Harry dropped his innocuous caper. He tried to decipher my thoughts through the expressions that swayed across my face before cautiously asking, “Sylvia, is something the matter? Are you hiding something from us? From the looks of it, it seems something’s bothering you. You and the queen must have orchestrated the events that unfolded. If my guess is right, it has something to do with Prince Rufus in a coma. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have chosen to ruin your life if you’re left with many other choices. Your goal is to leave the capital city, so that everyone would condemn you, which makes it easier for them to forget you. Did I get it right?”
Harry surprised me by his impressive deduction. He got most of the reasons right. In all honesty, I never intended to tell Harry-much less to let him know-about the truth. I just wanted to leave and exit from their lives with them thinking that it was all my fault as their last memory of me. But when I saw how Harry and Joanna believed me and defended me without hesitation, I couldn’t stop guilt from devouring me.
“I get his point, Sylvia. If you’re having a hard time, just tell us and we can figure it out together,” Joanna seconded.
Looking at them both, hesitation replaced my guilt before I decided that they had to know everything, including the black thorns. I told them what I knew, not leaving out a single detail.
Silence deafened our ears the moment the last word escaped my lips. None of us knew what to say, as if we were feeling each other out. Both Harry and Joanna had their eyebrows furrowed, looking lost in their trains of thoughts.
I couldn’t stand how heavy the atmosphere was becoming, so I cracked a joke to break the silence. “Now that Noreen is dead and Rufus is safe, we won’t have anything left to worry about in the future. I can rest assured and leave now and bring with me peace of mind. I haven’t traveled around since I was a child. Now I finally have the chance to go out to have fun and enjoy my life a lot sooner than I anticipated!”
It was now Harry’s eyes’ turn to redden when he heard my attempt to liven up their mood. His voice was low when he asked, “Where are you going?”
His question had me wondering. I hadn’t figured it out yet. I didn’t have the courage to stay in the empire, and I was certain I was not welcome in the vampires’ domain. Vampires had sharp senses of smell, and as soon as they would find traces of werewolf scent on me no matter how hard I might try to cover it up, they would definitely know that I was not one of them. The black witches had never had a fixed territory so I didn’t know where to find them.
Still, I needed to think about where to go.
“Where else can you go after leaving your life as Sylvia Todd?” Harry did not roar at me, but the boiling anger he was suppressing was handed to me by his eyes.
“Now, now, Harry. We shouldn’t let anger get the best of us,” Joanna persuaded in a soft voice.
Harry’s eyes became redder, and his voice was hoarse. He was slowly transitioning from a sad tamed dog that was abandoned by its owner into a rabid beast. “You have no place to go to, Sylvia. No matter what you have in mind, there’s no place for you to stay. You have ruined your life! Or perhaps, do you want to go back to the black witches and never see us again?”
Sylvia’s POV
I was stunned for a long time when I heard what Harry said before I smiled bitterly. “The world is so huge. There must be some place I can go to. Don’t worry. I’m incredibly powerful now. Ordinary people can’t defeat me, and I know witchcraft.”
Besides, if I truly found a place to settle down, I believed it would be very remote. Generally, such a place would rarely have contact with the outer world. Most of the residents would be simple and friendly, and there would be very few disputes or troubles.
This was the only way I would be able to hide my identity well.
Harry sneered. “You are so powerful now that you don’t need your friends anymore. You don’t treat us like real friends. Otherwise, how could you have kept such an important thing from us all this time? If we hadn’t created a ruckus today, I’m certain you wouldn’t even have bothered to meet us one last time.”
“That’s enough, Harry. Don’t be so mean. We are all devastated about what has happened,” Joanna chimed in to stop Harry.
His expression hardened. He remained silent after Joanna’s interruption.
She sighed and wrapped me in a hug. “Sylvia, I know you’re the one suffering the most. Harry cares about you and doesn’t want you to go through this hardship, so he said those words in anger.”
I was silent for a few seconds, but in the end, I couldn’t hold my tears back. Harry’s eyes also turned red, but he remained silent.
As I leaned against Joanna’s shoulder, I was so overwhelmed with sadness that I couldn’t control myself. “I’m sorry. I’m not as cold-hearted as you think. I just didn’t know what to do or how to tell you. I didn’t want you to be involved in this mess. Of course, I don’t want to leave my friends, everything I have worked so hard to achieve, and Rufus. But I truly have no other choices.”
When I thought I would have the whole world, fate played a cruel joke on me.
I endured the pain and pushed forward, just so that I could find a feasible solution for everyone.
Joanna also had tears streaming down her face. She patted my back and sobbed, “We both know that you were forced to take this step. No matter what you choose, we will support you. But if you ever need any help in the future, please tell us. You don’t have to go through it alone.”
At this moment, Harry was finally willing to speak again. He dried his tears and calmly said, “There is no other solution at this point. Just tell us what you want us to do. We will do our best to help you.”
I wiped my tears, got to my feet, and looked at them seriously. “Don’t worry about me. I’m pregnant, and I’ll be strong for my baby. No matter where I am, I will lead a good life for my child’s sake. The only thing I need now is for you to keep this secret for me. Just pretend that I’m really dead and never let Rufus remember me again.”
“What about Flora? She is still pregnant. She won’t be able to take the news of your death, so you can’t hide this from her,” Harry said.
I pondered about it for a while and said, “I’ll explain everything to her. I have no inclination of hiding all this from her anyway.”
“Will you give us your location once you settle down?” Harry asked.
“Let’s see what happens then.” I was not sure about giving them my address. After all, I had to be cautious since I was supposed to be dead.
Harry remained silent for a while, and then said, “Well, it’s your decision.”
After saying this, he rushed out, his eyes bloodshot. Joanna was worried about him, so she apologized to me and followed him out.
I heaved a sigh of relief. I knew that Harry had agreed to comply with my request. Although he blamed me right now, I believed that time would resolve everything.
Sylvia’s POV
After I finished, I put my hood over my head to cover my face. Then, I went to say goodbye to Laura.
Laura was sitting in the hall, seemingly lost in thought. When she heard my footsteps, she looked at me and wearily said, “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Now that everything is settled, it’s time for me to go,” I told her.
Laura stood up and slowly walked over to me. “The previous trial was mainly to lure Noreen into the trap. I didn’t want to make it a big deal, so I put an end to the news. The packs outside the capital don’t know about the trial, but the news of your death has already spread. Warren should know by now. Are you going to tell them the truth?”
“That doesn’t matter. I’ve sent a letter to Warren and Flora yesterday. They’ll receive it soon,” I explained.
I felt guilty for them, so I decided to prepare a long handwritten letter, hoping that they would accept my apology.
“That’s good.” Laura sighed. Her expression was a little more complicated than before. “At least you need to explain the situation to them. Warren, Harry, and Flora treat you as their best friend. I’m sure they don’t want you to die or become the sinner of the empire. You made a good choice by telling them the truth.”
“I know. I was wrong at the beginning. I thought I could just cut ties with them and leave, but I realized doing that will only hurt them more. That was the first time Joanna cried in front of people. She had never been that emotional, not that I could recall. And I can’t help but feel so guilty whenever I think about Harry’s swollen eyes.”
“There’s no turning back now. Don’t give yourself too much burden, okay? I’m sure they’ll understand. You’ve already made plans for everyone. Now it’s time for you to think about your future,” Laura comforted me in a soft, gentle voice.
I nodded and embraced the sadness I felt. When I slowly calmed down, I smiled. “By the way, Noreen is dead now, but Blair is still under her influence. He should be able to slowly return to normal, though. Please remember to release him as soon as he fully recovers. What happened was probably hard for him. If he hadn’t gone back to my pack to get the piece of evidence for me, he wouldn’t have been cursed and suffered all this.”
I didn’t forget Blair. Even though he still had feelings for me, I believed that he would eventually move on. He was like an older brother to me, and I truly hoped that he could live a good life in the future.
“Please explain everything to Blair for me. He’s Rufus’ best friend. I have no doubt he’ll cooperate with our plan.”
Laura nodded. “Don’t worry; I’ll have someone take care of him. After that, I’ll release him and explain everything.”
I let out a grateful smile. “Thank you for everything. Without your help, this plan wouldn’t have worked so smoothly. I’m sorry for making you a bad person. I know you’re also in a dilemma.”
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