Chapter 1556 Dangerous Knowledge
Shadows suddenly danced across Cassie's beautiful face as she lowered the Guiding Light. "That was because Torment had a message to deliver to me, so that her wish could be fulfilled. And that message could only be delivered face-to-face."
She took a deep breath. "So, she infiltrated Fallen Grace and modified the shackles that bound Dusk. She also wrote an accord of what happened in the previous cycles and left it for me to read. Finally, she crawled into the Temple of Dusk and met me, delivering the message."
Cassie's voice turned cold, and her expression became ruthless:
"However, she was still a Defiled. And, unlike the Mad Prince, she did not have a whisper of Ariel to keep her from losing all of her humanity. All she had was a cruel weave of restrictions and commands to push her toward the desired outcome, and that weave was not flawless."
She looked at Sunny without any humor in her eyes. "So, after completing the mission of delivering her message to me, she instantly attempted to consume me. She was still being held back by the authority of the Dread Lord, though, and so... she died by my hand, instead."
She turned away. "What would have changed if I told you? We would have still needed to go to Aletheia's Island. We would have still needed to go to Twilight. Sure, we could have prepared better for what was waiting for us ahead... but I am not omniscient. I only know that much. Would it have made a difference? Or would it have just made us complacent and arrogant, leading to our deaths?"
The blind girl smiled sadly. "Most of all, would any of our preparations have been more thorough than what the Mad Prince and Torment had already prepared for us?"
She shook her head. "So, I think I will keep my knowledge to myself. That way, at least, I won't be blamed for the decisions the rest of you make, when you make them."
Sunny laughed bitterly and stared at her, his eyes full of dark amusement. "Oh... now you decide to keep your knowledge to yourself. Good, good. It's just a pity that you couldn't do the same on the Forgotten Shore, before turning me into a damned slave!"
He had not planned to bring the distant past up, but hearing Cassie say those words, all of the resentment he had buried in his heart suddenly flooded to the surface. Perhaps it was not unexpected, though. All this time, Sunny had hated the fact that he was made a slave by Nephis. Nephis had not used that power against him, so that hatred of his was more of an abstract thing, born from the fear of what could potentially happen.
Not that it made it invalid. Recently, however, the situation had changed. The harm Shadow Bond was doing him had turned from abstract to very real. Its existence was the thing that stood between him and Nephis like an impregnable wall, making the idea of them having a future together seem beyond reach. That was what Cassie had taken from him, as well.