#02-Ruby Alasdair

In the original novel, Ruby Alasdair is the youngest of three children.

She has two very handsome older brothers. Ruby's first brother is named Reynold Alasdair. He is twenty-five years old. Reynold is a commander of the imperial knights of the first division. It is a division for a select number of talented and truly extraordinary people. Reynold had become a swordmaster at the very young age of fifteen. Apart from being a swordmaster, Reynold was also very good at making war strategies and smart at economics. Sometimes, he would help Emperor Graziano to manage imperial affairs with permission from the Emperor. Reynold was also close friends with the imperial Crown Prince Graziano. Reynold has golden hair like Ruby and blue eyes like their Father, Duke Alasdair.

Ruby's second brother is named Richard Alasdair. The man was twenty-three years old. Richard was the youngest high-level wizard in the Graziano empire's magic tower. He spent most of his life in the magic tower. He is cold and indifferent to the people around him. His golden hair and blue eyes always succeeded in bewitching the women of the empire, just like Reynold Alasdair. Sometimes, Richard would be summoned to the palace to assist the imperial wizards.

Even though the two men were very handsome and admired by many women in the Graziano empire, they didn't care about these women. Not only towards them, Reynold and Richard also acted cold and indifferent towards Ruby Alasdair. This is because Duchess Alasdair died six months after giving birth to Ruby. At that time, the Duchess was always sick and her health condition worsened until she finally died. Only Ruby has pink eyes like the Duchess. The three of them had golden hair like the Duke.

However, Duke Alasdair really loves Ruby. That man always gave Ruby everything she wanted. The man also gave all of his affection to Ruby because according to him, Ruby needed it much more than his two sons who were much healthier, much stronger, and much more mature. Since birth, Ruby Alasdair has had a weak body and gets sick easily. This is what made the Duke pay more attention to Ruby than to Reynold and Richard.

"My Lady...?"

The doubtful and scared call made Ruby flinch. She just remembered all the events in the original novel. From now on, she will forget the name Athanasia Brown and live as Ruby Alasdair, the extra character in the original novel she created. Even though she is an extra character, she will change the entire plot of the original novel. She will live as if she is the main character even though she will never take what the main characters should have.

"Shery," Ruby called. The brown haired and blue eyed maid looked very worried about her. Shery is a maid who is very loyal to Ruby. She always protects Ruby from noble women who target Ruby at every opportunity. Ruby smiled coldly. Those noble ladies would die at her hands. Of course, not death in the true sense. "Let us go home. What are we doing here anyway?"

"Ah, that—"

"Are you ignoring me now, Princess Ruby Alasdair?"

The cold question made Ruby turn her head around. The expression on Sylver Cielo's face was completely cold, as were his purple eyes. Was he trying to scare her? Because if he is, then his effort is in vain. The real Ruby Alasdair is gone. He was looking for trouble with the wrong woman.

"Of course," Ruby answered with a smile. "Do I have to explain all the meaning of my attitude to you, Duke Sylver?"

Ruby could feel the disbelieving looks from the people around her. Their mouths were even wide open. Ruby even covered Shery's open mouth and didn't care about the reactions of the people around her.

Wait a minute. If she thought about it again, how could the real Ruby Alasdair fall into this fairly deep lake? Ruby's presence here must be because of Duke Alasdair. Ruby is a shy woman. She is also timid. She couldn't possibly just follow someone she didn't know. That means, there was someone Ruby knew who brought her to this place and then harmed her or just made fun of her. The worst thing was that someone had dragged her here and pushed her directly into the lake.

What is the reason?

" Your Father will definitely faint if he sees you change drastically like this, Princess." Sylver's tone told Ruby that the man was mocking her. It was a sarcastic tone of voice that the Duke deliberately used. "You really seem to have hit your head."

"Instead of thinking about me hitting my head, how about you think about the strange things that happen in this mansion?"

Sylver Cielo raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"Where is my Father?" Ruby asked back.

"In my study. He is still talking to Marquess Simon about the mineral mines in the southern part of the Graziano empire." Silver frowned. "You are right. This is strange. What is a woman who is so shy around people like you doing here? You can't possibly recognize the layout of my mansion that well."

"Unless someone brought me here." Ruby added to Sylver's words. "Or drag me."

Hearing that, Sylver's purple eyes widened. Then, those eyes flashed cold and sharp. His hands clenched tightly into fists. His jaw tightened and his teeth gritted.

"Who is the person who dares to drag the body of a Duke's daughter in my mansion?" Sylver growled. He looked at the servants around him one by one. "I won't let that man get away. I will punish him for disgracing Cielo's name in front of Duke Alasdair's only daughter."

This incident never existed in the original novel. Because of this, Ruby is sure that right now, she has definitely not entered the main story in the original novel yet. Ruby Alasdair died in an accident when she was twenty-two years old. She glanced at Shery and whispered, "Shery, how old am I now?"

"Huh?"

"Just answer my question," Ruby insisted. "Because this is important. My head really hurts and I forgot some important events. It seems like I did hit my head like Duke Sylver said."

"Mm." Shery looked at Ruby with a look of pity and worry. "My Lady is now twenty years old. My Lady just had her birthday three months ago. My Lady also made her debut when she was eighteen, two years ago."

There were still two years left before Ruby Alasdair's death. The woman rubbed her chin and glanced at the servants. Among the servants, Ruby saw a man who looked panicked. The expression on his face was so predictable. He also clenched his hands tightly at his sides and bit his lips. It was as if the man was thinking of a way to escape from this situation.

Wait a minute. The man had a mole above his lip. He is tall and has black hair. There is a scar on his right cheek. Ruby's pink eyes widened. He is a spy from Duke Eclair's family! They really hated Sylver Cielo and wanted to kill the Duke. Sylver Cielo almost died several times because Duke Eclair always sent hired assassins to take the Duke's life.

"You."

Sylver Cielo and everyone stared at the person Ruby Alasdair was pointing at. The man suspected of being Duke Eclair's spy, froze. He looked at Ruby and lowered his head again when he saw how sharp those pink eyes looked at him.

Dammit!

Why did that woman suddenly turn cold like this?!

"You dragged me here."

"What?!" The man with the mole was shocked. He shook both of his hands. "No, Princess. I do not understand what you mean. I never dragged Princess to this place. I also never met Princess. Isn't the Princess waiting next to Duke Sylver's study?"

Ruby grinned.

"If you never met me," Ruby said in a firm tone. She crossed her arms. "How did you know I was there?"

The man froze again.

"Shery," Ruby called. "Does anyone know I was in that room?"

"Huh? Err." Shery tried to remember. "The butler and the maid over there." Shery pointed at the Butler and a maid with short hair. "Then, I followed the maid to the kitchen to give instructions to the people in the kitchen regarding food and drink that My Lady should not eat."

"Do you have any allergies?" Sylver asked. However, Ruby only glanced at him and returned her focus to the man who was starting to look pale.

"Did you tell anyone else that I was in that room?" Ruby asked.

"No," Shery shook her head. "Because My Lady is very shy and afraid of having to interact with strangers, I asked the maid and butler not to tell anyone about My Lady's whereabouts so that no one enters the room carelessly."

Ruby grinned and tilted her head as she looked at the man with the mole. Her lips started to bleed because he kept biting them. The man scratched the back of his hand repeatedly so hard that his glove tore and the back of his hand was injured.

"Then, if no one knows about my whereabouts, how can you say that I was waiting in that room," asked Ruby in a cold tone. "Duke Eclair's spy?"