Chapter 143

Chapter 143

In the brief moment, he had stopped to say that, his coarse hand wrapped itself around my throat. His grip tightened enough to cut off my airway. I simply stared back without so much as flinching. All sorts of emotions appeared to be swirling behind those blood-red eyes of his, but in the next moment, he replaced them all with his classic sarcastic glare.

“This is all rather dull.”

His low voice grated in my ears as he loosened his grip around my neck. I took a slight step back to wind up, then slap him with all my might. We stood there for yet another moment exchanging death glares.

“Get out of my sight! Just seeing you makes me sick.” I hadn’t intended to, but my words came out like a hiss. Then just as I had done that fateful night, I turned my back to him and walked away. I would have been grateful in that moment if the downpour outside was powerful enough to wash away all the ugliness I had endured that night.

* * *

So Cassis and Deon had met once again. I had considered it a possibility, but hearing that it had in fact come to pass from Deon himself was a bit unnerving. I immediately doubted Cassis had come to any harm, but a small part of me was still worried. However, before I was able to get too anxious, the Pedelians arrived at Yggdrasil.

The sky was crystal clear that morning as if the storm from the previous night had never come. I decided to spend that morning resting leisurely on my terrace. Jeremy and other visitors had come by to see me, but I kept quiet and pretended to be away from my room. I had spotted the Pedelian procession from my impromptu hideout, then after a few carriages made their way through the main gate, I saw Cassis alight from one. In truth, it was a huge load off my mind.

As I was visible from the courtyard, he looked up at me and our eyes met. Once they did, he shook his head, which caused me to frown. It seemed that contrary to our expectations, the Vertiums hadn’t tried anything. My mind began to flood with questions as to why that was. I had been certain Dante would make an attempt to get Nix back. The lack of action left me questioning whether we had miscalculated, or if something else could have happened.

Still, the one saving grace was that there had been no casualties since there had been no ambush. I noticed the attendants unloading a large object that had been rolled up to appear like a carpet of some kind, but almost right away I supposed that it had to be Nix. The urge to go ask Cassis about Deon and everything else that transpired while we were apart was strong, but I knew it wasn’t the right time.

Instead, I watched as Cassis stood on the grounds below staring at me until everyone else in his party had come inside the castle and were even beckoning him to follow. I imagined he might actually stand there indefinitely while I was still in view, so I decided to step back into my room in hopes that he would follow suit. When I returned to the terrace a few minutes later, he had indeed left the courtyard. Feeling somewhat relieved by that, I returned inside to prepare for yet another day at the castle.

* * *

Once the Blue clan had all been shown to their quarters and situated, the four clan masters present decided to convene in secret. It wasn’t exactly a secret that the other high-ranking clan members were aware of the meeting, but as they wished to discuss the matter of the Gold clan’s human doll, they could not very well dub it an official forum.

Since I had briefed Jeremy on the matter beforehand, he returned from the meeting looking far less shocked than the other leaders. Even so, he was clearly disgusted by the details of the issue so much so that when he came to my room afterward, he rotated between frowning and scowling for quite a while.

“That puppet was an eerie little sh*t. Are all the puppets they create so lifelike? Or does that one just seem so different because it was made from Achille’s corpse? Either way, it gave me the damn creeps.”

Jeremy and I had discussed a number of things the day prior about how we had kept busy during our time apart, as well as what significant events had occurred. However, I refrained from mentioning that I had been with Cassis in Pedelian. I just couldn’t bring myself to tell him when he had spent most of our reunion crying into my lap.

Instead, I skipped over that and went straight into telling him about my invitation to the Gold lands and everything that had transpired there. That was when I first made mention of Cassis by explaining how he had gone there to inform them of the decision reached at the previous clan master meeting. The Blue clan’s discovery and confiscation of the offensive Vertium puppet followed.

“So... Are you all right, Sis?”

I could tell he had been worrying.

“Yes, I’m fine. I know he isn’t the real Achille.” I replied flatly without hesitation.

According to Jeremy, the matter had been tabled for the day since the clan masters had confirmed with their own eyes that the puppet did indeed exist. He also informed me that Nix was locked up somewhere in the castle for the time being. As the Vertiums’ art of puppetism might also suffer due to Yggdrasil’s counter-sorcery barrier, there was a risk of it harming Nix in some way as well. But to his fortune, his heart seemed to continue functioning.

I had yet to test my theory, but it seemed Yggdrasil’s counter-sorcery inherently had a different effect on demons than on dolls like Nix. He did, however, appear far less alert and even weaker than he had been when we last spoke. It was almost as if he was being constrained both internally and externally.

One of the few butterflies I had managed to ferry through the Yggdrasil barrier again had actually shown me various scenes from the meeting before Jeremy came to my room. The discussion had renewed my resolve to be on guard for any unforeseen circumstances.

When the clan masters ended the meeting, they each agreed that staying silent on the matter for the time being would be for the best. For one thing, the Gold clan had yet to arrive, and for another, the purpose of this sudden gathering was to promote harmony. Thus, any loose talk about Nix so early into the affair could jeopardize any chance of peace between the clans that the masters were more desperately pursuing.

Nix was not the only important matter to issue for me either, so I placed any thoughts about him further back in my mind and began to prepare for that night’s banquet. It was set to be a much grander event than the one from the previous night. Jeremy was once again filling the role of my escort. I noticed the previous night that the clan members were making a habit of staying almost entirely to themselves, so I wasn’t expecting that night’s dinner to be any different. And sure enough, as soon as we entered the hall my expectations were immediately confirmed. It was like watching oil and water separate.

For whatever reason, our clan seemed particularly nervous and on edge. Since everyone was aware of what had happened in Agrece last winter, there was quite a bit of whispering at each table now that both the Black and Blue clans were present. I noticed some of my siblings eyeing the Fipellions somewhat uneasily as well, but I supposed it had everything to do with their brief shouting match on the way to the castle Jeremy had told me about.

My butterfly had shown me clips of the scene as well, but there were plenty of rumors surrounding the incident by then. The clan masters also seemed unwilling to be the first to engage with those outside of their own, so they remained off to the sides and made sure to appear busy.

As we reached our table, the other Agreces greeted Jeremy and me with warm, welcoming expressions as if we were the cavalry they had been waiting for to swoop in and save them. It should go without saying though that Deon was nowhere in sight. Rather than take my seat among them, I turned toward the Pedelians, then immediately spotted Cassis staring at me.

Sylvia was standing right at his side and also had her eyes trained on me. I made a final passing glance around the hall, then pulled my hand away from my brother’s. We had discussed everything beforehand so he didn’t put up much resistance, but the rest of our clan looked understandably surprised by my next move.

I, of course, smiled at them before setting off. “Since the purpose of this gathering is to promote harmony between the five clans, I think we should honor that goal and make a bit of effort.” With that, I turned away from them so swiftly that the hem of my dress swished at my ankles.

The sound of my heels on the marble floor created a soft echo as it reverberated off the walls. When it finally dawned on my spectators as to where I was heading, the shocked look on all of their faces coupled with a few gasps here and there was still not enough to make my resolve waver. It was clear that I only had one destination.

“Cassis Pedelian.” I smiled cordially as I stood before him. His eyes appeared to twinkle under the light of the chandelier, which made them look even more golden than usual. I slowly raised my hand toward him before going on. “Today, I grant you the luxury of taking my hand.”

It was an overtly obvious display that he would serve as my escort that evening. Truthfully, it was all I could do not to giggle as the hall erupted with frenzied buzzing like a beehive that had just been shaken. Not that I didn’t understand how shocking the entire scene must have been in their eyes. After all, I had approached the very Pedelian who had led the recent attack against my own clan and left us in such disrepair.

However, as it had been an act of revenge for the wrongs committed against the Blue Heir three years prior, the expected fallout was for the perpetual enmity between our clans to never die. Yet there I was, a representative Agrece, allowing the enemy to keep me company in such an official setting.

I suppose it was that much more shock-inducing to the onlookers since there wasn’t a hint of hesitation or inhibition in my attitude. In truth, had I not approached him first, I was sure even then that he would have come to me. And it wasn’t simply because of the relationship we had developed over the past few months, but because he couldn’t allow our clans to go on being so hostile toward one another.

After everyone got over the initial surprise of my sudden invitation, they all seemed to collectively wait with bated breath for his response. His lips curled up slightly as he reached out his hand to take mine, then in his low voice, he spoke.

“It would be my honor, Lady Roxana Agrece.”

Just as the clack of my heels had done only moments ago, his words echoed all around us as well. He then bowed his head slightly to kiss my hand, and the heat from his lips practically seared through my thin glove.