CH 7

It was early morning, and everyone was still asleep, and the boy had the audacity to come to my room and ask if we could sleep together.

‘Is he testing me?’

Even when I had already told him I didn’t bring him for his services, he didn’t let his guard down and was still questioning me. He wouldn’t have asked me to sleep together if that hadn’t been the case.

He might have realized that I approached him with an ulterior motive.

It was probably because he knew I had other intentions that he could say such bold things. While using some sort of dumb excuse that he’s too scared to sleep alone at that.

So I decided that I would purposely be tricked by Cassadin. If he was testing me, I just needed to prove to him that he didn’t need to.

“Of course, if that’s what you want. Come here.”

Cassadin, who was sitting at the end of the bed, instantly came closer to me as if he had been waiting.

“It’s the first night, and you’re already struggling to sleep. It must be incredibly hard for you to be sleeping in a new environment.”

I covered him with the blanket I had been using before he arrived.

“There’s that, but more than that…”

Cassadin trailed off, slowly closing his eyelids. Maybe it was the moonlight, but his face looked a lot more melancholic from this angle.

“More than that?”

“The people I had to kill to survive appear in my dreams every day. They crawl to me, covered in blood, whispering to me. Asking me why they had to die.”

“…”

“It was actually because I had the dream again that I came to your room, Sister.”

Was what he said the truth or a lie? But even contemplating this in the first place was foolish.

I just had to put on the mask of a loving sister for Cassadin. In order for him to rely on me and completely open up to me.

“That must be really hard. But it’s not your fault that those people died. You, as the person who did it, know that it was for the best, right?”

“…But killing people is still killing.”

“Cassadin.”

I gently called out his name. Then I stared intently at his face as he lay next to me, and he returned that gaze without looking away.

“Do you know that you’re really kind?”

“Me?”

“Yes, guilt is a feeling that only kind people have. At least you feel sorry for the people you’ve killed. And besides, you didn’t wield your sword to kill, but just to protect yourself.”

Damian killed me without any hesitation as I tried to pull away from him, and there would be no occasion where I would appear in his dreams.

“It’s the first time I’ve ever been told that I’m kind.”

“Just what kind of life have you been living?”

“…It’s an ordinary one. It won’t be interesting.”

Cassadin cut the conversation short with that. He had been trying to naturally change the topic every time the conversation mentioned his past, as if he were hiding something.

There was no need to dig into what he didn’t want to mention. He didn’t seem to want to tell the truth either. It was all information that could be found with a little research anyway.

“I see. But I do wish you wouldn’t be so tied up to your past.”

That was something I was telling myself too. It was ironic that I, who was the most tied to the past, was saying such a thing.

“I hope you aren’t bearing a wound that’s already been ignored for so long. There will only be good days from now on, after all.”

What I added were my wishes. Then I reached out and gently stroked Cassadin’s hair. Seeing me do so, he gave me a serene smile and said,

“At the arena. Only one person, Sister. You alone were shining brightly.”

“…”

“But you shine even brighter up close.”

Cassadin smiled brightly. His smile was so pure that it was blinding.

“Thank you, Sister. For bringing me here.”

I returned the same smile at him as I responded,

“Sleep well, and have a sweet dream. My little brother.”

I brushed through Cassadin’s hair a few more times, then withdrew my hand and closed my eyes. Then I pretended to fall asleep.

In order to become the naive sister who had no intention of harming him, and could sleep peacefully, even sleeping in the same bed with him.

I felt a persistent gaze pass through my closed eyes, so I peeked my eyes open just enough for Cassadin not to notice.

‘Of course. Everything was a lie, after all.’

Cassadin’s face, illuminated by the subtle moonlight, was terrifyingly frigid.

The face that had been smiling brightly just a moment ago was nowhere to be seen, and it was now only indifferent eyes that stared down at me. He watched me without blinking, like a predator who was just about to pounce on its prey.

Just quietly observing. Observing my breathing, face, and every little twitch.

When his eyes slid down to my throat and came to a stop, a shiver of goosebumps ran through my entire body.

How long did that last? But after a long while, he opened his lips.

“Sister.”

With a small voice, a cold fingertip touched my hair. He began to softly stroke my hair, just as I had stroked his earlier.

Despite his cold gaze, the way he stroked my hair was incredibly gentle. And because of that, I almost flinched more than a couple of times.

“May you have a pleasant dream.”

There wasn’t a hint of affection in his low, dry voice. Cassadin, having finished speaking, rose up from the bed with a rustling sound.

He walked up to the door without making a single sound when he suddenly turned back to look at me.

He leaned against the door while continuing to stare for a few minutes, then turned the doorknob and left the room.

Only when I heard the soft ‘click’ sound of the door closing completely did I fully open my eyes. Sleep was already a concept that was long gone.

‘So he’s a liar.’

Having experienced many harsh things in the gladiatorial arena, it was only natural that he couldn’t trust anyone.

Just like how I wore the mask of a kind sister, Cassadin must have also been hiding his true feelings behind a mask when he was in front of me.

Besides, how could he trust someone who bought him for 50 billion gold? Especially when it was a young Countess whom he had never met before.

I just needed to wait for the right time. The time when Cassadin would naturally blend into our family.

‘The time limit is one month.’

When I would attend the Crown Prince’s birthday party in one month, I would inevitably need to face Damian.

My plan was to legally document Cassadin as my younger brother and tame him completely.

I would use whatever means I could, and if there was something he also wanted, I would give it to him.

Just as I now have Cassadin, he also deserved to obtain what he wanted.

It wouldn’t be a bad idea to investigate the past that Cassadin was trying to hide as well. Since I knew absolutely nothing about him at the moment.

Even looking back on the memories of my past, I never had a conversation with Cassadin before. The only memory I had of him was when our eyes met just once while he was silently standing by the Crown Prince’s side.

‘He didn’t say anything when I asked him what he likes, so I’ll need to ask Sasha to look into Cassadin’s past in secret.’

By the time I fell asleep after organizing my thoughts, the sky was already beginning to lighten up.

“Miss! Miss!”

What I woke up to was Sasha’s urgent voice. When I sat up in bed, I felt a pleasant breeze blow in from the window that was slightly ajar.

Then I drowsily rubbed my eyes as I asked Sasha,

“What is it, Sasha? You don’t normally wake me up at this time.”

“…Well, Miss. Master is calling for you.”

“This early in the morning?”

Sasha nodded in response to my question.

“Alright. I’ll be there shortly.”

With the help of the maids, I quickly got prepared and went to my father’s office.

Before leaving for his office, I glanced at the room next door, but I couldn’t sense anyone inside.

‘Look at him, waking me up and falling asleep comfortably in his own bed.’

I grumbled to myself internally, then hurried my steps to soon arrive at Father’s office.

When I opened the door, I found Father busily flipping through documents at his desk.

“Did you call me Father?”

“You’ve come.”

Father pushed the stack of papers aside and opened the conversation with a serious expression. He had dark rings under his eyes, most likely from a lack of good sleep last night.

“I thought about it all last night. The slave you brought Aren, his name is Cassadin, was it? I’ve thought about him.”

“…Yes.”

“I thought about it long and hard. And I have made a decision.”

“What decision did you make?”

Just when I asked him, Father suddenly slammed his hands on the desk. When I flinched in surprise, Father gave me a sweet smile as he answered.

“I have decided to test him.”

“A test?”

“Yes, if he passes the test I give him, I’ll allow him to become your younger brother.”

“What kind of test will it be?”

“It won’t be fun if I tell you in advance. You’ll find out soon.”

And I was able to figure out what ‘test’ my father had planned later that day at noon.

“We have a large cavern in our territory. And it’s said that there’s a medicinal herb only known to exist in legends within that cavern. It’s called mountain hawthorn, a herb with red fruits and a very pleasant scent. All you need to do is bring me that herb.”

Father had Cassadin seated in the living room as he started to explain the test.

“Father, is the cave you’re referring to…the one located on top of the steep cliff in the straight west?”

“Yes.”

I let out a deep sigh. That cavern was already hard to reach with just the climb, but there were also rumors about a terrifying monster living inside.

“I’ll be on my way then.”

But Cassadin merely bowed his head with an indifferent face and left for the cave. Watching his silhouette fade into the distance, I turned back to Father.

“Father, you don’t intend to accept Cassadin in the first place.”

“Aren, a slave is just a slave. You are my precious daughter. You will understand your father’s intentions one day.”

Father gently patted my shoulder as he responded. If this were my father’s test, then it would be up to Cassadin to pass it.

[I will prove my worth here.]

And he truly kept his word.

“I’ve returned.”

Because it didn’t take even half a day for Cassadin to come back with the specific herb.