Chapter 41

Chapter 41

I stroked and combed out Mother’s tangled hair with my fingers as I spoke.

“I mean, that monster almost slayed you earlier, yet you just stood there. It’s a wonder you walked away without a scratch.”

Unlike my gentle caress, my words were full of thorns.

“You say you went outside because you were worried about me, but honestly...”

I knew I was hurting the one person I loved, but I pushed on.

“Just look at yourself. You’re the one in bed from shock, not me. Not to mention, I wasn’t the least bit harmed during that calamity.”

“But Xan—”

“Really, Mother, I’m not sure which of us should be worrying about the other.”

I continued to smile as I watched her trembling lips struggle to form an appropriate response.

“Even if you had found me earlier, you’re just not strong enough to have gotten past those demons. Did you really think you could have rescued me?”

Her eyes were brimming with tears like a dam about to burst. Her teary gaze seemed to be asking me,

“Why are you being so cruel?”

“And though I shudder to think of this, what if someone trying to escape from one of those beasts had sent it in your direction. What then? Not to mention, Mother, the demons weren’t the only creatures running wild. What was to stop my toy from using you as a hostage in his attempt to escape? Did you consider any of these things before stumbling out of your room to look for me?”

That’s right. I was kissing goodbye any chance I had of being named daughter of the year, but it couldn’t be helped.

“Mother...”

My somber voice seemed to echo once again after the silence. Once again, I smiled sweetly as I said the final words that would drive the nail through her heart.

“If you really care about me, don’t try to help. You only end up causing me more trouble. I’d rather not have to think of you as a burden, Mother.”

* * *

“Lady Roxana.”

Emily met me just as I left my mother’s room. Her hand was positioned as though she had been preparing to knock on the door. She had come to find me due to a task I had given her before going to see my mother.

“Location?”

“He apparently just passed through the main gate.”

Upon hearing that Lante had returned, I quickened my pace. I had to get to him before anyone else had a chance to tell him about that afternoon’s mayhem. The matter had gotten more out of hand than I had planned, but not so much that I couldn’t handle it. The truth was, I was the one who ordered Cassis to get fetched and used Deon’s name as a cover. It goes without saying that all my fuming at the guards back in the glass chamber was just a front so that no one at the tea party would suspect me. And while I did feel a little bad about traumatizing those guards, they would have felt far more outraged and wronged if they had learned the truth. In the end, what was done was done.

While some of the afternoon had gone as planned, there was quite a lot that hadn’t. Mother coming to look for me belonged to the latter. It had been especially frustrating because I was sure she would stay in her room and away from any possible danger. After all, I had her escorted from the tea party by using the slight burn on her hand as an excuse. Another event I hadn’t foreseen was Jeremy letting the demon monsters loose in his pursuit of Cassis. The thought suddenly struck me again that Mother really could have died. Her crestfallen look when I left her room rushed into my thoughts, but I forced the image out.

I had set up my plan with the expectation of Cassis either coming to the tea party as beckoned or attempting to escape. Of course, the likelihood of him making a run for it had been much higher, and clearly, he did not disappoint. Jeremy had also played his part as anticipated. As much as I hate to admit it, using Deon’s name had served to protect me from suspicion better than I had expected. I risked very little in doing so too since all I would need to do in the event things went haywire was get rid of the messengers.

But as luck would have it, they had been dealt with before I had gotten anywhere near them. According to Emily, they’d been attacked by the demons. Actually, this would be a good time to confess that the map I had shown Cassis was only half correct. In other words, even if Jeremy hadn’t opened the door to the monster farm, Cassis wouldn’t have been able to flee the compound. I didn’t feel too guilty about misleading him though since I knew there was no way he’d be able to make it out alive on his own. If he had been able to, then the Cassis in the novel wouldn’t have suffered such a tragic death.

So in order to impress upon him the impossibility of going it alone, I deliberately arranged for him to have that failed escape attempt. Then again... he had only been recaptured due to his decision to save my mother. That was yet another scenario I could not have foreseen. It left me with an oddly sobering feeling.

“Welcome home, Master.”

But never mind all that as there were far more pressing matters at hand. It was time to get back on stage and play my role in order to execute the last stage of my plan.

“Hello, Father. Welcome home.”

Rushing my pace had granted me the opportunity to be the first of his children to greet him. He stared at me from afar. I knew the smile I was beaming at him was perfect as it was a look I had practiced my entire life. Soon other members of the household began to show up as well. Such a gathering was not common for our clan, but after the mayhem from that afternoon, it seemed everyone was curious to see how Lante would react.

Deon was going down the staircase towards our father, but his eyes were fixed on me. I had slapped him especially hard back in the yard, yet there wasn’t any trace of it on his smug face. He could have easily dodged or blocked me when I moved to strike him, and the fact that he hadn’t enraged me even more.

“So was everything all right while I was gone?”

As he was still unaware of what had happened, Lante looked to be in good spirits as he should have been.

“Father, I have some news that I’m certain you’ll be happy to hear.”

I ignored everyone’s puzzled expressions as I spoke. I’m sure that from their perspective, there couldn’t have been anything good to report after that afternoon’s disaster. But as Lante was clueless about all of that, he gazed at me expectantly. With my 1000-watt smile in place, I addressed the bemused crowd by reciting the announcement I had prepared.

“I finally succeeded in hatching the poison butterfly egg!”

Soon a number of heads were turning this way and that, with murmuring coming from all around me. Lante didn’t bother to mask his excitement as he questioned me.

“Did you really?!”

Instead of answering him, I beckoned the butterflies to appear. Everyone gawked at the creatures as their otherworldly, dark-crimson wings fluttered beneath the light of the chandeliers. As I mentioned before, successfully hatching poison butterfly eggs was a monumental feat. Even within the realm of sorcery, their handlers were considered unique. That’s why everyone’s amazement at my achievement was no surprise, especially since it was likely no one thought I would actually succeed.

“So what sort of butterflies will they grow up to be?”

Even Lante knew the characteristics of the butterflies were determined by the sort of poison they fed on. As he beheld the flying creatures, his eyes glinted with intense greed.The fact was that he could have taken the egg away from me at any time, but he hadn’t. The reason for that was simple though. Lante Agrece was indeed greedy, but not so much that he would sacrifice himself to serve as host to the bloodsucking creatures.

“I’m going to raise them to be killer butterflies, of course.”

There was a twinkle in my eyes as I spoke. I placed one hand on my heart as the other slightly lifted the fringe of my skirt from the ground, then I bowed my head while making my declaration.

“I am honored to have been able to rear one of the Agrece clan’s most deadly weapons, Father.”

Clearly overjoyed with my declaration of allegiance to the clan, Lante looked as if he would give me his kidney at that very moment had I asked for it. That was an exaggeration, of course. That selfish bastard would never actually do anything sacrificial.

“I’ve always expected a lot from you, Roxana.”

“Thank you, Father.”

At last, I was close to the final stage of my plan to get Cassis out of that hellhole.