My heart fluttered. I clenched my jaw and continued to act as if I was asleep.
“Have you fallen asleep?” Rufus stroked my hair and placed a kiss on my forehead. Then he fell quiet. He pulled the quilt up to cover both of us and drifted off, holding me in his arms.
I kept my eyes shut and inhaled deeply. After about six or seven minutes, I opened my eyes and softly called out Rufus’ name. There was no response. He seemed to be fast asleep.
I carefully wiggled out of his arms and cast a sleeping spell on him.
Then I stared at his back for a long time, my stomach churning uneasily.
I took a deep breath to steel myself and slowly lifted the hem of his shirt with shaking hands. As I had expected, a black thorn was present on his smooth back.
I couldn’t stop myself from bursting into tears.
I wanted to hold them back, but my shoulders shook violently. I hadn’t expected my life to turn out like this.
Rufus had fallen in love with me again, and the black thorn was also growing again. This time, my only way out was to completely disappear from his world.
No matter what, Rufus and I were destined to be apart, and we could only spend the rest of our lives in regret.
I was overwhelmed with desperation. Lowering my head, I kissed the sleeping man. Then I wiped away the icy teardrops that had dripped down on his face.
“I’m sorry, I can’t continue staying here,” I murmured. I closed my eyes and gave him one last kiss on his lips. “You will be fine.” After saying that, I couldn’t linger any longer. I shrugged on my coat that was lying by the bed and was about to put my feet on the floor, when a big hand closed around my wrist.
I whirled round and saw that Rufus was awake. He was glaring at me frostily. “Crystal, where are you going? Do you want to leave me again?”
Crystal’s POV
I was startled. Hadn’t Rufus fallen asleep? Why was he suddenly awake?
“How… How did you…” I stammered, flustered. I didn’t know what he had just heard. Did my kiss wake him up?
But that didn’t sound right. I had cast the spell to send him into a deep sleep. How could he have woken up?
“What do you want to say? Why did I wake up? Or why was your witchcraft ineffective?” Rufus got to his feet and observed me calmly.
I was stunned. I didn’t expect that he would have knowledge of my witchcraft.
He chuckled knowingly. “I knew you possess this ability, so I asked a wizard for help. No matter what spell you cast on me this time, it won’t work.”
Since he was being so straightforward, I didn’t want to keep pretending either. I directly asked, “When did you figure out that I have recovered?”
“I’m not sure.” Rufus raised his eyebrows and smiled. “But your body language can’t lie. After we had sex, something was amiss when you woke up again. Although you pretended to not know me, every time I touched you, you would unintentionally become nervous, as if you were afraid of your secret getting out. And when you looked at me, you could never meet my eyes.”
I was rendered speechless. Even though Rufus had no memory of our past, he was still the person who knew me inside and out.
I believed he had seen through all my little secrets.
Rufus walked to me, crouched beside my legs, and gave me a serious look. “So, should I call you Crystal or Sylvia?”
I turned my head away from him and awkwardly replied, “Since you already know everything, why are you still asking me?”
So, he had been pretending just now. He just silently watched me put on an act. I didn’t know when he had heard about the name Sylvia.
“No, I want you to tell me.” Rufus wasn’t going to let me off. He wanted me to give him an answer.
I couldn’t escape, so I had to reluctantly admit the truth. “My name is Sylvia, and Crystal is the name I took later.”
“Are Beryl and Arron my children?” Rufus ‘ eyes were shining with hope as he gripped my hands.
I was silent for a few seconds before nodding. “Yes, they are your children.”
I had no reason to lie to him about our children, and both the kids also wanted their father.
If I ever got an opportunity to leave again, maybe it was wise for me to leave them behind this time.
Rufus would be a good father.
Rufus’ face lit up with a bright smile and he asked, “Are you my mate?”
My hands were stiff and I felt a little glum. I didn’t respond to his question immediately. I didn’t have the heart to hurt him again.
“Crystal, we are mates, aren’t we?” Rufus clasped my hands tightly as if he was worried that I would sprint out of the room. “Yes, we are mates.”
I sighed deeply. I didn’t have the courage to lie to Rufus, let alone cook up a new lie altogether.
My answer only made the smile on his face widen. He couldn’t stop himself from placing a kiss on the back of my hand, treating me like a treasure he had lost and found.
“Crystal, that’s great. I knew we are mates.”
Tears slowly blurred my vision, and complex emotions roiled within me. As soon as my mind flashed back to the black thorn on his back, I became more downhearted.
“Since you are my mate, why did you leave all those years ago?” Rufus looked up at me.
I kept quiet for a long time. It was only when the sound of the bell ringing outside the window reached my ears that I suddenly snapped back to the present. I said in a dazed voice, “Because I didn’t love you back then and I don’t love you now.”
Crystal’s POV
When Rufus heard my answer, his lips curled up in disdain, and he got to his feet. Pulling me closer, he lifted my chin and asked, “Why are you crying if you don’t love me? Your eyes are red.”
I sniffled and irritably slapped his hand away. I didn’t want to talk to him.
Rufus persisted. He sat beside me and said, “I don’t believe that you don’t love me. You’re a liar. You always say the opposite of what you really mean.”
“It’s your choice whether you believe it or not,” I muttered, turning away and wiping my tears, feeling embarrassed.
Rufus didn’t believe me. He shifted so that he was facing me. “Why are you keeping me away from you? Why did you kiss me just now if you don’t love me? I don’t believe you are so cruel-Crystal, admit it. You love me. You can’t escape from me.”
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