Sylvia's POV:
It was the first time I heard Warren say so much, and he looked serious.Every word he said made me
angry but also sobered me up.I had to admit that every word he said was right.I then realized I was
being too selfish.
It would be such a grand ball.
Richard would attend it with Lucy, who was noble.
If Rufus brought a slave with him, he would only be laughed at by everyone.
Maybe the aloof and arrogant Rufus didn't care about what other people thought.
But I was different.I didn't want to become his weakness.I didn't want him to become a laughingstock
because of me.
It was enough for me to bear such malicious gossip alone.I stayed awake all night.
The heavy thoughts made me toss and turn on the bed.
As soon as the sun rose, I got up.I picked up the quilt that Flora had kicked on the floor, tucked her in,
and walked out of the room quietly.
Yana yawned and complained, "I sang lullabies for you the whole night.Why couldn't you fall asleep?"
I held the horizontal bar for a while, couldn't bear to tell her the truth.
Actually, since Yana was not really good at singing, I automatically blocked her voice as soon as she
began to sing.
"You're not answering me," Yana said aggrievedly.
I coughed and pretended to be very distressed.
"Maybe I can fall asleep next time if you try bel canto."
"Then I'll give you a bel canto right now."
On a whim, Yana cleared her throat and sang with great momentum.
Her singing was so unpleasant to hear but she sang bravely nonetheless, and it made me feel inspired.
Inexplicably, my passion was ignited.I got so excited that I did ten pull-ups in one breath.
Yana was so confident in showing herself.
What on earth was I worried about? I should just be myself.
This passion supported me through the whole morning and helped me finish my classes well.
It made Flora look at me with admiration.
But Harry had been competing with me all the time.
So during the physical training, he carried more weights and ran twenty more laps.
As a result, he got so tired that he stuck out his tongue and panted like a dog for a long time.
"Why do you have to make things difficult for yourself?" Flora asked, covering her eyes with her hand
like Harry was really an eyesore.
The one-sided competition caused Harry to strain his muscles.
He was not able to attend our afternoon classes.
When we went to the males' dormitory building to see him, he was still lying on the bed, groaning.
He didn't seem as fierce as usual.Flora brought him some food.
But while eating, he kept on complaining that it was not delicious.
Flora got so angry that she directly hit his head.Flora was bickering with Harry during our entire visit.
Then suddenly, she slapped her forehead and said, "The ball will already be this evening.You should
skip our afternoon classes and get yourself ready, right? You should have asked for a leave."
I touched my clothes, smiled at her, and replied vaguely, "You can go to class first."
"Okay.Have a good time tonight then."
Flora didn't notice that I was in a low mood.She blinked her eyes, gave me a bright smile, and left.
After she left, I-slowly walked back to our room and took out the gift box from the bedside table.
I took out the dress from the box and touched the fine lines on the fabric, forcing myself to suppress the
reluctance in my heart.
Then I put the dress back, wrote a note of refusal using my leg injury as an excuse, and put it on the
box.
If Rufus knew that I backed out at the last moment, he would be disappointed.
Maybe he would never want to see me again.
A self-deprecating smile crept across my face.I took one last look at the neatly placed gift box and left
the dormitory.
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