Chapter 196

Chapter 196

Roxana stepped down from the ledge but stood frozen near the window instead. She bit her lip as she recalled the sight of Cassis’ bloodied shoulder and back. He was one of the clan members who would soon set out to pursue the puppets that had escaped.

Although he had suffered from rather severe injuries of his own, the remaining knights needed him to lead at least one of the three tracking parties. Unfortunately, the lack of capable medical attendants and doctors at the castle also meant that he had yet to receive proper treatment for his wounds. Of course, his unparalleled regenerative powers had almost entirely healed the gash on his shoulder from Deon’s attack as well as the cuts and broken bones he had sustained from the fall. However, he could not heal his back fully since he had yet to remove all the glass that had pierced him.

The knowledge that she was at fault for him receiving such wounds overwhelmed Roxana’s senses. “I’m sorry.”

She spoke with a hardened expression while he merely stared at her in silence. There was no use in denying that what Roxana was feeling toward him was guilt.

“No need for you to apologize. Nor would I demand an apology from you.”

In his mind, Cassis had simply done what was necessary in order to protect her. However, he was also forced to consider the other person who had moved instinctively to protect her. He then lowered his golden gaze slightly as he could sense that there was more than one reason a storm was raging within the heart of the woman standing before him. He knew that he wasn’t the only one toward whom Roxana held a wealth of heavy emotions. He also knew that she wasn’t just sorry for one thing. He could have ignored it, but...

“Everything’s ready now, so we’ll be leaving soon.” Cassis closed his eyes and opened them before asking the question plaguing his thoughts. “Do you truly feel that it doesn’t concern you?”

His golden gaze was fixated on her and could see that she knew precisely what he meant.

“Yes.”

Her response was instant, and her voice bore not even an ounce of emotion. Without a moment’s hesitation, she seemed to have prepared the answer for the express purpose of being able to answer him automatically. Still, hearing her voice strike such a tone simply prompted him to ask yet another question.

“Then what about the possibility of Deon killing Nix?”

“I don’t care anymore.”

“Then what if Nix or someone else were to kill Deon?”

The ruthless certainty in her voice slashed away at any feeling that was attempting to linger in her throat. “That’s of no concern to me either.”

Of course, if the puppet were still alive by the time the search party found him, the knights would have to face Deon Agrece first. If the black-haired Agrece were to allow anything to occur, it would never be to give anyone else the right to kill the puppet before he could. Then again, the man had gone after his half-brother’s reanimated corpse after sustaining heavy injuries of his own from the fall. On top of that, he hadn’t even received bandages for his severed arm. Thus, there was a high likelihood that the grim man might meet his end at the hands of his prey or those hunting his shared target long before he could ever reach him.

Cassis remained silent and motionless as he stared at Roxana. His expression hadn’t changed since his arrival, so she was having trouble trying to guess what he was thinking throughout the silence.

Then he suddenly took a step away from the door. His pace was neither fast nor slow. It was simply steady as he advanced forward without hesitation. In an instant, their shadows overlapped. He leaned his head over hers, then planted his lips against her own ruby-red mouth. His hands firmly supported her face and neck as she craned them up to meet his. His tongue roamed passionately in between her soft lips in search of its partner in the heated dance.

“Roxana...”

Unfortunately, the sweetness of that moment was short-lived. A firm whisper seeped through their interlocked lips.

“Go.”

As their eyes met, his golden orbs were equally firm and resolute as the voice urging her forward and the hands holding her head on straight.

“There won’t be another chance after today.” His eyes blazed as though they would pierce clean through her soul. “So go.”

As she listened to his stern advice, Roxana couldn’t help wincing as her chest began to tighten. The thought that had lingered in her mind was the one thing she dare not say in front of anyone. But even lingering on such a thought was nothing like her. She felt shame for even ruminating on the idea during the current situation. That was why she had decided to deny her own heart and erase all traces of having been the one to contemplate it. Then again, she also knew that if she continued down that path, the intrusive thought would only deepen more and more like a wound guaranteed to leave a permanent scar on her back all the way to her grave. But Cassis would not relent and instead pushed her on as if he knew exactly what was in her heart.

“Leave right now, then...” The warm hands around her face, the soft voice flowing into her ears, and the unflinching gaze that forbid her from denying the truth from herself any longer compelled her to face the reality and gravity of things. “...create the outcome you deem acceptable.”

At last, the chaos hidden behind her scarlet eyes managed to calm down. She bit down on her lower lip, then tilted her head up to kiss him briefly, but passionately as he had done moments ago. After completely purging her mind of any uncertainties, she left her chambers. Then as soon as she was outside of Yggdrasil’s border, she released her poison butterflies.

“And after you find them? What then?”

A condescending question bubbled up from deep within her heart. She thought a moment before responding to it.

I don’t know.

She had ultimately made her decision, thus she had to continue down the path she had chosen until reaching its end. The butterflies returned their individual reports to her rather quickly. Roxana ran after them without delay. Almost immediately after, Cassis led his pursuit party out of Yggdrasil castle.

Before setting out, they had used the Fipellion’s demon monster to aid in the search by picking up on the puppets’ scent. The other teams quickly followed. Their primary goal was to destroy any and every Vertium warrior doll as they might jeopardize the safety of those who lived outside of the neutral territory. The Blue Heir had no intention of neglecting his responsibilities to ensure the well-being of the innocent.

His unit traveled to the northwest area with the highest expected concentration of warrior puppets. It was also the direction he predicted both Nix and Deon Agrece had gone in. Before the day was out, his team finally found some of the puppets that had escaped. Unlike at the castle when they had been taken by surprise, the heavily-armored and well-prepared soldiers were quick to decapitate each doll mercilessly. It did, however, take some time to track down each doll and destroy them as they were all scattered.

By the time Cassis’ party had completely rid the area of the puppets, he raised his head to see that the sun had already begun to set. The knights in his team suggested that they continue to search for Nix, so he quietly cut his hand to drip a few drops of his blood onto a stone he had taken into his possession.

It was one of the sorcery stones he had found in Deon Agrece’s room, which the man had stolen from his half-sister. Before long, demon monsters from a nearby habitat soon swarmed the area they had just cleared of combatant dolls.

“Demon monsters!”

“Where did they suddenly come from?!”

Just as they had done with the puppets, the heavily-armored soldiers had little trouble decapitating the monsters. However, the creatures appeared to be coming toward them in an endless stream, so the unit could not move beyond the area.

Nix, Deon, and Roxana should be up ahead. Cassis was set on doing whatever he could to ensure that no one would bother her.

His sword flashed clearly across his golden eyes before he charged forward to slice down his own share of monsters one after another. The thin line between day and night grew even thinner as the sunset tinged the sky above them crimson as it began to melt into the horizon sluggishly.

* * *

Why am I chasing after Achille?

Deon had repeatedly asked himself that question since leaving the castle. His ability to think critically had dulled considerably, which he imagined was likely a result of the immense loss of blood from not stopping the bleeding of his wound properly. It felt as if time had slowed to a crawl as everything in his view appeared to be creeping. Even the wind blowing against his face seemed to be tussling his black hair at half-speed. As he stared ahead, he took a deep, blood-drenched breath.

It’s because he’s what started all of this.

Achille Agrece. The first person whose blood he had ever spilled with his own hands.

Roxana Agrece. Achille’s one and only full-blooded, younger sister.

In the past, they were nothing more than meaningless and fleeting byproducts of Lante Agrece’s polygamy, but he regarded them the same way he did everything and everyone else. That was why he had felt zero emotions when he had taken his half-brother’s life.

Although it had indeed been his first murder, his soul was already too much of a void for him to feel any sort of repulsion or fear at what he had done. Even as he watched his half-sibling cling to their father’s leg and weep pitifully, he regarded him as nothing more than a bother. After that day something deep inside of Deon had changed ever so slightly, but that change was little more than the difference between the front and back sides of a sheet of paper.

Along that vein, Deon was able to erase any semblance of emotion or sensation rather quickly. In the days that followed his half-brother’s execution, whenever he would on occasion see Achille’s mother and sister, the dark-haired Agrece simply ignored them as he always had. He absolutely hadn’t expected to see his crimson-eyed, younger half-sister sitting at the grand feast table so soon after.

Unlike the useless and pathetic older brother their father always detested, she had become a practically perfect Agrece in next to no time at all. Even at his young age, he thought there was something peculiar about the little girl. Despite their nearly identical features, she was surprisingly different from her older brother and their other siblings overall.

His teenage mind couldn’t quite explain what exactly that difference was, but he did make a swift mental note of that observation once it occurred to him. He was also keenly aware that Roxana harbored an immense hatred toward him, but whenever he felt the sting of murderous intent as they crossed paths, she always managed to completely conceal such emotions at the exact moment he quietly turned his gaze toward her.

Then when he later discovered that the reason behind her drastic change was due to Achille’s passing, a strange feeling he never knew existed began to take root in the pit of his chest.