“Five years ago, shortly before your wedding, Sylvia was publicly executed by Laura for treason. No one in the whole empire is allowed to mention her name.”
Rufus’ POV
At the mention of the name “Sylvia,” I knew that Lucy wasn’t lying to me.
Lucy told me everything she knew. It was Sylvia who first found out about my affair with Kyle. Since then, we became enemies.
After a pause, she took a deep breath and continued, “Your guess about Firman is correct. He’s Kyle’s child, not Richard’s. Ever since Richard was imprisoned, I’ve been under house arrest. It wasn’t until Firman was five years old that things started to get better. I don’t know why exactly Sylvia suddenly left, but you can ask Blair. I know he was involved. Also, you imprisoned him for some reason back then.”
“Blair? He knows Sylvia?” My eyebrows shot up in surprise. How many secrets had these people been hiding from me?
“Of course he knows Sylvia. Blair has always been your good friend. He knows everything about you and Sylvia. ” Lucy smiled faintly, and her voice took on a melancholic tone. “I didn’t expect that things would change so much in the past few years. If I had never come to the imperial capital, perhaps things wouldn’t have turned out like this.”
I looked at her in stunned silence. I had no memory of what she was talking about. Perhaps I had been put under a spell; otherwise, I couldn’t have forgotten everything.
“You must be wondering about how you lost your memory, right?” Lucy looked at me with a smug smile. “You should ask Laura or Sylvia about that. Sylvia’s departure was too sudden. She loved you very much, so I doubt she’d leave you for no good reason.”
“I know,” I murmured in a low voice. If Sylvia didn’t leave me, why would she have gone to the border pack and raised the children alone?
I figured she must’ve gone through a lot of difficulties on her own.
But I wasn’t in a hurry to get to the bottom of things. This was just the beginning. I would find out what had happened in the past, slowly but surely. This time, I wouldn’t let her leave me again.
“Oh, right, you can also ask Warren and Flora about it,” Lucy suddenly added.
I narrowed my eyes at her in surprise. “What’s their relationship with Sylvia?”
“They’re good friends,” Lucy answered matter-of-factly. “Sylvia has her own unique charm. Wherever she goes, she manages to make friends. Although her status was low at that time, it didn’t hinder people from liking her. She managed to make friends with people like Harry and Joanna, too.”
After saying that, she smiled bitterly. “I really envy her. She’s tough and hard-working, and she always manages to fight her way out of a rut. Not only does she have close friends, but she also found her prince charming. As for why she had to leave her prince charming, I’m not too sure. But still, there are countless people who love and care about her.”
Lucy’s words confirmed most of my guesses. Sure enough, everyone had been hiding the truth from me, although they didn’t seem to mean any harm. So there was only one possibility: my memory loss and separation from Sylvia were all part of Sylvia’s plan.
“I also wonder why Sylvia left you. She loved you dearly, and she was pregnant with your kids at the time, but she chose to take the blame for treason and left you. Why?” Lucy turned to look at me, curiosity and confusion written all over her face.
Rufus’ POV
That was also what I couldn’t figure out.
If we both loved each other, why did Sylvia leave me?
“Anyway, that’s everything I know. I hope you’ll uphold your end of the deal and keep Firman out of this. Yes, Firman’s not Richard’s child, so please let him grow up safe and sound.”
Speaking of her son, Lucy looked at me with pleading eyes. I kept silent for a while and then made up my mind.
“Firman will remain a member of the royal family, but you, on the other hand, crossed the line. I can’t forgive you.” Lucy lowered her head dejectedly.
“I understand. But I just hope that you’ll allow me some time with Firman. I don’t want to leave a bad impression on my son.”
“I understand that you love your son…” I gave her an ultimatum.
“I’ll give you one more month to be with him.”
Then without giving her the chance to negotiate, I turned around and left.
On my way back, I found myself standing in front of the palace I used to live in when I was still a prince. I dismissed the servants and entered the palace gloomily.
In my dream, from the long corridor to the small garden, there were all kinds of marvelous flowers and rare plants.
Today, the plants had withered to nothingness, which filled my heart with bitterness.
Previously, these flowers and plants had been carefully taken care of.
And to my surprise, the old swing in the garden had been taken down. I remembered that it was still here when I last visited.
“Have you forgotten already, Rufus? It was Adela. She wanted to live in this palace, and you agreed. But she only stayed here for a couple of days. You made her move to another palace,” Omar reminded me when he sensed my confusion.
Realizing that, I felt upset.
Adela had only stayed in this palace for a few days, but she managed to make so many despicable changes, including the demolition of the small garden.
Annoyed, I made a mental note to ask some people to restore it.
Casting one last glance at the ruined garden, I sighed and went to the bedroom on the second floor.
The room hadn’t been renovated yet, but its furniture had been removed, rendering it bare. I used to come here often when I couldn’t fall asleep, but recently, I had visited less and less. It seemed that after I met Sylvia again at the celebration ceremony, I suffered less from insomnia. I walked around the palace, trying to find any trace of Sylvia, but they were all erased.
To my frustration, I couldn’t find anything. I tried to recall everything that happened in my dreams. I remembered vague scenes at the Royal Military School, so I headed there next. I went to Sylvia’s old dormitory building.
Years had passed and the building must’ve been renovated many times over.
Despite knowing this, I felt gravitated towards it.
I stood in front of the dormitory building alone and quietly looked at the door for a long time.
In the end, I lost the appetite to go inside.
The young dorm administrator had seen me through the window.
It seemed that she recognized me, because then she immediately ran to me with a worried look on her face, “My King, what brings you to our humble dormitory? Is something wrong? Would you like to go inside for some refreshments?”
When the students passing by overheard her, they all froze in place, not knowing whether they should stop or keep going. I felt a little guilty. I shouldn’t have come here.
My mere presence frightened them.
“No need. I’m leaving now. I was just wandering around. Please ignore me.”
More Kickass Werewolf Reads
Dive into our collection of free werewolf romance novels—where fierce Alphas, daring heroines, and heart-stopping twists await. Every story burns with forbidden desire, loyalty, and destiny. Don’t wait—here’s a world where love bites hard and nothing is stronger than the call of the mate.
Leave a Reply