Chapter 80: Chapter 80

DAHLIA:

My feet had no strength in them, but I needed to get away. I forced myself to continue walking despite the torrents of tears that came rushing from my eyes.

When I reached the bedroom, I slammed the door shut. I went in front of the mirror and brought down the neckline of my dress even lower.

As expected, the silver wolf head that had been my mark was not there anymore…

I slumped at the floor and wailed even louder.

I wanted to believe his words that not everything was a lie… I wanted to believe that at least his love for me or the fact that we were fated mates was something he had not concocted. Here I was, however, confronted with the truth, and it hurts like hell!

We weren’t even mates to begin with… There’s no use staying here then…

I didn’t think twice. I fetched a small suitcase from the dressing room and started packing some essential items and clothes.

In about fifteen minutes, I was set. I dried my face and wounded up my hair in a tight bun.

Before I can even finish, there was a knock in the door, and Lina came in.

“Countess, your husband -” Seeing me in a dress had taken the words out of her mouth. “Lady Dahlia, are you going somewhere?”

“Yes,” I said, not quite smiling. I was still busy setting my messy hair up with a metal pin. “I need to stay in the university dormitory for a while. I didn’t expect that I’d have so many things to prepare and study for…”

Lina’s face softened. “Then, shall I prepare my things and your carriage?”

“It’s alright, Lina. You can stay here.”

“I can, my lady, but I don’t want to,” she said, taking over the preparation of my hair and yanking my bun even tighter as if she was protesting at my suggestion.

Lina had been my attendant since I was young… She must have sensed that something wasn’t quite right.

“Alright,” I sighed, giving up, “I’ll wait for you. Let’s leave in an hour.”

“Oh, right… The count was asking me to check up on you and see if you were feeling alright. What shall I tell him?”

“Get your things ready first. Inform him of our departure just before we leave.”

“Then, he doesn’t know of it yet,” Lina’s face wore a surprised look.

“He doesn’t, but he knows,” I whispered, “He knows I would have to leave… for my study.”

This may have been what Tristan, the Shadow wolf, had hoped to see all along – to see me utterly crushed, utterly broken.

However, I refused to give him that… I will walk away from here with my dignity still intact, even if my heart wasn’t…

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TRISTAN:

Dahlia - no matter how much I clung to her, she removed my hand and ran away from me…

I knew it right then and there… She had decided. She would not take me back.

Darn it, wasn’t this what I had seen in the end all along?! This was the ending I hoped for, wasn’t it?

Except that I had thought she will be the one clinging tightly onto me as I leave…

As quickly as I could, I removed the buttons of the shirt Dahlia had made me wear before the prince. It took quite a while for me to remove every article of clothing that was getting on my way.

As soon as the undershirt came off, I saw it… My silver wolf mark was still there…

Why then did Dahlly’s mate mark disappear before my very eyes?

‘Because that mark was tampered with magic… It wasn’t real. It was an illusion,’ Albus gravely uttered inside our heads.

An illusion? Then how about this wretched feeling in my chest? The feeling that I will never survive without Dahlia by my side… The feeling that I am dying just because she walked out away from me and may never come back forever… Are all of these mere illusions too?

‘No… We really did love her. We still do, and she had loved us, which was why the mark on our body did not go away…’ Albus replied to my thoughts once more.

My Dahlia… She loved me… She loved me with all her heart…

I was a fool to have thought that anything good could come out of this! I thought I still had time to change her mind about me before she discovers who I am, but sadly I didn’t.

It’s all over now. She and I had crumbled apart…

“Wasn’t this a good thing, Tristan?”

I didn’t need to look behind me to know who this person was. I could recognize her with just the timbre of her voice.

“Samalah, how did you get here?... You didn’t even bother to contact me after last night.”

“I was looking for a chance to talk to you alone, but you were always with company.”

She went closer to me and placed a hand on my shoulder.

“I saw that prince just exit from here… Is everything alright?”

“Yes,” I said, drying my eyes at the back of my arms, “all is well. As predicted, the prince suspected my involvement, but I managed to divert his attention away.”

“How about Lady Hurst? Is everything alright with her? Did she just storm away from here?”

“Everything’s fine…”

She tilted my face in her hand. “You don’t look fine.”

“Well, what do you expect? I almost got killed yesterday,” I said I an icy tone.

“I know. I’m sorry… I should have given you a warning, but I too was taken aback. It seemed like there was a spy in our midst.”

“A spy… that’s an understatement,” I replied dryly.

I went towards the salon where bottles of wine and glasses were being kept. I could really use a drink or two to keep my head straight.

‘What are you doing? Why don’t you go after our mate?’ It was Arthur who spoke angrily at me just now.

‘Welcome back, Arthur,’ I said with disdain in our shared consciousness. ‘After passing out and showing yourself in front of Dahlia, you’ve finally come back…’

‘Coward! Send Samalah away, and face our mate. She needs to hear the truth from you!’

I ignored my wolf and proceeded to fix myself and Samalah a drink.

“I think somebody who intimately knew the details of our plan really did set us up,” I told Samalah as I handed her the liquor I fixed.

“Who would do that,” Samalah snorted.

I sat across her. If she was really there yesterday, why wasn’t there a single scratch in her body?

“I’m not sure… I was hoping you have some ideas.”

Samalah tapped her wine glass violently back on the table. “Are you suspecting me, of all people?”

“Why not? I didn’t see you in there yesterday. All I heard was a howl.”

“Well, how about that so-called wife of yours? Didn’t you know she had been acting suspicious all along?”

“What do you mean?”

“I placed a spy on her… Yesterday, she went out with the prince and went to Lagros, and last night, her father came to meet her… Doesn’t that look weird? Isn’t it time to finally silence her?”

I looked at the wicked glare in Samalah’s eyes. She cannot find out the truth that Dahlly knows… I must stay quiet at all cost…