Chapter 181: Chapter 181: Under the Rain
Chapter 181 – Under the Rain
Staring at the sleeping face of Isolde, Cassius was unable to suppress the soft smile spreading across his lips.
He studied her face closely — her well-drawn black eyebrows with their perfect curve, her small nose framing her face perfectly, her mouth not too big and not too small, with the scars just at the edges of it.
Isolde’s face was picturesque.
A sight Cassius could spend hours admiring, and he doubted boredom would ever take hold of him.
’She fell asleep immediately after our talk.’ He chuckled, tucking away a stray hair from her face. ’The last few days must truly have been hard on her.’
Only now did Cassius understand why Isolde had been feeling down lately. And he would never have guessed the reason was Sophia literally threatening her daughter’s life.
It was strange to him to witness a mother so cold and indifferent toward her own daughter.
At this point, Cassius was tempted to think there was something more to this situation than simply Isolde being weaker and less talented than Anesthesia.
Because it just didn’t feel right.
’Where did her distaste for Isolde come from? Less talented? That is nonsense. A mother would not go to these lengths for that alone.’
Was he simply overthinking? Or was there truly a reason behind all of this?
Cassius was genuinely tempted to investigate the matter. However, he didn’t even know where to begin.
’And now she wants to make the Amaris a matriarchal family. How would she even do that?’
Taking over an Origin Pool from its original owner was completely unheard of.
Would they succeed?
Cassius shook his head. This matter did not concern him. He would not say or do anything unless Isolde was in true danger.
He exhaled, looking at Isolde sleeping on his chest, and turned his attention back to the Auction.
It would come to an end soon enough.
He would share his and Isolde’s thoughts about the Devil’s Cards with Meadow later, or he could simply write it on paper here and now and head back immediately.
He no longer had any reason to stay after confirming the Auction was a sufficient success.
’If Meadow is the face of the Company, I am the drive of it. I need to generate much more VP to keep this Auction running. Now that I have started, I will not stop until this company reaches the level I want.’
Already, he could feel his usual stubbornness returning.
The same one that had kept him playing the game so many times. The same one that made him incapable of accepting anything less than the Palatine spot.
Cassius knew this about himself. When he started something, he would not abandon it until he reached the level he sought.
’Ah... I suppose I am beginning to understand why I have my Innate.’ He smiled. ’I could not have hoped for anything better.’
After those thoughts, Cassius decided to return to Desde City after dropping Isolde home. But to make sure he didn’t forget the new arrangements, he took a pen and paper and wrote everything down.
He then took his phone and sent Meadow a message to inform her, just to make sure no one would enter after he was gone and find the note.
When everything was done, Cassius looked at Isolde, still sleeping soundly.
His lips twitched. He clearly did not have the heart to wake her up. So after taking a good number of pictures, he gathered Isolde gently in his arms, careful not to disturb her.
He walked out of the room and came face to face with Aissatou and Océane.
The two maids looked at him, puzzled to see Isolde sleeping.
Aissatou was inwardly shocked, she had never seen her Lady so weak and unguarded in her entire life.
In that instant, instinctively, numerous ways to kill Isolde here and be done with it summoned themselves inside her mind. For a brief moment, her eyes went fully red, her body shaking with an overwhelming urge.
However, the Death Contract she had signed with Isolde acted inside her mind, sending a faint but intense warning through her soul. At once, Aissatou returned to normal.
Everything happened so fast that no one could have noticed. Barely two seconds.
But as Aissatou lifted her eyes slightly higher from her Lady to Cassius’s face, her eyes felt like they were set aflame. She recoiled and stepped back without meaning to.
Océane looked at her strangely.
"Let’s go." Cassius said after sparing a hard glance at Aissatou. "We are heading back a little earlier. Océane, can you please go and alert the driver?"
"Of course, young master." She said, about to leave immediately, then stopped and looked back at Cassius. "Ah, young master, it is raining outside. Do you need an umbrella? I can ask the workers here if they have one."
"Oh, raining?" he murmured, smiling. "So we are at that time of the year. I see. And no, don’t worry. I will be fine."
"As you wish, young master." She went off to prepare their departure.
Cassius smiled and looked back at Aissatou, who was staring back at him with a slightly nervous expression.
"So, Aissatou, right?"
"Yes, my lord."
"How about you tell me more about the Amaris while we wait?" he said, his smile deepening. "Start with Sophia Amaris, please. Would you?"
...
The rain was completely unexpected.
It poured heavily from the heavens to the earth, patting the hardened ground and the rooftops of nearby buildings with a soft, rhythmic sound.
It was oddly pleasant, but Anesthesia did not think of it that way.
She was sitting atop the tip of a triangular stone red rooftop a couple of kilometres from the Devil’s Advocate Auction House.
No one seemed to notice despite the strange sight she made, and that was only thanks to her resonating with the surrounding area, making herself one with the world itself.
Unless someone looked in her direction with the specific intention to see something, no one would notice her.
The Fallen Heiress sat there, alone and drenched, thinking over everything that had happened.
She would never have thought her father was such a man. And now, her mother and she and her annoying sister were plotting together to seize the Origin Pool.
"It won’t be easy." She whispered under her breath, wiping her eyes from time to time. "We will need to obtain the agreement of the ancestors. And what are the odds of them accepting my mother, an outsider, to carry the Pool?"
Ridiculously low. But her mother was determined, and Anesthesia had never once seen her mother fail to obtain something she had set her mind on.
Never.
She began thinking about how she could help in this situation; but her mind kept dragging her back to the memory of her sister apologising to her, and the moment Isolde told her she wanted to know her.
That simple recollection made Anesthesia unreasonably angry, her jaw snapping shut and hard.
’You cannot just say things like that to me after all these years. Don’t apologise to me and don’t try to know me. I don’t want it. Live your life and leave me to live mine, for Vorn’s sake.’ She thought, burying her face in the palms of her hands, her body shaking.
Without knowing why or how, Anesthesia began to cry. Her sobs were silent, and she found herself grateful for the rain, because at least, with that, she would not have to feel her own tears on her face.
She stayed like this for a while, her mind drifting to Emrys Stormblessed. For a brief moment, Anesthesia entertained the idea of calling him.
She simply wanted someone to talk to. Someone she could confess to. Someone who would understand what she was going through.
Anesthesia was certain Isolde was in a far better state than she was, thanks to Cassius who, despite all his annoying qualities, loved her sister more than anything. She did not want to admit it, but somewhere quiet inside her, Anesthesia was jealous of that love.
It was a love she had thought she had.
But she had been wrong.
’Now here I am, alone in this rain, with no one to share my grief. No one to sit beside me. No one to look at me. No one to hold my hands and say it will be okay. No one. Is... is this what Isolde was talking about? That I will end up alone? Is this how I want to end up?’
Her cries grew harder and louder until quiet sobs began to echo into the rain.
’I... I don’t want to be alone.’ Anesthesia wailed inwardly. ’I don’t want to be alone! I don’t want to be alone! I don’t want—!’
She stopped abruptly in her erratic, painful thoughts. Her head jerked upward, face drenched with sadness, seeing an umbrella made of dense, deathly essence held above her head.
"H-Huh?"
Her puffy red eyes followed the hand slowly, her heart pounding in her chest, and came face to face with Raven Hood, staring at her with his usual red eyes.
But at that instant, Anesthesia saw something else in those eyes. She saw worry.
Worry...for her.
"How will you repay me?" Raven finally spoke, his voice soft, looking at her. "You made me run through this rain for so long searching for you."
"What... what are you doing here?"
"What else? I came to find you."
"What?" Her heart skipped an involuntary beat.
"We came together." Raven said, stretching his free hand toward her. "We are going back together. Do you need help getting up?"
Anesthesia didn’t respond immediately. She only looked at him, and without noticing, her tears began to pour down faster. She bit her lower lip to swallow a sob, and parted her lips:
"I... I can’t walk right now." She said, feeling a heaviness throughout her body.
"Do you mind if I carry you?"
"Are you not worried about what your maid would think?"
"Do you think this is the time for that?"
Anesthesia huffed, then slowly relented. "You... can. But watch where you put your hands."
Raven Hood smiled faintly. "I am a Prince, Anesthesia."
With one swift motion, he lifted Anesthesia into his arms.
"I have manners."
Anesthesia said nothing, feeling the warmth of Raven’s body warding off the slight cold that had been creeping into her.
She exhaled slowly.
"I will be sure to tell your maid about this."
The Prince’s lips twitched.
"Just don’t exaggerate."
"I will."
"Sigh."
—End of Chapter 181—
