Chapter 121

[ 1,019 words ]

Arabella Toussaint:

After what happened in the kitchen, I thought I wouldn’t be able to sleep. But bless the Moon Goddess. I slept like a baby.

And maybe that was the reason Queen Theodora couldn’t make an attempt to scare me in my dreams.

After having breakfast at the cafe, I was walking back to my quarters with a file in my hands when I heard my name being called behind me. I stopped and turned around only to find Beta Bradley jogging toward me.

“Hey!” I tucked my hair back behind my ear. “Good morning.”

“Good morning,” he flashed me a grin before looking at the folder I was holding. “Arabella. Your brother is here, and he wants to meet you.”

Something squeezed painfully in my chest. Victor? He came?

“Please take me to him.” With a nod, Bradley motioned for me to follow him. I never got a chance to say goodbye to him before coming to the palace. He had been imprisoned by the king at the time.

Victor had never been a caring type, but once, when Vikki locked me inside the bathroom for three days straight without any food or drink, he was the one who used to slide his leftovers under the door.

I had just turned ten when I accidentally broke one of Vanessa’s favorite vases. I had been terrified of what would happen when Vikki found out, but before I could say anything, Victor told her he had knocked it over. For me, he took the blame.

Vikki had only sighed and asked him to be more careful next time. Later, when we were alone, he had looked at me with irritation. “Try not to be such a useless little idiot next time, okay? I’m not always going to be around to save your ass.”

It wasn’t exactly brotherly affection, but coming from Victor, even that was more than enough.

Bradley led me toward the main gates, and I followed him with the file still tucked against my chest.

“He’s waiting in the visitors’ courtyard,” he informed me when we stepped outside the royal building. “I couldn’t allow him inside the palace. I hope you understand.”

“I do.” Honestly, I hadn’t expected them to let Victor anywhere near the royal family after everything that had happened. But Lucien allowed it because I didn’t want to visit my pack.

Urgh. I didn’t want to think about the king anymore. Especially after last night.

We walked past the inner gates and toward the courtyard. It was quieter there, away from all the palace noise. Tall trees surrounded the open space, with stone benches scattered beneath them and guards positioned near the entrance.

My steps slowed when I saw the man sitting on one of the benches. Victor Toussaint.

He was looking down at his hands and didn’t notice us immediately. I stared at him as we approached him. He had changed. I could see a light beard along his jaw now, and his face looked thinner. Dark circles shadowed his eyes, making me wonder if he had been sleeping at all lately.

When Bradley cleared his throat, Victor looked up. The moment he saw me, he got to his feet so suddenly that the back of his knee almost knocked against the edge of the bench, but his eyes remained fixed on me.

“Arabella?”

Hearing my name from him after so long did something strange to me. I had spent three years wondering what had become of him, and now that he was standing only a few feet away, I couldn’t think of a single thing to say.

I simply stared back at him.

Bradley looked between the two of us before taking a step back. “I’ll leave you two alone. If you need anything, just signal one of the guards.”

I nodded. “Thanks.”

He walked away, leaving the courtyard with two guards still stationed near the entrance. I crossed over to the bench opposite Victor and sat down, placing the file beside me.

“How are you?” he asked as he settled onto the bench.

“I’m good, Victor.” He nodded once, and silence settled between us.

I looked down at my lap. I had wanted to see him, but now that we were sitting across from each other, I didn’t know where to begin. “I came to your house…” I stated.

“Yeah. Mom told me.” He swiped his tongue over his lips and looked away. Another uncomfortable silence followed.

“I’m here because I’ve been looking into Anika Volkov’s murder,” I finally told him. His eyes returned to me. “I’ve been going through the old reports and everything they found during the investigation.” I paused, watching his face. “There are things that don’t make sense to me.”

He didn’t respond. “Victor?” His fingers moved against his knee, but he still said nothing.

There was one question I had wanted to ask him ever since I started going through those files. Now that he was sitting right in front of me, I wasn’t sure why it suddenly felt so difficult.

“Tell me, Victor.” I held his gaze. “Did you really murder the Volkov girl?” Something changed in his expression, and then he smiled. It wasn’t his usual smile. There was no amusement in it.

“You know what’s funny?” he said after a moment. “Nobody ever asked me that.”

I frowned. What was he saying? Her leaned back against the bench, his eyes still on mine. “They just assumed I was the killer.”

“So, you didn’t kill her?” I asked. Victor didn’t answer. He just looked at me with that same strange smile on his face.

“Victor?” His eyes dropped to the ground, but the smile remained there.

I didn’t know what to make of his silence anymore. Despite all our differences, there was a chance Victor had spent years paying for something he hadn’t done. And I had been handed over to the Lycan King as payment for a sin he might never have committed.

The question now was, if Victor hadn’t killed her, then who had? And why wasn’t he telling me the truth?

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