CH 34

A man was quietly staring up at the sky in front of the plaza fountain.

He was wearing a dark robe, but I knew who he was the moment I saw him.

‘Cassadin.’

The silver hair beneath the black robe shone brightly even during the night. The raindrops that landed on his hair slipped down and fell carelessly onto the ground.

In the middle of the night, Cassadin was in the plaza where nobody resided, looking up at the sky with rain pouring down around him.

Turning down the coachman’s offer to hand me an umbrella after getting off the carriage, I approached the man standing in front of the fountain.

And he turned his head towards the voice that called for him. Soon, his eyes landed on me.

“Sister, how did you…?”

Cassadin stared at me with disbelief. His beautiful, deep amethyst eyes were shaking like reeds on a windy afternoon.

“I came looking for you since it was getting late.”

I grasped Cassadin’s hands, cold from their long exposure to the rain. Laughter slipped through my mouth from the relief that I had found him.

“Let’s go back, Cassadin.”

In the carriage returning to the mansion, there was only the sound of silence.

The only occasional sounds were the horses’ hooves clopping on the ground and the rain that had eased off a bit. And then the shallow breathing of his sleeping sister.

Cassadin peered down at Aren, who was sound asleep and leaning against his shoulder. She must have been tired, as she fell asleep as soon as they entered the carriage.

“Why?”

He asked with a trembling voice, but there was no answer from the slumbering woman.

“Why do you continue to…”

Knowing that Aren couldn’t hear him, he continued to mutter to himself. But feeling as though a heavy block of lead was weighing down his body the more he spoke, he stopped mid-sentence.

There was not much of a reason why Cassadin had been standing in the rain.

It was because the rain seemed to wash away all of the complicated thoughts troubling his mind.

That was the reason.

But it wasn’t in his plan for Aren, who had been avoiding him recently, to come looking for him so desperately.

Thanks to that, the odd emotions did not get washed away, but swelled up tenfold instead.

Then Cassadin tucked a lock of hair on Aren’s face behind her ear. With that movement, Aren nestled deeper into his arms with a relaxed face.

Even forgetting to breathe, Cassadin quietly inspected the woman who was cradled in his arms.

Her long eyelashes, sharp nose, and pink lips that naturally curled upwards.

Continuing to stare at Aren’s lips, Cassadin unconsciously angled his head.

The fear that his touch would taint the woman shot into his mind. But even the sharpest of minds wasn’t enough to suppress the boiling urge of his instinct.

And gently enveloping the back of Aren’s head with his hands, Cassadin pressed his lips against the sleeping woman.

But as soon as her soft lips came into contact with his, he felt as though he had just violated a rule he should have never broken.

‘What did I just…?’

Shocked by his own actions, Cassadin let out a soft sigh. At some point, his heart started to beat so fast that he wouldn’t be surprised if he died from a heart attack right now.

What if the sound of his heartbeat would wake her up?

Cassadin bit down on his lower lip as he looked down at Aren. Fortunately, Aren was still fast asleep, completely oblivious to what had happened.

Cassadin tried to follow Aren’s example and closed his eyes.

But there was no chance that he would be able to sleep in this situation.

The time it took for the carriage to arrive at the mansion felt like an eternity.

“Aren!”

My eyes popped open at my father’s enraged voice. I must have fallen asleep right after getting on the carriage.

Rubbing my tired eyes, I looked around my surroundings. It looked as though the rain had completely stopped while I was asleep.

“Have you woken up?”

Next to me was Cassadin, who was smiling at me with gentle eyes. And I also returned a smile to him.

“Both of you, come out right this instant.”

On the other hand, Father was banging his fist on the carriage window outside, glaring at me and Cassadin.

So I hurriedly stepped out of the carriage with Cassadin. Father must be furious, as his eyebrow was twitching vigorously.

“Aren, do you know just how scared I was to hear that you left the mansion without any notice?”

“I’m sorry, Father.”

“Cassadin, just where have you been? Do you know what commotion happened in the mansion when you disappeared? Aren was terribly worried about you.”

Then Father drummed his chest in exasperation.

“I’m sorry, Father.”

Cassadin apologized, bowing his head.

“It’s not right to make the person who brought you in worry.”

Father glared at Cassadin with wide eyes as he spoke.

“Cassadin. Don’t forget that what you have gained is something that others can’t have, no matter how hard they work for it. You must never repay kindness with evil.”

“…Yes, Father.”

“You may return to your rooms now.”

After saying that, Father turned and walked back into the mansion without looking back.

As I watched Father’s back become smaller in the distance, Sasha walked up to me and whispered,

“Master has been up this entire time because Miss hasn’t returned.”

“…”

It hurt my heart to see Father worry about me that much.

‘My beloved Father, would you understand my intention of bringing Cassadin into our family in order to save both you and me? Is what I’m doing for your sake only making you suffer?“

“Miss, you’re getting cold. I’ve warmed up some water for a bath, so let’s go up, and I can wash you.”

With Sasha in the lead, I walked towards the mansion’s entrance. Stopping for a moment, I turned around and extended my hand to Cassadin, who was quietly watching me.

“Come here.”

As if he had been waiting, Cassadin readily took my hand.

“Next time you go out, tell me or someone else. I was worried about you.”

“…Yes, Sister.”

Cassadin nodded and smiled faintly. His gaze, which had threatened to suffocate me, had disappeared at some point. And for some reason, that fact gave me relief.

Ever since that day, Cassadin and I have become closer than ever.

With his quick wit, Cassadin even helped Father with his work.

Even Father, who had continuously complained about how a slave would be able to do paperwork, was impressed when he saw Cassadin’s skills.

“How is it possible that a slave can read and write?”

“There are some things that a slave must learn in order to survive in this ‘empire.’ The more valuable the slave, the less they are going to be killed.”

Father was left at a loss for words when he saw Cassadin talk about the topic as if it weren’t about him.

And after that, Father never called Cassadin a slave again.

“Is there anything else you wish for me to do?”

Cassadin seemed more like a noble than actual nobles. He was more capable than the butler and smarter than most scholars. Not to mention his swordsmanship.

But even when he was working, every time I planned to go to Tuule, he put everything aside and demanded that he go with me.

“Who knows what that man could do to Sister with the excuse that he lost his memory?”

After saying that, Cassadin grasped my hand. Letting him win, I often visited Tuule’s room with Cassadin in tow.

Taking the time to visit Tuule’s room often must have helped, as today, Tuule finally said something other than saying he couldn’t remember anything.

“I don’t know if I should say this, since it’s not a complete memory.”

“It’s okay, so tell me whatever you can remember.”

Hearing that, Tuule gathered his hands together on his knees and spoke.

“While I was losing my consciousness from the torture, I remember hearing an elderly man’s voice.”

“An elderly man?”

“Yes. I’m certain that it was an elderly man.”

“Does it happen to be the same voice you heard when your tongue was cut off?”

Tuule drew his eyebrows and thought for a moment, then nodded.

“Yes, I believe so. Did I only mention that he was a man last time?”

“Yes.”

‘My eyes were covered when it happened… But I remember their voice. It was a man, and he had an exquisite voice. And they smelled strongly of blood.’

I remember Tuule hesitantly mentioning that. I thought that the culprit had definitely been Damian, but who knew it was really an elderly man?

I did think that it was odd for the germophobic man to have cut off a slave’s tongue himself, but it made sense if it was another person who had cut off Tuule’s tongue.

‘An elderly man, blood, and skilled enough to cut off a tongue without killing the person.’

The clues narrowed down the suspects. From the various clues I had obtained, I came to the conclusion that the most likely culprit was Damian’s closest aide, Butler Kindel.

Butler Kindel had assisted Damian since his youth. When I was living at the duchy, I saw Damian show unparalleled trust in the man.

He was known to be the most capable of the butlers, even when Damian’s father was alive. Kindel had always been by Damian’s side in my past life.

Even on the day that Damian stabbed me in the heart, Kindel was standing by in the far distance. And it was most likely that old man who dealt with my corpse afterward.

Then did the Damian and Cassadin from my past still exist? If they are still alive and breathing at this moment, then could I say that I actually returned to the past?

This suddenly piqued my interest.

‘There’s probably no way for me to find out, especially when I’ve already died once.’

Feeling a phantom pain in my heart, I brought a hand to my chest as I asked Tuule,

“What did that elderly man say?”

“If I heard it correctly, he said that he needed more blood.”

More blood? Why?

“And he didn’t say anything afterward?”

“I’m sorry. That’s the last thing I heard before I completely lost consciousness…”

Tuule’s head fell, apologetic that he wasn’t much help.

“No, thank you for telling me.”

Tuule raised his head and smiled brightly at me.

“No, it’s me who should say thank you. To treat a mere slave like me with such kindness. I also appreciate the clothes you have gifted me very much.”

Now with a full set of clothing that completely covered his body, compared to the towel that had barely covered his private parts, Tuule seemed very content. I was glad that he liked the clothes. They had been ordered in the largest size that I could get.

After engaging in small talk with Tuule for a little longer, I left his room. Immediately after we left his room, Cassadin opened his mouth, which had been shut the entire time.

“If you have something you wish to know, I would like it if you asked me instead of him.”

“?”

When I looked at Cassadin with a puzzled expression, he smiled as he added,

“If it’s for you, Sister, I can find anything you wish to know.”