Conquering His Cold Heart

303 Hazy

“No! I really don’t remember how I ended up there in the dungeon!” Ruby raised her voice a little when Regulus made slanderous allegations on her. “And I definitely did not have any ulterior motive towards alpha Romulus.”

Regulus folded his arms and took a step closer to Ruby. Although his facial expression didn’t look that intimidating, his posture told a different story. “Then tell me why you were there in the dungeon if you didn’t have any ulterior motive?”

Ruby knitted her brows together and looked down at the floor. The frown line in between her brows kept on getting deeper and deeper as she tried her best to remember how she actually ended up in the dungeon.

She kept on getting more nervous as she could feel Regulus’ glare on her. ‘I have to remember… Or else, they will all think that I am the one who killed all those people…’

Ruby closed her eyes and tried to think back to the last memory she had before finding herself on the cold floor of the dungeon, surrounded by all the people who were mourning the death of their alpha and beta.

‘Please God, give me the opportunity to defend myself…’ Ruby nervously clasped her hands together and kept on repeating in her head as she scavenged through her memory to try and find the last thing she recalled before waking up from her unconscious state.

Regulus waited for a while for Ruby to speak up. However, the longer she kept her eyes closed, the more restless he was getting. “If you don’t have anything to say, then I will lock you in the dungeon.”

Ruby abruptly opened her eyes and exclaimed, “No! Please! I am trying to rec–”

“Maybe then you will recall what actually happened.” Regulus took one more step towards Ruby and glared down at her. “I will gladly help you to jog your memory, Miss Ruby,” he further grumbled with the intention to actually act out on the threat he had just made.

.....

“No, wait! Ple–” Ruby shuddered as goosebumps ran throughout her body. “I’m trying…” she whispered as she suddenly felt the whole room spinning uncontrollably.

Regulus quickly grabbed Ruby by her waist when he sensed that she was losing her balance and was about to hit the floor hard.

He looked down at Ruby’s innocent face as she happened to rest her head on his chest. For a second, he even felt pity for the young lady who he believed was most likely telling the truth.

‘Should I just let her be for now? I can keep her under house arrest and question her again,’ he wondered to himself when suddenly, he saw Ruby opening her eyes in a stunned manner.

Ruby abruptly pulled herself up on her feet and looked at Regulus with that same confused expression on her face. “I just recalled something,” she mumbled while looking as though she herself was still trying to figure out if what she saw was real.

“What is it?” Regulus folded his arms again and inquired.

Ruby furrowed her brows and darted her eyes aimlessly as she answered, “I was sitting in my guest room and I was lost in my own world when I suddenly heard a knock on the door. I thought that it was a maid but…” She heaved a deep breath and looked back at Regulus.

“But?” Regulus asked as a slight frown line appeared in between his brows.

Ruby cleared her throat and then continued to tell what had actually happened before she had that gap in her memory. “But it was the beta who was at the door.”

“What did he want with you?” Regulus asked with keen interest.

“I don’t think that he wanted anything from me. He just brought tea!” Ruby clutched the sides of her gown with both of her hands as she tried to make sense of the actual purpose of Slayer’s visit to her room.

She again went back to darting her eyes around aimlessly and kept on speaking, “I thought it was unusual for him to personally bring tea for me. But he said that he bought some tea leaves from a new seller and that he wanted me to taste it. He was saying he wanted to know if that tea was good enough to be given to the alpha.”

“Are you an expert on tea?”

“Excuse me?” Ruby was caught off guard by the question from Regulus.

Regulus narrowed his glare at Ruby and repeated his question for her. “I asked if you are an expert on tea.”

“Erm… No, I am not,” she replied, still confused if there was such thing as a tea expert.

Regulus nodded his head and then gestured for Ruby to keep on speaking.

“Umm… As I was saying…” Ruby took a deep breath and tried to pick up her pace from earlier. “Lord Slayer wanted to know if that tea was good enough to be given to Lord Romulus. I clearly remember inhaling the sweet aroma of that tea and then taking a few sips from the tea cup…”

The frown lines on Regulus’ forehead disappeared

Ruby closed her eyes and mumbled while massaging her forehead with the tips of her fingers, “And after that… I remember my sight and my hearing going hazy. And the next thing I know… I woke up in that dungeon after hearing all the crying and wailing.”

Ruby’s eyes welled with tears when she recalled those devastating cries from the werewolves who had gathered around the dead bodies of their alpha and the others.

“Alpha Romulus and Beta Slayer had already lost their lives by the time I regained my consciousness.” Ruby wiped her eyes and sniffled.

“So, you didn’t see or hear anything as they got slaughtered like that?” Regulus asked as the sliver of hope vanished from his eyes.

“Then explain to me why exactly you were there in the dungeon? Did someone take you there? Did you follow someone? How did you end up in there?” Regulus turned on his heels and looked Ruby straight into her soul.

“I–” Ruby sighed in frustration and looked down at the floor. She had been trying to remember how she ended up there in the dungeon since yesterday. But there seemed to be a gap in her memory.

She gulped restlessly and then softly mumbled, “I don’t know. I don’t remember going there to the dungeon at all.”

“Hmm…” Regulus narrowed his eyes with suspicion once more. “That’s exactly what a person with ulterior motive would say… ‘I don’t know’…”