Chapter 20

Chapter 20

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Once Cassis had gone into the bathroom, I collected what remained of his torn clothes along with the tray that was still on the floor. I was pleased to see all the dishes were empty, and it appeared he had also taken the painkillers. I also felt relieved that he had abandoned his habit of arguing about whether he could trust whatever I offered him. My best guess is he had decided to play things by ear. In his current physical state, he had likely realized that he couldn’t act impulsively. Either way, it had been a wise decision on his part. Given his condition at the time, even if he had managed to find the exit and escape, the monsters would likely have gotten to him before he could reach the border.

My thoughts suddenly came to a halt at the sound of water. Because of the chain, the bathroom door had to remain ajar. As the noise gurgled out towards me, a funny feeling welled up inside me. I told myself to forget it, then summoned one of my butterflies. A dark crimson butterfly I had imbued with my spirit began to flutter its wings before disappearing into one of the walls in the room.

I had tasked it with the job of informing me should anything happen to Cassis. I had considered placing my butterfly sentry directly into his body but was afraid he might detect it somehow. The wall had been my next best option. But at that moment, I was actually more anxious about the news I was awaiting from the western border. I had expected the Pedelians to have people out there looking for Cassis, but I had evidently been mistaken.

As I contemplated sending an extra butterfly out west, Cassis stepped out of the bathroom. A clean and properly dressed Cassis definitely seemed more normal than the skeletal form I had beheld moments ago. Upon noticing that I was sitting at the foot of his bed, I noticed him draw back a little, but I had no choice as there was nowhere else for me to sit.

“Come sit down.”

He almost immediately understood my reason for beckoning him once he spotted the bandages and ointment next to me.

“I can do that myself.”

“Is that so? What about your back?”

Rather than respond, he simply scowled for a moment. Meanwhile, I simply sat while tilting my head a bit as if I had failed to comprehend why he was hesitating.

“Don’t worry. I’ve done this sort of thing ever since I was little. I’m really good at it now.”

Truthfully, I could have had the doctor come again, but this was a chance to curry favor with him myself. I was counting on each small act of kindness to add up to a favor that he simply couldn’t refuse later. I know it was a bit conniving, but what was I to do?

“So you’ve had plenty of practice since you were a child?”

Cassis’ question finally broke his brief silence, but it also told me that he knew nothing about how we Agreces were raised.

“Mhm. I would treat my brother every day whenever he was injured.”

Aside from the fluff, it was sort of true. Achille had always been a klutz and often hurt himself during training. Sending for a doctor each time became impractical, so mother and I sometimes took care of him ourselves. In truth, I had been too young to have actually done anything important. Holding a bandage over a wound my mother had already salved was about as close as I ever came to “treating” my brother. My minor exaggeration had simply been for the sake of making Cassis confident that I could help him. Was that so wrong? And I had gotten much better since I was a child at treating even more severe injuries. That’s because with all the physical training required of me, I had often treated my own wounds.

As I was deep in thought, Cassis stared down at me. Facing away from the candlelight and into the shadows, there was no way to see what expression was on his face. He just stood there not saying a word, which needless to say made me pretty uneasy. I was just about to beckon him again when he finally resumed his march toward the bed. Then after a final glance at me, he began to unbutton his shirt. The shirt slid off his shoulders, then down past his hips.

“I can take care of everything else myself,” he said.

In other words, I was meant to help him with his back and only his back. I studied Cassis as he sat there with his back exposed to me. Had it just been my imagination, or was he less guarded around me than he had been before?

I refocused my attention on his wound-riddled back. It seemed that after dousing his cuts with water they were bleeding again, so in order to prevent any chance of contamination, I needed to disinfect his wounds again. Taking a fresh towel, I wiped away all the excess blood before starting the treatment. As my hand touched his skin, I felt him shiver. What lovely muscle definition. There wasn’t an ounce of loose flesh on him, which could only mean that he trained relentlessly.

I didn’t even want to think about what might have happened to his exemplary physique had Charlotte been left in charge of it. I ground my teeth as I thought of how she liked to strip muscle tissue from her toys layer by layer. From that close, I could also see that he had a lovely bone structure while sitting upright. The perfect “T” formed by his spine and shoulder blade was especially enviable.

Among my many half-siblings, there were some who had made a terrible hobby of collecting bones and internal organs. I knew that just one gander at Cassis like this would have driven them so wild they’d likely start salivating. But how was it possible that this beautiful person could also have such lovely bones?

Then I suddenly began to feel sorry for him. After all, he was in that very room as the captive of those Agrece monsters. As I recalled, the Cassis in the novel had suffered far more terribly. I couldn’t help shaking my head as I reflected on how sadly the novel-Cassis’ curtailed life came to an end. Still, I needed to focus on the business at hand.

As my hand worked furiously on his back, it occurred to me that Cassis hadn’t spoken all that while. Once I had taken notice of that, the silence seemed to permeate the entire room. I glanced upward, but there was no way to catch sight of his face as it was turned away from me.

“Does this hurt?”

I had asked him quietly, but my voice rang through the still air.

“Let me know if it hurts, all right? I’ll try to be more gentle.”

He remained a stone sculpture while I rambled to no end. Still, I rubbed the ointment into his wounds as tenderly as I could manage.

“Is that better?” I asked.

Without warning, Cassis whipped his upper body around to face me. Then his hand firmly took hold of my wrist.

“Enough. You can stop now.”

His tone was noticeably icy. But before I could say anything, he was already up and putting his shirt back on. Why he was suddenly acting that way was beyond me. Hmm... Perhaps when it came to the opposite sex, he could not as effectively act nonchalantly. That may have been the case for him, but I went on as if I hadn’t noticed anything and only spoke sweetly.

“You know, I’d be happy to help you with the re—”

“No need,” he replied coolly.

He had cut me off mid-sentence. Cassis continued to glare at me. His expression was as frigid as ever. I decided to leave him to be as insufferable as he wanted. But he hadn’t he lowered his guard with me before? If so, then why not then?

I pondered over the possible reasons to myself once outside of his door. He had been so resolute in not allowing me to treat his wounds at first, so what was it exactly that had changed his mind? I walked back to my room trying to guess what the answer might be.