Chapter 109

Chapter 109

Roxana sat numbly in her unlit room. She remained in the same dress and same position since returning from the banquet. Across from her sat an expressionless woman staring calmly back out at her from the distant mirror, but there was clear turmoil raging beneath her unwavering stare.

The face she had seen at the banquet—the boy’s face—seemed to keep superimposing itself over her own reflection in the mirror.

“Achille.”

That had been the only word written in Grizelda’s correspondence. She had been so certain the kin Noel alluded to in his letter was her mother, so she was at an utter loss upon seeing her late brother’s name suddenly appear out of thin air.

Indeed, she was only just beginning to understand how the entire puzzle might fit together. Especially the link that evidently existed between the Black and Gold clans. One thing was certain. Lante Agrece had been very open about his obsession with the Vertiums’ puppetism craft.

She, of course, couldn’t yet be certain as to how, but it was becoming more apparent that her father had played a role in the Gold clan’s specific brand of doll-making known as puppetism. Roxana had in part accepted Noel’s invitation due to her knowledge of this connection. It was likely the link that had led to something like the Achille puppet coming into being, and therefore something she had wished to confirm for herself.

“Hi, Roxana.”

The moment she had come face-to-face with that exact replica of Achille, she couldn’t control the overflow of emotions despite having steeled herself against them beforehand.

“Oh, how I’ve missed you, little sister.”

While recalling the events from back in the banquet hall, Roxana’s eyes slowly hardened like scarlet sheets of ice. After contemplating for a short while longer, she began to undress. She began by removing her gloves, then the various accessories adorning her entire body.

She had turned all the attendants away when they had offered to help her earlier, so the process proved rather arduous. As she continued to pluck jewels and trinkets from herself, a strange feeling came over her. She gently grazed the ear she had doctored to bleed at the slightest touch, but nothing close to pain came from it. It didn’t even sting slightly anymore.

She stared into the mirror. There was no trace of a wound or any blood on her ear. At first, she thought it was merely due to the dimness of the room, but even upon closer inspection, she could see that the wound really was gone. She couldn’t help feeling surprised.

Obviously, it was unnatural for a wound that was less than a few hours old to not leave so much as a puncture behind, but she of course didn’t find it wholly impossible after having been with Cassis for so long. He had practically made a routine out of treating her, but she was no longer at the Pedelian fortress, thus this discovery was truly odd.

She thought for a moment, then reached for one of the sharp pins she had been wearing and used it to prick one of her fingers. Following the sharp pang, a tiny bead of ruby-red blood slowly began to form on the very spot she had punctured. However, a mere seconds later, the pain was completely gone and after wiping away the blood, there was absolutely no evidence of the puncture wound.

“Cassis...” Roxana whispered her lover’s name softly as she remembered how he would transfer so much of his own energy into her at all hours of the day.

She closed her eyes and listened to the rhythm of her own heartbeat while considering just how much of the Blue Heir was still inside of her. It in fact felt to her that he was right there beside her providing silent comfort to her troubled heart.

* * *

“Long time no see, Blue Heir.”

Cassis appeared especially unhappy to see the person addressing him. Jeremy Agrece had evidently chosen to attend the meeting as well. The dark-haired man was leaning against a wall in the hallway as if he had stationed himself there in anticipation of this very encounter.

Cassis thought for a moment before answering. “What a surprise. I didn’t expect to see you here.”

“Well, as the head Agrece I couldn’t dream of missing such an important meeting.”

The younger man sounded confident enough, but the Pedelian knew the Black clan’s standing with the other clans was unstable at best. There had also been talk of censuring the Blue clan, however, the other clans ultimately determined that they had acted justly and within reason. Under any other circumstances, the murder of a clan heir or leader would be indefensible, but since the Pedelians were known for being cautious and introspective people in all matters, it was that much more difficult for the other clan leaders to find fault with them.

Besides, the fact that they had avoided attacking the other family members or even servants was further proof that their only aim had been to put down Lante Agrece alone. Altogether, there was mounting evidence to justify the Blue clan’s actions. On top of that, the other clans were quietly of the same opinion that the wild Agreces had grown to become a festering sore much like an aged, pus-filled boil waiting to burst. Thus, hearing that the Blue Heir had done away with the root of the problem once and for all was not something they could voice sincere opposition to.

The unspoken truth of the matter was that most of the remaining clan masters had been sick and tired of Lante’s boorish antics, so neither of the two present at the meeting were all that surprised at how quickly they had reached the decision to overlook the Pedelians’ attack on the Agreces. The only exception they had agreed to make concerned allowing the late Agrece master’s son to serve as the clan’s new head after he had somehow wormed his way into their last meeting.

“You seem rather satisfied with your current station in life, Jeremy.” Cassis’ sarcastic tone was a bit too obvious.

While baring his teeth, the young Agrece retorted in a subdued rage. “You’ve got that right. Best make sure you address me as ‘Black Master’ from now on as I'm the Agrece master from now on.”

Being at a public gathering, Jeremy forced himself to bottle up the tirade that would have normally followed such an outburst, but any passerby could likely hear the heaping bucket of curses he would have shouted at the self-righteous Blue Heir.

In his mind, Cassis was as much a thorn in his side as his older half-brother Deon. He hated the fact that the silver-haired nuisance who should have been long dead was standing there being a proper eyesore and causing him all sorts of problems. And the fact that it was likely Roxana who had ensured the Blue pest’s survival was especially.

Still, as annoyed as he was with the Blue Heir, he forced himself to calm down for Roxana’s sake. After all, he needed answers. “Listen, you Blue son of a— I mean... Blue Heir, Have you spoken to any other Agrece besides me recently?”

Jeremy had been searching for his sister for quite some time already. He had determined that if she refused to see him again, then he wouldn’t force her, but at the very least he wished to know where she was and if she was safe. Of course, that was a task proving easier to imagine than fulfill.

He had come across both Emily’s and Sierra’s scents in his endeavor, but such discoveries proved useless to the young man. As he recalled how his sister had seemed prepared to forfeit everything in her life in order to disappear, he surmised that there was no reason she would choose to be with her mother or Emily. Thus, he’d decided to try asking Cassis on the off chance he had seen or heard anything about Roxana.

If he was alive because of something she did three years ago, and if she had also been the one who invited the Pedelians in to crush the Agreces during their coup, then the most important objective at that moment was to worm information out of that very Pedelian regardless of how furious just imagining all those possibilities made him.

To his surprise, however, Cassis answered without a moment’s hesitation. “I can’t say I follow what you mean by ‘any other Agrece’”

“I mean exactly what I said. An Agrece besides me!”

“Why do you ask? Are you looking for someone in particular?”

“Ugh, would you just answer the question?” Jeremy was just barely keeping the lid clamped on his frustration. Meanwhile, the Blue Heir continued to act as if he hadn’t noticed anything and responded almost unfeelingly.

“But why are you asking me, a stranger, about Agrece business? Perhaps you’re not clan master material quite yet after all...”

“Why you...” Flames were practically flaring up behind Jeremy’s cool, blue gaze. Still, he refused to let anger get the better of him.

What an insufferable asshole...

As the young Black Master’s face appeared ready to boil over at any second, Cassis stared at him. To his surprise, Jeremy appeared to calm down enough to speak more civilly after a few deep breaths.

“I suppose a sheltered nobody like you wouldn’t know about this sort of thing. It’s clear I was wasting my time asking you.” Jeremy turned and left before the other man could respond. As infuriated and upset as he was, he felt satisfied that he had managed to get through the conversation without an even greater outburst.

Cassis stood for a moment and watched the young Black clan master disappear, then followed in the same direction.