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Chapter 959 Happened To Get Lost
Chapter 959 Happened To Get Lost
Crystal's POV:
Rufus' eyes were unfathomable, yet they screamed as though they could see through mine very well, piercing my mind with their sharpness. To hide away from his gaze the guilt that was slowly surfacing to my eyes, I blinked more than necessary and put on an awkward smile. "The style of the coat appears to be very special, so I took the liberty to take a few more glances at it." Contrary to his perplexing eyes, my remark spawned a chuckle from Rufus. When he no longer found it amusing, the sharpness from his eyes descended on his voice as he asked, "Really? Let's get this straight. What are you doing here?" "I..." I drawled, buying myself some time to think of an excuse.
"Tell me," he urged.
"I got lost..." I curled my lips and squeezed out these few words, hoping he wouldn't notice how caught unawares I was.
But when I searched his face, it was clear how he now saw me as the kind of person who would turn my back against him anytime I found myself in a dire situation. I analyzed the situation, and even I thought that I seemed too suspicious to be here. Knowing that it was how he gauged me to be, I could clearly see how guarded he was with me. His behavior told me that just an ooze of flaw from me would earn me something I wouldn't like from him.
If I hadn't gone to Flora's place earlier, I would have suspected that he had followed me all the way here after the parade. This encounter seemed like purely coincidental.
Still, I figured he should be at the banquet at this time, but here we were.
He could go to such lengths just so he could catch the potential "traitor" of the empire, regardless of who he would deal with. This man was utterly unbelievable!
I caught sight of a sneer stretching across his face as he towered over me, becoming more oppressive than he already was. His eyes narrowed. Disbelief and speculation were apparent in his voice as he assessed how I ended up here. "I see. So, you got lost and wound up here without the palace guards catching you at the gate. You must have been really lucky."
"I didn't see any guards when I passed by, and no one walked up to me to prohibit me from entering. I presumed this was an abandoned palace." I raised my head to meet his eyes without showing any fear. Terror was what would feed his dominance over this argument.
Rufus studied me for a few seconds. Perhaps he couldn't go around my words, so he instead scanned his eyes around the place, hands propped against his waist, as if reminiscing the time he spent here. "This is just where I used to live. There's nothing special here."
I fought the impulse to have him catch me rolling my eyes. Of course, I knew he used to live here. Not only that, I also resided here with him. But I acknowledged the fact that between the two of us, pools of memories were something only I had the privilege to remember.
I rewound Rufus' remarks' and grasped the insinuation he was trying me to get: he was wary of me. I could make out how he was thinking I was a spy of some sort who was searching for every little information that would be of any importance that I could use as leverage against him when the time came. Despite his effort to hide how he thought of me, after all, he was an open book sometimes.
What a cute little fool he was!
I pursed my lips, trying to suppress how annoyed I was at how apprehensive he had become. Keeping myself in a lower status than him, I asked in a weak voice, "Since you had moved out, why is the palace still as clean as if someone's living here? The dressing room is also full."
"You went through the dressing room?" Rufus squinted and asked, obviously unpleased at how intrusive I truly had become. That was an appalling sign.NôvelDrama.Org holds text © rights.
"Of course not! The door was wide open. I just stood by the threshold and took a look from there." I explained, catching myself fast. Rufus sending me to prison for whatever charges he could think of was not a promising picture. At this moment, he could easily charge me for trespassing or something heavier.
Rufus clicked his tongue, not thrilled by either what I had and had not done. "I'm not saying I'm chuffed to have you here, as you may have very well noticed that this place is off-limits. You'd better not play any tricks, or you won't be able to hold onto your position as the Alpha at the border for much longer." "I know, I know." I answered him in succession obediently, afraid that if I didn't agree right away, he would do something unimaginable. But at the back of my mind, I was beating Rufus' head crazily. If only he wasn't in that state, I would've done so.
Rufus didn't linger his stare at me any longer as if he was singed by my very presence. He crossed the room and headed for the window and drew the curtain aside, drawing light into the dark. He said, "There's indeed someone living here now. I come here to sleep occasionally."
"What? But why? There's no one else here except the guards. Don't you feel lonely sleeping here alone?" I looked at him, disorientation swaying through my eyes.
Although he was also sleeping alone in the exclusive palace for the lycan king, outside the room was crowded with servants unlike this place. Compared to that thronged palace, this was as quiet as an apparition passing by. If someone unknowingly looked at this palace from afar, one would think this was a haunted house —uninviting and horror-filled. I once passed by this place at night, the whole palace was eerily dark and lifeless. What could have possibly drawn him to prefer to sleep here occasionally?
Rufus pondered over my question and was tight -lipped for a while before deciding to explain, "I suffer from insomnia sometimes, but I have this unexplainable solace whenever I sleep here.
Whenever I do, I end up sleeping soundly. Of all places here, this is the only location where I fall asleep without any problem. I sense something in here that calms me down."