Conquering His Cold Heart

325 Unintentional Revelation – II

For a second there, Ruby was forced to rethink everything after hearing Lorenzo’s question – Was someone trying to frame her?

With a deep frown on her forehead and her dilated pupils, her mind wandered around for a while in order to try and figure out the answer to that question.

However, no matter how much she thought about it, she didn’t see why anyone would think that framing someone like her would work in the first place.

‘Thinking logically, how on earth would I be able to finish off five strong men on my own? On top of that, I am a woman. No one would believe that I would be able to kill those men, not even in their drunken state!’

She laughed in her head at that absurd idea and then thought to herself, ‘No, I wasn’t being framed. I was there just by accident. And if anything…’ Her eyes and her expression darkened when she further thought, ‘If anything, I was saved from something very bad that was about to happen to me. I was lucky that they were murdered.’

“Miss Ruby?”

Ruby was startled back to reality when she heard Lorenzo’s voice.

“You don’t know who brought you here to the manor?” Lorenzo pulled his brows together and asked as he recalled something, “Were you, by any chance, kidnapped from the castle? One day you were there and then the next, I remember everyone looking around the castle and the capital for you. His Majesty was greatly saddened after you suddenly disappeared.”

Ruby felt her heart sinking when Lorenzo brought Everard up in the conversation. That was the last thing she wanted to happen.

.....

And before she was engulfed by the guilt for running away from the castle after hearing that Everard was indeed sad after her disappearance, she decided to forget that she ever heard Lorenzo mentioning that.

She forcefully chuckled and then said to the confused Lorenzo, “Oh, no. I wasn’t kidnapped.”

“You were not?” Lorenzo raised his brows in disbelief. He even wondered if Ruby was trying to protect someone by lying right now.

“No,” she replied firmly, and with a stern expression on her face.

And since Ruby had already told almost everything to Lorenzo, she didn’t think that hiding this one thing was now necessary.

Thus, she clarified, her eyes full of guilt because of her past decision, “I don’t know about that framing part but… nobody dragged me here to the manor against my will. I was already living here in the guest room. I was thinking of shifting to a place that I had found for myself but…”

She scoffed at her own bad luck and mumbled melancholically, “But before I could do that, I somehow ended up being the main suspect for a few days.”

“Suspect for a few days?” Lorenzo exclaimed, afraid that Ruby also had to go through a similar kind of situation as him, or worse than that. “This new lord didn’t threaten you too much, did he?” he asked again.

Ruby simply shrugged and said while smiling, “It’s been a few days since the first time I was interrogated. And I have already forgotten most of the things. I’m not someone who holds grudges for simple misunderstandings.”

“But it’s not a simple misunderstanding!” Lorenzo tried to make Ruby understand the depth of the situation, not realizing that she was saying that just because she didn’t want to keep on talking about herself.

“A misunderstanding in this case might make you the main culprit and make you bear all the consequences. You know what I am trying to say right?” He looked at Ruby with raised brows.

Ruby darted her eyes around for a while as if she was trying to come up with a fitting reply. And after a while, she looked at Lorenzo and said, “After staying in the vicinity of the new Lord for a few days, I have come to the conclusion that he is a man who doesn’t trust people that easily. That’s just how he is.”

She probingly looked at Lorenzo and asked, “He also mistook you for the culprit, didn’t he? That’s why you are here.”

Lorenzo chuckled and looked down. He clicked his tongue at the bad reputation that he had earned and mumbled, “So, everyone here already knows about me, huh?”

Ruby pointed her thumb toward the door and replied, “I heard it from Cillian earlier. That’s why he attacked you, didn’t he?”

“Ah! Right.” Lorenzo scoffed after recalling that wild boy and shook his head. “I have never seen anyone as mad at the death of the alpha as him.” He looked up at Ruby again. And since he also noticed that she was somehow acquainted with the boy, he asked her, “Who is he anyway? I don’t think I ever saw him here before.”

Ruby wrinkled her nose a little and answered what she knew, “I don’t think he is mad because he lost the alpha. In fact, he isn’t a part of this clan… or any clan.”

Lorenzo frowned and asked with a hint of anger evident on his face, “Then why was he attacking me like that?”

“The beta was also killed, if you’re not aware yet.” Ruby sighed upon recalling how he was probably the one who might have drugged her. But she pushed that thought aside for now and said, “I heard from him that the beta saved him and gave a purpose to his life. I believe he saw the beta as the father figure. But after a short time, he lost his savior. I bet he is in anguish.”

“Hmm…” Lorenzo grunted and slowly nodded his head. He even felt a little bad after knowing that boy’s situation. “He lost the one who gave meaning to his life, huh... That should drive anyone mad.”

Ruby took the chance to speak for Cillian and asked Lorenzo to forgive the boy for his childish behavior. “I hope you can forget what he did to you tonight. In the fit of his desire for revenge, he did what he thought was right. But I assure you that he is not someone who deserves your hatred. If you talk to him when he is calm, I am sure he will listen to you.”

“I will take your advice and talk to him then,” Lorenzo reassured her. He also didn’t want a boy constantly coming after his life. Thus, he thought that it would be better to clarify things properly.

“By the way,” Ruby finally asked her real question again, “How come they assumed you were somehow linked with the murder? Did something happen to you that led them to believe that?”

Lorenzo had managed to dodge that question earlier. However, he couldn’t keep on doing that since he now knew that Ruby was also living here in the guest quarter. They were bound to cross paths with each other again.

Thus, he replied with as much sincerity as he could, “Umm… I somehow got to work for the late alpha recently. But I ruined the task that he had assigned to me. And the alpha was not someone who could easily excuse small fries like us. So, I was severely punished even though my mistake wasn’t that big.”

He pointed at the bruises on his face and said, “These were not given by Lord Regulus. I got it from the punishment that I got from the late alpha.”

Ruby felt bitter when she saw that dejected expression on Lorenzo’s face.

Lorenzo further explained, “And after feeling the great sorrow in my heart after the passing of the alpha, I thought of escaping the Kingdom on a whim. I even escaped. But somehow, I was found and brought back. I was suspected just because I wanted to get away from the shadow of the late alpha.”