Chapter 35

Chapter 35

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About 30 minutes before the demon first appeared in the glass chamber, Cassis had escaped his room. The burly guards had entered his room to chain up his cuffs.

“I don’t know why we have to bother chaining this guy up when he already has cuffs on.”

“Just do it. There’ll be hell to pay if we’re late.”

Perhaps because Cassis had been waiting quietly in his room and was being restrained by the cuffs, the guards were being much less vigilant.

“Where are you taking me?”

Cassis asked rather abruptly.

“Who said you could talk, you piece o—?!” shouted the first guard.

“Hold it! Don’t forget it’s Lady Roxana’s toy!” the second guard warned as he almost immediately stopped the first guard from acting recklessly. Instead, he simply glared at Cassis.

“We’ve been ordered to take you to Lady Maria’s tea party, so don’t do anything foolish, or we’ll make you regret it.”

That was the only explanation the guards offered him. Cassis had surmised that Roxana was attending the party being hosted by whoever this Lady Maria was, which was likely the reason for him being summoned to go there. The thought of the red welts she had made on his neck suddenly popped into his mind. Roxana had made sure to leave them where they were easily noticeable, so perhaps she really had planned to showcase them for everyone to see. Feeling a slight churning in his stomach, Cassis narrowed his eyes in disgust. As the guards reached toward him to gag his mouth, he instinctively turned his head.

“Stay still, you bastard.”

But Cassis was busy looking past the guards at the door to his room. They had forgotten to lock it from the inside, and instead left it slightly ajar. He felt his arms automatically flex.

Wow, these idiots actually left it open.

Had he not sensed someone just outside the door, he would have likely bolted for it right then. But almost as soon as he acknowledged their presence, a jet-black-haired youth with blue eyes stepped into the room. To Cassis, the younger boy resembled a pretty, well-groomed house pet, but the glint in those blue eyes was more akin to a wild beast.

“Good day, Master Jeremy, sir!”

Just as Cassis had presumed, the boy was indeed Lante Agrece’s son and appeared to be about a year or two younger than Roxana. The boy ignored the guard’s greeting and fixed his sights on Cassis.

“So you’re that Blue son of a bitch, huh?”

The coarse language actually took Cassis by surprise. As it was clear he was already aware of who he was speaking to, it was obvious the boy had intended the question to be a taunt.

“What’s the matter? Your ears blocked?”

Cassis continued to stare at the younger boy without making a sound. Jeremy was soon reeking of hostility. Having come all that way to pay Cassis a personal visit, made his inexplicable hatred towards the Blue Heir all the more apparent. However, the older boy remained silent and simply ignored Jeremy. Realizing what Cassis’s silence implied, Jeremy’s face slowly became surprisingly ugly.

“Um... Master Jeremy, may we ask what brings you here?”

Caught between the two youths, the guards began to sweat profusely.

“That’s what I wanted to ask you guys. Just what do you think you’re doing in here? Do you intend on taking him somewhere? Did Roxana order you two to take him for a walk or something?”

“N-No, sir. We were just taking him to Lady Maria’s tea party.”

Jeremy began to nod his head in understanding.

“I see... So that crappy excuse for a party was today, huh?”

A look of fear clouded the guards’ faces.

“I know all about that. That creepy gathering where they put all their toys on display and play with those gross dolls. That old lady just can’t leave Sis alone, can she? There’s no way she’d be interested in such an idiotic waste of time like that, yet that kooky old bat always invites her.”

The guards appeared genuinely shocked that someone would badmouth one of Lante Agrece’s wives so openly and viciously. They also looked increasingly conflicted as they could neither agree with him nor allow him to see they opposed what he was saying. Fortunately for them, Jeremy wasn’t interested in their reactions.

“But I don’t recall Xana saying she was taking her toy to the party.”

“Is it possible she had a change of heart, Master Jeremy? A messenger informed us that Master Deon had ordered the toy be taken straight to the glass chamber, s—”

To the guard’s dismay, he was unable to finish his sentence.

Wham!

As the guard had been trying to explain his and his partner’s actions in earnest, a foot came flying toward him, making a rough landing in his midsection.

“Argh!”

The guard fell backward onto the floor.

“M-Ma... Master Jeremy!”

The speed and power of the kick guaranteed the guard had suffered severe damage to his ribs.

“Are you assholes on rat poison or something?! How dare you even breathe Deon’s name in front of me!”

Jeremy’s voice dripped with venom. The guards’ faces turned sheet white as they trembled in fear for their lives. Just like the other Agreces, Jeremy made no exceptions when it came to being ruthlessness once provoked. It was only ever in front of Roxana that he became as feckless as a porcupine without quills, and why those who revered Roxana viewed him as a hypocrite. He became outraged rather easily. Especially when it came to matters related to his older half-sister. What the guard said had somehow managed to set off the outburst. In such a situation, their best option was to just roll over and wait for Jeremy to cool off.

“You! Talk! Whose possession is this?”

“Lady Roxana’s, sir.”

Thwack!

“Kegh!”

“So you do know...”

Thwack!

“Urgh!”

“Yet you dared to run your mouth off like that?!”

Jeremy—who was especially sensitive about anything that concerned Roxana—was annoyed to the hilt at the mere mention of Deon Agrece, since he disliked his older half-brother profoundly.

“What’s the use of having eyes on your head if you don’t use them to see properly, huh? What are they? Decorations? Seeing how useless they seem to be, shall I just get rid of them for you?”

Then Jeremy stopped pounding the guard for a moment to look at Cassis again.

“And you! What’s the big idea going along with these jokers? Don’t you understand you’re screwed if that asshole Deon set this up, you dumbass?”

There was no doubt Jeremy was just venting at this point. Strictly speaking, Cassis had not gone anywhere yet with the guards. He had merely stared at them in silence with his golden eyes calm and collected as usual.

“You and you, go find out from Roxana directly if she really wants her toy to be fetched...”

As he spoke, Jeremy noticed a troubling sight. The red welts on Cassis’ neck burned across his eyes like flaming meteors. The marks looked almost sadistic in their severity. The teeth marks were so baldly visible. His white skin made the red scars on top of it still appear sore. Knowing full well who had made them, Jeremy’s eyes bulged out in anger. He began to grind his teeth as he growled to himself.

“As if all this wasn’t bad enough! Now this worm is staring at me li—”

The atmosphere in the room sank several degrees further south. Jeremy continued to curse under his breath while clenching his hands into fists. It appeared he was making an effort to actually calm himself down.

“You! Turn around and take exactly one step in that direction.”

Jeremy ordered Cassis to do as he said with an exceptionally murderous look in his eyes. The direction Jeremy had pointed him in was toward the room’s open door. Considering the conversation they had just concluded in conjunction with the order Jeremy was suddenly giving him, Cassis felt confident that no physical harm would come to him if he simply remained still. The straight line Cassis’ mouth had formed twitched downward as he responded.

“Who said I have to take orders from you?”

The sudden challenge seemed to stump Jeremy, but only for a moment. A swift punch flew toward Cassis’ face. Anyone else would have flinched at the sheer force of the strike, but Cassis remained in place. As the guard had been trying to explain his and his partner’s actions in earnest, a foot came flying toward him, making a rough landing in his midsection. Instead of landing the hit on Cassis’ face, Jeremy made sure that the punch only grazed the older boy’s cheek before hitting the wall behind him. Pieces of debris broke away from the wall’s surface and crumbled onto the floor. The fact that Cassis had not made any attempt to dodge his attack seemed to incense Jeremy even more.

“You’re really just a good-for-nothing, wiseass, aren’t you?”

This had confirmed it. Jeremy could not dare hurt Cassis himself. Not directly anyway. He had expected to make Cassis cower in terror by faking him out with the punch, but seeing that his plan had not panned out made Jeremy even angrier.

“Ugh, whatever.”

Jeremy turned away from Cassis, then proceeded to pummel the remaining guard.