Chapter 45

Chapter 45

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As per usual, silence reigned within the prison-like room. Cassis began to reflect on the recent events that had taken place there. He devoted special attention to his attempted escape. In doing so, he couldn’t help but conclude once again that the Agreces were indeed a truly mad clan. Jeremy Agrece’s rashness alone hadn’t been the only factor that could have jeopardized the safety of everyone else in the compound. It was the very fact that their family had even considered breeding demon monsters within their own home in the first place. Such a thing was just downright incomprehensible. That along with the grotesque menagerie of human-like creatures he had caught a glimpse of trapped inside of the shattered glass chamber. The memory alone of those poor souls forced into those cages made him want to vomit from sheer disgust.

Then there was Deon Agrece...

“By the way, there were some scouts sniffing around our border like dogs.”

“I believe they were a search party of Pedelian’s most loyal soldiers out looking for their lost young master. I’ll be honest with you—it took a bit longer than I expected to dispose of that feisty lot.”

“What? All I did was send them to meet their beloved master a little ahead of time. You’ll be able to see them again soon enough.”

The Agrece man’s voice echoed in Cassis’ head causing him to clench his fists. The glare coming from his golden eyes was as icy as an arctic wind. If given the chance, the young Pedelian knew that he would not hesitate to crush his enemy like a common bug. What Jeremy had done was indeed infuriating, but Deon was the one who had unfortunately lingered in Cassis’ thoughts. He suspected it had been due to the shock he received from witnessing the final events of that day. He had undoubtedly heard Roxana’s mother plead with Deon over and over again not to kill Achille. Cassis knew Roxana’s brother Achille was dead. It was one of the few slivers of information he had overheard while down in the dungeon.

What surprised Cassis the most was what Roxana’s mother had said after Deon had engaged the highest restraint level on his magical cuffs. She had mentioned more than once that Deon had been the one to kill her son. Such a fact was something Cassis simply could not wrap his mind around. How could something like that even be possible when they were brothers? Even if the two had different mothers, they still shared at least half their genes. Then again, Deon had proven himself evil enough to lead a demon monster towards a helpless woman. Had Cassis not slain the beast, it would have certainly killed her. When he considered those points, Cassis didn’t find it nearly as shocking that Deon had killed his own half-brother.

“...it would have been more fun, if you had wept like you did back then.”

Cassis suddenly furrowed his brow. He had unexpectedly recalled the scratch on Roxana’s cheek, the reddish wound on her arm, and the blood stains that had seeped through her clothes. His emotions were in such turmoil that he thought he could actually feel them churning inside of himself.

What a truly odd place I’m trapped in.

Having been locked up most of the time since he arrived, Cassis had made relatively little contact with the Agreces. Even so, he imagined that he may likely have become infected by their madness if he had. What he found most bizarre was that the most outlandish acts always seemed to be carried out with the most matter-of-fact attitudes. What the rest of the world considered common standards, laws, and ethics really seemed to have no place there. Even their sense of right and wrong appeared to be based on a completely different set of criteria. There was simply no way for the average person to remain sane if they spent too much time at the Agrece mansion.

Cassis looked down somberly at the magical cuffs still locked around his wrists.

“From now on, there will be a restraint spell on you.”

Back in the hallucination room, Cassis had recalled a past that he had hidden away even from himself. But it was during his time reflecting on that memory that he realized how to free himself of the restraints. He finally knew how to draw on his powers—which had been repressed until then—in order to break the cuffs. His powers were not entirely dependent on his physical recovery.

“Hmm...”

Various thoughts swirled about inside his head. One thing he hadn’t considered before was what would happen to his keeper should he succeed in getting away. He had always assumed Roxana was part and parcel of her clan, but as of late, he hadn’t been as certain. She was a girl who had lost her own brother to her half-brother, only for that same half-brother to later try to kill her mother. The sadder reality was that even with proof, there seemed to be nothing Roxana could actually do to Deon Agrece.

Cassis also recalled how she had spat up blood, which caused him to worry all over again about the toxic bouquets she had been receiving as gifts. Then there was the way her own prisoner had been mishandled. Had Jeremy not been caught red-handed, Cassis was certain Roxana would have been punished far more harshly for her laxness. All these things added to his uneasiness, but he couldn’t afford to allow such considerations to delay him unnecessarily either. In the end, he had to escape from the Agrece compound.

Cassis began to reflect on his experience in the hallucination room, then almost immediately felt uneasy all over again. He remembered the soft caress and quiet whisper of an apparition thanking him for saving her mother, which filled him with a sensation he simply could not describe. It was also the first time since he had entered the compound that he had been able to rest without a feeling of anxiety or caution. The fact that Roxana was no longer just another member of the enemy clan began to actually weigh down on his mind. After all, she had even gone to the trouble of locating the Pedelian scouts.

“Aaaaah!”

A sudden shriek sounded in the distance, which shook Cassis free from his reverie. The scream had been faint, but sharp, and had made his hair stand on end. Although he could not gauge where it had come from specifically, the clarity with which he had heard it suggested it had come from nearby.

Clang.

Upon hearing the door to his room slam shut, Cassis immediately went on full alert. However, it had only been Roxana. He watched as her familiar figure rushed through the door. Then as soon as she had shut it, she collapsed to the floor while coughing up blood. Cassis stood up instinctively.

“Roxana!”

Blood, nearly pitch-black in color, continued to spew out from between her lips. Then from out of nowhere, Cassis noticed a number of crimson butterflies land on Roxana’s hand and around the pool of blood she was kneeling in front of. It was a strange and eerie sight. Soon the air was thick with the scent of toxic fumes.

“Blergh...”

After a final bloody outburst, Roxana fell over face down. Without a moment’s hesitation, Cassis snapped the chain from his neck and ran to her side.

“Roxana! Wake up, Roxana!”

Her body was as cold as a sheet of ice. With her eyes shut and her face ashen, Roxana looked more like a cadaver than a living being. Only the red tint of the blood still on her lips seemed to be adding any color to her features. For some reason, the butterflies were also hovering over his shoulder. He hadn’t realized it at first, but in his haste to reach Roxana, he had reopened the wound Deon had made on his shoulder. The blood had already drenched a large section of his shirt.

“Roxana!”

Fortunately, she hadn’t fallen completely unconscious. As he called out to her a second time, Roxana began to slowly open her eyes. There was, however, hardly any clarity in her gaze. Then tears began to stream down from the corners of her eyes.

“Don’t go... out there.”

Her lips barely moved as she spoke.

“It’s... dangerous. I will... protec—”

But before she could finish, Roxana coughed up even more blood.

“You need to see a doctor right away.”

Cassis didn’t fully understand the situation, but he knew she was in serious trouble. He began to shift her into position as he contemplated how he would safely carry her out of the room. But Roxana mustered the strength to speak up.

“Don’t... Please...”

He could have easily pushed her grip on his arm away, but he could not bring himself to disobey the pleading look in her eyes.

“Please don’t let anyone find out what you just saw.”

Cassis could not move. Not while Roxana was using every ounce of her being to beg him not to. He knew he should confront her, or at least question her as to why he couldn’t find her help, but for some reason the words wouldn’t leave his mouth.

“Tell... no one.”

She spoke weakly as if she had taken her final breath. Then she closed her eyes and released his arm. Cassis watched the sleeping figure in his arms with bated breath. There were countless butterflies slowly fluttering around them like tiny vultures circling and waiting for a chance to feed on their prey.

“If your power gets out of control, it can be a source of disaster!”

He suddenly heard the somber voice from his memories echo through his thoughts again.

“Never, ever use your powers under such circumstances again!”

It was an order that had been etched deep within his mind.