However, when I finally pulled the door open, I was greeted by a confidant of Rufus. I had often spotted him at Rufus’ side before.
I was instantly awake as I asked, “Is the king looking for me?”
Unexpectedly, he shook his head and said, “No, the king has summoned Luna Flora.”
Flora’s POV:
Stunned, I thought I misheard. “What did you say? The king wants to see me? Are you sure?”
The man nodded politely. “Absolutely. And the king wants to see you alone.”
“What?! Why? Are you perhaps making a mistake? Is it my husband-Alpha Warren-that he wants to see?” My heart leaped to my throat.
“Sorry, I don’t know what the king’s intentions are, but you’re the one he wants to see. You’d better get ready to meet him as soon as possible.” Then, after bowing slightly, the man went out to wait for me.
My palms broke out in cold sweat. Although I had been a Luna for five years already, I had never met with Rufus alone during that time. Even when Rufus was still a prince, I was already afraid of him. Now, he was king of the empire, and his aura was even more domineering than before. If I accidentally said something wrong, I could get killed!
“Calm down. I’ll go with you.” Crystal reached for my hand and squeezed it reassuringly.
I shook my head, tears welling up in my eyes. “Didn’t you hear what he said? Rufus only wants to see me. If we go together, that would be disobeying orders.”
Crystal felt confused. “Why would Rufus suddenly want to see you so early in the morning? Did something happen to Warren?”
“Possibly!” My heart tightened in my chest, and I immediately called Warren.
He didn’t answer. I tried several times but was met with the busy dial tone. When I was about to give up, the call finally connected. But it was Lucas on the other end, saying that Warren was busy cooking breakfast in the kitchen.
I heaved a sigh of relief and then hung up after telling him to be a good boy and wait for me to come back.
“Warren’s fine,” I said to Crystal with relief.
Frowning, she mulled over the situation carefully. “Could it be related to me?”
I shook my head. “No way! Rufus isn’t that observant, is he? I was very cautious, afraid that he’d find out that we were good friends. I don’t even look at you whenever we’re outside!”
Crystal sighed, at a loss. “It’s possible. I mean, Rufus already sent someone here to look for you. Damn! I shouldn’t have quarreled with him at the ball. If I had talked to him nicely, perhaps he would’ve given me room to retreat. But now, I have no idea what he’s planning.”
I hurried to comfort her. “Don’t overthink things. Maybe Rufus just wants to ask about the Silver Moon Pack.”
But even I didn’t believe what I said. If Rufus really wanted to know something about the pack, he could just go and ask Warren. So the matter definitely had something to do with Crystal.
“Well, I guess that’s possible. We’ll never know until you go and find out.”
I hugged Crystal to reassure her. After freshening up and changing my clothes, I followed the man waiting outside to see Rufus.
In the hall, I saw Rufus sitting on the throne expressionlessly, exuding an ominous aura. I keenly felt the drop in temperature as soon as I entered.
I gulped nervously and tried my best to recall what had happened lately, but I really couldn’t figure out what I had done wrong. God! I should’ve brought Warren with me.
Despite my trepidation, I remembered my manners and bowed to Rufus respectfully.
“Have a seat.” Rufus’ voice was very cold, even colder than the winter winds. The hair on the back of my neck stood on end, as though a cold blade was being pressed against my neck.
The servant quickly fetched a sheepskin chair for me. I didn’t dare to be complacent and sat on the edge of the chair, ready to run at a moment’s notice.
Rufus was terribly scary. Both Rufus and Warren were cold people, but my Warren at least had a warm side to him. Thinking about this, I missed my husband very much.
Although I felt extremely nervous, I managed to squeeze out one question. “What’s the matter, Your Majesty?”
Rufus didn’t answer. When I was beginning to think he just wanted me to sit here like a statue, he opened his mouth and asked slowly, “You knew Crystal before?”
Sure enough, this was about Crystal!
I soon breathed a sigh of relief.
Flora’s POV
My anxiety subsided upon hearing Rufus’ question, because Crystal and I had discussed it. So now, I knew exactly what to tell him.
Rufus was the king, and his men were all over the imperial palace. He must have known that I spent last night at Crystal’s place. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have sent someone to look for me at there so early in the morning.
According to Crystal, Rufus was very wary of her now, so it was only normal for him to doubt and investigate people around her, including me.
I quickly thought about it and lied, “When I first met Crystal in the imperial capital, it was like we had known one other for a long time, and we soon became friends. Before this, I had no prior acquaintance with her.”
“Are you sure?” The intensity in Rufus’ gaze caused me to sweat profusely.
I answered in a panic, “Yes.” I couldn’t get Crystal involved in this, not even if Rufus f0rced the hell out of me.
“Crystal is related to Leonard, right?” Rufus asked again. I didn’t dare to look up. My thoughts raced as I tried to understand what Rufus meant. Had he known that Crystal was Leonard’s biological daughter?
In an effort to collect my thoughts, I took a deep breath.
No matter what Rufus asked me, I could only keep my answers vague. So I murmured, “Oh really? It could be…”
Rufus snorted, “Could be? You are the Luna of the Silver Moon Pack. You don’t know that?”
At this point, I almost wanted to cry. In a panic, I sputtered back, “I didn’t get to know Alpha Leonard very well because he passed away before I married Warren. And Warren has never mentioned Crystal before.”
“You grew up in Silver Moon Pack and you’ve never heard of her? According to my investigation, Leonard dotes on Crystal very much. If he didn’t trust Crystal enough, he wouldn’t have suggest her to be the Alpha of the border pack.” Rufus gave me a chilly stare while talking, and my heart sank with every word he said. It seemed that Crystal was right. Rufus had already investigated her secretly.
“I was just a powerless Omega at that time. It’s normal that I didn’t hear of that. Besides, Crystal is just Leonard’s distant relative. She had always been defiant, and when she reached adulthood, she decided to strike out on her own instead of continuing to live with the pack. She has once made a war merit at the border. That’s why the former king agreed with Leonard’s suggestion and let Crystal be the Alpha of the border pack.” I ducked my head and gave a deliberate response. Even though I was shaking uncontrollably, I couldn’t let Rufus find out that I was lying, because that would be sort of an offense to the king.
After hearing what I said, Rufus was silent for some time. I secretly breathed a sigh of relief. At first, I thought I had fooled Rufus, but then he let out a frigid laugh that sent chills down my spine. At this point, I just wanted to die right there and then.
“You said that you had never heard about Crystal before you met her in the capital. So how did you know that she was rebellious when she was young and she had made contributions to the war? From the way you said it, it seemed that you knew these things so clearly. Are you gonna continue lying to me until the end?” An enraged Rufus patted the arm of the couch.
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