CH 41

When I woke up again from my deep sleep, I was inside my room, not in the carriage.

I sprang up from my position on the bed, when a soft voice called out next to me.

“I’m sorry, Sister. I couldn’t muster up the courage to wake you.”

“…”

“Please forgive me for carrying you back to your room without permission.”

The owner of that voice was Cassadin. He was kneeling down next to the bed, looking down at me.

Cassadin must have changed at some point, as he was in a nightgown instead of a uniform.

A night breeze blew in from the open window. The breeze gently tickled his silver hair.

But unlike his usual self, Cassadin’s face was drawn with anxiety. I felt that was unusual but shook it off as just my assumption.

“It’s alright, Cassadin.”

I smiled brightly at him and pointed at the bed.

“What are you doing there? Aren’t you usually up here?”

“May I do that?”

“Of course.”

“…I’ve actually changed Sister’s clothes because I worried they may be uncomfortable.”

My mind jolted awake at Cassadin’s confession. When I looked down, I saw that I was in a comfortable negligee instead of the pink gown I had worn to the banquet.

‘He changed my clothes? Then does that mean he saw my naked body? And I was asleep, unaware that Cassadin was changing me?’

When I realized what had happened, my face reddened in embarrassment. There was a reason why Cassadin had been kneeling on the floor, unlike his usual self.

Seeing my flustered reaction, Cassadin brought up both of his hands to his chest and said,

“I’m sorry, Sister.”

“…”

“But I didn’t have any weird thoughts doing so.”

“…”

“I truly, not even for a single moment, had a weird thought.”

Why was he emphasizing that he didn’t get any weird ideas so much? That sounds even more suspicious. Whether it was from either embarrassment or anger, my hand clenching the bedsheets was trembling.

Cassadin turned his head to avoid my gaze. He must have known that what he did was shameful, as not only his face but his neck was bright red as well.

“Go away!”

I shouted at Cassadin, utterly mortified. Cassadin’s eyes widened in shock. He must not have believed what I had just said, as his mouth was slightly agape as he stared at me.

“…Sister!”

“Leave! You demon!”

I threw the pillow next to me at him. But with his extraordinary reflexes, Cassadin caught the pillow I threw with one hand. That fact made me feel even more pathetic.

“Cassadin. You are not permitted to enter my room from now on.”

“Sister. Please, anything but that!”

“I did not adopt a pervert as my younger brother.”

“…”

Cassadin, who had become a pervert, drooped his shoulders. Why was he acting hurt when he was the one who had caused it? I couldn’t understand him at all.

Hugging the pillow I threw at him, Cassadin opened his mouth.

“I merely changed your clothes because you looked uncomfortable in your sleep…”

“So you think you’ve done nothing wrong?”

“…”

At least Cassadin hadn’t said he didn’t do anything wrong. Getting up from the bed, I approached the kneeling Cassadin and placed my hands on his shoulders.

“You should have woken me up. Isn’t that right?”

“…”

“Why did you change my clothes instead of waking me up?”

“How could I dare wake you when you were sleeping like an angel?”

“Ah yes, you and your silver tongue.”

“It’s the truth, Sister.”

Cassadin raised his head back up and pleaded with me with his eyes.

The purple eyes that shot sparkling gazes at me in appeal were the eyes that would open the wallets of even the most famous cheapskates.

“Do you not believe me, Sister?”

“Of course I do.”

“And I do as well.”

Cassadin smiled brightly when I responded that I did trust him. When he smiled, it seemed like even the moon up in the sky gasped in awe.

His beauty was one of a kind.

It would be a lie to say that I didn’t waver from it. But I had to draw the line somewhere. My decision to become Cassadin’s nest didn’t mean that I was going to be dragged around by him like a ragdoll.

Hadn’t he already promised me that he would tell me what he had been hiding?

“Cassadin, it’s because I trust you that I ask you this… But will you tell me what you’ve been hiding now?”

“…”

“You promised me that you would do so in return for me bringing you to the banquet.”

Cassadin’s throat moved visibly. After several slow blinks, he slowly opened his mouth.

“I will tell you if you allow me to visit your room like before.”

I reluctantly nodded my head. Then Cassadin slowly started to speak.

“Where should I start then?”

His smile was now gone, and Cassadin continued to speak without a hint of expression on his face.

“Should I talk about the time when the Hyran Kingdom existed? Or about how it had fallen in just a single day to a larger nation due to its King being a pacifist? Or that every single person in that kingdom died except for a single person, the weak, powerless Crown Prince?”

“…”

“Ah, have I told you that the Crown Prince became a slave?”

It felt like the night air was turning frigid just listening to Cassadin’s confession. Hearing him speak of his own life as if it were someone else’s, I felt swept up in an indescribable sorrow.

“Do you know the reason why that Crown Prince continued to hold onto his disgusting life that was worse than death?”

“…”

“He wanted to kill. He wanted vengeance. Against the empire where the bastards who destroyed the peaceful kingdom dwelled. I wished to kill them, to shred their family, their relatives, and their acquaintances, so that they could feel even a fraction of the pain that I experienced.”

I closed my eyes, fearing the words that would follow.

“…But I don’t think I will need to anymore.”

Not able to believe what I had just heard, I slowly opened my eyes again.

I saw Cassadin in front of me, still kneeling on the ground. His expression as he looked up at me was so peaceful, that I stared at him, even forgetting how to breathe.

My hands, which were placed on his shoulders, trembled faintly.

Wrapping his hands over my trembling hands, Cassadin then brought my hand to his cheek and smiled softly.

“That’s because you, Sister, saved me from that dark, hopeless hell.”

Saying that, Cassadin looked up at me as if that had truly been his salvation. His eyes seemed almost religious as he gazed at me.

“Sister, you are my salvation.”

What Cassadin had just said was the complete, pure truth. And those words were what finally made me explode into tears.

“Cough!”

Finally regaining his consciousness, Damian grasped his heart as he looked around.

The green eyes that scanned its surroundings glinted sharply. The slightly higher ceilings than his mansion and walls shining with gold told him that this place was the palace.

And next to him,

“Master! Are you alright?!”

“Kindel…”

He saw his closest aide, Butler Kindel. His eyes seemed fatigued, unlike his usual self. It seemed like he waited for his master to awaken the entire time.

As he swept back his hair, Damian asked Kindel.

“What exactly happened? And where am I?”

“…Master.”

Kindel bowed his head and immediately explained the situation.

“This is one of the many rooms prepared in the palace for urgent patients.”

“Room prepared for patients, you say……”

“Yes. Master had collapsed in the banquet hall. You’ve been unconscious for an entire day.”

Unconscious for a day. The gossip about his heart condition must have spread throughout the entire nation already.

“A day.”

Damian laughed emptily.

“Just what had happened at the banquet, Master? Have you not hidden it well until now?”

Kindel anxiously asked as he checked his master’s condition. And looking at Kindel, a corner of Damian’s mouth curled up.

“Many things happened.”

“…”

“Things I couldn’t even begin to imagine.”

Damian rested his chin on his hand and thought for a moment before reopening his mouth.

“But first, we should return to the duchy.”

“…”

“I will withdraw the lawsuit I have filed against the imperial family.”

“What? You’re canceling it, Master?”

The old butler must have been quite shocked, as the monocle on his eye almost jumped off of his face.

“It’ll just be a waste of time to drag on the lawsuit any further. Not to mention that my heart condition has been revealed, so it’s rather my side that’ll look ridiculous now. Since they kindly provided a room for patients in this damned palace, I’m going to be at a disadvantage even if we continue the lawsuit.”

“…”

“The first step is to recover my reputation, which has fallen to the ground. Then…”

Damian added on with an ominous smile.

“There is something we must do in secret.”

“As you say, Master.”

After a short bow, Kindel helped his master up. The strength he displayed as he supported his master was unbelievable for a 70-year-old man.

While he had been walking along leaning against Kindel, Damian stopped and asked him.

“Have you fed me ‘that’ while I was asleep?”

After checking that nobody was nearby, Kindel nodded.

“Yes, Master.”

“And you weren’t caught by anyone on the way?”

“Thankfully, I was not.”

“Good.”

Damian let out a sigh of relief and ordered Kindel.

“Even if all else is revealed, this must be kept secret from the public.”