Chapter 26

Chapter 26

* * *

“Lady Roxana!”

Roxana heard someone yelling for her as she neared the mansion’s entrance. As she turned her gaze back to see who it was, a young man came running toward her who looked vaguely familiar. It was the helpful guard she met while visiting the dungeon. She had suspected someone had been following her and wondered what there could be he needed to ask her.

Oh, gosh. What was his name again?

When the guard finally reached her, Roxana spoke without hesitation.

“Long time no see, Yoan.”

The name had come back to her just in the nick of time. Of course, it wouldn’t have mattered all that much if she had completely forgotten it.

“I-I... I’m honored you remembered my name, my lady.”

Yoan gushed as if he’d been singled out for commendation.

“Um... I apologize for stopping you like this, Lady Roxanna. I really don’t mean to impose, but...”

Roxana tilted her head slightly to indicate that she was listening closely to the blithering oaf. It was enough to make him turn red all over and have to expend some energy to keep from hyperventilating.

“Um... I just wished to inform you that I am doing much better now. Well enough to walk, in fact.”

Yoan had been recovering ever since the trouncing Charlotte had given him. It was his first time seeing Roxana since then, so it was safe to say that he was a bit excited to see her. Still, it was odd.

Why is he reporting the state of his health to me? What a pointless thing to do.

“I heard you had asked about my condition. Thank you so much for taking an interest in someone like me.”

And there it was. Roxana finally understood why he was so worked up. She had asked the guard who had replaced Yoan in passing all of one time how he was doing, yet somehow the giddy, young guard misconstrued her intentions. This was evident by the fact that he had practically run over here to thank her personally for her kindness.

“Right, I had heard you were injured due to Charlotte. I’m glad to see that you’re better.”

It was a rote reply and her words lacked any real sentiment, but given that every aspect of Roxana combined to make her a most attractive being, she could often smite a stranger’s heart without even meaning to do so. Just conversing with him was enough to make the poor man go weak in his knees.

“This isn’t much, Lady Roxana, but.... I have a small present for you.”

He withdrew a humble bouquet of flowers from behind his back, then offered them to Roxana.

She stared at him mystified.

“These are... for me?”

“Yes, my lady. They of course pale in comparison to your beauty, but even so I would be so honored if you...”

Yoan dropped his gaze. His bashfulness prevented him from finishing his sentence. Roxana gazed down at the flowers, then failed to stifle a giggle. Misunderstanding her reason for laughing, Yoan blushed from his forehead all the way down to his neck.

She suspected that he didn’t know the purple flowers he had been holding were actually a toxic plant developed by the Agreces. They were still under development though, so there wasn’t a name for them yet. They did however contain some paralyzing properties, but as they were only strong enough to make hands and feet fall asleep, they were deemed failures.

Roxana had actually overheard more recently that a new strain was in the works, so to her they were merely slightly toxic, failed plants that most would not consider gifting to anyone. But unaware of their backstory, Yoan probably plucked them simply because they were beautiful. Roxana acknowledged that such reasoning was understandable since poisonous things were often quite gorgeous. She graciously accepted the bouquet.

“Thank you.”

They meant nothing to her, but she still didn’t want to be rude. Since she was no longer going down to the dungeons, she didn’t need his help anymore. But even so, whether it was a man or an object, one never knew when they might come in handy. Roxana gave Yoan a lovely smile as a sign of thanks, which caused him to beam in near rapture.

“By the way, Lady Roxana, about that toy...”

What else could be weighing down this simple mind? she wondered.

“I wanted to apologize since his injuries were partially my fault. Had I known he was going to become your toy, I assure you I wouldn’t have beaten...”

Aha. As Yoan’s face trailed off, Roxana finally surmised that he had been afraid she might hold a grudge against him for whipping Cassis. The young guard looked mortified as he continued to beg for her forgiveness, but she didn’t blame him for anything. Besides, it hadn’t bothered her all that much that Cassis had been whipped.

“You were simply following orders. I’m in no position to judge. Just forget about it.”

As Roxana began to turn away to indicate that the conversation was over, she added, “By the way, thanks for the flowers, Yoan. See you around.”

Yoan was so enchanted by the beauty of her radiant smile that he stood rooted to the same spot long after Roxana had left.

* * *

“Where did you get those flowers?”

Cassis didn’t hesitate to interrogate Roxana as she entered his room with her hands full of purple blooms.

“I met someone on the way here who gifted them to me,” she answered as she walked toward him.

Even Cassis had to admit that despite doubting it possible, Roxana looked even lovelier adorned by the flowers. To him, the purple petals with their white streaks appeared commonplace enough, but he soon realized that he couldn’t identify them. They made a rather conflicting impression, but then again, he was no expert when it came to plants.

The one thing that he could admit with certainty was that they truly complemented Roxana. Her sublime beauty had impressed even him, but seeing her holding the flowers genuinely shocked him as she managed to look even more gorgeous. Any other man would have continued to gawk at her like a smitten lover, but Cassis willed himself to avert his gaze.

In truth, with his eyesight improving by the day, he had actually become even more inclined to avoid making direct eye contact with her. Mainly due to the inexplicable haze of uneasiness he felt whenever she came to see him. Not that it was directed at her exactly, but it still came over him like an instinctive defense against looming danger.

“They aren’t very aromatic.”

Roxana had lowered her head slightly toward the flowers. Her silky blond hair fell softly across the purple bouquet like woven golden threads, and her golden eyelashes were long enough to cast their own shadows, too. And though her face was pale and expressionless, its inherent beauty could likely slay any mortal being.

She raised her scarlet pupils from the flowers to look up at Cassis, but he pretended to ignore her gaze by saying something meaningless instead.

“You seem to be in a better mood than usual. I guess you like flowers.”

“Hard to say...”

She sounded mysterious as she looked down at the bouquet once more.

“They are indeed beautiful, but...”

She paused briefly while scrutinizing the blooms.

“I can’t say I care much for these. They die too quickly.”

She had actually been calculating how long the flowers would retain their toxicity. Much like herbs, poisonous plants were very temperamental and their potency relied heavily on how fresh they were. The ones in her hand were most effective immediately after they were cut and lost their potency with each passing minute. As that particular strain had been deemed a failure, they had fairly low levels of toxin to begin with. What’s more, they were notorious for wilting exceptionally quickly. Of course, not all poisonous plants were like that. Some actually became more potent after drying out in the sun. There were others that were most effective after they began to decay slightly.

These would have been nice had they been more effective. But alas, they were among the few failures the Agreces had created and were merely useful as decoration.

Roxana stirred from her reverie to find Cassis staring at her. Then she was suddenly struck with an idea.

“Would you like these?”

“Why would I want someone else’s present to you?”

“Well, I just thought that since there isn’t anything else in this room, perhaps these beauties would cheer you up.”

That and I have zero use for them.

She drew closer to Cassis while contemplating whether she would have to force him to accept them.

“Hang on. Those are—”

Cassis suddenly stopped midsentence as his eyes fell on the purple and white petals.

“Who gave those to you?”

His tone was rather sharp.

“One of my father’s underlings.”

What is it? What’s the matter now? she pondered.

“Do you often receive gifts like this?”

“I suppose so.”

There was hardly a shortage of smitten hopefuls at the Agrece compound. Besides flowers, various knickknacks often found their way to Roxana. Still, something was off. Cassis’ face had hardened after scrutinizing the bouquet more closely.