"What about clothes for Edgar?" Cass was surprised at the words that left Lord Ridgewood’s mouth.
They had finally left the temple grounds proper. Byron had to carry the man down the flights of stairs like a princess, but Lord Ridgewood had been so dazed that he hadn’t even realised it. He just casually held onto Byron’s neck, his head on a swivel but his eyes blank. He was not seeing a damn thing.
It was, Cass hated to say it, rather cute. So was the moment he was in now with the knight.
Byron had gotten him into the carriage and lying down. Cass had climbed in after and was adjusting the cushions on the bench of the carriage so that the man had a bit more support under his head. He was like a Ken doll right now in armor. He needed some support under his head.
It was not lost on Cass that he was concerned about Edgar, and that the part that he was concerned about Cass hadn’t brought up to Lord Ridgewood. He’d been eavesdropping in on his conversation with Lucian and Edgar.
They had both been loud, so Cass couldn’t exactly blame the man if he had overheard. However, the way that he was scrunching up his face in concern had Cass chuckling.
"I had always planned to just buy Edgar more clothes, Gideon." Cass told him and Lord Ridgewood frowned.
"So you lied?" He asked and Cass huffed, trying to fight the smile that wanted to crease his cheeks and just gave in after a few seconds.
"Gideon, what good would it have done if I had asked and been told that Edgar had to go in person? We both know they don’t have a good relationship. I would rather outfit him myself." Cass told him. Cass watched as Gideon processed his words, the moment only interrupted by Byron closing the door and telling Cass with gestures that he was going to be on the outside of the carriage. Cass nodded.
"So you’ve taken both Edgar and I in?" He asked. Cass held his breath.
"Is that a bad thing?" Cass asked, curious what this Gideon would say. Cass watched the man for a moment before a stunning, bright smile crossed his face.
"No. It’s not a bad thing. I don’t mind being taken care of by you. You treat your people well if they’re loyal. I’ll be loyal, Cass. Don’t throw me away." Cass wasn’t sure if Gideon was even aware of what he was saying at this point, nor how much of an arrow into his heart it was.
Cass had to place his own hand over his heart, unsure how he was going to deal with the wound the man had just dealt him. The soft way he had spoken, the bright smile, the dazed green eyes. Gideon might have looked constipated up until this point, but when he relaxed his expression he was a rather handsome man. It was a devastating blow to Cass’ heart and mind.
"If you stay loyal, you won’t even have to worry, Gideon." Cass told him, a little choked up. Gideon closed his eyes, rolling his head back so that he was lying down properly.
"Okay. I think I’m going to nap now." He told him and Cass was thankful for the break. He had no idea where the rest of that conversation could have gone, and he was glad that it was ending.
Cass, on shaky legs, got up and sat down across from him. As if able to sense that Cass had sat down, the carriage began to move and Cass let out a sigh. He stared at Gideon for a long moment, wondering if he was going to open his eyes again but he didn’t. Cass ran his hand over his face, the action a nice feeling after having to do so many damn expressions.
Well, that had been a rather successful trip to the temple.
He’d surprised both Dukes, gotten to make a threat that stuck, got a half promise from the gods, Gideon got a power up, and Cass found out that he did have similar powers to Fiona. That was a rather successful trip.
There was a small part of Cass that wanted to go back to the Demon shrine as well. Maybe just to give them a piece of his mind, but he held off. That had too much of a chance to blow back in his face, and Cass didn’t want to deal with that.
The likelihood that the demon king would get off from Cass coming back so soon was preventing Cass from doing so. He would know that he really got under Cass’ skin, even if it had been obvious because he had fled. Cass didn’t want the man to get actually cocky. He had no idea if the demons could watch Cass the same way that the gods could.
He had a feeling that they couldn’t, which was why they sent so many demons into the world and created dungeons. At least, that was what he was hoping. He had no doubt that they had been able to see how he had reacted while in the shrine, but he just hoped that the demon king didn’t get to see everything else.
Cass had originally planned to maybe go out with Gideon and get a snack or something, but with him being in the condition that he was? It didn’t make sense, so Cass told Byron and the driver to head home. Cass could keep the driver around, grab Edgar, and hit the shops once he got back.
That way he could be seen out and about with the others the day after Fiona left. He would be damned if he was going to let anyone gossip, and he would also be damned that someone as peacocky as Edgar only had a few outfits.
While he was still mad at the man, that didn’t mean he was going to neglect him. Gideon had already said he was a good owner, and while this position had been shoved into his hands, Cass was essentially the owner of all of the men in the party now.
It was annoying, but he wasn’t going to neglect them. He was going to show Fiona that fuck her, he could do everyone on his own. He had potentially thought about getting her help, but she made the choice for him by going behind his back and going to the gods.
This wasn’t even going to his parents as the favoured child and doing something horrible, this was going to the grandparents and stealing the inheritance kind of shit. Something that Cass was not going to forgive her for. It was a good thing that he couldn’t see her face. He wouldn’t grow weak anymore because she looked like his sister.
He did worry about how Lady Ava would fare. Only because she had been so close to going off the wrong deep end and Fiona hadn’t really dealt with that. Edgar had fixed her.
Well, it wasn’t his problem anymore. He had three men to keep his attention on, three Dukes to worry about, a King, and then his own personal demon aide he had to keep an eye on. Fiona had barely even dealt with any of that, and if Cass was honest, she had been doing a bad job of managing all of it. The king tried to sell her lover to another country, she’d been getting taken advantage of by nobles, and she’d almost had to take over the kingdom against her will.
That was a pretty poor ability to deal with things, if Cass was honest. Did Cass want to deal with that shit? Absolutely not, and he hadn’t been given a choice. However, Cass felt that he did have a better ability given how he’d shaken the ground as soon as he’d attended one fucking ball.
The noble class was probably right in not inviting him given how he’d had someone eaten at the first ball that he had attended. But that was a bit on them. If he hadn’t had
They were also probably just upset that Cass was better at being scary compared to them. It was envy and jealousy.
Gideon let out a low huff and Cass turned his attention to him. It was actually him just sighing in his sleep and Cass felt a little smile touch his lips. They had a new Saint now, they had a newish hero, and still had a mage and a dragon in the party. The Saint was also a knight instead of a wispy, crying woman that tended to get on Cass’ nerves, and they didn’t have to be as worried about privacy going forward.
Er, no, Cass should take that part back. He needed to be worried about his privacy. Fuck the other guys, but Cass felt a bit like a rotisserie chicken sometimes when he was in front of Edgar and Lucian. Fresh out of the oven, too.
Cass felt the carriage roll to a stop, and he was unaware that they had even arrived at the mansion. He thought he might be imaging it until the sound of footsteps could be heard and the door was flung open.
Lucian stood in the doorway, blocking out the sun. His chest was heaving, his eyes flashing as he glanced around the interior of the carriage. Upon seeing that Cass was on one side and Gideon was passed out on the bench of the carriage, confusion crossed his face.
"What happened?" He asked, his head tilting to the side in confusion. It was clear that he was expecting something else to have happened, but Gideon didn’t know a damn thing. While Lucian had embarrassed Cass greatly yesterday, Gideon was very innocent compared to the rest of the degenerates in the mansion. Cass was including himself in that list.
He couldn’t really get out of it, especially because of his demon origin.
"Well, the gods and I had a talk and Gideon had to deal with the outcome." Cass said. Lucian’s brows furrowed.
"What is that supposed to mean?" He asked, confused and Cass smirked. He stood up, gesturing for Lucian to step back to let Cass out of the carriage. Lucian stuck out his bottom lip, clearly pouting, but finally stepped back and let Cass get out of the carriage.
"Byron, can you grab Gideon again?" Cass asked as Byron jumped down from the carriage. Byron gave a nod and slipped into the carriage to grab Gideon while Cass shuffled to the side with Lucian. While they were waiting, Edgar came creeping out of the mansion with his protective hat and jacket on. He looked hesitant, sad.
"How did it go?" Edgar asked when he reached Lucian and Cass. Edgar did a double take when Byron came out of the carriage with Gideon in his arms. Edgar looked confused, and worried. "Is Gideon alright?" Cass chuckled.
"He’ll be fine. Just needs some rest." Cass told them and Edgar nodded. Lucian kept watching Byron enter into the open air, nod at Lucian and Edgar, and then moved towards the mansion.
The door opened without Byron lifting a finger, and Cass hadn’t done it. He assumed it was either Lucian, or the house itself.
"Anyway," Cass started, "spoke to Duke Vespertine and Gideon’s father. Both are...doing just great." Cass said. "We’ll pick you up some clothes today, Edgar, or at least get the ball rolling." Cass said and Edgar blinked, surprised.
"You want to go...shopping? Right now?" He asked and Cass nodded. Lucian grumbled.
"Without me?" He protested, crossing his arms and pushing up his pecs. Cass wouldn’t lie and say his eyes didn’t get drawn to the motion, but he was able to pull his eyes away shortly after. A win was a win.
"You don’t wear clothes." Cass reminded him and Lucian growled in annoyance.
"I would if you bought it for me." He replied.
"Perfect. Then when Edgar and I are out, we’ll pick you up something, alright? Now keep an eye on Gideon and don’t let his father or brothers near. I’ve already threatened them so you have a right to follow through." Lucian’s demeanor shifted immediately. Clearly, that was the right thing for Cass to say.