Conquering His Cold Heart

Hamilton wasn’t done mocking Everard though. He pinched his nose with his glove-covered fingers and made another derogatory comment, “Now, if you would back off a little, I would finally be able to breathe.”

“What did you just say?” Everard snarled at Hamilton in anger. He was ready to pick a fight with that man who behaved as if he was the King of the world and he was ready to show that man his place.

Thankfully, Alexander arrived at the spot right in time and asked, “Everard, do you know them?”

Everard turned his head to look at his friend and replied, “I know the lady. And I was trying to get to know the gentleman with a foul mouth here.”

Ruby felt happy when Everard acknowledged to that gentleman that he knew her. But she was worried about the growing tension between Everard and the kind man who had brought her there.

“Oh!” Alexander gave a polite smile to the lady thinking that she was a distant relative of his best friend. He thought they were related because Everard was being hostile towards that gentleman who probably came along with her.

So as to calm down the tension between the two gentlemen, he held out his hand towards Hamilton and introduced himself politely, “I am Everard’s best friend, Alexander. It’s nice to meet you.”

Hamilton had been staring at Alexander ever since he arrived there. He shook Alexander’s hand. But rather than introducing himself first, he asked, “I’m sorry if this is out of my line or out of the context but... are you related to Queen Anastasia?”

.....

All three – Alexander, Everard, and Ruby, were surprised to hear that man mention Anastasia’s name.

Hamilton finally smiled and said to Alexander in a much politer tone, “Considering how surprised you are, I assume that you are her... brother?”

Alexander raised his brows in surprise and gave a nod. “Yes, I am her bother. And you-”

“You are Her Majesty’s brother?” Ruby couldn’t contain her joy after hearing Anastasia’s name and she happened to exclaim at the wrong time.

It was now the three gentlemen’s turn to be shocked.

“Wait!” Hamilton glanced at Ruby and asked, ‘You know the Queen? Are you from Sorvando?”

“Wait a minute!” Everard furrowed his brows and asked Hamilton before Ruby got the chance to speak, “You’re from Sorvando as well? How do you know Anna?” He then took a quick glance of Ruby and asked, “And why are you asking where she is from just now? Don’t you two already know each other?”

Every one of them was utterly shocked and confused when the threads of coincidences got all tangled up.

Hamilton took a deep breath in and then turned to look at Ruby. He pointed at her and asked, “You first. How do you know the Queen? Who are you? Where are you from?”

Ruby’s heart rate began to escalate from the fear that she was going to be found out.

From the sound of it, it looked like the man she had traveled with for the whole day was from Sorvando. And the fact that he was always covering his eyes with the sunglasses, and the way he was covering almost every inch of his body with clothes made so much sense to her now.

‘He’s a vampire, isn’t he?’ she asked the question to herself. It was the question to which she already had an answer.

Now that she thought back to how she ended up traveling with a vampire, she was terrified to her core. ‘How could I not suspect a thing? Why did I have to end up in a vampire’s carriage?’

“Why aren’t you speaking?” Hamilton asked when he heard Ruby’s heart hammering like crazy.

Ruby was starting to sweat even on that chilly night. She looked at the vampire and gulped.

‘I don’t want to be dragged away after finally finding the man who turned me into a werewolf. I didn’t run away from Sorvando, run around almost every street in Xanmar, and travel all the way here just to be taken back to that hellhole again.’

She took a deep breath in and looked at Hamilton while displaying false confidence. Then she spun up a lie to prevent being dragged back to Sorvando, “I got a chance to meet with Queen Anastasia when she was still a Princess. I’m from...” She didn’t know which Kingdom Anastasia was originally from. So she simply said, “I’m from her Kingdom, not from Sorv... something.”

“Oh, you’re also from Orsenia!” Alexander was happy to find someone who was from his Kingdom.

Ruby smiled and instantly agreed. “Yes. Orsenia.” She then bowed to Alexander thinking that he was either a Prince or a King if he was the Queen’s brother.

Hamilton felt as though she was not being truthful. So he was about to probe further.

However, Everard questioned him again. “And may I know who you are? And how do you know Anna?”

Hamilton was agitated when Everard kept on calling the Queen by her nickname rather than addressing her by her full title. It was clear that he wasn’t the Queen’s brother or cousin.

“Anna? Are you someone close to her?” Hamilton asked rather bitterly.

“I am her friend.” Everard narrowed his eyes at Hamilton and stressed, “A good friend.”

“Mhmm...” Hamilton also narrowed his blood-red eyes at Everard. But his sunglasses were hiding his angered expression.

“And I am her close relative now. But I still address her properly,” he asserted because he didn’t like Everard for some reason. He was repulsed by his very presence. And he kept on wanting to pick a fight with him.

Ruby was slowly backing off from Hamilton. She wanted to disappear from the face of the Earth upon realizing that the kind man wasn’t just any vampire but he was that cruel King’s relative.

“You’re her relative?” Alexander stood in between those two riled-up men and asked Hamilton while showing his eagerness to get some information about his sister.

Hamilton instantly calmed down upon seeing that puppy-eyed look on Alexander. Alexander’s eyes reminded him of the gentleness of Queen Anastasia.

Hamilton smiled again and held out his hand once more. And he finally introduced himself, “I am Lord Hamilton Heradi of the Kingdom of Sorvando. I am the first cousin of King Caspian.”