Chapter 30: An introverts lament
Cass was at his wits end.
Sure, he found out the truth about Lady Fiona and Lady Ava, and that was all well and good, but he didn’t expect it would throw that big of a wrench into his plans.
First of all, the two wouldn’t leave him alone.
He’d been alone for a damn full week without any contact besides Sam, Byron, and Sir Forsythe. But now? Now the two wouldn’t leave him alone. They thought his office was for their personal use from the way they were behaving.
He’d wake up and find them already in his office before he even considered going down to join them at the breakfast table. Lady Ava was particularly bad for it, and he was finding that the more he was around her, the more his body seemed to have more aches and pains.
He had no idea why that was happening. There was no mention of how Lord Blackburn specifically avoided Lady Ava. He had just avoided everyone equally. It made Cass wonder if it was linked to the mark that had shown up on his body a few mornings ago.
It was a small circular symbol, with a darker, almost bloody-brown shade. Inside of the circle was a lily, the symbol for the ’gods’ in this world. Honestly, it looked like a pretty sick tattoo since the edges of the circle were rimmed with what looked like barbs. Also a symbol for the gods, and when Sam had first seen it on his shoulder blade when helping him change, he’d gasped.
Cass wondered if the contract, now that it had manifested completely, was the reason he felt so ill when Lady Ava was around. Not that he was ever going to tell her. The poor girl would be devastated if he said that.
So he was going to have to find a different reason to chase them away.
They were getting in the way of his work.
He was sure that if this had happened to the other men, without knowing the true intentions behind it, they would be ecstatic. Especially Lord Vespertine who was essentially Lady Ava’s older brother. Who wouldn’t want to get visits from your wife and your little sister?
Isn’t it great that they get along so well?
Too bad he didn’t know the truth of it.
Either way, that was the first issue. The second issue was the timing. He’d just been cleared to move around, so Cass had had every intention to start doing some investigations on his own. Go into town, poke around a bit. This all hinged on him learning magic, but that wasn’t a big deal. He was book smart. It should be easy.
Which led into his third problem.
Between the two girls visiting, his own personal interests, and all the work Lord Blackburn’s grandfather shoved into his lap, Cass was having a hard time making time for his magic lessons.
It didn’t help that he had to do it secretly. He couldn’t let it be known that his magic was lacking. It wouldn’t do anyone any good. He knew that if the other men found out, especially Draken, he wouldn’t hear the end of it.
Which led to his fourth problem.
Because the girls were here all the time, that meant the others were barging into his office at all times of the day looking for them. Cass was losing his damn mind.
Lord Vespertine had even burst in one time when he was in the middle changing, not even caring that he wasn’t in his office, and instead in his dressing room. Cass had nearly screamed his ears off, and hadn’t felt bad about it as he covered his body. He didn’t want the others to know about his deal with the gods, even if it made him look sensitive and insane.
Lord Vespertine had been teasing him about his ’girlish’ reaction for days now. He was still fuming.
Cass’ second week in this world had been full of stress, anger and frustration. After his first calming, relaxing, slightly bloody week, this was an awful switch up.
He was overstimulated, frustrated, and just wanted to be left alone. Even Sam had lost some of the usual peppiness he had to his step.
Cass reached his breaking point when the whole crew stormed into his office practically at the same time, all bickering and chatting to each other. Cass felt like they were coming into a classroom instead of his office and he finally lost it.
"Enough!" Cass bellowed from behind his desk, slamming his hands down on the wood before him. Frost spread out from his fingers, causing everyone to freeze in place. Even Draken stopped. "My office isn’t a meeting place for you to use as you wish. Unlike most of you, I have actual work I need to get done." Cass pointed towards the piles and piles of papers scattered around the room. "While most of you aren’t inheriting your Dukedom, I am. If you understand, find some other way to entertain yourselves." Cass growled, his blood pounding in his ears.
Several of them stood there in shock.
"C-Cassian, are you angry?" Lady Ava asked and Cass snarled.
"Angry? I’m not angry, Lady Ava. More like fed up. I feel like I’ve let you have your fun for long enough, but I will not be humouring this kind of behaviour anymore. Do you think you would be this lenient if I marched in with all of my friends and did the same to your offices?" Lady Ava seemed hesitant to respond, and when she did, Cass wanted to groan.
"B-But...we’re your only friends, Cassian."
"That is besides the point, Lady Ava. It’s the principle of it all! It’s the level of disrespect you are showing me." Cass declared and Lord Vespertine snorted. He’d recovered quickly, as Draken and Lady Fiona still seemed shocked by his outburst.
"Is this because I walked in on you changing that one time? I’ll apologise, alright? You didn’t have to get so worked up over it. I didn’t even get to see anything juicy anyways. Just your wide expanse of pale skin." Cass felt his face warm in anger as Lord Vespertine smirked. "Wait, that might be something scandalous. You’re more pale than some of the most popular courtesans around, Lord Blackburn. How do you keep that shade?" Cass slammed his hands down again, pushing up onto his feet as his whole body trembled.
Cass wasn’t even aware of how the space around him was warping as his magic began to go out of control. Lady Fiona was quickly paling of all colour while Lord Vespertine chuckled.
"That is not how one apologies, Lord Vespertine! And who are you to make comments about the colour of my skin? And why do you know what shade the most popular courtesans skin is?" Cass would admit, his voice might be a little shrill, but he was being pushed to his introverted edge.
He didn’t even have anywhere else to escape. Every damn time he went outside, fucking Draken would be there. Pestering, poking, prodding. Cass was about to unleash a can of whoopass any fucking day now.
Lord Vespertine shrugged, that damn handsome smirk on his face.
"Unlike someone else who keeps to themselves, I am friends with people from all walks of life. My family encourages diverse friendships and connections." Cass fucking knew who ran the brothels, and it wasn’t the Blackwell family, that was sure. ’Free love’ wasn’t a mantra his grandfather had.
"I like being by myself." Cass declared hotly, and Lady Ava seemed hurt.
"So you don’t like having us around?" She asked softly and Cass felt like a goodman monster. This was clearly what that damn monster was aiming for, and from his damn smirk, he knew he’d gotten Cass. That damn snake was too much like him, but Cass was too on edge to be his usual calm and collected self.
Growling, feeling on the wrong side of feral, Cass closed his eyes, taking a few deep, calming breaths.
Draken’s muffled snort broke all pretense of calmness he was attempting to gather.
"Lady Ava," Cass began, and she gulped. "While I understand that you want to get closer to me, this is not the way to do it. Did you ever consider I kept my distance for a reason?" Lady Ava’s eyes were the size of saucers, and Cass didn’t feel like he was speaking just for himself. Honestly, he felt like he was having an out of body experience, he was so fucking fed up. "I am not like the rest of you. Even Lord Ridgewood appears to fall into your camp, even if he remains mostly silent." Lady Fiona seemed confused.
"Uh, w-what do you mean, Cassian?" She asked and he huffed.
"I’m an introvert! A person who enjoys his solitude! I don’t recharge my energy by being around others. In fact, it steals my energy from me. I can’t focus when you’re all around me, especially when you’re loud and arguing and chatty. Even more so when you interrupt me to ask questions about what I am doing." Cass threw a glare towards Draken. He didn’t blame the man for his own curious nature, but that didn’t mean he was happy about it either.
Lady Fiona raised her hands up, taking a step towards Cass.
"A-Alright, I think we understand, now why don’t we take a few deep, calming breaths, hmm? You seem a little extra on edge today. Have you been releasing your magic, Cassian?" Releasing his magic? Why the fuck was she bringing that up?
And of course he hadn’t been! He hadn’t had time to practice because they were always around him. Cass trembling and it wasn’t until the frost gathered around the peripheral of his gaze that he realised what was happening.
In a line from him spanning outward, like a circle, was a layer of frost. It was creeping even now as he realised it and Lady Fiona sighed. She hung her head with a sigh, before raising her head and looking a little lost, and upset.