Chapter 111 – Stolen Ring

Persephone and every heir inside the Hall of Welcomes listened carefully to the slurred, fragmented, mouth-too-full-to-speak words of Nourou.

It was a genuine test of patience, to say the least. But if even Persephone said nothing, the others found themselves too afraid to speak up.

Cassius was the only one who might have dared. But he was simply too tired to care.

Nourou, however, might have lacked manners while lacking nothing in shrewdness. He knew exactly what he was doing.

During his account, he was careful not to lie in front of the Head Maid — who likely had a skill or an artifact that detected dishonesty — nor could he afford to put the two Tier One Heirs against him.

After today’s events, all of them — the Tier Three heirs especially — had understood one thing clearly:

Going against either Cassius or Emrys was the most efficient way to arrange a personal first class meeting with Vorn.

Emrys Stormblessed was an absolute monster. But Cassius — the one who had kept pace with him until the very end — was just as terrifying.

He had lost. But with what he had shown, he could have killed any one of them.

And so, all of them had reached the same conclusion:

Only Cassius could probably stop Emrys. And only Emrys could win against Cassius.

At least, that was what most of them thought. But the Chosen Ones would not be Chosen Ones if their wills broke that easily.

Klaus and Jeanne were not discouraged. They were thrilled instead. To have beings at their own age they could test themselves against without ceremony...that was exactly what Klaus had been missing.

It had been a long time since he had trained seriously. Now he was eager. Already, he could feel his Spirit crying out in joy.

William was the same, listening to Nourou’s account while opening and closing his fist continuously, thinking about how to amplify the Severance effect of his skill.

Natalia, meanwhile, had become painfully aware of how ridiculous she had been. She was chasing a man who not only had a wife he spoke of with open pride and love, but who had also just proven himself capable of going blow for blow with the one everyone considered unbeatable.

And what had she been doing in the meantime? Crying, pouting, acting like a child who believed the world owed her everything, instead of getting stronger.

At those thoughts, she clenched her teeth, looking at Cassius standing beside Persephone, her thoughts painful but hardening.

’Would you look at me if I became as strong as you?’ She mused. ’No...no...no. Not that. Not that. What I want to know is — why don’t you love me? Why? What does she have that I don’t?’

And more than that...

Why did she love him? Why couldn’t she bring herself to forget him, even when the man himself gave her every reason to?

Natalia didn’t know. But what she knew for certain was that she needed strength. Because without it, Cassius would never begin to see her as an equal.

She sighed, barely listening to Nourou’s tale anymore, consumed instead by the ache in her chest and the daunting task of becoming as strong as those two.

’I have no choice now. I can’t delay it any further.’ She whispered inwardly, closing her eyes. ’I will take the Test and become his Blessed.’

Then there was Keisha.

Her thoughts were neither complicated nor ambitious like the others. The only thing moving through her mind, as she reflected on the battle between Cassius and Emrys, was happiness.

Happiness that her childhood friend was not the weak person everyone had believed him to be. Happiness that he could protect himself. Happiness that Cassius seemed to have changed, the dark cloud that had always hovered over him now gone.

Keisha remembered the last time she had seen him,,when they were much younger, around seven or eight, before her mother’s death.

Cassius had worn that cold, arrogant look that used to freeze her very soul.

Now it was different. He was warmer, yet deeper, as if something inside him had shifted. As if he had become something more than he had been.

At those thoughts, Keisha smiled wide, her face flushing pink, staring at him and silently noting how beautiful he was even exhausted and wounded.

’I have the best best friend!’ She squealed inwardly.

Then, somewhere inside her — in a part far too mysterious and old to name — a sigh erupted. Cold, irritated, deeply ancient.

’You are embarrassing.’ The voice whispered through Keisha’s mind, startling her.

’Oh! You woke up, Shakei!’ Keisha said to the mysterious voice, brightening immediately. ’Why today? You rarely wake up!’

’Shut up. Don’t talk to me, you bitchy simp.’ The voice — Shakei — cursed, but still answered. ’I have been awake for a moment now. I sensed you were in danger.’

’Ahh! You are so cute!’ Keisha suddenly hugged herself in a deeply tender way, earning several strange glances that made her blush and shrink immediately.

Shakei cursed. ’Don’t fucking hug me, you bitchy simp. You need to get stronger...and fast.’ She warned, then looked at both Cassius and Emrys, though her gaze settled more on Cassius. ’Your bastard best friend is a monster, Keisha.’

Her voice had gone solemn, as if capable of seeing aspects of Cassius that few ever pierced through.

Keisha said nothing. But her face became a shade more serious.

She didn’t need to be told how powerful Cassius had become. Her goal, once she had learned about his low Birthright Capacity, had been to grow strong enough to protect him. Now she realised she needed to grow strong just to avoid being left behind entirely.

Her silver eyes hardened. Her determination grew.

Shakei watched in silence.

They were not alone in their shift.

Raven and Esmeray had also been forced to confront the true extent of their nephew’s power. But compared to the others, they were less surprised.

They knew, better than anyone, the terrifying talent that ran through every Desdemona. And even if they had never given it much thought, they had heard their mother speak of how special Cassius was more times than they could count.

His strength startled them, at most, a little.

What the event had truly shown them was how neglected and wasted their own training had become.

’This cannot continue.’ Raven thought, narrowing his red eyes. ’Emrys is stronger than me. And here I am, wretched and pitiful, running after a woman who only loves him, letting my training rot.’

He cursed inwardly, fist tightening. ’I need to focus. I am the Prince of this Kingdom. I cannot bring shame upon my family over a woman.’

He held no particular affection for his family, but that was something kept strictly between them. Outside, he was expected to show that they were the best.

His thoughts were quietly echoed by Esmeray, who exhaled slowly under her breath.

’It will be hard.’ She mused, looking toward the west of the hall where the wall had been blown open. ’But after all of this...after letting myself be used for your schemes...would you be grateful, Bliss? Would you be mine? I can’t control my urges forever. The pills have their limits. But you could stop it. With you, I can feel normal again.’

She didn’t know who Bliss was. Nor did he know her.

He couldn’t possibly guess, she had ordered her butler to recruit those people through an agency. That agency, not having what she required — manufactured by design — had gone to a second agency. Every leading person in both those agencies was part of her own Harem, each bound by a Death Contract.

Esmeray’s identity was protected.

But at this point, for any future where she could stop relying on her harem, she needed to learn Bliss’s identity. And she needed the man to accept being hers.

Only then could she focus properly. Only then could she live without being struck at every turn by the full weight of her curse.

At those thoughts, Esmeray began turning over how she might go about it.

Anesthesia, meanwhile, was looking at Love with entirely new eyes and the faintest trace of a smile.

’I was the one who introduced you to Emrys. And now you want what? To take my place? To throw me away?’

A cold, wrathful laugh echoed somewhere inside her.

’I despise ungrateful people more than anything in this world, Love. And when I despise someone...’

She left the rest unsaid. Even she was unnerved by the lengths she was willing to go to repay anyone who wronged her.

She always succeeded.

But there was one person, despite everything, she could find no way to bring down.

Cassius Desdemona.

’He knows me. I don’t know him. I have already lost a thousand times before we even met for the first time.’

That was what Anesthesia thought. And she knew it was the truth.

As for how he knew her so well, she had no idea. But she needed to understand him.

And for that, once again, Raven was the most useful path available. He was Cassius’s uncle, after all. He could tell her things she might use.

’This is becoming dangerous.’ Anesthesia realised, pressing her lips together. ’Lately, it feels like every path forward runs through Raven.’

Especially now...

She lifted her eyes and met the cold blue stare of Jonathan.

’...even the alternative I might have chosen, had Raven become impossible, is no longer an option.’

She recognised the look on his face.

Love and hate were two sides of the same coin. One small step, and everything flipped.

’You hate me now, Jonathan. I know that.’ Anesthesia thought, then smiled at him sweetly. ’So I will hate you more. And bring you down before you ever get the chance.’

It seemed her message was well received. Jonathan’s face split into a humourless smile.

And so — as relationships quietly transformed in that silence, with hatred and motivation and love alike born in the wreckage of that afternoon — Nourou’s account came to an end.

"...that’s what happened, Head Maid." He finished, licking his lips clean of sauce, and bowed his head with respect. "I do not know, however, why the two of them fought each other."

Persephone looked at Cassius, then back to Emrys, and parted her lips.

"Why?" She asked simply.

"Cassius stole my ring." Emrys said immediately, his condition visibly better already thanks to Love’s enhanced potions. "He attacked me to take it!"

"That is slander. And it makes no sense." Cassius rolled his eyes, looking at Persephone and the room at large. "Do I look like I need to steal from him? I am Tier One, just like he is."

The Heirs began to nod, quietly acknowledging his point.

"Why can’t you just tell the truth?" Emrys asked, his frustration plain. "Why can’t you be honest and honourable for once?"

"Why don’t you start by not pursuing my uncle’s girlfriend?"

Klaus burst into laughter. Several other heirs followed but more cautiously, as if afraid. Emrys’s face reddened with fury. Anesthesia shot Cassius a dark look.

"He is not pursuing anyone!" Love said sharply, stepping closer to Emrys, her face twisting with scorn. "Emrys has no need to pursue anyone."

Klaus’s laughter died instantly. His black eyes fixed on Love, who met his gaze without flinching and stepped closer to Emrys still.

Klaus said nothing.

"Wait until someone asks for your opinion." Cassius said, his irritation evident, looking at Love. "And if any of you genuinely believe I stole the ring, go ahead. Search me. My body, my space ring, anything you like."

He took a breath after those words, still feeling unwell despite the considerable improvement the potions had given him.

Emrys didn’t hesitate. He was certain. He searched Cassius himself, with Love assisting.

Cassius nearly batted the girl’s hands away when she got too close. She was lucky he was wounded.

The two searched thoroughly, with Persephone watching to ensure they didn’t go beyond what was reasonable. They found nothing. Then they turned to his childhood friends. Still nothing.

"Maybe it fell." A Tier Three heir muttered, shrugging. "During the battle. We can look through the Hall."

At that suggestion, the others began to think the same. After all, why would Cassius steal anything?

He was strong, rich and thoroughly spoiled. He had no need.

Even Emrys, at that point, began to consider that it might simply have been lost in the chaos. He said nothing, but internally resolved to search for it afterward.

Through all of it, Cassius remained silent and unbothered, watching them with neutral eyes.

[Did you actually steal it?] Ananke asked, uncertain, she had been far too consumed by the danger of the Red Moon during the fight to track him closely.

Cassius smiled inwardly. ’Of course I bloody did.’

Before Ananke could respond...

"CASS!!!!"

A loud, desperate voice erupted through the Hall.

Every head turned.

Morgan came flying toward Cassius with an expression of raw worry on her face. Before he could fully register what was happening, his head had already been pulled deep into her chest.

And as if that moment were the opening beat of something larger, the pace of the Hall shifted entirely.

Dantes Hood and Morenna Hood appeared shortly after, with Morenna carrying the headless body of Emily Stone.

She looked around, taking in the destroyed western wall, then let her eyes settle on Cassius’s state.

She smiled coldly, anger threading through every word that followed.

"Now, this is interesting."

—End of Chapter 111—