Cass would admit, the castle looked pretty fucking cool.
He’d never been to a castle before, but the more he looked, the more Cass realised that Lord Blackburn may or may not have built himself a castle in the woods. He’d been mature about it, but fuck.
The circular entry where carriages could come around, stop at the front door and unload? They had that. The brickwork? They had that. The delicate artisan work that made the stone look alive? Not the same, but they had it. The temple attached to the main house by a narrow corridor?
Yeah, they had that too.
The gaudy but tasteful chandelier in the middle of the foyer? They also had that.
The more that Cass looked, the more Cass came to realise that Lord Blackburn had either made a mockery of this place by making a better version of it, or someone else had attempted to make an estate that looked similar to this castle and Lord Blackburn had endeavored to make them feel bad.
Either way, it was a fascinating thing to realise just how petty Lord Blackburn was. It was obvious to his companions that there was some similarity, especially Edgar who was more knowledgeable about the noble culture of things. The others didn’t really care, but Edgar gave Cass a look around Lucian who was standing between them. There was a sparkle in his eye that made it hard for Cass to keep his bad boy persona on.
Now that he was out of the carriage, he had to be that way. Partially because of Lord Blackburn’s actual reputation, and partially because of the reputation that Cass needed to foster for tonight. Cass had hyped himself up in the carriage while everyone else had been silent. Talking to himself internally, making sure that he didn’t get too upset if no one noticed him.
But now that Cass was here, he didn’t think he needed to have that talk with himself at all. Everyone was staring at him. It only got worse as Cass and co were escorted down the clearly marked hallways towards the ballroom. Nearly every head was on a swivel as Cass walked by.
He had to intentionally hide himself behind Lucian and Byron, with Sir Sanders behind him. He originally wanted to gauge how the others were viewed before they saw Cass. How the others were treated without Cass around, but he had a feeling that his plan had been shot in the foot as soon as he stepped into the castle.
Everyone was watching Lord Blackburn, and part of that was fair. Cass was at his prissiest. His face was flat, his eyebrows slightly down, and he was almost pouting. He felt like a weird model, but only for an angry villain. Were there models for that? He was pretty sure there were.
He’d checked out his facial expression in one of the mirrors they had walked by to make sure it was perfect. He was absolutely locking in as a villain, a bad guy, and on top of that, someone who hadn’t been invited to this ball but was attending nonetheless.
While Lord Blackburn hadn’t been invited, do you know who had been? The hero of legend. The King didn’t know it, but that was a plural statement, and if it came down to it, Cass was not above rubbing the King’s face into the ground given everything that was going on.
Was Cass feeling a little testy? Yeah, he was, but fuck them. Now that he had dealt with catching Lord Ridgewood up with everything that was going on, and he’d dealt with the pressing issue of his body not feeling like his own for the last week of the month, he was filled with rage.
Rage at the fact that some fucking assholes had decided against two women’s will to marry someone off without her consent. Cass hadn’t liked the sound of it when he’d been in his world, and he certainly didn’t like it here. They were going to learn why Cass was summoned here to help out, because fuck everything if he was going to let a fucking old man get in his way.
He’d been ready to fight gods. Regular fucking humans meant nothing to him.
Cass sidled up to Lucian when they ended up in line waiting to be announced. Cass could feel that everyone was looking at them, looking at him now. Every move he took from this point on was going to be examined and spoken about. He could feel it in his bones.
Cass reached up and tapped Lucian on the shoulder. The man turned immediately, facing Cass, a scowl already there. He was already crossing his arms as he turned.
"Who is it?" He asked, clearly ready to fight. Lucian was acting more like his guard than Sir Sanders was. Cass felt his lips twitch, almost ruining his tough boy persona that he was trying to work with tonight.
"No one yet, Lucian. I was just thinking that I didn’t give you a warning earlier, and I thought now was the time to do so." Lucian, who had been cool and collected while Fiona yelled at him for being a creep with Edgar, paled.
"A warning? What did I do wrong?" He asked, clearly thinking that he’d fucked up in some way. Cass let out a laugh. They were all so jumpy due to the stress of the situation that all of them were a little off. Cass shook his head, unable to not smile up at the dragon.
"You didn’t do anything wrong, I just wanted to give you a warning that I might ask for something when we’re behind closed doors with the...problems. If that time comes, you have my full permission." Lucian seemed a little stunned by Cass’ words. He had to be vague, since they had quite a few big ears around them.
For Lucian, Cass was fairly certain that the man wasn’t going to get what he was saying. Especially given the current state Cass was in. It was clear from the way he swallowed thickly and shifted on his feet that Lucian thought Cass was giving him permission for something dirty.
Even Edgar, who was a few paces ahead with Lady Ava, Fiona and Lord Ridgewood, turned and joined them. He moved towards Lucian’s side, blocking the view that Lord Ridgewood would have at them. Particularly Cass. He was glaring at Cass.
"He gets permission?" Edgar demanded and Cass raised his hand to cover his mouth as he snorted.
"It’s not what either of you two are thinking, and only something Lucian should do. I promise that it will make sense in the moment. It’s also not my first response, or even second. It’s a last resort." Cass told the duo, and that seemed to calm Edgar, before he grew concerned.
"Something that only Lucian can do...as a last resort..." Edgar muttered, but Cass waved off the thought and forced him to join the others before he realised what Cass had implied. Out of the two of them, it would be Edgar who’d catch on quickly.
"Go back, Edgar. I think I can hear Lady Ava growling again." Cass told him. Fiona and Edgar were acting as controllers for Lady Ava right now since the crew had to look together. That meant, Cass lurking in the background and Lord Ridgewood at the front with everyone else until they got inside.
What had been the normal up until a few weeks ago. Before the group had gone into the dungeon and found out some crazy truths about Cass, and before that visit to the temple.
They had to be united, even if it wasn’t real, because the nobles were fucking crazy. Cass was about to enter into a battleground that he had very little experience with. Outside of punching them in a different world.
He needed to remember that he’d threatened most of these idiots literally a few days ago, through letters and in person. He’d let them think some of them had gotten the upper hand, and the others? He let them beg, plead, and think that Cass was going to be lenient.
Then Cass was going to foreclose on their extravagant mansions that they couldn’t pay for. Hell, just to rub more salt into the wound, he might even turn them into orphanages, or homes for LGBTQ+ people. That would really make these fuckers stew.
Cass froze.
He’d forgotten one crucial point. There was one man who lived here. Who he had mostly erased from his mind until now. He had pushed the man mostly to the back because everything he was doing was in a small way, giving him the middle finger.
He could run into his grandfather tonight.
He’d been so caught up in the chaos of everything else that he’d forgotten about that twisted fucker. Until he thought about queer people. There was not a doubt in his mind that he had a hand in this. He was probably going to deny it, but there was no way that he wasn’t involved.
He wanted to strip power away from Cass and co. He wanted to be in power.
He could probably feel how Cass was slowly squeezing him. Or he was lashing out because Cass made it obvious that he owned the house that the old man was never going to get his hands on.
Ever.
He was never going to get his fucking filthy hands on that house.
"Cass. You okay?" Lucian asked softly as Cass’ anger spiked dangerously. Cass’ hands shook with the anger that consumed him for a full 30 seconds before he was able to calm himself. This was one of the few times he was happy that Lucian had a direct line to his emotions. He needed someone to tone him down.
He felt everything deeper right now. It was also harder for him to get out of those emotions.
He knew of one way that would solve his anger issues right now, but it could trigger an even bigger problem. One that wasn’t complete, and honestly? Cass didn’t need rumours that he was a demon showing up at the ball right now. He already had enough of those, he didn’t need to get caught making out with Lucian in a bathroom or a broom closet or something.
Plus, Edgar would be pissed.
"Thanks Lucian." Cass whispered and Lucian stared at him.
"Do you need help?" He asked, glancing down at Cass. Cass could feel how the others were watching him. They all knew that he never showed up at the end of the month. He was sure that the rumour mill was all a flutter because he’d been spotted.
Cass wasn’t opposed to leaning into the rumours.
Cass, careful, placed a hand on Lucian’s lower back and felt the man stiffen immediately. Cass pretended to be weak in the knees.
"I-I’m fine for now. I’ll let you know if I need to rest." It was a whisper, but a stage whisper. Lucian was stressed for a moment, before something clicked, and he nodded. He swallowed thickly.
"Please do. Let Eddie, Fiona or I know. Or Sir Sanders and Byron. They would be more than happy to get one of us." Lucian said at around the same volume that Cass spoke. That meant Edgar heard, but he didn’t turn to acknowledge it. Cass nodded, licking his lips and let out a low, long sigh.
"Thank you." Cass said and patted Lucian’s back before he moved away. Cass’ hand burned from the touch. Even through several layers of clothing, Cass’ hand was tingling and he could feel the simmering embers in his gut begin to stir.
The clock started now.