Betrayed By The Hero, Loved By The Lord
Chapter 160: Test (2)

Chapter 160: Test (2)

"Welcome home, Lord Blackthorn," Gertrude greeted Xavier at the door. "I can hold this for you, Milord."

"Thank you but I will take it. It is a gift to my wife and I want all the credit for it. Where is she?" Xavier asked, wanting to keep his promise.

"I last saw Lady Blackthorn near the storage room. She has kept herself busy with seeing what is there. The servants have been following her lead to decorate the estate or throw out what is old," Gertrude informed Xavier.

"Good. Do whatever is needed to keep her distracted. There will be a delivery of dresses and other things for my wife arriving soon so please, have the maids ready to put them away in our room. Or perhaps, she wants to make use of her private room," said Xavier.

"I shall put away what can hold in your room and speak to the lady about where to place the others. I have heard the shelves and other necessities have been added to the room she uses. The lady has been back and forth there all day."

"That is good. Excuse me," Xavier said, lifting the gift he brought him as he searched for Selene.

"Oh!"

Xavier didn’t get too far when he heard Gertrude sound surprised by something.

"Milord, there is a visitor at the gate," said Gertrude.

"The guards will deal with it," Xavier replied, continuing on his way. He had been away from Selene too long.

"But it seems to be the one of the guards. I can never miss that white uniform. Milord," Gertrude said, holding onto the gift Xavier had been carrying after he placed it in her hands.

While it was terrible timing with Xavier only just returning home, Gertrude was glad it wasn’t something Selene needed to deal with to disturb her. These matters were best left to Xavier.

Gertrude stood by the door so should Selene be needed, she would be quick to relay what she witnessed.

Xavier returned to the gates where a few of his guards had already gathered but backed away when he came near.

Eugene got down from his horse. This time, he came alone not to worry Selene. Unfortunately, being the only one present did not help with Xavier’s anger.

Eugene contemplated getting back on his horse to leave when the gates opened and Xavier came closer to him. "Lord Blackthorn-"

Xavier grabbed Eugene’s shirt, pulling him close so he wouldn’t run away. "I’ve lost my patience with all of you fucking bastards."

Had he not returned home now then Selene would have to hear about this and be pulled away from what she was doing. That was what bothered Xavier. Could she not get a break?

Eugene thought Xavier had lost his mind to grab a guard like this but with how Xavier looked at him, Eugene knew his guess was right. "While this might annoy you, I am only doing my job. If you would keep to yourself, no one would suspect you."

"I want you to stop coming here. Stop coming here to bother my wife," Xavier warned Eugene.

Xavier guessed it had something to do with Fiona. It was the only thing they could be here for. It was thanks to Jasper that he knew something happened to that woman.

"You don’t know what I am here for-"

"Whatever it is, it’s bothering my wife. Stop coming here before I kill you," Xavier said, not concerned about who he made the threat to. "You would come to my gates for a leaf falling from a tree. I am not responsible for all that goes on in this kingdom."

"No, but you are responsible for some of it and it just so happens the woman who accused you and your wife of killing her husband was found dead. Still no traces of where her husband went. That works out well for you two, doesn’t it?" Eugene said, finding this all too suspicious. "My guards know where I am. If I don’t return-"

"If you don’t return, that is one less headache I have to deal with. Get off my land and don’t show up again. I thought you would be someone who didn’t act on emotions and did their job fairly-"

"I am fair!" Eugene interjected but there was a lie behind this.

"What proof do you have that I might be responsible? That my wife might have some part in it? You rushed to come here the first chance you got, didn’t you? Don’t start looking like a fool, Eugene. I was so close to thinking highly of you. That woman’s death wasn’t our doing now go on your way," Xavier said, sending Eugene off.

"I still have some questions-"

’"There are countless people murdered in the palace quite often yet I don’t see you going there to investigate. There are many attacks around the town which have not been dealt with but you prefer to come here each time my name comes up over trivial matters," said Xavier.

"A woman’s death isn’t a trivial matter," Eugene argued.

"It is to me when I had nothing to do with it. Have you stopped to think of how it looks that you could not help my wife concerning the maid her ex-husband killed? When the town was against her over what someone else did, were you helpful then? Or was it that you were so blind to catch me that you ignored those who needed help?" Xavier wondered.

Xavier released Eugene. "You will never catch me and if you are not careful, I will be you who ends up caught in an unfortunate predicament. Tell it to whoever you think can help you. Now, get off my land."

Eugene straightened out his shirt Xavier wrinkled up from grabbing it. "There is a misunderstanding here. I don’t have anything against you. I am only doing my job and you have been killing others throughout the years. We both know it."

"Then prove it. That is your job," Xavier reminded Eugene.

"You won’t like the day I prove it," Eugene replied.

Xavier laughed. "You didn’t sound very confident. I wonder why."

Eugene could only watch as Xavier returned behind the gates. Eugene already had his reason why. No one was ever going to allow him to take Xavier from this estate and lock him away.

The Blackthorns and other notable families would not allow it but when you had a king putting pressure on the guards to find any reason to tarnish Xavier’s name, Eugene could only keep coming when he heard Xavier’s name.

It angered Eugene that Xavier thought he didn’t care about the recent attacks. He did but his orders were to deal with matters concerning Xavier. At this rate, the only way he could stop coming here was to leave the town guards but it wasn’t something he wanted to do.

"Where to go from here now?" Eugene wondered. If Xavier didn’t kill this woman or her husband and since it was found it couldn’t have been Selene who harmed Lucinda, then they had a very big problem on their hands.

Who were they missing that was responsible for these attacks?

Away from Eugene, Xavier came across Lucas who was to be watching over Selene.

"Come with me," Xavier said, having Lucas follow him.

There was something he needed to test but didn’t know if he could go through with it.