I wondered why he left in such a hurry. I didn’t know that the matter was such a big deal until Harry stopped me on my way back alone.
That was when I found out that Joanna had been put into prison for assassinating the lycan king.
Sylvia’s POV
The news that Joanna attempted to assassinate the lycan king nearly scared me out of my mind. How could it be possible? It sounded even more ridiculous than a watermelon growing on a tree.
“What the hell is going on? Is the lycan king okay?”
No wonder Rufus was called away as soon as we stepped out of the car. He must have gone to deal with this matter.
Harry’s face was lined with worry as he replied, “The king is still unconscious. Joanna was caught on the spot.”
“How could this have taken place all of a sudden? Don’t you spend all your time with Joanna? Didn’t you notice her motives?” My brow was furrowed and my stomach churned uneasily. If something happened to Ethan, Joanna would definitely be executed.
“I indeed discovered that Joanna is actually a killer, and she arrived in the imperial capital with a mission. But I didn’t know her target was the lycan king!” Harry seemed to be in a foul mood, too. He sounded anxious and upset.
I was furious that he had concealed the fact that Joanna was a killer. I couldn’t stop my temper from flaring. “Even if you didn’t know who her target was, you should have at least informed us in advance. Now things turn out like this. If something happens to the lycan king, do you think Joanna will get to live?”
I knew that Harry liked Joanna. Maybe he thought that she was on our side and wouldn’t do anything to hurt us. But Harry was too naive this time.
He lowered his head guiltily. “I’m sorry. Joanna is my mate, and I think she is a good person. I thought I could keep a strict watch on her, but I didn’t expect the situation to turn out like this.”
I inhaled deeply and tried to calm myself down. There was no point in blaming anyone now. Since something catastrophic had already happened, we had to focus on finding a solution.
At this point, I could only pray that Ethan was not gravely injured and would regain consciousness soon.
“Sylvia, will you help me?” Harry raised his pitiful puppy eyes and watched me miserably.
I inwardly felt bad for him and wanted to help him, but there was nothing I could do. “The person Joanna assassinated is no ordinary man. He is the king of an empire. No one can help you now. The only thing we can do is pray that the lycan king is fine.”
Harry was so anxious that sweat beaded on his forehead. “After the incident, I managed to find a way to meet Joanna. She said she didn’t do it! When she entered the room, the lycan king was already lying unconscious. She was captured before she could do anything to help him. It was a trap!”
“How can you be certain that she didn’t lie to you?” I asked challengingly.
Harry ran his hand through his hair agitatedly. He was pacing back and forth. “How do I answer this question of yours? It’s my intuition. I spend every day with Joanna and I know her. She wouldn’t have gone to so much trouble if she truly meant to deceive me!”
My heart sank. After carefully considering all the puzzle pieces for a while, I finally agreed with Harry. “I will trust her this one time for your sake, Harry. You are my good friend, so I believe in your instincts. I will find a way to get to the bottom of this matter. In the meanwhile, don’t make any decision without consulting me.”
My heart sank. After carefully considering all the puzzle pieces for a while, I finally agreed with Harry. “I will trust her this one time for your sake, Harry. You are my good friend, so I believe in your instincts. I will find a way to get to the bottom of this matter. In the meanwhile, don’t make any decision without consulting me.”
Harry gave me a big hug and gratefully said, “I love you so much, Sylvia.”
“Okay, stop it. You’d better go back and have some rest. Look at the dark circles under your eyes. I’m going to look for Rufus now.”
After bidding Harry goodbye, I went to Ethan’s palace in search of Rufus. The guard at the gate recognized me and let me pass through.
I entered the hall without any obstacles and spotted Rufus standing by the stairway. He looked haggard and was surrounded by several confidants. I didn’t know their topic of discussion.
When he glanced up and noticed me, he walked to me and asked, “Why are you here?”
“Harry has told me everything. How is your father now?” I asked worriedly.
“The doctor has said that he is in great danger.”
Sylvia’s POV
Everything has turned for the worse. Laura almost fainted when she had heard that Ethan was put in a critical condition. It was a fortunate thing that the doctor was present and was able to inject tranquilizer into Laura just in time.
“How is the queen now?” Looking at Rufus’ gloomy face made me even more anxious.
“She’s with my father. She has managed to calm down for now.” Rufus was clearly depressed, his low tone reverberating through my ears. He caressed my hands and began to walk us out. “Let’s talk outside. It’s too depressing in here.”
I nodded and followed him to the corridor.
“Is it a stab wound?” I asked.
Rufus shook his head in response. “No, it’s poison. If it were a stab wound, it would have been easy to deal with. The werewolf race is blessed with strong physique, and with the good medical skills we have now, there should be no other problems with my father if he’ll be rescued at the right time. But poisoning is trickier to deal with.”
“And you can’t identify what kind of poison it is?” My brows furrowed as Noreen had appeared in my subconscious thought. Noreen had poisoned the people around me for several times now. Could it be her again doing all of this?
“No, I haven’t found out what it is yet. The doctor is working very slowly in developing the antidote with the limited information we’ve got now. My father won’t be able to hold on for much longer. We have to know what the poison is and find its sample. But the killer refused to make aware her motives, let alone speak. And even more: after the investigation, I discovered that the real John had actually died a long time ago. The she-wolf we caught this time, she looks exactly like John and she has been using his identity for years. But even John’s biological parents have no idea about this, nor do they know who she really is.” I could tell Rufus was very frustrated. He kept grazing the ring on his index finger with his thumb. I noticed that every time he was about to lose his hold on his anger, he would do this involuntarily.
If it weren’t for the fact that Rufus hadn’t found the antidote, he would have wanted to kill Joanna right now.
“Let’s wait for a while. Then, if there is still nothing else we can do, I must force her to confess with cruel torture,” Rufus said nonchalantly.
Cruel torture was even more painful than death. Joanna’s life was going to be a living hell if she still refused to talk.
I took a moment to think before I asked Rufus in a cautious tone, “Could you let me see her first?”
Rufus looked at me with a look of confusion on his face.
“Harry came to ask me for help. Joanna is his mate. Oh, that’s her name. Joanna. Anyway, he said that it was all a trap and that Joanna was actually framed.” I relayed to him the exact words Harry said to me.
Rufus had a look of contemplation on his face and then nodded. “Let’s go, then. I’ll go with you.”
Because of the attempted assassination on the lycan king, the imperial palace had now enhanced their security and was strictly guarded everywhere you look. The royal family’s visit to the palace was suspended. Now, the number of soldiers that guarded the dungeon was double in size compared how it was usually guarded.
When we had finally arrived at Joanna’s cell, we came upon the sight of her sitting in a chair. Her eyes were closed and no one was able to decipher what was going on in her mind.
She had heard us come in from the noise we made and she looked at us for a beat. Then, she lowered her head, her mouth still shut.
Joanna seemed to be doing fine at this moment. Her clothes may have been a little dirty, but she didn’t seem to have gone through cruel torture yet.
“Joanna, can you tell us who persuaded you to do what you did? You know that with your cooperation, the royal family will consider giving you a lighter sentence,” I said my words carefully.
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