Chapter 104 – Messy Event [3]

[Don’t have any mercy, Cassius.] Ananke said firmly, motivating her Blessed. [Teach them all a lesson.]

’Why are you more enthusiastic than me about this, Queen?’ Cassius’s lips almost twitched.

[Looking down on you means looking down on me. How could I accept such a thing? You are me and I am you.]

’Queen, please, never say anything like that in front of Isolde. She might not be able to kill you, but she will absolutely kill me.’

[Who told you to fall for dangerous women?] Her voice dripped with scorn.

Cassius ignored her, shifting his attention toward the groups of young men and women staring at him as if he had grown a second head.

All of them assumed he was doing this purely because his pride had been wounded, that he simply wanted to prove he was more than a spoiled bastard.

They were clearly not taking him seriously.

He twisted his lips into a cold smile, catching Klaus already cackling like a madman, a small gust of wind stirring around him, clearly about to accept the provocation.

But Klaus was not his target. The man was annoying, but he was a friend despite everything.

His target wasn’t even Emrys — at least, not directly — who was watching him with the expression one reserves for clowns. Love stood beside him now, mirroring his expression almost instinctively. Anesthesia was staring intensely at her.

Cassius’s actual target was one person and one person only.

And at that exact moment, his red eyes settled on him.

"Right, Jonathan?" Cassius said, looking at the son of the Second Knight of the Deathless Crusaders.

He studied the grey-haired man, remembering how in the game this particular bastard had caused enormous problems for Emrys.

Jonathan of Grace was the type who never fought face to face. He despised it, not because he was weak, but simply because he enjoyed using other people as puppets, as toys to be discarded after serving his dirty plans.

By every account, he was unworthy of the name he had inherited from his father, the Knight of Grace.

In the game, Jonathan’s philosophy was one every attentive player knew well: never get your own hands dirty.

Strangely, he was similar to Anesthesia in that respect.

Maybe that was why.

Initially, Cassius had planned not to touch him, to instead use him against Emrys. But he had changed his mind.

This young man could be used right now for something far greater.

’I need to make sure my dear uncle is the only viable path to your success, darling sister-in-law.’

With that wicked thought, Cassius looked at Jonathan, who was narrowing his blue eyes at him, clearly wondering why he was being singled out among so many people.

"Why me?" Jonathan asked softly, his pale, thin lips curling slightly. "Why not Handoff, who is looking at you with such eagerness?"

"Yes! Cassius, come on—!"

"Klaus is my friend." Cassius said, cutting off his loud childhood friend. "I can allow him to talk behind my back. The same goes for Meadow, I like her glasses, so she gets a pass. You look stunning by the way, get closer to me will you..."

Meadow rolled her eyes, amused.

"...as for Keisha, just look at that face. How could that girl say anything bad about anyone?" He smiled warmly. "Keisha, may you stay exactly like this forever."

"Ahh! T-Thank you, Cassius!" She squealed, gripping Natalia tighter, nearly making both of them stumble.

But Cassius wasn’t done. He continued, pointing person after person.

"Natalia is the same. Look at how she’s staring at me, you can see she can’t bring herself to say anything bad—!"

"Fuck you, Cassius." She cut him off. Meadow burst into laughter.

Cassius paused, lips twitching. "...well, I forgive her. Just like Klaus, she is a good friend. Sometimes."

Natalia scoffed, her glass-like eyes narrowing.

"Of course, I cannot challenge my own uncle and aunt, they are exempt from all blame. Now, you might ask about William Castria. But look at him, the man thinks of nothing but swords. He is helpless in any other situation."

William narrowed his eyes but said nothing. Clearly, Cassius was right.

"As for the other Tier Three scions—" he sneered at them openly "—who cares? They can bark as much as they want. I won’t spare them a glance as long as they keep it away from me."

"Are you purposely leaving out Stormblessed?" Jonathan inquired, then shook his head as if it didn’t matter. "Actually, tell me first. What did I supposedly do to you? If it’s true, I have no problem apologising for everything, Cassius Desdemona. Today is not a day for petty disputes."

’Oh?’ Cassius grinned inwardly. ’Trying to play the bigger man? Not so easy, my dear Jonathan.’

He shook his head, but before speaking, he glanced subtly and imperceptibly at Meadow, then opened his mouth.

"Don’t act honourable here, Jonathan." He said. "All of you will understand soon enough why I said that."

He paused, then immediately pointed at Anesthesia, who almost jumped, her eyes going wide.

"I will have you all know that I am now the brother-in-law of Anesthesia, having married Isolde Amaris, her older sister. So we are family now. You all know how sweet and gentle Anesthesia is."

He looked at her with fond warmth, increasing her stupor considerably.

"Truly, I am blessed. For as family, my dear sister-in-law couldn’t bear to hear so many foul things being said about me, and so she came to me and shared what she had been hearing, both on the Net and directly from others."

Everyone listened attentively. Some even nodded.

Anesthesia’s face went pale. Jonathan snapped his head toward her. Their eyes met, and his blue eyes darkened momentarily at seeing her so close to Raven.

"Unsurprisingly, Jonathan had said something about me, and Anesthesia relayed it." Cassius continued. "Now, the question you should all be asking is why. Why did he go to my sister-in-law to say such things about me? Well, let me enlighten you all on one simple matter you apparently don’t know..."

He pointed his cane toward Jonathan, its tip licked by fire.

"...Jonathan of Grace is simply in love with my sister-in-law. And as you know, love can make you do anything just to be close to the person you love."

The Hall went quiet. People gasped and frowned, glancing between Anesthesia and Jonathan.

"What nonsense are you spouting?" Jonathan’s face twisted.

"Nonsense?" Cassius echoed. "It’s not nonsense if my sister-in-law told me so herself. And you all know...Anesthesia does not lie."

’Oh, Vorn curse me!’ Anesthesia shrieked inwardly, wanting nothing but to shout. But after the previous incidents with Cassius, she had learned that speaking would only make things worse.

But staying silent...was that any better? He was lying. She had never said any such thing to him.

Yet Cassius’s words had already reached every mind in the room.

Emrys was frowning heavily at Jonathan. Raven’s red eyes were glowing with a deathly aura.

Esmeray was watching and laughing as if this were a theatrical performance. Klaus and his childhood friends stared at Jonathan with expressions that said clearly: I always knew something was off about this man.

The Tier Three heirs, along with Jeanne — Heiress of the Tier Two Safara family — and William regarded Jonathan in the same fashion.

Cassius’s words held no truth. But the possibility of Jonathan loving Anesthesia was far from low. In fact, most men inside the room were either in love with or deeply attracted to Anesthesia.

Knowing that, they couldn’t help but instinctively believe it.

"I am saying this not only for my own honour, but also for my uncle’s." He said, pointing proudly at Raven. "Who is now Anesthesia’s boyfriend. Isn’t it—!"

CRACKLE—!

’Ah, here we go!’ Cassius said with a wide inward smile, before snapping his head — like everyone else — toward Emrys.

Golden lightning shrouded Emrys from head to toe: sizzling, cracking, ready to strike every person in the room faster than sound itself.

Everyone tensed, their essence churning as they felt a genuine threat to their lives.

"What did you just say?" Emrys growled at Cassius, though his eyes — now lightless black with fury — were fixed on Anesthesia, who was completely lost.

Her mouth opened and closed. No sound came out.

She could defend herself and tell them Cassius was lying. Emrys would likely believe her if she insisted. But by doing so she would lose ground with Raven. Why would she justify herself to a childhood friend?

Or she could hold her ground, say nothing, and let the situation pass. Raven would trust her more for it. And then everything could continue, her relationship with Emrys kept hidden until they had enough power to manage the consequences of manipulating a Prince.

But Anesthesia was torn between the two options, her mind aching as she tried to navigate the situation.

Cassius would never allow that. He struck again while the iron was hot, his voice loud and convincing.

"Why are you so worked up, Emrys?" He said, noticing how the servants had gone eerily still, glancing at one another. "You are simply a childhood friend to Anesthesia. Don’t overstep your boundaries."

He looked next at Jonathan, whose eyes were dead cold, fixed on Anesthesia as if he wanted nothing more than to devour her alive.

The truth of his feelings, at least, was no lie.

"Oh my, why are you looking at her like that?" Cassius said, and in a single step, he positioned himself in front of Anesthesia.

Raven did the same, stepping up at his left. Esmeray — still laughing and giggling — mirrored them and took his right.

"Anesthesia is a Hood now." Esmeray said, eager to pour fuel on the fire. "Touching her means touching us, the Royal—!"

"I will not repeat myself." Emrys cut in, his voice like thunder, his power slipping beyond control, climbing upward. The golden lightning above him began slowly taking the shape of a man holding a spear. "Move. I want to speak with Anesthesia."

"Wait! Emrys, don’t—!"

"Over our dead bodies." Cassius interrupted Anesthesia with a mocking smile."Anesthesia is not yours, Emrys. After all, if she were truly yours, would she be here holding my uncle’s hand like a lover?"

He scoffed, sneering openly. "Sit back down and be a good boy."

"I warned you." Emrys said, finally losing patience with Cassius’s games, and he moved. His body became a flicker of golden lightning, crossing the distance in an instant.

He pulled his arm back, muscles blazing with lightning, fist clenched and ready to strike.

Before the blow landed, Raven’s hand, shrouded in a dark wisp, whipped forward and coiled around Emrys’s fist, stopping it cold.

The dark wisp and the lightning met, the former beginning to rot the lightning itself...slowly, with effort.

Their eyes found each other through the tension. Each one staring into the anger the other had long carried.

"I have always wanted to find out why it had to be you." Raven smiled coldly, his essence surging. "Now let me—!"

"JULIE, WHAT ARE YOU DOING!"

Everything ground to a halt.

Every heir, even Emrys and Ravensnapped their heads toward the voice.

There, the Hood servants were backing away with panicked expressions from a pink-haired woman.

"This is not—!"

"Don’t forget." Julie cut the man off, locking her knowing eyes on him. "Don’t forget!"

She warned them, then immediately swung her attention back to the heirs and smiled.

Wide. Cold.

She seized her clothes and tore them open, revealing a body covered in runic inscriptions written in blood that moved continuously across her skin.

The inscriptions took the shape of an inverted crescent moon.

"Oh, Vorn!" Love cried out, her eyes wide. Her Aspect flared instantly.

She was not alone. As if it were a signal, every heir activated their powers simultaneously.

’Ah, shall we?’ Cassius thought, and acted.

With masterful precision, he used his fire-shrouded cane and slammed it down onto Emrys’s hand — directly on the ring finger — cracking it downward.

Emrys shrieked, but before he could counterattack, Raven headbutted him clean. Emrys’s head snapped backward, blood spraying. Esmeray laughed, spun on her heel and drove a kick into his chest with a resounding crack, launching him away from them.

Anesthesia shouted in horror.

The runic tattoos on Julie blazed with blinding crimson light.

"Praise the Lord of the Red Moon!" Julie bellowed with everything she had.

And the world turned red. An inverted crescent moon materialised above the Hall and began to descend.

"EMRYS!"

"SHUT UP!" Cassius bellowed, seizing Anesthesia with overwhelming strength. Meadow sprinted toward the Hood cluster for protection, but she was slow. Far too slow.

Cassius burst forward with a flare of fire and stretched his hand toward her. Meadow took it, and he flung her sharply to his side.

Meadow winced at the force, then her eyes narrowed as she felt something pressed into her hand.

"Cassius!" Raven screamed, pulling both Cassius and Meadow’s focus back to the moment.

"HAHAHAH!" Klaus laughed wildly while others around him panicked, his wind Spirit already summoned.

TAK!

Cassius’s cane struck the floor. Fire erupted and spread around them in a protective barrier.

But by then, the Red Moon was already upon them.

And it landed.

—End of Chapter 104—