Chapter 43

Chapter 43

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“Lady Maria said I should make sure you received this, My Lady.”

One of Maria’s servants had been waiting for me in front of Cassis’ room. She was holding a rather large bouquet of flowers that had been festooned with an enormous, eyesore of a ribbon. Cassis looked up curiously when I entered the room carrying the armful.

“These were given to me just outside of your room.”

After giving him that short explanation, I proceeded to open the folded card amongst the blooms. Upon reading it I couldn’t help but laugh aloud. Along with expressing her hope that I liked her presents, Maria also insisted that I bring Cassis to her next tea party. It had barely been three days since the disaster, yet she was already planning her next gathering. She was truly a character.

The card had mentioned presents, so I became curious as to what else she had sent along with the bouquet. Then I found it. Tucked between the stems of the flowers was a small vial. Just from the looks of it, it was hard to tell what the liquid was since it was transparent. So throwing caution to the wind, I uncorked the vial and sniffed it. Almost immediately, I shoved the vial right back into the center of the bouquet.

In her infinite wisdom, Maria had sent me a mixture of various aphrodisiacs. That explained why her servant had been waiting in front of Cassis’ room of all places. But upon further consideration, the vial was a sign of good news as it served as proof that even amidst all the mayhem from a few days prior, people had noticed the red welts I had made on Cassis’ neck.

“Is that another gift from one of your father’s men?”

“No, this is from one of my stepmothers.”

I also appreciated the flowers because they were the type with a useful toxicity. Maria had likely been trying to make up for her son. She had never actually seen me and Deon at each other’s throats prior to that day in the yard.

“How’s your mother doing?”

Cassis asked the question as if in passing while staring at one of the scarlet blooms.

“Much better. She suffered from a sort of shock-induced breakdown.”

The conversation between us was far from what anyone would call warm, but I did notice his attitude towards me had definitely changed. It was as if the sharp edges to our exchanges had dulled. But it also probably had something to do with the lie I had told him. I had inflicted a few injuries on myself, then led him to believe that I had been punished as well due to his attempted escape. Of course, I never actually came out and said that was what had happened. I did, however, make sure that he noticed the injuries before hiding them away and giving a veiled hint as to how I got them. I also made certain that my face appeared paler than normal whenever I visited his room. Honestly, for an accomplished actress like myself, it was all too easy.

The first day I had dropped hints about receiving punishment, I noticed Cassis had appeared to be very worried about me. He didn’t say so, but I could tell from his troubled gaze that he felt guilty about what had happened to me. But fleeing was the only thing he could have been expected to do. Honestly, I felt a bit guilty knowing that, especially since his attitude towards me had thawed so much. Cassis had most likely appreciated what he had observed to be my best effort at protecting him since the reality was that he’d suffered almost no real punishment for his actions. On top of that, he still believed the map I had shown him was genuine, and therefore probably saw my every gesture as sincere. There were also the matters with Deon, Mother, and everything else that had transpired.

“That man who triggered my cuffs to engage at higher restraint levels, is his name Deon Agrece?”

I knew he’d bring him up sooner or later. Still, it was rather odd to hear Deon’s name coming out of Cassis’ mouth. His gaze became cooler compared to when I had first arrived, which I imagined had probably been due to his recollection of his nasty encounter with that creep Deon. After ruminating for a bit longer, Cassis finally spoke again.

“Are you aware that he deliberately drove that demon monster towards your mother?” I answered calmly while gazing at him.

“I am.”

His golden eyes suddenly appeared to take on a different shade. It was almost as if they were asking me how such a thing could even be possible. But before he could even ask the question, I blurted out a response.

“It’s because we’re Agreces.”

The fact was that the worst of us went by the name of Deon and was capable of doing any despicable thing. He’d already killed Achille, so he certainly had zero qualms about killing Mother. I felt Cassis’ gaze travel to my cheek where the scratch Deon had given me was still visible.

“By the way, I have two pieces of good news for you.”

I avoided his stare and made my voice sound as cheerful as possible in hopes of sidestepping any discussion about the tiny scar.

“Firstly, the doorway to that secret passage I told you about will open soon.”

The path that was essential for his escape only opened once a month on the day before the monthly evaluation.

“You mean the one you mentioned before?”

“That’s right. Remember how I said there was a small matter that needed to be taken care of before you could use it? I was referring to how the door only opens on a special day.”

During our monthly evaluations, access to some secret passages and mazes was allowed, but some of them had fallen out of service. Having exhausted their usefulness, a number of the passages had been wholly forgotten. The ones that were of particular interest to me were the paths that had been abandoned due to how extremely dangerous they were.

As I considered the one I would be leading Cassis to, I noticed he had begun to watch me with a strange look in his eye. His face was practically saying how odd he found it that I was plotting his escape with him. And considering that it was coming from the same person who was responsible for keeping him in the same place he had attempted to run away from days prior was understandably disconcerting.

“Secondly...”

I was positive that my second piece of news would make him even happier.

“I was able to locate more scouts along our territory’s border. They appeared to be Pedelians.”

I suddenly felt the air surrounding Cassis go still. Everything I had explained to him was based on the images my butterflies had transmitted to me.

“There was a man who appeared to be in his mid-thirties. He had one brown eye and the other was covered with an eyepatch. Do you know him? He appeared to be the leader of the troop.”

It was obvious from his reaction that my conclusion had been dead-on.

“Where were they exactly?”

“At the southeastern border.”

I was somewhat reserved in telling him since the carantul habitat Deon had left for was also in the east.

“I think it might be helpful if those scouts could get their hands on something of yours.”

I had expected him to ask me more questions, but he just jumped straight into the heart of it. Of course, that was a good thing since I didn’t know much else about the Pedelian scouts.

“Hand me one of those flowers.”

Just as he said, I plucked one from the bouquet, then handed it to him. Cassis ripped one of the leaves from its stem, then nipped his finger and wrote something on the leaf in his blood. It appeared to be some sort of secret script known only to Pedelians. I hadn’t been able to determine if it was regular writing or hieroglyphs of some sort. As I studied the leaf, he stared at the flower I had given him with a mysterious expression. Then he turned his gaze turned to me.

“If I told you that I trusted you completely, that would be a lie.”

I said nothing and just stared at him as he spoke. Those pure, golden eyes that resembled some sort of holy spring were deep and clear.

“Since neither our relationship nor our current situation would allow for such a thing to be possible, I won’t waste my breath by saying such nonsense.”

He continued to look directly into my eyes as he spoke.

“But even if your actions are not entirely altruistic, the fact that you are aiding me...”

I had begun to wonder what he was getting at as I maintained eye contact with him.

“...in and of itself is deserving of my deepest gratitude.”

It was the first time Cassis had said something so serious to me. I knew he had been deliberating at length about something, but that had been completely unexpected. His unwavering gaze had caught me entirely off guard. Honestly, there isn’t a word to describe what I was feeling in that moment. All I know is that he was being sincere. If I had been in his position, I would have thrown in even more sentimental nonsense in order to butter up the listener and wrap them around my finger.

By now it should come as no surprise that I could lie and cheat like any good Agrece whenever the need arose. Cassis, however, was of a different breed. Of course, I had already known that, but the re-realization left me with an odd sensation in the pit of my chest. Perhaps it was because I was so used to dealing with Agreces who were all experts in deception. All the same, it was a strange feeling. On top of that, his gaze had made my chest feel as if some unknown weight was bearing down on it. I had experienced a similar feeling when I first heard he had saved Mother’s life.

“I think it’s still too early to speak of gratitude. Or have you forgotten that you’re still here in the Agrece compound?”

Although I had been angling for him to be indebted to me from the start, hearing him express words of thanks like that felt a bit weird.

“Yes, you’re right. I’m still here.”

Nevertheless, if things continued to progress along that trajectory, I knew I’d be able to avoid facing death, which was no small feat. I was uncertain of how Cassis was interpreting my awkwardness, but his gaze seemed to warm slightly.

“Roxana.”

“Yes?”

At some point he had begun to turn over the flower I had given him in his hand.

“There’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you.”

“What is it?”

“This flower... Did you accept it knowing what it is?”