Chapter 210: The Devil’s Way of Helping
Chapter 210: The Devil’s Way of Helping
After walking out the classroom door, Cassian looked as though he were wandering the corridors aimlessly. In reality, he wasn’t. In the back of his mind, he was tracking Felix’s strange, pure mana signature; just like watching a single candle flame flickering in a dark room. His feet dragged him toward the corridor where Class 1C was located without him realizing it.
The corridors were packed with the recess crowd. Students clutched their books to their chests, laughing with each other as they hurried along. Amidst this crowd, Cassian walked in his own silent world, detached from everything around him.
Right at that moment, someone hurrying from behind bumped their shoulder hard into his.
The sound was less like a person bumping into another person, and more like someone crashing into a stone wall.
"Ughh! "
"What are you doing, watch where you’re going!" a shrill, irritated girl’s voice echoed through the corridor.
Cassian paused and slowly looked down. Sitting on the floor rubbing her knees was a girl, identifiable as an upperclassman by the golden stripes on her uniform. Her brown hair cascaded over her shoulders, and her sea-blue eyes, slightly teary from the pain, glared directly at Cassian in annoyance.
Cassian recognized the girl the moment he saw her. It was the spoiled noble girl from the noisy group during registration, the one who had carelessly bumped into her friend on his very first day at the Academy’s registration building months ago.
’Not again...’ Cassian thought to himself. There was neither a hint of recognition nor an apology in his eyes. He just appraised the girl for a second with that blank, indifferent stare, and then, without saying a word or even bothering to help her up, he turned around and stepped forward to continue on his way.
This apathy only fueled the girl’s anger.
"Hey!" the girl shouted, quickly scrambling up from the floor and lunging after Cassian. "Where do you think you’re going like nothing happened after crashing into me?!"
Cassian didn’t slow his pace. He had no intention of stopping to waste time on this nonsense. But the girl was stubborn. She ran to catch up to Cassian and grabbed his right arm tight with great anger.
"I said stop!"
Cassian finally stopped. He slowly turned his head and looked at the girl holding his arm with those freezing red eyes. His tone of voice was as cold and emotionless as a winter wind.
"Do you want something, Senior?" Cassian asked.
Even though the girl noticed the mocking, biting tone in his use of ’Senior’, she continued to spew her anger. "You bumped into me! You stand like a mountain in the middle of the corridor and block people’s way! And you don’t even apologize!"
In response to the girl’s illogical accusation, Cassian tilted his head slightly to the side. There wasn’t an ounce of emotion on his face.
"No," he said in a flat voice. "I didn’t. You came and bumped into me."
Having said that, he slowly freed his arm from the girl’s grip and attempted to walk away again. But the girl had become truly indignant; she had practically made it a matter of pride. She grabbed Cassian’s arm again with both hands and tried to pull him back. "You’re not going anywhere without listening to me—"
The girl’s sentence was cut short.
With a sudden movement, Cassian turned back around and took a step toward her. Closing the distance between them, he got right in her personal space, close enough that they were almost nose to nose.
The girl panicked terribly at this sudden proximity. Her eyes widened in astonishment, her breath caught in her throat. An intense, warm flush instantly spread across her cheeks. She involuntarily took a step back and stammered.
"W-w-what... a-are you doing?! You’re t-too close!"
Completely ignoring the girl’s panic, Cassian looked directly into her eyes with his red ones and whispered, "I bumped into you... Right? And I hurt you. Or so you claim."
"Y-yes..." the girl mumbled, her voice trembling completely. Her heart was pounding against her ribcage.
"In that case," Cassian said, a strange timbre in his voice. "Show me where you’re hurt. If you truly have an injury, I’ll carry you in my arms all the way to the infirmary."
"Huh...? But well... I-I..." The girl didn’t know what to say, didn’t know how to react to this sudden change in attitude.
Without letting the girl retreat, Cassian took another step, getting even closer to her. He slowly raised his right hand and placed it on her right shoulder, where she claimed he had bumped into her. His fingers pressed lightly against her collarbone through the fabric.
"Does it hurt here?" Cassian asked, his voice low enough that only the girl could hear it amidst the hum of the corridor.
The girl’s breath hitched. Her entire body stiffened at the touch. "N-no..." she barely managed to whisper.
Cassian’s hand slid slowly down from her shoulder, almost like a caress. Bypassing her arms, he touched both sides of the girl’s waist. His grip wasn’t gentle, but it wasn’t rough either; it was just... overly possessive and unnerving.
"What about here?" Cassian asked. "Does it hurt?"
The girl’s voice grew even fainter, her throat dry. Her whole body trembled from embarrassment and an excitement mixed with a fear she couldn’t understand. "No..." she whispered again.
Cassian didn’t stop. His hands slid further down from the girl’s waist, towards her hips. When his fingers settled right over her hips, the girl’s eyes widened as if they would pop out of their sockets.
"And what about here?" Cassian said, his voice still cold. "Does it hurt?"
The girl’s face was now as red as a tomato. Her eyes welled up, her lips quivered. Never in her life had she been subjected to such treatment by a man, let alone such a bold touch in the middle of a corridor in front of hundreds of people. Her mind completely shut down.
"N-no..." she barely managed to say, her voice sounding tearful.
Cassian pulled his hands back.
"Good," he said in a flat voice. "Then that means there’s no problem."
Cassian turned his back. "Have a good day, Senior," he said, slowly walking away into the crowd, leaving the girl all alone in her embarrassment and bewilderment.
The girl stood frozen in place. Her face was burning, her hands were trembling. When she looked around, she realized that many students in the corridor were watching them and whispering. And right at the edge of the crowd, she saw Prince Daemon of Pelagorn staring at them in astonishment, his mouth hanging wide open at the bold scene he had just witnessed.
---
By the time the recess bell rang again, Cassian had already returned to Class 1B, standing silently by the doorframe.
As his eyes drifted toward his desk, he saw that Alicia was still sitting in hers. The girl was still surrounded by a crowd of students.
"Saintess Alicia, I’m having trouble reading the holy texts, could you help me?"
"Please join our table at lunch!"
Alicia wore that sweet, angelic smile that put people at ease. However, Cassian could clearly see the deep despair in those eyes, the overwhelming pressure and suffocation caused by the stifling attention.
Her eyes were crying out *’please save me’*, but she could never drop her saintess mask.
Cassian slowly walked toward his own desk.
His footsteps instantly cut off the whispers of the chatting crowd. Sensing Cassian’s dangerous, silent aura, the students turned around, immediately tensing up when they met those red eyes.
Cassian didn’t say a word. He just gave an empty, expectant look to two students blocking his way, who were practically glued to Alicia’s desk.
They instantly backed away in panic.
"Ah... Um... We... We’ll come back later, Alicia! See you in class!" they said, hurriedly saying their goodbyes and practically running back to their own desks, taking wide arcs to avoid bumping into Cassian.
After the crowd dispersed, Cassian calmly walked past and sat in his empty seat next to Alicia. He dropped his bag on the desk and turned his head back to the window, continuing to watch the academy courtyard outside. He didn’t say a single word to Alicia, didn’t even look at her.
As for Alicia, with the suffocating crowd gone, she drew a deep breath. While feeling a great sense of relief on one hand, her heart began to squeeze again with that familiar, freezing fear on the other.
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