid do you think we are?” Sylvia retorted, “Sooner or later, the truth will come to light and you are going to suffer the consequences of your actions!”
“Oh, great!” Richard gleefully clapped his hands. “I can’t wait! Unfortunately for you, you won’t be alive to see it anymore. Once I’m done with you, I’m going to skin you and feed your flesh to the dogs. Whatever will be left from your cremation will just be thrown down the sewer. Since the two of you love each other so much, why don’t you be together in hell too? Think of it as a small gift from me.”
Richard then commanded his men to transform into wolves and attack us.
Immediately, I kicked away the first few men who came close and reached to attack Richard.
Richard stepped back and dodged with ease, while asking his men to double down on protecting him more. More men surrounded me and kept me away from Richard.
I looked over at Sylvia and saw that she was also being surrounded by a lot of wolves. I almost couldn’t find her through the crowd.
“That filthy slave! Kill her!” Richard ordered.
I turned around and rushed over to where Sylvia was. By the time I saw her again, her body was already covered in multiple wounds.
All of a sudden, I felt myself lose control. I transformed into a wolf and bit the nearest soldier, flinging him far away.
“I’m okay! It’s just a bruise.” Sylvia waved her hands to calm me down.
Without saying anything, I turned back into my human form and pull Sylvia behind me so I could protect her. I couldn’t believe that the violent impulse in my body almost took over again. I was afraid that if I stayed in my wolf form, I would have completely lost my mind.
Still, this situation was rather tricky.
After the landslide, big trees and rocks scattered everywhere, which constrained the space a bit. We were also heavily outnumbered. I wasn’t confident that I could get Sylvia to safety in a short amount of time.
Just as we were all caught at a stalemate, the deafening howl of a wolf suddenly resounded in the air.
Rufus’ POV
“That’s Rin! Why is she back?” Sylvia exclaimed in surprise.
Rin rushed over with a large pack of wild wolves, directly catching Richard’s men off guard.
Thanks to these wild wolves, the pressure on Sylvia and me lessened, and we quickly gained the upper hand.
Richard, who stood outside the encirclement, roared furiously, “Damn! These stupid wolves again! All of you, go kill them! Show no mercy!”
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