Fated To The Cursed Lycan Prince

Crystal’s POV:

The music gradually grew more and more intense. Rufus and I danced rhythmically, and our steps were perfectly in sync. When the dance came to an end, everyone applauded heartily.

I gasped for breath in the end, with a thin layer of sweat on my forehead.

Rufus still held my hand. We stayed in the final pose for a while. His warm palm pressed against my back, and his deep eyes looked into mine. He praised softly, “You win this time. You’re a professional dancer. Your teacher must’ve been excellent.”

Memories of me dancing with Rufus flashed in my mind. Rufus was indeed an excellent teacher back then. He had taught me how to fight and how to dance.

Dancing required me to move in time with the music. However, I had two left feet, so I had always been out of sync. Rufus corrected me tirelessly, so much so that I almost went crazy.

Fortunately, Rufus never became an actual teacher, or it would’ve been very difficult for his students to graduate. “Are you smiling?” Rufus suddenly asked, narrowing his eyes at me.

Out of habit, I touched my face to make sure my mask was still on and sighed in relief. Then I asked Rufus curiously, “How’d you know I was smiling?”

If he didn’t tell me, even I wouldn’t have noticed that I was smiling.

“Because your eyes can talk,” Rufus answered simply.

My heart skipped a beat, and my cheeks burned with embarrassment. “Was that a compliment?”

“Yes,” Rufus admitted frankly.

I felt a mix of embarrassment and surprise. Wasn’t I supposed to be at odds with this man? Although we pretended to be on good terms on the surface, we had been competing with each other secretly.

I didn’t expect him to suddenly compliment me. Although he had praised me in front of everyone at the military parade, I knew that it was part of his ploy to make things difficult for me. Now, however, I could tell that he was being sincere.

Rufus had become more difficult to deal with ever since he lost his memory, so I tried my best to be obedient and didn’t contradict him.

And I could tell that he was in a good mood now, so I relaxed my vigilance somewhat.

“Your mind is elsewhere again,” he commented. Rufus tightened his grip on my waist and helped me stand up straight. The music came to an end, and we bowed to the crowd.

While our heads were lowered, I stole a glance at him again. I had a lot of doubts and wanted to say something, but I didn’t know where to start for a moment.

“Your mask tonight looks much better than the previous one,” Rufus added for good measure.

My heart skipped a beat again. What was going on? Rufus was very different today. His expression was gentler than usual and didn’t look so cold.

I stared at him blankly, as if my mind had stopped working. Rufus was so handsome that indeed, my mind went blank for a moment. Even though I had known him for so long, I was still captivated by his gorgeous features.

Rufus smiled, and there was a twinkle in his eye. “You must be very beautiful when you smile.”

My face was even hotter. When I was about to respond, Rufus’ hand reached out to take off my mask.

I immediately came to my senses.

Sure enough, his sweet words were nothing but a honey trap. He was only trying to pave the way to reveal my face.

I was so scared that I pushed Rufus away and took a big step back.