Chapter 93: Let’s not focus on what happened, and save a knight instead
When Sam’s knock did come to the door, Cass was practically a shell of his former self.
He’d sunk down to the floor, his expression still dazed, and his breathing slowly leveling out. Sam, who had a small smile on his face as he opened the door, assuming that his Lord was too busy to answer, nearly had a heart attack at the condition he found him in. He almost dropped the book he’d brought from Cass’ room, but instead placed it on the small table between the couches to the right of him, and then rushed towards Cass.
"My Lord! What happened while I was gone?" He looked around, his gaze wide as he tried to check for anything out of place. He noticed the small disturbance on his desk, the messed up papers, and the way Cass’ neckline was askew. He furrowed his brows. "My Lord? Did someone visit?" Cass jerked at that, inhaling deeply, and loudly. Cass crouched down, clearly flustered and wanting to help but he didn’t want to touch Cass without permission.
Cass let out a weak laugh, covering his face before his laughter began to shake his shoulders.
"That fucking man." Cass mumbled. Sam seemed even more concerned.
"Which man, my Lord? Who?" Cass shook his head, raising his hand to cover his face. He could still feel his fucking tongue on his neck.
Fuck. Who the hell said that someone else tastes good after licking them? That was so fucking weird. They were never going to get that close again. Cass was going to make sure of it. This ’marriage’ as Draken called it was never going to solidify if Cass could help it.
"Don’t let Draken anywhere near my rooms for the foreseeable future." Cass muttered and Sam’s face grew serious as he nodded.
"I will do my best, my Lord." Cass nodded, accepting that. Sam was just a guy. He wasn’t some devious creature like the rest of them. He had no power here, and so Cass could only hope for some help from him. However...
"Where is Byron?" Cass asked and Sam blinked a few times before he swallowed.
"He’s...helping Sir Forsythe." Sam replied carefully and Cass was shocked to hear that. Why would he be helping Sir Forsythe? Why would he-
"Ah. Is he proving difficult?" Cass asked and Sam swallowed again, his eyes darting around.
"No, it’s not that. It’s more...some of the servants have protested to his treatment." Cass shouldn’t have been as surprised as he was to hear that, but given what he had just experienced, he was significantly shocked. He sighed, his shoulders rising and falling with the action and Sam watched him with worried eyes. "You aren’t...thinking of going there, are you my Lord? You need to rest. You only have two more days before your week of isolation begins. You should take this time to rest." Sam warned, but Cass knew in his bones that he needed to go deal with this now.
If he left it for too long, his whole plan to chase out the fuckers who were left behind by his grandfather might fail. If they viewed that they could boss him around in the slightest, all of this would be in vain. It would go back to what it was before.
Grumbling quietly, Cass got to his feet, Sam helping him do so. His limbs felt like jelly, and he was pissed that another fucking man was the reason for it. And of all people, it was Draken. Sam helped adjust his clothes, making him look presentable. He didn’t hesitate at Cass’ neck, so at the very least he hadn’t left a mark on him.
Cass had read that a lot in stories. Males leaving marks where they thought the other couldn’t see it as a form of marking. That sounded exactly like something Draken would do. If Cass remembered correctly, he had done that to Lady Fiona at one point in the book, and it was Lady Ava who had pointed it out.
Oops.
Feeling a bit more invigorated at how that scene existed in some timeline, Cass shook himself before he nodded. He turned, grabbing his cold tea, and chugged it in one go, before grabbing a few snacks and shoving them gracelessly into his mouth. He needed to build his strength, truly, after everything he had experienced today.
"Tomorrow I’m going to the damn library and everyone else can go fuck themselves." Cass muttered as he pushed open his study doors, Sam at his side.
"O-Of course my Lord." Sam responded and Cass grimaced.
"Not you, Sam. I’m just referring to everyone else." Cass said bitterly and Sam held his tongue, following behind Cass as he stormed out of his rooms, his face stoney as he headed towards where he’d sent Sir Forsythe yesterday.
The area that he had sent him was a part of the mansion that Cass, no, Lord Blackburn rarely went to, but where most of the rest of the inhabitants did go. Lord Blackburn kept to himself, and had apparently chosen the rooms furthest from everyone else intentionally. Lady Fiona hadn’t questioned him, and it was obvious now as to why.
They were married for the benefit of both parties. It was highly unlikely that he was going to trip over himself like the other men were attempting to, all to get her attention. Lady Ava, funny enough, was also included in that grouping, since her rooms weren’t that far from the other men. Lady Fiona and Lord Blackburn were the only two who had rooms close-ish to each other, and on the same level.
It was probably a form of respect for the fact that Lord Blackburn had built the mansion, so no one had really complained, but it did mean that he was isolated. The part of the mansion he lived in felt...empty, cold.
Cass didn’t care too much about it, but he had a feeling that Lord Blackburn had. Even in his old home the servants had at least acknowledged him even if it was to scorn him.
Cass stumbled, catching himself before he fell as that memory washed over him. It was a surprise, these sudden memories that were popping up. They also happened so sparingly, that Cass didn’t have time to brace himself.
"My Lord?" Sam asked carefully, concern in his tone. Cass shook himself, clearing his throat. He glanced around him, trying to see if anything else had noticed his slip up. There was no one around. Not a guard, servant, or another soul. How the hell anyone else besides him, like Sam or Byron handled this was beyond him.
"My shoe caught on the carpet. Nothing to worry about." Cass lied easily, moving once more. He needed to go save Sir Forsythe and Byron from whatever mess those servants were causing.
Especially if, like he was thinking, most of them were from the original manor and all worked for his grandfather. If that was the case, they would know Sir Forsythe from then, and were probably mocking him.
"Of course my Lord." Sam agreed easily, relief on his face. Cass felt a bit bad lying to him but not enough to admit the truth. Cass followed the path easily, and soon, they began to see life around them. Sam stiffened as everyone began to cast glances in his direction, and none of them were good.
It was clear that even if the rest of them were fine with what he was doing, Lady Ava, or the fact that he was punishing a servant truly caused them to be upset. Cass smirked. Good. They shouldn’t get comfortable. Cass was pissed that they thought they could work in the heroes mansion without suffering any consequences for the bad actions. He was sure that the money he was pouring into this place was like a tub with a leak, and he needed to figure out how to patch it up.
Dealing with insubordination was the first option, after that, it was going after the other inhabitants. He wanted to save that for last, since having a discussion about finances with the other duke’s sons was not something he wanted to do. It would no doubt needlessly antagonize them, and Cass didn’t need them to think about him any more than some of them already did.
Cass took the stairs down quickly, brushing past employees easily. Some flinched at how close he came, and he couldn’t hide the little smirk on his lips as they practically jumped back like they were going to get sick from touching them. He could tell that Sam was growing pissed, but Cass didn’t mind. It was them that were showing their hands, not Cass.
As he drew closer, he was able to hear the shouts of a crowd. It was coming from the direction of the training grounds shared by the guards and knights of the other sons. Lady Fiona didn’t really have guards of her own, and instead borrowed the knights of her husbands. Lady Ava was the same, but only borrowed guards from the temple and Vespertine.
Cass was pretty sure his guards trained here, but he couldn’t be sure. It wasn’t something he paid attention to, and he already knew that it was a part of his people that he had neglected. It was something he was hoping to deal with once this week-long isolation was done, and the first dungeon that he would be dealing with appeared.
"Release him! You have no right!" Cass snorted at the basic line, stepping out into dry, dirt grounds. He didn’t need to be told where everyone was, since they were gathered in the center of the area. Sir Forsythe had certainly chosen the most ideal spot for everyone to witness what he was doing.
He was catching on. Good for him.