Sylvia's POV:

"Well, it's a good thing Shawn took the initiative to reject us himself," Yana said in relief.

"I agree entirely. Who knows I'd be assigned to be that disgusting playboy's mate?" I sighed and dragged my feet down the stairs.

"Oh, cheer up, honey. At least, Shawn is out of our worries now. That's a good thing!" Yana comforted me.

"Yeah, but is it bad that I don't think so highly of the mate bond anymore?" I frowned.

"I understand. But maybe it was just a fluke. Perhaps the second mate lined up for you by the Moon Goddess will be an excellent man."

"You think so? Oh, I hope you're right."

I thought of the current situation I was in. Considering that I was still trapped down here, who was I to expect some kind of magical love anyway?

Yana must have sensed my emotions and decided to give me some space.

All I wanted was to seek justice for my mother. No matter what I had to face, may it be thorns and blood, I knew I had to forge on for my mother. But quite frankly, I didn't have an idea where to start.

Depression overwhelmed me for a moment. Obviously, I couldn't have one minute of silence for myself as an angry she-wolf came striding towards me.

"Bitch! I've been looking for you! Have you just been hiding and slacking off all this time?" She picked up a broom that leaned against the wall and tried to whack me with it.

I dodged to the side and made up a distraction. "Shawn's looking for you. Something's wrong with the suit, I think."

The she-wolf immediately stopped in her tracks and glared at me.

"Why didn't you say so? If this impacts the business, you're going to suffer for it!" She dropped the broom and scolded me a little more before leaving me alone. "Prince Rufus is coming to the ceremony today. Get out of here and help with the preparations! If I catch you slacking off again, I will break your legs!"

When I heard that Prince Rufus was coming today, I got an idea. Maybe I could make an appeal to him.

I hurried to the banquet hall, hoping I could get a glimpse of him. Unfortunately, the guards stopped me at the entrance, saying that slaves were not allowed to enter.

I decided to hide in the corner and wait there instead.

Not so far away, several she-wolves who were going to the ceremony were gossiping.

"I heard that Prince Rufus is a lustful and bloodthirsty tyrant. One time, he took a female slave to bed and then tortured her to death that same night!"

"Oh, I heard that story too! Apparently, he's powerful, but very heartless. Even the lycan king couldn't do anything about him."

"You know, I heard that it was the lycan king who was supposed to come today, but it just so happened that Prince Rufus was passing by this way on his way back, so he's the one attending instead."

"What a pity! I wanted to see the lycan king with my own eyes. It would have been better to have Prince Richard here. He's the gentle and approachable one, so I've heard. Why did it have to be the scary Prince Rufus?"

"Shh, keep your voice down! What if Prince Rufus showed up while you were saying that? Do you want to die?"

The she-wolves cautiously looked around with guilty expressions. When they saw me staring, they immediately frowned and cursed.

"Hey, bitch! What are you looking at?"

"Are you even allowed to be here? Get out of our sight!"

I rolled my eyes and ignored them, turning around. That kind of attitude was nothing new to me.

But their conversation had me worried. It seemed that Prince Rufus was not a good man at all. He sounded just like Shawn, who was disgusting and had no regard for other people's lives. Would such a man have the patience to listen to me about my mother's story? Obviously not.

I sighed helplessly, throwing away the idea of appealing to him.

Just when I was about to leave, several werewolves surrounded me.

"What do you want?" I cautiously asked.

I vigilantly looked at them and stepped back, but I didn't look behind me.

I felt a quick gust of wind before feeling a sharp pain on the back of my head. Right after that, my consciousness fell into darkness.