Made a Fool

*Chapter 92*

He smiled. "We finally met, my ex-fiancée."

"You are Prince Atticus..." I slowly stepped back as waves of betrayal washed my whole being as I came to face the man who was holding his shield-shaped mask and revealed his face finally. "Frederick..."

Indeed. I was facing Frederick or might as well, His Highness, Prince Atticus.

His furtive smile grew wider as he nodded. "Yes, my goddess. It is me," he paused and bowed before me. "I am Atticus Frederick de Carteret, the Prince of Redwinter. I am the first man who was engaged to you."

"No..." I chuckled, not wanting to believe his words. But I knew that the person I was facing right now was the person I had been looking for for a very long time. "You are not Frederick..." I shook my head and immediately turned my back to leave.

"Novalie!" I heard Frederick's voice through the hallway as I ran away from the banquet hall.

"Do not call me by my name! You are not Frederick!" I shouted angrily as I kicked off my heel shoes and transformed into my wolf form.

"Damn it! Block her way!"

I shivered when I heard a loud bark when I was running through the hallway. I turned my head as my eyes widened to see a white elephantine wolf running in my direction.

Damn it! He was trying to follow me!

I kicked the royal guards and royal knights who dared to block my way before I managed to get outside and went to the Luna Queen's garden. I used my powerful paws so I could go to the Evershire Forest to escape from the royal palace.

I trembled in fear when I heard a loud warning growl coming from Frederick—I mean from Prince Atticus. I hastily dashed away and was annoyed when he kept following me.

I barked back and continued running away but in a blink of an eye, his white wolf was already in front of me. My wolf whimpered in pain when he flipped us around and bit the back of my neck.

To escape from his grasp, I transformed back to my human form and immediately took out the dagger from my thigh holster. But before I could spin around, I gasped when I was tackled to the ground. My hands were behind me while he was sitting on top of me.

"On what way of my warning that you need to halt and you are not listening to me, Novalie?!" he asked angrily.

"Get off me!" I wriggled underneath him. "You kept making me a fool, Prince Atticus! I hate you!" I couldn't help uttering those words as I felt my heart was shattering to pieces.

This was not the first time he made me a fool.

I know now why I couldn't find more information about Frederick. He was Prince Atticus after all!

"Listen to me, Novalie. Please... Allow me to explain why I..." I did not allow him to explain and we exchanged our positions. I was on top of him while the blade of my dagger was almost pointed at him if he wasn't blocking it.

"How many times..." My voice croaked as I looked at him with abomination written in my eyes. "How many times are you going to make me a fool, Prince Atticus?!" I shouted angrily.

He expressed a hurtful expression. "I am still your Frederick, my goddess... Do not call me that. I am still the same person you know..."

My hands were fidgeting as I shivered when his touch was affecting me. His wolf was trying to communicate with us and I immediately got off from him and distanced myself from him.

I scoffed at the words he said. "Frederick? The same person?" I said bitterly. "You pretended to be someone so you can play with my feelings again." I felt my eyes getting misty as Prince Atticus stood up, feeling guilty right now.

"I only did it because I know you do not want me to be with you... I pretended to be a slave so I can grab your attention," he explained.

Blinded by anger, I moved swiftly which Prince Atticus did not expect my punch that hit his face. He stumbled to the ground while I felt tears keep falling. I harshly wiped those angry tears as I looked at him with pure hatred in my eyes.

Prince Atticus tried to stand up, having a dejected expression. "My goddess, please..."

My heart ached when I heard that endearment I told him to call me. "Don't ever address me that..." I said through gritted teeth. "After you ran away... I looked for you and you are only hiding your true appearance because what? Are you frightened that I would catch you which is why you have been feeding me wrongful information? You knew that I would look and investigate you?"

Now, I recalled something important that came from Reginald.

*"He was born a liar, Novalie. He had been lying to you ever since he arrived in your life."*

*"He is not the slave and knight you ever thought, dear ex-wife. I cannot believe that you trust someone like him. Ha! You have been fooled! He has been lying to you the whole time!"*

That was why Prince Atticus' touch was somewhat familiar. It was because he was Frederick all along. He was the darling I had been looking for!

"Novalie..." Prince Atticus tried to step forward but I halted him when I summoned my hand.

*"What are you? A charming prince or a knight in shining armor this time, Your Highness?"*

"Do not take another step," I warned. "Now, I know the reason why you did not want to let Reginald speak at that time. He knew that Frederick and Prince Atticus are the same person after all," I said with pure resentment in my tone.

He looked guilty and didn't dare to explain. He remained silent.

"Don't ever follow me again!" I said one more time before I turned to leave.

"But, Novalie..."

"Take another step and I swear to the Moon Goddess I will reject you right away, Your Highness!" My voice was getting louder. I could feel like the veins on my neck were ready to burst out because of the anger I felt at this moment.

When I looked at Prince Atticus, his hands were already clenching. His face even darkened and it looked like he was unhappy at the words I uttered. But he did not say anything and allowed me to leave in peace.

I even got to meet his older brothers except for Alpha King Azarius when I was in the Luna Queen's garden. I remained a stoic expression, getting annoyed with them.

"How is it then?" Alucard asked with a smile.

I couldn't help myself but punch him. I even did the same thing to Alistair and Alejandro, they already expected my attack but they allowed themselves to be hit by my clenched hand.

"You three... You knew all along that I was already with Prince Atticus all along!" I said, couldn't help to express how annoyed and humiliated I was right now.

They looked behind me and did not mind that they had swollen cheeks right now. I could tell that Prince Atticus was already behind me based on the scent I smelled not so far away. I ignored it and glared at them.

Alistair spoke to explain. "You know, sister-in-law, we are also surprised when Atticus pretended to be a slave. What we all know before was that Atticus was on his expedition just like he always did before."

I scoffed bitterly. "Do you expect me to believe you? All of you... You kept toying with me!" I raised my tone. Their smiles gradually vanished when they saw that it broke me. "You know your brother hurt me back then! And now, you are allowing him to do this to me again and again?! I should not have been acquainted with the members of the royal lycan family then!"

"My goddess, it is not their fault. I asked a favor from my brothers to keep everything a secret until I reveal everything to you," Prince Atticus said.

I closed my eyes as I felt my heart ache more if I kept hearing the way he was addressing me right now. It was making me feel betrayed each second I would stay here in this place.

I suddenly felt suffocated. I wanted to be buried six feet below the ground feeling how I was treated as a fool. All this time, they knew that Frederick was Prince Atticus.

I hated this... I hated being played again.

"I said do not even dare to address me like that," I said and looked at him with a frigid gaze.

He expressed a painful one. "Novalie..." He took another step.

"You are not the Frederick I knew so halt from addressing me like that acting like my slave and knight, Your Highness!" I was so close to killing him.

All the things he did when I was engaged to him waved to my mind. How I was humiliated in the noble faction because of making me a stupid bride-to-be to the fifth lycan prince... It was his fault in the first place why I lost my confidence!

Prince Atticus was about to say something but then, someone interrupted. "You may take your leave, for now, Lady Novalie."

I turned to see Alpha King Azarius who looked earnest right now. I clenched my hands because I knew that the knight I was with was his youngest brother.

"You also made me a fool, Your Majesty..." I expressed how hurt I was. I felt betrayed. "I have a feeling even Alpha Denzil and my father knew that Prince Atticus was the lost knight I have been looking for," I said as my lips were quivering.

His forest green eyes landed on me as his lips curled up into a cold smile. "I won in our bet. I am expecting you to work with Atticus from now on. You managed to get along with him from before so..." he paused, indicating that he did not need to explain how he won the bet.

"Brother, now is not the time to discuss that!" Prince Atticus said as he approached me and held me on my shoulders. "Novalie..."

I jerked him away from me and raised my hand to slap Prince Atticus as tears cascaded down my cheeks. "You should not have become my mate!" I pushed him away. "I, Novalie Argerich, am rejecting you, Atticus Frederick de Carteret as my mate!"

I heard gasps from people around me. Even Prince Atticus gasped and knelt on the ground, clutching his chest. "Damn it, Novalie! No!" he said in a painful tone.

I knelt on the ground while I was feeling the pain of breaking the mate bond and looked at him with resentment. "You like to play with my feelings, right? Then, you deserve to receive agonizing pain from me!"