I took a deep cold breath, feeling as if I just fell into an ice cellar. The panic and fear made me a little suffocated. Only then did I realize that the man sitting in front of me was not the same Rufus I knew five years ago. He was not that distant and impersonal back then. Now, he was an indifferent king who only knew the right and wrong. Any word I said could bring disaster to my pack and even to Warren.
I swallowed, and cold sweat dripped from my forehead.
The chilly sweat trickled down my forehead as I took a deep breath and swallowed.
“I just forgot it at first. But Your Majesty, now that you’ve mentioned, I remembered having heard about Crystal before.” I answered in a trembling voice.
Rufus asked meaningfully, “In other words, you only met Crystal for the first time in the imperial capital and you had no prior acquaintance with her? And it was instantaneous friendship for the both of you?”
I stammered, “Yes. Absolutely!”
“Well, that’s interesting.” Rufus sneered as if he had heard a big joke.
I gulped nervously, unsure of what he meant.
“Now tell me, why did Crystal’s photos appear on your Facebook and Instagram six years ago?” Rufus sneered at me again, as if he was looking at a clown.
Flora’s POV
Shocked and caught off-guard, I stammered, “What do you mean?”
How could Crystal’s photos still be in my Facebook? After what happened that year, Laura had done everything in her power to ensure that no trace of Sylvia Todd would ever exist again. Also, I double- checked it, so there was no way Rufus would find out about it.
Besides, I seldom posted her photos since she didn’t like too much attention even on the Internet.
Was Rufus bluffing? Could it be that he was just trying to pull a fast one on me?
“I mean you have known Crystal five years ago. You are lying!” Rufus said coldly.
As panic gripped my heart, I trembled internally. If Rufus got mad, not even the dead would feel safe.
“Tell me, how did you know Crystal?” Rufus persisted in asking.
I f0rced myself to answer, “We had only recently met in the capital city this time she came here.”
I was so nervous but did my best to reassure myself that Rufus was just making things up. If he had any other evidence, he would have already shown it instead of asking this same question over and over again.
The only reasonable explanation for Rufus’ line of questions was that he was also not sure about my relationship with Crystal and wanted to intimidate me into admitting it.
While I was mulling over the possibility, Rufus suddenly presented me with a screenshot proof. It was the photo I took when Crystal was trying on the dress that Rufus had given her for a ball.
The photo was so beautiful that I was so excited and posted it online, but after seeing the huge sensation it had later caused, I swiftly took it down.
Maybe it was because I deleted it by myself and it was not removed thoroughly, which explained why Rufus had no trouble restoring it.
For a brief second, I was terrified, but then I noticed that Crystal’s face wasn’t visible in this picture. Since she had her back to the moon, all that was visible was the side of her face.
Rufus was bluffing! I knew it!
“This is not Crystal.” I denied again. My tone was much firmer than before. Crystal was right. No one was better than Rufus in playing tricks. He almost had me admit the truth when he even had no solid proof. How terrible was that.
“This she-wolf also was a student of the military school, right?”
Sure enough, he was bluffing! He obviously wasn’t sure whether the person in the photo was Crystal or not. Had I not been firm just now, Rufus could have fooled me.
What a sleazy rascal he was! I couldn’t believe I was so terrified that I almost cried just a while ago!
“I don’t know,” I answered nonchalantly. Anyway, this was the only photo of Crystal on the Internet. As long as I didn’t admit, Rufus couldn’t do anything.
“Impossible,” Rufus said firmly. I continued to fool him, “I uploaded it merely because I thought the shot was quite beautiful.”
“Then tell me where you got this photo.” It seemed like Rufus wouldn’t stop questioning me until he got something from me today.
“I don’t remember. I’ve forgotten about that. It’s been so long.” I was intentionally vague.
Rufus smiled again and added, “The background of the photo suggests that it might have been taken in the dormitory. The window is facing the birch forest, which means this is the girls’ dormitory building in Area A. Judging from the height, it should be on the tenth floor. As far as I know, your room at that time was on the tenth floor in that building, and that students who resided there were mostly from the same class.”
Suddenly, Rufus stopped and gave me a stern look.
I panicked again, and I nearly lost it. I was at a loss for what to do next. A trap seemed to have been laid for me, and I knew it.
“Tell me, who is she? My patience is already running thin.” Rufus’ threatening voice made me anxious again. That was obviously his final warning to me.
At this point, my mind was in a mess and I couldn’t do anything. Even if I made up a random name, he would easily find out I was lying if he looked into it. And I also couldn’t tell him the name Crystal was using.
God, what should I do?
Rufus’ POV
My suspicions were confirmed when I witnessed Flora’s panic.
I had the strangest feeling that it was Crystal in this photo. Even though I had only seen her face with a mask once and I could barely make out the woman’s face in the phone I was holding, my gut told me that the girl in the photo was absolutely Crystal. No two people could have the same mole in the same exact location. Such a coincidence was impossible, unless the two were the same person.
Furthermore, this dress matched the one worn by the she-wolf who danced with me at the ball in my memory. Although I couldn’t see her face, I assumed the owner of this dress should be Crystal.
Crystal and Flora were seen exchanging heartfelt greetings on the day of the military parade. They didn’t look like new friends at all.
In fact, the thing that bugged me the most was that Flora’s reaction was too strange. Her own story contradicted what she said before. She was full of lies. It was obvious that she was deliberately hiding something. “That’s Joanna in the picture,” Flora suddenly said.
“Joanna? Is there such a person?” I narrowed my eyes in suspicion. This was really an unexpected answer. Flora was on the verge of telling the truth, and I thought she might take the plunge. But she was so savvy that she decided to use a phony name instead. It was just absurd. “It was John, a fellow student of ours, who was disguised as a man. Her real name was Joanna,” Flora said confidently.
I frowned and felt that name was a little familiar.
“At the beginning, only I knew her secret disguising as a man. The she-wolf in the photo was her. Later, when her identity was exposed, she left the capital and returned to her pack. Your mother also knew about it, but she let Joanna go for the sake of her poor background,” Flora added.
“Where is Joanna now? Which pack is she from?” There was something about this name that seemed familiar, but I couldn’t put my finger on it.
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