Chapter 45: My Beloved Sister

Chapter 45: My Beloved Sister

When I met Cassadins eyes, his expression was blank. His eyes were so amazingly expressionless that the events of that afternoon felt like a false illusion.

His silvery hair still glittered under the moonlight, but the purple irises under it had lost their luster.

How long have you been there?

I purposefully used a cheery tone to hide my surprise.

From the start.

It would be a lie to say that I wasnt hurt by his cold attitude.

A little short on the words, I see.

Cassadin wrinkled his eyebrows at my remark.

Why should I care about your input?

I heard you even tried to kill Tuule without my knowledge.

Cassadin responded to my question, merely cocking his head diagonally and said,

So you decided to take him in.

From the voice encased in an eternal ice of darkness oozed out a resentment directed at me.

Am I not enough?

Cassadin asked me, making an incredibly lonely expression. He almost seemed pathetic as the moonlight behind him accentuated the shadows looming over his face.

But that didnt make his sins disappear. There were things that had to be sorted through first.

Such as why he attempted to secretly harm Tuule, and what else he was hiding from me.

Why must you always act on your own accord?

Cassadin straightened himself from his leaning posture against the wall and approached me. I was once again reminded of how long his legs were.

It only took him a few steps to reach a distance where our breaths could touch.

Remembering the instantaneous manner in which he consumed my finger, I instinctively backed up, but because Tuules room was at the very end of the second-floor corridor, there was nowhere to escape.

The walls felt chillingly cold against my back. Even though I was clothed, it felt like I was naked as I was cornered against a wall.

Youre right, Sister.

Leaning in closer to my cornered body, Cassadin whispered into my ear. As his upper body hunched down towards me, his glittery silver hair tickled my face.

I only act of my own accord.

Instead of denying my claims, he chose to agree. Ending his sentence, Cassadin gently caressed my cheek with his hand.

For some reason, Cassadin felt oddly insane as he caressed my cheek in a gentle manner.

You said I was your savior. Was that also a lie?

His hand stopped. His purple eyes, which stared into me above his pursed lips, seemed to contain endless darkness within them.

How could that ever be a lie?

Then his eyes curled into crescents. His pursed lips turned upward into an arch.

His smile was frighteningly beautiful to the point one may get lost in it, but my heart was beating uncontrollably for an unidentifiable anxiety.

You are indeed my savior. However

Maintaining a gentle smile on his face, he uttered the words I wished he would never say,

There hasnt been a single moment since I met you where I considered you my family.

His eyes glowed with an overwhelming amount of obsession. Several different emotions intertwined within themthere was both love and hatred towards me in Cassadins face.

My beloved sister.

When he compressed his emotions into those three words, his voice seemed to echo out from the bottom of a deep swamp.

I felt someone strangle my throat the moment I heard his voice. I couldnt breathe, like water had filled up my lungs.

Unable to find the courage to look back at the eyes staring at me, I turned my head to the side.

Why do you keep avoiding my eyes?

Seeming to be displeasured that I avoided his gaze, Cassadin reached out and trapped me with his arms.

Please dont avoid me.

The moment I met his gaze, I knew it.

That what I brought in wasnt my younger brother, but a beast.

His deepened voice resembled the cry of a wild animal.

Hearing his resentful voice, I heard strings tear from the pressure. It was the sound of my patience, which I had been holding so fiercely onto, completely collapsing.

I couldnt hold it any longer.

Staring straight at Cassadin, I finally erupted,

Its alright. Even if you kick me out of the family, I was going to take your fathers place in the war anyway.

How did he?

I lost my voice in the midst of the confusion. Since when did he know? When I looked up at him with a bewildered expression, Cassadin drew a serene smile and said,

I knew from the beginning.

Since the day you bought me in from that gladiator arena.

Just how much did Cassadin know? I felt a cold shiver run through my spine.

If Im not what you want and if you dont like me, then expel me from the family.

I felt something strange about what Cassadin was saying. It almost sounded like he wanted to be expelled from the family.

Do you want to be abandoned by me?

He didnt answer.

Why?

Why are you doing this all of a sudden? Cassadin.

Cassadin quietly lowered his gaze. The response that finally returned sounded like it came from the depths of a deep cave.

The rumors that I was a gladiator slave have already been widespread. It will most definitely ruin the prestige of the family, and also receive the judgment of countless people. Wont it be better just to expel me right now?

Not only was he predicting what was going to happen next, but he was also looking several steps further than that. But I resented that intelligence at this moment.

I dont want to become your weakness. So

Then he finally said it,

Expel me from the family.

Meanwhile, Earl Zigen was downing hard liquor alone in his office. He had already been through several glasses of it.

Unlike the original use of an office, which was meant to be a place for processing important documents, the room had multiple empty bottles of alcohol rolling around on the floor.

Hed gotten insomnia because of the damned slaves that Aren brought into the house. The Earl is unable to sleep these days without the assistance of alcohol.

Before his daughter brought slaves into their house, the Earl had been a man who lived far from drinking. But the continuous accumulation of stress automatically lured his hand to the bottle.

To prevent his daughter from worrying, the Earl spent his nights sipping away inside his office. He had also made sure that the few servants who knew he was drinking would keep their mouths shut.

Seeming to have become slightly tipsy, the Earl murmured to himself with a reddened face.

Cassadins still better.

Earl Zigen recalled the first time Aren brought Cassadin to him. At first, he thought his daughter had brought this boy just for his looks. That maybe she was feeling lonely.

But to think that they accepted a slave, who was treated as less than livestock, into their family. He believed it to be a disgrace to the family. It hurt his pride.

Though he had accepted Cassadin into the family because of Arens pleads, he felt his insides being eaten from the inside out.

He didnt like it. So he made up his mind that if the man did anything to hurt his daughter or do anything wrong, he would use that as an excuse to expel him right away.

But the more he watched Cassadin, he felt closer to a noble than a slave. The way he presented himself was different from other slaves, and he emitted elegance.

Not only was he literate, but his learning abilities were extraordinary as well. A single Cassadin was more useful than ten butlers who knew how to read and write.

He felt a little sorry for ignoring him because of his identity. Cassadins first impression was terrible, but at some point, the Earl slowly started to open up to Cassadin. But of course, this wasnt the case for the tanned slave.

However, after reading the newspaper published today, the Earl felt as if the skies were collapsing on him.

[One of the Most Popular Nobles in the Empire! Son of an Earl Praised to have the Beauty of Gods Revealed as Gladiator Slave]

The thing he had been concerned about truly happened.

It was not a common occurrence to be described as having the beauty of Gods. There hadnt been anyone Earl Zigen had seen who was better looking than Cassadin.

[Son of an Earl Praised to have the Beauty of Gods Revealed as Gladiator Slave.]

The meaning of that sentence was more than clear.

Whoever had a grudge against them did research on Cassadins background and spread the news that he was actually a slave.

That crazy!

Enraged, the Earl slammed his fist down on the desk. Thanks to that, the liquor glass in his hand shattered on the ground, but he paid no attention to it. He couldnt.

Who dares to attack the family that is under the protection of the crown? Whoever it is, they will regret it.

The Earl rang the bell located in the office to call the butler. Not long after the bell rang, the butler arrived at the office.

The elderly butler was the oldest servant who had worked in their family, and was trustworthy.

Have you called, Sir?

I dont care how much it costs. Find the man who spread this rumor.

Kindly pointing to the large sentence printed on the newspaper, the Earl added,

And find out who the bastard that wrote this article was!