Chapter 95: A chance encounter
Sam moved Cass’ snacks and his fresh tea to his bedroom after everything that had happened today. Sam wanted to help Cass get undressed, but Cass instead asked if he could help him move a small table into the bathroom because Cass had the idea to have a bath as well as read and have a snack.
He also asked Sam for some liquor, only a little, and Sam only relented after Cass said he just wanted a glass. Cass wanted to complain, saying he was the Lord not Sam, but given the fact that Cass was thinner than he was used to, and could barely eat anything, Sam being so cautious was a smart thing on his part.
So, Cass was able to spend his night in a bubble bath, a glass of some kind of sweet liquor, and several options for romance novels as he ate a few snacks in the tub.
It was a good night, and rounded off a whirlwind of a day. He was also able to push all unhelpful thoughts to the side, and try to play with his magical abilities given that he was in the tub and water seemed to come easier to him.
It was a cute moment, and Cass could feel his muscles relaxing, his body stretching out as he let the warm water soak into his bones. The soft smell of sweet bubbles filled the air as well, and Cass decided he was going to have bubble baths as much as he could.
It was nice, it was calm, and Sam made sure to check on him so he didn’t fall asleep in the water and drowning. Cass, all loose and warm, needed Sam’s help to get dressed after his bath, and he knew he was a little silly after his glass of liquor, but Sam didn’t seem to mind.
In fact, Sam seemed quite happy that Cass was so relaxed and calm.
All in all, Cass had a good night, which led into a slow, but busy next day.
~
Cass felt like he had done some good things with his day so far. He’d met and approved of a teacher for Byron while he was incapacitated, or whatever was going to happen to him during that week off that Lord Blackburn always took at the end of the month.
He’d done some more searching in Lord Blackburn’s study, and had even asked himself some questions, inside his head and out loud but hadn’t gotten any responses when he’d done so. He felt insane, but he had to try.
He also had been feeling...a little feverish starting in the morning. Sam had been a little worried, and when Cass asked if that was normal, he said no.
Sam told him that normally, if he was getting feverish, Lord Blackburn had taken the healing powder into his room and had locked everyone else out. He wouldn’t have even taken his meals and would have just suffered while surviving on the healing tonic.
Cass had hated hearing that, since Sam made it sound like whatever he was about to go through, it was going to be painful. Without more information, he had to trust what Sam was telling him, but that didn’t mean that that was the only thing at his disposal.
Today, Cass had taken it upon himself to visit the library that he had been sending Byron, who couldn’t read, to go gather the information he needed. Cass wanted to see what or who was residing here that could help such a man out, and also check out what resources the rest had accumulated and shared.
He was sure that everyone had their own personal libraries, like Lord Blackburn did, and wanted to see what had been contributed for general use. He had a feeling, given the crowd, it would have to be fairly random for general knowledge, and probably a lot of it was related to the temple.
He wasn’t exactly sure what Lord Blackburn had contributed, but since Byron was capable of getting the books that he needed almost every time, Cass was sure it was going to be interesting.
The library actually happened to be pretty close to Lord Blackburn’s rooms. Since most of the other residential rooms were on the lower levels, and on the other side, closer to the temple, that meant lots of the other rooms, like the dining room, kitchen, entertainment rooms and other things were closer to Lord Blackburn. The library was one of those things.
It was down the stairs, and a sharp left and then straight. It had two doors that swung open into the room, making it feel quite fancy. The tones for the space were warm, neutral tones. Things like wood, soft greens and oranges that didn’t clash with each other, and lots of sunlight from the far side of the room. Floor to ceiling windows let in most of the light, while magic lamps in green shades lit up the rest of the space and in between rows of bookcases.
It was a dream library, and it was clear that someone was in charge of maintaining the space. There was a well maintained, but messy desk to the right of the doors once someone entered the space, but they were absent when Cass entered. They had left a little plaque saying that they were absent for the next few days as they were on vacation, but if there was anything urgent to send a messenger to Lord Vespertine and one of his aides would be happy to help.
It did not surprise him that it was Lord Vespertine who was in charge of this space. Out of the remaining members of the hero party, it was either him, or Lady Ava who would have been put in charge of this space, or who would have volunteered. Lord Blackburn had probably sat back and let them make claims on parts of the mansion while he kept note of what others hadn’t claimed.
From the notes he’d read that Lord Blackburn had taken on the others, and things going on in the mansion, that seemed like something he would do.
Cass didn’t expect anyone else to be in here at this time of the day since it was late afternoon, so he took his time to examine the space on his own. He wasn’t looking for anything in particular, and thus had sent Sam to go check on his afternoon snacks/dinner while he took some time to himself.
Most of the bookshelves near the front and back were full, but it was the bookshelves in the middle that were mostly empty. Cass was trying to understand how whoever was in charge of this space was organising and categorizing the books, but he was getting lost.
It wasn’t by author, it wasn’t by title, nor was it by subject. He felt like his head was spinning as he tried to understand the organisational method, but he held his tongue. He could ask Sam when he got back to his rooms, so for now he should just...get used to it.
Cass sighed, wandering the aisles, enjoying looking at the books he hadn’t read before. Most of the books were history, or had an obvious purpose. There was a huge section on the temple and its teachings, which surprised no one. They had the Vespertine family staying here, there was no way they were going to miss on a chance to spread the word of the temple here.
Cass was surprised by the depth of knowledge here though. There were books on math, science, languages, and many other subjects that he didn’t think he would find. There were also several on sword training techniques as well as basic magic books. There were several picture books as well, which Cass found interesting, but what he found the most interesting was that there were romance novels here.
They were hidden, and out of the way. Cass had to grab a ladder that was nearby to try to get to them, but they did exist. Cass, surprised that he would find such titles as ’the secret of the Duke of the North’ or, ’I’m just a maid, your highness!’, or his favourite ’oops! I spilled wine on the count and now I’m his mistress?!’
That was the one he really wanted to see the cover of. Well, unlike the romance stories of his time, they didn’t have illustrated covers, just plain text covers. That didn’t mean he didn’t want to look at the books in person. So, with the ladder pushed up against the bookcase, Cass climbed up. He did wonder who had brought the romance novels into the library, and he definitely felt like he would have to quietly add to them.
He didn’t think that his demon or risqué romance novels would be accepted here. Given the titles, he wasn’t so sure that these books were as...smutty as the one he had been reading in the bath only yesterday. He’d been giggling the whole time through some scenes, and he found himself smiling as he reached for titles that had caught his eye.
Everything seemed fine, until he started to lose balance, and Cass realised that there was nothing to hold onto, and no one around to catch him. Pin wheeling his arms, the book flying out of his hands, Cass let out a shout as he felt himself tilt back and wasn’t able to catch himself.
Expecting a great deal of pain, Cass was surprised when instead of hitting the hard ground, or even the stairs beneath him, he instead landed against warm cloth, and someone let out a sharp exhale.
"Oof!" Cass thought his heart was going to race out of his chest, his eyes blinking rapidly as he tried to catch his breath. It took him a moment to realise who had caught him, and when he did, he began to panic.
"Dear lord! I am so sorry!" Cass apologised, scrambling to get out of the arms of the man who had caught him. Lord Ridgewood didn’t seem phased in the slightest. He even seemed to resist letting Cass go for a moment, before helping him stand on his feet.
Cass took in the thrown books, the ladder that was knocked over, and Lord Ridgewood’s slightly askew outfit. He sighed.
"It’s alright, Cass. No harm here." Cass froze, turning his gaze to Lord Ridgewood as he dusted himself off again. He glanced around at the books on the ground, before he began gathering him. "Doing some light reading?" He asked, while Cass was frozen.
Did he just call him Cass? Why was he calling him that when before he’d called him Lord Blackburn? And why so suddenly? They had barely exchanged words alone before this, and Cass was pretty sure that the man kept to himself. Cass was sure that he wasn’t secretly close to Lord Blackburn, and his mind could only turn itself over and over trying to understand why Lord Ridgewood was calling him by his name.
Lord Ridgewood, however, didn’t seem to notice what his words had done to Cass, and had picked up all of the books and righted the ladder that had fallen over as Cass had fallen. Cass swallowed, watching him.