Chapter 22: All the work, none of the power
Sir Forsythe glanced at the food on the desk next to him and cleared his throat.
"You should eat, my Lord." He prompted and Cass glanced at him before snorting in disbelief. He expected him to eat while speaking about his childhood trauma? Wow. Alright.
Lord Blackburn was apparently a heartless man, but given that he had just been told that his father wasn’t a part of his life and his grandfather threw money at him like a problem he was trying to get rid of, while also trying to create a new heir.
Snorting again, Cass picked up a nearby fork and stabbed some of the most bland looking food he’d ever seen. It looked like he wasn’t going to enjoy food for a while.
That was no bother. He’d eaten garbage before. This was nothing.
Cass methodically ate the food beside him, glancing at Sir Forsythe to gauge his reaction.
He seemed pleased. Very pleased, actually. Sam was the same. Noticing his curious gaze, Sam was the one who spoke up.
"You normally don’t eat with such gusto. Is it okay?" He seemed eager, excited and Cass hated to be the bearer of bad news.
"No. it’s awful." Cass told him, and Sam’s face fell dramatically. "But, I need to eat, so I am going to. Did I used to complain before?" Sir Forsythe was the one who answered.
"You didn’t always have such a strict diet. It came when you came of age. You knew what good food tasted like, but you had such violent reactions as a child that we never risked it again. There were several times when you almost..." He trailed off, his jaw tightening. "Lord Blackburn made sure that didn’t happen, especially since you are the only one who can carry on the family line now." It was clear that Sir Forsythe did not like Lord Blackburn’s grandfather.
The fact that he called him Lord Blackburn instead of Duke Blackburn was an obvious dig. There was also the disdain in his voice. Was he upset that a family member wanted another to die? Cass wasn’t. Lots of people killed family members. Especially during these times.
"Well well well, he must be quite upset that Lady Fiona isn’t with child yet, or that I married a woman who has multiple husbands." Cass said and Sir Forsythe didn’t say anything. Cass chuckled again. "I take it that it was not well received?" Cass asked and he cleared his throat.
"Sam needed to prepare several tonics for you that night." So Lord Blackburn didn’t defy his grandfather. Interesting. He put down his fork, noticing that Sir Forsythe’s brow wrinkled slightly at the unfinished plate.
"Does it seem like I am afraid of my grandfather?" Cass asked and Sir Forsythe’s gaze darted back to him.
"No. It doesn’t appear so from the outside, but you have never confided in anyone your innermost thoughts." Cass nodded. That seemed like something that he would be worried about. He didn’t seem like the trusting type in the novel either.
"How many spies have you caught around me?" Cass asked and Sam looked a little choked. He’d obviously overheard what Cass and Byron had discussed just this morning, but Sir Forsythe hadn’t been informed yet.
"A total? That might be hard. I haven’t kept track. It has to be a couple dozen at this point. Oh! We’ve been living in this castle for about 8 months now. I am not sure you are aware of that." Cass shook his head, a smile on his lips.
"I did not know that. Thank you for the extra information. Add another to your tally." His mouth hardened.
"Did they fail the test?" He asked and Sam sighed.
"Not quite? They had succeeded." Sir Forsythe seemed confused.
"So they had no ill intent towards you, and weren’t working with the Demon King?" Cass shrugged.
"Whatever the case may be, Byron is now working for us. At the cost of Sam, but I’ll let you decide what you like to do from there. He’s just a child at this point." Sam groaned.
"Children like him grow up quickly, my Lord, but thank you for giving me such freedoms." Cass chuckled.
"You could reject him outright, Sam, and I would not punish you. I told him, and I might as well tell you too, I value you too much to let someone else interfere with you. Honestly, I considered telling Draken off earlier for the way he spoke to you, but decided it wasn’t the time nor place." Cass leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms. This chair was quite comfortable.
Sam seemed shocked.
"But you clearly have something planned for him. I wouldn’t dare to-"
"People like him can be replaced. It is a lot harder to replace someone like you. I barely trust him. He has not earned it. You have. Therefore, I would weigh your concerns and desires more over his." Cass shrugged at the shocked look on Sam’s face. Sir Forsythe laughed lightly.
"You were never this obvious about your affections, but it is nice to hear them from your own mouth." He said with a smile. "You were more free with them as a child, but grew cold after you began to experience your monthly issues." Monthly issues? What the fuck did that mean?
Cass looked to Sam, but Sam shrugged.
"You do not allow anyone in your chambers outside of designated food drop times. You even limit those as well for about 4-6 days out of every month. It has been this way since I began to serve you." He told him. Cass found it odd that someone like Sam, who it was clear Lord Blackburn had trusted in some capacity, was not aware of what happened to him during that time. It also worried Cass.
He vaguely remembered that Lord Blackburn would disappear for a few days at the end of each month and sometimes it conflicted with quests, but he didn’t care. He wouldn’t listen or budge an inch when it came to those times. He’d even missed important meetings and ceremonies because of it.
Huh.
"I’ve had this since I hit puberty?" Cass asked and Sir Forsythe nodded.
"Yes. Ever since you came of age, this has been happening. Even I am not aware of what this is, but Lord Blackburn does seem aware of it. If he is aware, I am sure your Father was as well." Cass wondered if this was a Blackburn thing, or if this was just a Lord Blackburn thing.
"Did this only impact me?" He asked and Sir Forsythe nodded.
"As far as I was aware, no other Lord Blackburn or Lady Blackburn had any of the symptoms you do." He hesitated, and Cass wondered what he was going to say. Even Sam seemed hesitant to speak.
"What is it?" Cass asked, exasperated that they were so worried to speak.
"Uh, well, my Lord, there are rumours." Sam spoke up, and Sir Forsythe shot Sam a dirty look.
"You shouldn’t listen to his words, my Lord. The rumours have no basis in-"
"Even if they have no basis in logic, he should still hear them, Sir Forsythe! If we hide what others are saying about him, is it not only going to hurt him more?" Sam shot back, and Cass was impressed by the anger inside of him.
Sam stepped away from the wall, coming to stand beside Sir Forsythe on his right side. He bowed deeply.
"Forgive me for the words I am about to speak, and know that I believe them to be wholly false. There are rumours, because of your Mother and what she did, that you are the spawn of a demon. A devil. That you have to hide because you turn into a demon at the end of each month. That it is the reason your Mother-" Sam cut himself off, his expression pained.
Cass was surprised, but not too surprised by his words.
"So they think that I am the reason that my Mother has passed?" Cass asked softly, and Sam nodded.
"She...she jumped from the top of the manor." Sir Forsythe added. "Your Father never recovered, and she was in the middle of a trail for dark magic." So she was a bad person. At least from the public eye, and it appeared that Sir Forsythe had mixed feelings about her considering his expression. It was interesting hearing about the story of Lord Blackburn while in his body. Most of this wasn’t spoken about because it wasn’t relevant to the Demon King quest, but there had always been a tension between the three Ducal families.
This had to be one of the possible reasons for it.
Lord Blackburn’s Mother was most likely a dark magician, and had killed herself instead of facing the reality of her crimes. Lord Blackburn, formerly Duke Blackburn had either been banished from his home or had fled, and his Father had taken over as Duke Blackburn after his son had left.
No wonder he had tried to create another heir. That was a fucking political nightmare.
Cass bent, resting his elbows against the desk. He dug the palm of his hands against his forehead, laughing humourlessly.
Fuck.
This was going to be a lot more work then those creatures had said it was going to be. He had no idea what he was supposed to do besides probably preventing Lord Blackburn from stealing the relic from the hero’s party. That was all he knew for now.
This information session had been important, and informative, but that was about it. It didn’t give Cass any solid leads. Maybe Byron would have more information, but for now, he needed to find out what all of these papers around him were.
"Sir Forsythe, Sam, what are the purpose for all the papers around me? I don’t think I’m in charge of anything particularly hard for the Demon King problem." They seemed surprised that he knew that much, before Sam glowed.
"It’s good to know some of your memories are coming back." He told him, meaning every word and Cass chuckled.
"I agree with Sam." Sir Forsythe said before he cleared his throat. His expression grew tense again. "Those are the papers that the Duke of the Blackburn family should be doing." Cass felt his eyes widen as Sir Forsythe’s jaw grew tight and he nodded when Cass met his gaze, shocked.
"What?" Cass asked and he closed his eyes as if he was deeply pained.
"As soon as you married Lady Fiona they began to arrive in droves." Cass felt his body shake as he began to laugh in earnest.
What a piece of shit.
He gave him all of the work, but not the title? Lord Blackburn was a fucking punching bag for his grandfather. What the hell did an old man have on him to let him treat Lord Blackburn like this? Wasn’t he one of the best mages of the time?
"So, I do all of the work, and he keeps the title?" Cass asked and Sam went white while Sir Forsythe nodded.
"Yes, my Lord." Cass really leaned back in his chair and laughed. He ignored the pain in his head as he did so. This was just too fucking ridiculous. Cass thought he was dealing with a coldhearted villain, someone irredeemable.
Maybe he was just dealing with a damn idiot?