Chapter 205

Chapter 205

* * *

“Cassis Pedelian?” Grizelda doubted her vision at the appearance of the most unexpected guest. “How the hell did you find me here?”

He ignored her inquiries as he walked past her and into the hideout. “Agreces aren’t the only ones adept at gathering intelligence.”

His dismissive response left a stain on her pride. She had been careless recently due to Nix. Not only was her hideout discovered, but she did not feel his presence until he was at her doorstep.

“Roxana isn’t here.”

Does she even know about this? If she does, then she could’ve at least given me a heads-up.

“I know,” Cassis replied curtly.

She then realized who he had come to see. “Are you here to get rid of the puppet?”

He stared at the door engraved with sorcery.

“If that’s the case, I have no choice but to stop you.”

“I’m not here to kill it.” He then approached the door. She hesitated for a moment but ultimately decided to leave him be.

Cassis turned the doorknob and pushed against the entrance. As he opened the door, he saw a man curled up in a corner of the room with a blanket over his head and body. The man turned his head slowly at the sound of the door opening. Cassis’ face hardened slightly at the sight of him. The scent of death inside the room was unbelievably thick and suffocating compared to the one he had detected in Deon’s room.

“Are you... Cassis Pedelian?”

Nix flinched as he turned at the waist. The blanket covering his face fell off due to his sudden movement. As soon as he felt the Pedelian’s presence, he retrieved the cloth and wrapped it around himself again. But not before his face had been exposed.

Cassis was at a loss for words as he was not prepared to witness such a sight. He soon decided to approach the puppet.

“Don’t come any closer!” Nix growled viciously as he shoved himself deeper into the corner. He reminded Cassis of a wounded animal growling menacingly.

“I’m not here to hurt you, so there’s no need for all that.” He furrowed his silver brows slightly as he reiterated what he had told Grizelda only moments before. Nix could sense the sincerity in his words.

The Blue Heir could feel the quiet gaze peeking out from under the blanket. Once again, he attempted to approach the blond. He reached out and removed the covering from the puppet’s face once he closed the gap.

To his astonishment, Nix had changed completely from what Cassis remembered of him. The fifteen-year-old boy had been replaced by a man in his mid-twenties. But that wasn’t the only thing that captivated the Pedelian. With the blanket off, Cassis could clearly see that Nix was slowly crumbling away. More importantly, the sickening essence of death was flowing out of him. Cassis knelt down and reached toward the older man once more.

The moment their hands touched, Nix asked, “Are you trying to save me?”

Cassis offered him no answer.

“But why? I thought you wanted to kill me.”

Healing energy flowed from one hand to the other. However, unlike with Deon, the energy simply scattered into the air after failing to penetrate the puppet’s being. The Blue Heir’s expression hardened, while Nix pulled his hand away.

“I guess it’s no use.” The puppet knew better than anyone that his condition was hopeless. His body was beyond repair. After all, he was a corpse to begin with. The reason behind his sudden growth remained a mystery, but with it came decay.

“Noel Vertium...” Cassis finally broke his silence to utter the unpleasant name. “Perhaps... he ca—”

“No, he can’t.” Nix cut him short, then covered his eyes to hide away from Cassis’ gaze. A snicker seeped out from beneath the blanket. The blond man couldn’t help but laugh at the situation. The reality was too cruel to face with sanity.

Would it have been better for me to die by either Noel or Deon’s hands? No… If that were the case, he imagined he should have remained dead after Lante had ordered Achille’s death eight years ago. Then he never would have come back to life as a puppet. Both back then and at present, he simply wished to live. Nix had struggled shamelessly all that while just trying to stay alive.

It was strange for him to face Cassis like this, and it was even stranger that he should try to save his life. Looking back at what had happened between them, it was no surprise that both felt awkward and somewhat uncomfortable. He imagined that the Blue Heir’s change in attitude toward him must be due to Roxana.

She did not want him to die.

Nix bit down on his lip once his thoughts shifted to her. In truth, even he didn’t know whether he was Achille or Nix or both. One thing he was certain of was that with Achille’s memories, he was no longer entirely a puppet. Whenever he saw Roxana, his tumultuous heart always burst open. Unbearable yearning, loneliness, and sadness were all emotions that Nix had never known before. And the question remained as to why she had saved him from Deon. Why couldn’t she have just left me for dead back then?

But he was soon overcome with shame, so he cursed at himself.

Why else do you think she did? It’s because I acted like Achille in front of her. You moron. You idiot.

He continued to curse as he grit his teeth.

Damn it! Perhaps this was his punishment. His transgressions had finally come back like a boomerang to haunt him. Back at the Gold Manor, he had poisoned her and even tried to kill her. The thought alone was painful enough to drive him mad. Such an emotion definitely belonged to Achille. Nix had desperately wanted to seem like Achille in front of her, but just as equally wished not to be.

He felt even more conflicted since she had not only foolishly not killed him, but had placed him in a room with sorcery meant to slow his decay. He then began to weep.

“I am... Nix.”

He was going to die soon anyway.

“I am not... Achille.”

Thus, this time...

“I...”

...he felt he must die as Nix the puppet. His second death would not cause anyone’s heart to falter. This too was a trait of Achille’s. He felt truly confused as to who he really was. But as he was nearing his end, none of that mattered.

“Yes...” Cassis spoke quietly as he continued to stare at the tears rolling down the blond’s face. “You are Nix.”

But for some reason, Nix understood the words completely differently. Just like the words Roxana had whispered to him when he made the same declaration to her. Perhaps it was just his wishful thinking, but the man who was neither completely Achille nor Nix cried tears of sadness and joy simultaneously.

He was still ashamed of himself, but he didn’t care anymore. There was no one he needed to mind beyond the door, and so for the first time in a long time, he wept to his heart’s content. Then, he finally came to a decision.

This time, he would end his own life how he wanted to.

* * *

After some time had passed, Roxana and Jeremy returned to Grizelda’s home. Their older sister greeted them with a rather heavy look on her face. When Jeremy asked about the suspicious expression, she hesitated for a moment before she told them that Nix had disappeared while she was asleep.

He shuddered when she told him that despite having searched the surrounding area, she had failed to find him. Jeremy proposed that they gather some people and search the nearby areas, seeming to be wary of the possibility that Nix could wreak havoc or be seen by someone from another clan.

But unlike Jeremy, Roxana continued to stare at her older half-sister with an unreadable expression. There were no traces of anyone having snuck out of the house, and Grizelda’s face was heavy with dark emotions beyond normal confusion or panic from the suddenness of the predicament.

Roxana finally lowered her gaze before proceeding to tell her problem that the search wouldn’t be necessary, and how they should instead prepare to return to Agrece. Jeremy was both confused and curious about his sister’s decision, but she seemed quite resolute in her decision. Grizelda didn’t have the heart to stop her either.

By that evening, they were in a carriage bound for the Black territory. An entire season had passed since she had last set foot in Agrece.