The Duke's Passion

Chapter 740  The ripple effect.

Silvia let out a deep exhale as she closed the door behind her. She looked back at Cassara's chamber, shaking her head mildly. "I guess she's fine," she whispered. "Since she's speaking nonsense again, there's no need to be worried."

Cassara's ability wasn't that useful in a battle; it was considered very weak in the world of vampires. However, it was also considered a very convenient one. Cassara's ability had protected her from any powerful vampire abilities such as illusions, rewriting of memories (just like Silvia's), and the sort. Even so, just like every ability, there were risks. For Cassara, using her abilities to bring back someone's memories could be fatal. Because Cassara had to see those memories from that person's perspective, feel that person's heart and sufferings, and it would be her memories to carry. The reason Cassara rarely used it was because that was how her mother lost her mind. Cassara's mother allowed the king to use her ability and didn't pick the people she would help, losing her sense of identity in the end. Silvia stared at the shut doors for minutes, thinking about Cassara's ability, which she inherited from her deceased mother. She was relieved that Cassara seemed to have strengthened her will for not cowering in the corner just as Silvia expected before knocking on this very door. "Well… that's good to hear," she whispered, turning on her heel to walk away. "But that's strange. Why do I have to think about my own well-being? It's not like this is the first time Ru hurt me."

Silvia shook her head, tossing the last memory she had with Rufus that night at the back of her head. The pain that Rufus continuously fed her, already numbed her. Therefore, she was almost used to it… or rather, she had learned how to distract herself to forget about the longing and pain she had for that man. "It's not like—" Silvia halted in the middle of the dim hallway, clutching her chest as it throbbed painfully. It was only for a split second, but her back and forehead had already broken out in cold sweats. Her breathing turned heavy as her pupils slowly dilated, feeling her heart race inside her chest. Silvia's lips quivered as it opened, feeling another pang in her heart that froze her on the spot. "What…?" the pain once again struck her, but this time, it crawled under her skin. It was as if thousands of needles were prickling every pore of her body. Her mouth fell open, catching up to her breathing. As her knees trembled, turning soft like tofu, memories she never knew she had surged in her head like a waterfall. It wasn't just one memory, but tons of memories that she was certain had never happened before. "Ah…!" Silvia dropped to her knees, clutching her chest tighter.

 At first, the memories were hazy as they surge in her head in a flash, only showing Silvia and the rest was a blur. And then it slowed down to a memory where she and Rufus were sitting across from each other in a sitting room, not like any sitting room in the royal palace. The two of them were smiling, but it wasn't a smile that was considered romantic. It wasn't the same smile they shared in the past that would bring butterflies to her stomach. From what she had seen in her memories and felt in them, the energy between them was just… serene. She wasn't in any more pain sitting before Rufus, but rather relieved. And then Silvia was pulled into another memory, holding a faceless man's hands. There, she looked happy and content, wrapping her arms around his neck and closing her eyes when he bent over to plant a kiss on her lips. Silvia's eyes shook as she absorbed all these foreign memories of hers like a sponge. She remained silent, catching up to her breathing. As the memories continuously filled her head, she hung her head low. Minutes had passed in silence with Silvia trembling in the hallway. When she raised her head, her complexion had already turned pale. "Yul…" she whispered, lips quivering, as her heart was filled with dread. With the memories she knew were hers, but not in this timeline, and then Samael and his entourage coming in here, Silvia was quick to grasp something big happened. After all, Silvia… wasn't Stefan's wife anymore.

The last thing she remembered before waking up in her chambers in this Avolire Palace was in her own estate in the capital because she was Rufus' wife's, Florence Von Stein, lady-in-waiting. "What… is going on?" her heart thudded, realizing she went back in time to where Stefan was still alive. Silvia clutched her skirt as she stood up. Her knees were still trembling, but she forced herself to rush to the inner palace to see Yulis. Her heart pounded against her chest at every step she took, and at every breath she made.

'This can't be–' her face contorted in pain, keeping her eyes ahead as she rushed to Yulis's chambers. If she remembered correctly, Yulis was the same. He didn't remember anything, or them, or the story they had shared that eventually led them to marriage. "No…" Silvia panted for air when she reached the hallway that led to Yulis' room. She drew a deep breath, taking a pause. Her eyes glinted with determination, swallowed the frustrating tension building up in her throat.

Silvia approached Yulis's room and stopped in front of the door. Her eyes shook with worry, forgetting everything, as Yulis' well-being was what mattered to her right now. He was her husband, her beloved, and she didn't know how she would protect him with them traveling back in time.

She raised her fist but hesitated to knock on the door. Silvia shook her head and mustered every bit of energy to knock on the door. However, before she could, the door opened from the inside. Silvia held her breath, watching the person peeking from the other side of the door. Her pupils slowly dilated, and her heart melted the second she held Yulis's gaze.

"Silvia?" Yulis opened the door wider, furrowing his brows, and cocking his head to the side. "What are you doing here?"

Silvia studied the genuine wonder in Yulis's eyes, and her heart sank that second.

'He… still doesn't remember.'