Chapter 283: Everyone deserves a little ’work’ sometimes
"Should I just get collars for all three of you?" Cass joked, unable to stop himself. Edgar’s grip tightened on his ankles.
"That’s not funny. Cass." He warned, and Cass couldn’t stop his laughter.
"Why not?" Cass asked and Lucian sighed.
"Because I don’t want to share something with that holy fucking knight. He lied twice to us, once about his credentials, and twice about being a friend. If you’re going to get me a collar, it needs to be a magical one. I want it to fit on me when I change shape." Lucian muttered. "That can’t match with him. He can’t even change shape."
Oh my god. That was so-
Cass had to cover his mouth, his frame shaking as he continued to laugh. They were not helping themselves if they were trying to fight the cute allegations. They were pouting and huffing about sharing anything with Lord Ridgewood.
They were human shaming him!
Cass turned, unable to stop himself from smiling as he kissed Lucian on the cheek as the man continued to grumble. He stopped grumbling when Cass kissed him on the cheek before Cass turned and gestured to Edgar for him to lean forward. The man went willingly after seeing what Lucian got, and Cass kissed him on the cheek too.
He smiled fondly at the two of them, his eyes curling upwards.
"There. Happy now? Lord Ridgewood won’t get cheek kisses from me." Cass said and Edgar let out a sigh.
"I’m not fond of collars." Edgar said. "Get Lucy one, but I want a ring." He was trying to be sly, but Cass hit his arm.
"Don’t even start that conversation." Cass warned, and Edgar gave him a wide, cheeky smile.
"What? I can try, can’t I? I have to be crafty to get into your good books." Edgar told him and Lucian didn’t like being ignored. He turned Cass in his lap, pulling him more in his direction.
"If you get him a ring, you have to get me one too." Lucian warned, his expression dark. Cass snorted.
"So if I get anyone anything, you have to get it as well? But dragon sized?" Cass asked, half joking, but Lucian nodded seriously.
"Yes. I’m greedy, and I’m already sharing you so that your happiness can grow. That doesn’t mean that I’m going to sit back and let you pamper others on your own. Pamper me too." Lucian didn’t seem to care how that sounded to Cass’ ears. He didn’t care that he sounded like a little baby throwing a tantrum.
Cass’ face hurt from how wide his smile is.
"Why are you two so damn confident that Lord Ridgewood would even look in my direction?" Cass asked. "You’re making some bold assumptions. While I can agree that he would probably turn towards Edgar, since you two have known each other for so long, he’s barely interacted with me." Edgar looked grim at Cass’ words.
"That’s the whole point, Baby. He hasn’t interacted with you. You just said I know him well, and he avoids things he is worried will disrupt his training. There was probably a reason why he kept his distance from you from the beginning. Plus, you didn’t have to hear about how he was so nervous about approaching Fiona when this whole thing first started, before we knew the truth." Edgar said, his voice filled with old emotion. "I watched the man pine and moan, but when push came to shove, I had to force him to speak to her on his own. They fell into a hole, remember? And had to help each other out?" Edgar’s words were stirring up a memory.
That had happened in the original, so Cass was able to recall it.
"Yeah. But that was just-"
"Who do you think dug the hole, Cass?" Edgar asked, interrupting him on purpose this time. "It was me. I dug the hole, and then lied to him saying there was an emergency in the area. They both feel for it since they are both coded to saving others before themselves." Edgar said, sighing and shaking his head. "Probably why Fiona fell so hard for Ava, honestly."
It was a good point. Lady Ava was very much coded for saving. That was who was in the genre, and she did play it quite well.
"You orchestrated them getting married?" Lucian asked and Edgar sighed. It looked like it pained him to discuss this.
"I liked her, and I knew that if he was left out...well, things probably wouldn’t go well." Edgar muttered. "I also knew that his father was pushing him for something, and I assumed it was getting married to the female hero." Edgar muttered. "I didn’t realise there was so much other shit wrapped up in it."
Cass had a feeling that little observation might have come from the conversation the two of them had had after Cass had sent him away. Cass shifted in Lucian’s lap.
"Was he tasked to get close to the female hero because she’s the King’s daughter?" Cass asked and Edgar’s grim expression told him all he needed to know. "Fuck. That damn King played all of us." Cass muttered.
"I could..." Lucian trailed off when Cass turned to glare at him. He pouted immediately. "Fine. Don’t let me help." He grumbled and Edgar shook his head.
"Eating the King will only cause more problems because of the whole inheritance thing. Especially since everyone with eyes can tell that Fiona is the true heir. Whether or not she wants the throne is a completely different story." Edgar said.
"I don’t think she should go for it." Cass said. "While she might be a good King, she’ll be shit at the managing part. She’s too good of a person. We should just scare the crown prince into listening to us." Cass said, and Edgar stared at Cass, before he nodded slowly.
"Yeah. I agree with that. Ava is kind of...the same way. She’ll be a great High Priestess since she cares about the people, but the admin side of everything?" Edgar groaned. "I just know if I don’t take over it, someone else is going to take advantage of her." Edgar sighed again. "And father wants to marry her off as well to form more connections." Edgar muttered. "He tried to do that with my older brothers and look how that turned out?"
Cass blinked. He couldn’t remember Edgar having older siblings. It had never been brought up in the book, and Cass hadn’t read about them in the time he’d been trying to catch up on history.
Granted, he’d been mostly reading about the Blackburn family, but he’d perused other families.
"I am unfamiliar. You have siblings, Edgar?" Lucian asked, and Cass let out a soft exhale. Could always count on Lucian asking something like this. Edgar’s face twisted with pain.
"Had. Both are dead. My father had one scheduled to be the next Head Priest, and he was killed and only two weeks later, my other older brother was on his way to meet his bride when enemies of the temple attacked his carriage and killed him. Both died tragically, and father was kicking himself until he found Ava." He looked rather bitter as he said those words, and Cass wondered what that really meant.
Why was he kicking himself when Edgar had existed? Edgar was a Vespertine. He should have been able to take over, especially since someone had deemed it important that a vampire was in the family line. Unless it was an accident, but Cass didn’t get that feeling from the way that Edgar spoke about it.
"I’m sorry to hear that, Edgar." Lucian apologised, meaning his words. "It is never easy losing siblings." Lucian spoke from a deep place of understanding and Edgar let out a dry laugh.
"Don’t feel bad, Lucy. They were shitheads like my father. I didn’t exactly cry when I heard the news." Edgar said and Cass frowned. That wasn’t good either.
Then, a knock sounded on the door.
"My Lord, Lady Fiona is here." It was Sir Forsythe, and Cass felt his eyes widen. He knew that she was coming, but he should-
"I am not releasing you." Lucian muttered. "I’m comfy, and so are you. This couch is far too stiff for you to sit on. We’ll have to get a new one. Your ass shouldn’t touch something so foul. My lap is a perfect place for you to rest." Lucian told him, and Cass felt his face warm.
"Or, if you are finding you want to try something else out, you can sit in mine? You didn’t seem to mind it earlier." Edgar offered. A little ghost of a teasing smile on his lips. Cass flushed.
These damn men.
"Let her in." Cass muttered, defeated. He just didn’t want to argue with them right now. Sir Forsythe opened the door, and Fiona stepped in, thanking Sir Forsythe before she turned and caught sight of what was before her.
She nearly stumbled, but caught herself before she fell fully. She blinked a few times, taking in the sight before her, before she cleared her throat.
"I’m almost envious. I feel like I should have at least brought Ava so that I don’t feel outnumbered." Fiona teased, her smile easy as it touched her lips. Cass just shook his head.
"They won’t let me sit on the couch." Cass muttered, and Fiona chuckled. Her gaze slid between the three men before her smile widened.
"I see. Either way, I just got back from shopping. Ava is just cleaning up, but would you like to join us for dinner? I heard Lucy caught some good meat and the workers are quite excited about it. The fairies in particular were saying it was a great catch. You have some admirers, Lucy." Fiona teased and he huffed.
"As long as it’s platonic, I am fine with it. I only have eyes for one fairy." Lucian declared and Cass felt his face warm more as Fiona laughed.
"Good job on saying that, Lucy. I agree. Anyways, do you want to join us? I also want to hear about how the day went." Fiona said, smiling. Cass took the offer with both hands.
"I think that would be a good idea. We want to show a united front, especially since I don’t trust all of the new people I hired." Her smile didn’t falter, but she nodded.
"You can do more ’work’ after dinner." She teased with a wink and Edgar chuckled.
"Careful, Fiona, or we might start teasing you right back." He warned as he got to his feet with a stretch. Fiona flushed.
"Heard and understood. I’ll meet you in the dining room?" She asked tentatively and Cass nodded. She bobbed her head in a nod, before she left with a wave and a smile. Now it was time to get moving.