Chapter 16: Does he even own normal clothing?
Cass hadn't realised what the outfits of this time period were supposed to be until Sam had to fully dress him. He'd been wandering around in his pajamas before, and a cloak. He'd basically been orphan coded before he even knew it. He'd been cosplaying as Oliver Twist.
He'd seen Lady Ava and Lady Fiona while in that outfit. No wonder they didn't take him all that seriously. But this? All the fucking layers and coats and weird as fuck pants?
Awful. He hated it.
It didn't help that everything was either white or black with silver and red accents. Cass was going to lose his damn mind.
Lord Blackburn better show his ass at some point so he could lecture him about the importance of diversifying a wardrobe. Even if Cass had brown hair and brown eyes before, he didn't exclusively wear fucking brown all the time.
Fuck, he really needed to look up the Blackburn family coat of arms just so he could attempt to understand the loyalty to these damn colours. Was it because of his hair and eye colour? Why the fuck was the man so villain coded? Who had made him this way?
Cass was doing his best to keep his grumbling to himself, but it was clear that everyone else could tell he was in a foul mood. Thankfully, it appeared that Lord Blackburn was always in a foul mood, so most people avoided him.
Well, everyone but Sam, and the guard who was stationed outside. Sir Forsythe.
Sir Forsythe wasn't going to let Cass not take him as he headed down to the main hall for breakfast. It was nonnegotiable. When Cass pointed out that he was the lord, not Sir Forsythe, Sir Forsythe hadn't even blinked when he responded.
"Yes, you are my Lord, but that does not mean I am going to let you walk into a dangerous situation on your own." Cass frowned at him, but Sir Forsythe was well trained. The man hadn't flinched, and damn it, that made Cass respect him more.
Sighing, he closed his eyes, rubbing his eyes as his head throbbed. It had been doing that periodically since he'd woken up. He was hoping it was a good sign, and not a bad one. He had no one to ask either, since it appeared that regular healers weren't nearby, and Lord Blackburn had outlawed his own body getting healed by healing magic.
Cass was going to have to look into that too. He vaguely remembered it coming up in the book, but until he got the ability promised to him he was going to have to make random guesses.
His current guess was that he was allergic or something of the sort. He didn't know why, but it sounded just ridiculous enough that it might be true.
"My Lord? Are you feeling alright?" It was Sam who spoke. Of course it was Sam. He was the only man around who might actually care for him. Either that, or Sam was truly a great actor. Cass wasn't sure if he ever wanted to find out the truth of that statement.
"I think it's just the side effects of the head injury. If we're going, let's go. No doubt they've started eating ages ago." Cass declared, and noticed the small smirk of victory that touched Sir Forsythe's lips.
He was not going to forget that.
Sam led the way since Cass truly had no fucking clue where he was going. It was great. He got to look like a pompous ass while he took everything in. The place was truly giant, and Cass hated it.
He was hoping that as soon as fucking possible he was going to escape this place and move to a much smaller house. He had no doubt that the house that Lord Blackburn was attached to was huge, and he just wanted somewhere humble. An apartment somewhere. A nice and clean apartment if he could shoot for the stars.
He could feel a breeze walking down the hallway. The heating bill must have been insane.
Sam stopped outside a set of doors that were open, and peering in around the set of guards stationed there, Cass couldn't help but notice the huge windows on one side of the room. They let in a ton of natural light, giving the room a bright and airy feeling. The room was clearly the dining room.
The only reason why Cass said 'clearly' was because of the giant ass table that went the whole length of it. Cass could see several empty chairs from where he was standing, and he wondered who the hell they would be entertaining where they would need this many place settings?
Then again, they were all fucking nobles. They were known for being over the top, even during his time. There was a reason revolutions existed.
"Announcing Lord Blackburn." Lord Blackburn winced, having not realised that they were going to do that.
The chattering inside of the room stopped, before two loud chairs could be heard being pushed back and both Lady Ava and Lady Fiona came running.
"Lord Cassian!"
"Cassian!" They called and Cass immediately started to panic.
"Ah, yes, good morning to you two as well." Cass replied weakly, and Lady Ava threw herself at him, squeezing him nearly to death. Fuck, this man needed to work out if the healer could crush him.
"I didn't think you would come!" Lady Ava's excitement was only dampened by the black haired man who had come to stand behind the two women. His eyes were yellow, but now that Cass could see him a little bit closer, he realised that the pupils weren't like his. They were elongated. Narrow. Like a cat, or a lizard.
He had his arms crossed, a frown on his face, and he wore if not the same outfit as yesterday, something remarkably similar.
"Yes. We didn't think you would come." He said dryly and Cass did his best not to snort.
"Well, I don't plan to eat with you, but maybe I'll stay for a cup of tea." He suggested and that made both of the ladies brighten. Lady Ava let him go before grabbing his hand and Lady Fiona grabbed his other one. They dragged him into the room, both excited to have him there.
They were the only ones.
The two other men who hadn't gotten up to see the commotion sat in their spots. The blond was sitting on the side of the table away from the sunlight, wearing a hat in the house. It looked like it was a top hat, but at the same time, it looked...shorter.
That struck Cass as a bit strange. There should be no reason for him to be wearing a hat in this house. Unless he was protecting himself from-
Another sharp, jabbing pain in his head had Cass sucking air in between his teeth. Probably a bit too loudly as both women stopped in their tracks and turned horrified gazes towards him.
"Are you hurt?" Lady Fiona asked.
"Are you in any pain?" Lady Ava asked and Cass could feel the animosity directed towards him grow. He could feel it from every man in the room. Except Sam.
"It's nothing. It's been periodically happening since I've woken up. I think it's from my lack of memories." Cass told them, trying to soothe them but it didn't seem to work. Lady Ava seemed the most concerned.
"Are you sure I can't heal you?" She asked softly, and the black haired man snorted behind him. Cass did his best not to turn and snap at the man.
"It's probably best until I get my memories back to avoid it until I know the reason I forbade it. I'll be fine. I have...alternative ways to deal with it."
"He's talking about black magic." The blond man spoke up and Lady Ava gasped.
"Eddie! Don't even joke about that! Cassian wouldn't resort to such means!" Well, Cass couldn't exactly say that the man was wrong. Lord Blackburn had done that, and if it got Cass results...he'd probably do the same thing.
That being said, 'Eddie' should know better. You do not bring up black magic around a holy magic user. That was basic magic world knowledge 101.
'Eddie' didn't seem to like Cass, even if he smiled as he elegantly cut his food up into tinier and tinier pieces. Cass could tell that they were going to butt heads, and that he was going to hate that damn little smirk he had on his face.
"Well, we shouldn't say that I didn't." Cass started, and Lady Ava gasped, covering her mouth with her hands. She looked horrified.
"You would NEVER! Otherwise, the g-" she cut herself off, but it was clear that that hadn't ended the conversation in the slightest. In fact, Lady Ava, having almost spoken the truth, glared at 'Eddie' even more. Enough that it shocked the man entirely.
Lady Ava huffed, glaring at the man before she dragged Cass to a spot in between the two women. Usually, women were expected to be taken care of, to have their chairs pushed in for them and all of that, but these two?
They expected Cass to sit first, and Lady Fiona tucked him in closer towards the table.
It was a surprise, and he couldn't hide it from his expression. Lady Ava and Lady Fiona sat down after, pleased as punch that he'd decided to join them for once. Cass' chest ached at the reminder that Lord Blackburn had isolated himself from everyone, and Cass was going to have to fix that.
At least, somewhat. He needed them to at least trust him a little bit so that he could gather information easier. If he couldn't do that, he could kiss his sister's safety goodbye.
Sam was the one who served Cass his tea, and he was forever grateful for that. He'd appeared and then disappeared with the serving staff before coming back with a trolly, and apparently, his favourite tea.
It was, thankfully, a classic black tea. He could manage that easily, even if he had been more of a coffee drinker in his time. If tea was all he had available, he'd make due. He'd just...steep the hell out of it, he guessed?
That made it stronger, right?
Stuck in his own thoughts, Cass failed to notice, or didn't care, that the men were glaring at him rather heatedly as he was doted on by the two women. There was nothing he could do about it. He guessed that the three men had to just...get good, maybe?