Chapter 173
Chapter 173
…Westin?!
Janet’s jaw dropped. She was rendered speechless.
Westin did tell her that one of his men would come and pick her up at the wedding.
But he didn’t say whom exactly.
Janet thought that it would be a servant, or probably a guard…Bur Sir Edwin? The Lycan?!
Her eyes widened as she realized another matter.
Wait, if Edwin was the Lycan and he was Westin’s guy, didn’t it mean that-
“Westin is Lycan?!” she blurted out, utterly shocked.
Edwin smiled.
He put a finger over his lips and whispered, “Shush. Few people knew about Westin’s
real identity. We want to keep it that way.”
Janet’s head was a mess.
A million thoughts whizzed through her head.
No wonder Westin had kept his mouth shut about his identity in front of them the whole time.
The Lycan was nothing but a myth to them. Even if he admitted it, they would not believe in his words.
And something else just hit Janet.
During the one–on–one battle between Daran and Westin, Westin chose not to shift into his wolf.
Janet thought it was because he couldn’t.
But the truth might be the other way around: he could. But if he shifted, his wolf would give away his
identity instantly.
Because the Lycans looked differently than the werewolves.
“…But why did he go undercover?” Janet asked after a long pause, “The rogues recognized your reign.
You could have just given Lance the order for whatever you are trying to do here. What was Westin
after?”
Edwin shrugged with a faint smile:
“The rouges don’t recognize our reign. They are afraid of us. That is all. But even with fear, they still
dare to do all kinds of things behind our backs. The sort of things that they would never admit to in front
of our faces. Westin went undercover to put a stop to those things.”
“But what kind of those things? Does it have anything to do with the supreme power and ‘The King‘ that
Lance told Daran about-”
“Look.”
Edwin spread his hands and smiled, “I am happy to spend a whole night answering your questions,
which I am sure you have a lot. But I think you better ask Westin about those questions yourself. And if
we are to meet him in time, we better hurry.
The time is limited.”
Janet looked at him, quietly weighing the current situation.
“I have one more question,” she said.
Edwin gave her a polite smile.
“What will happen after you take me out of the city?”
“Well, we can send you back to the other side of the border, if that is what your prefer. But even we
can’t predict how the situation will exacerbate. If the worst thing
happens, a war breaks out, then we would want to keep you somewhere safe-”
‘And where is that?” Janet asked skeptically.
“By our King’s side.” Edwin grinned, “He and his royal guards will keep you safe.”
…A Lycan King?
Janet frowned, “I don’t even know your King. Hell, I didn’t even know you people existed till this very
day! Are you sure that he is willing to protect me?”
A bizarre smile flickered across Edwin’s eyes, “Oh, I think he will be more than willing. Thrilled, if you
ask me.”
He checked the time, “Now it is a quarter to 8. I scheduled to leave the city before 10. Do you need to
go somewhere? To pack some stuff perhaps?”
“I want to go back to my room and get changed,” Janet said. She was still dressed in her maid uniform
with an apron.
“Of course. Then please meet me in the woods near the South Gate. I will be waiting.”
Edwin flashed her a blink and then walked away.
Janet turned on her heels and dashed out of the ballroom.
The corridor was packed with hovering guests. The guards tried to ask them to leave and go back to
their separate rooms. But the guests remained outside of the ballroom and kept discussing
enthusiastically about what happened tonight..
“Do you think the King will hang his mate for that?” a girl asked her friends when Janet passed by.
“I am not sure. Sleeping around is demeaning, yes, but not a crime,” her friend said.
“But humiliating the King is a crime.”
“Whatever. All I know is that Harper is doomed. There is no way she will remain as the Queen.”
Janet pushed herself through the crowd and left those chatters behind her.
She came down to the basement and ran to her room.
It was total chaos at the maid’s dormitory as well, with people running around sharing gossip and the
supervisors screaming at their subordinates, asking them to clean up the mess upstairs.
Nobody noticed Janet in this chaos. The guards sent to watch over her were nowhere. to be found.
Everything was working perfectly according to the plan
Everything was working perfectly according to the plan.
Janet came into her room and locked the door behind her.
She peeled off her maid’s uniform, tossed it on the ground, and pulled her sportswear out of the closet.
Right as she was slipping on her leggings, she heard a knock on the door.
Janet held her breath. This content © Nôv/elDr(a)m/a.Org.
Who could it be?
Was it the guards? Coming to make sure that she remained in this palace?
Just when she was hesitating whether or not to answer, a voice came from the other side of the door:
“…It is me,
Daran.”
Janet bit her lips, staring at the closed door.
“It is OK. You don’t have to answer me if you don’t want to.” He said deeply behind the door, “But I
know that you are in there. So just listen.‘
Janet took in a deep breath and stayed in silence.
“Lance had given me the details. He said that for someone to become The King, a certain ritual is
required. This ritual takes both me and him to work. And he is asking me to meet with him right now.”
What ritual?
Janet screamed internally.
Did you trust Lance on this? What if he hurt you?!
She wanted to scream at Daran for acting recklessly and stupidly.
But she fought with herself and remained quiet.
Daran continued in a hoarse voice, “I don’t know how this ritual will work. I guess the only way to find
out is to go by myself. I know we had our differences, Janet. But
I still believe that this is the solution to all problems. If I succeed tonight and become The King, I will
order all rogues to never tramp our borders-”
“But what if you fail?” Janet interrupted him abruptly, her voice shaking.
There was a short pause.
Then he spoke up in a hoarse voice, “It is nice to hear your voice again before I leave.”
Answer my question!” Janet snapped, raising her voice. “What will happen if you fail?”
Yet that didn’t ease her off.
It deepened her worries instead.
So it was indeed dangerous.
He wouldn’t use those phrases if it wasn’t dangerous!
“You might die. Isn’t it right? No matter how you sugarcoat it, there is that possibility! Right, Daran?”
she cried.
He sighed on the other side of the door.
She took that as a yes.
“… What if you die, Daran?” she asked, her voice choking.
She desperately wanted him to deny that once again, saying that he would survive this no matter what.
Yet all she heard him say was:
“If that happens, remember that you are the only woman I ever loved till the day I die.”
That was the last of his words.
She heard the sound of his retreating footsteps.
He was gone.
What the hell was Daran trying to do here?
Was he trying to guilt her into remembering him after his death?!
But she wouldn’t!
And that part of him loving her…That was BULLSHIT!
A man who truly loved her would never ask Harper to torment her like he did.
He was a ruthless, cold, selfish monster who knew nothing about love.
The right thing for her to do was to escape this city with Westin as planned and let Daran rot in this
fucking palace!
Janet covered her face with both of her hands and felt tears welling up in her eyes.
She knew what was the right thing to do.
But she was also struggling painfully internally.
Walking away with Westin.
Going after Daran.
Between these two men, these two options, which one should she choose?