Aurora's Gambit: Defying Destiny

Chapter 13

Play by His Rules

Aurora's POV

My breath hitched as I stared at the statue before me.

A white cat, its massive marble form standing tall at the entrance of Isla Del Valhalla. The moonlight bathed it in an ethereal glow, making the carved fur appear almost lifelike. But what truly sent a shiver down my spine were its eyes.

One sapphire blue, deep as the ocean. The other golden amber, gleaming like molten gold.

I knew those eyes.

Hindi ako pwedeng magkamali. Kilalang-kilala ko ang mga matang 'yan, and I knew for sure that I have seen those exact eyes.

Not just here. Not in this world. But in another life.

A white cat with those same mismatched eyes was the last thing I saw before I died. It had the same features as the cat that I saved.

My chest tightened, and an unfamiliar unease settled in my gut. This wasn't just some random statue, for sure. I'm sure of it. It meant something. And by something, I know that this cat had something to do with my existence in this novel.

Hinarap ko ang lalaking kasama ko. Tumigil din siya sa harap ng pigura kasabay ng pagtigil ko. Tinitigan niya ang pigura ng pusa gamit ang isang ekspresyon na hindi ko matukoy. 

"This cat..." My voice was barely a whisper, but I can't force myself to ask this question to him. "Why does it feel like I've seen it before?" Because if I do, he might ask questions that I don't have the answer to. Kaya tinanong ko na lang siya ng ibang katanungan. "What does this cat resemble?" I asked.

Lucian's silver-white hair shifted slightly as he turned toward me, his cold gray eyes unreadable.

There was a flicker of something in his gaze. It was something distant, like a memory buried too deep to surface.

"...It was my pet," he finally said, his voice calm, almost detached. Na para bang ayaw niyang pag-usapan ang bagay na ito.

I waited for him to say more. To explain why it was immortalized in stone at the entrance of his hidden island. But he didn't. Wala na siyang ibang sinabi.

That was all he gave me.

Just a short, empty answer.

Nothing about why the cat was here. Nothing about why the same cat I saved in my past life seemed to be staring back at me now. Not that he knew the answer anyway because, in the first place, he does not know that I am not the person he perceives to be.

My fingers curled into fists. He was hiding something—something about the truth about this cat. 

And judging by the way he had shut down the conversation so quickly, it wasn't something he planned on telling me anytime soon.

But that was fine.

I'd get my answers eventually.

Lucian turned toward the grand mansion ahead, his movements fluid and effortless, like he belonged here like he owned the very air we were breathing.

"Come," he ordered, barely glancing at me. "We have things to discuss."

I hesitated, looking back at the cat statue one last time before following him.

Inilibot ko ang paningin ko sa mansyon nang makapasok. Pinasadahan ko ng tingin ang bawat sulok.

The interior of the mansion was just as breathtaking as the island itself.