Chapter 123 – That’s enough [3]

"That’s enough." Isolde said, burying her face so deep into Cassius’s lap that it looked as though she wanted to become one with him.

To be with the man who had chosen her in every single situation.

The man who had watched the family he loved so deeply turn to blood and ashes rather than harm a single hair of hers, despite having every reason to do so.

She was honestly speechless. Words were far too few and too insufficient to express what her heart was going through in that moment. So when words failed her — lost in the turbulent haze of her emotions — Isolde Amaris’s body simply took over, weeping and sobbing in order to express what could not be expressed otherwise.

Cassius watched his wife with a quiet, fond smile. The room was filled with the sounds of hiccups and soft sobs, yet it was not a sound of sorrow.

It was one of joy.

He said nothing and continued caressing her hair, waiting for her to calm, while he quietly tried to process what had just happened.

He had done it. He had — beside Ananke — shown another person, another being, that he was not from this world. That his soul had transmigrated into it for whatever reason, placing him inside the body of the family he had loved so deeply.

Was it coincidence?

Cassius chuckled inwardly at that thought. He would be a fool to believe in coincidence as the Blessed of Ananke, Goddess of Fate and Secrecy.

Which meant his arrival into this world — inside the body of Cassius Desdemona specifically — was for a reason.

What reason could that be?

A question he would love the answer to. But whether he ever received it or not, Cassius knew it would hardly change what he needed to do. He would get stronger, he would protect those he loved, and he would live his life happily with his wife until the day when everything — everything — came to an end.

[Why are you suddenly thinking about all of this, Cassius?]

’I don’t know.’ He admitted, still caressing Isolde, his heart quiet and full. ’I don’t know, Queen. But sometimes I can’t help wondering...why me? Why am I here?’

[Will the answers to those questions change your current path?]

’Unlikely.’

[Then you don’t need them.] She said, then paused and followed, [Not yet, at least. And that is partly because you are not yet strong enough. So get stronger and show me. Because I, too, want to know why you, Cassius. Why you.]

Cassius let out a small, crooked smile and nodded just in time for Isolde to finally quiet her tears, having managed to work through everything she had witnessed in his mind.

She lifted her head from his lap, her hair falling across her face like a waterfall concealing the entrance to a hidden cave, before fixing her eyes on him. She took in every feature of his face as if trying to carve each one permanently into her memory.

Isolde didn’t speak for a couple of moments, letting the room settle into a thoughtful silence. She drew a slow breath and parted her lips.

Her first words after the revelation.

And even though Cassius now knew she would not leave him, a small worm of doubt still slithered briefly through his heart.

Then her words landed.

"You disappoint me." She said, her tear-streaked face suddenly turning grave. "I thought I was the first woman in your life. But you have had... how many girlfriends again?"

The last words were delivered with heavy disdain.

"Huh?" Cassius blinked in silent disbelief. "What in the Queen’s name are you talking about?"

"Don’t act clueless, Cass." Isolde hissed and then she lifted herself entirely off the bed.

Before Cassius could properly react, she swung herself onto his lap and sat there.

His mind went completely blank, as if his entire capacity for thought had simply shut down. Then, as understanding came crashing down on him, his heart began to beat so loudly, so fast, so intensely that his chest was literally vibrating like a drum being relentlessly struck.

He raised his eyes — unsteady now — and settled them on Isolde’s face. Her face had taken the colour of blood, her eyes trembling continuously in their sockets, unable to hold still against whatever was coursing through her body.

Had Cassius’s perception been fully at the limit of Mortal rank, and had his hearing not been so thoroughly consumed by the sound of his own heartbeat, he would certainly have noticed that Isolde’s heart was running like a horse at full gallop.

The atmosphere of the room shifted instantly, almost completely.

From a tense, joyful moment cloaked in tears, it became something else entirely. Tense, yes. But now warm with a couple growing hotter in each other’s presence.

The temperature of the Khatab Continent’s heartland was not cold. But it was certainly not high enough to explain the sudden rise in temperature between Cassius and Isolde.

"What... what are you doing, Isolde?" Cassius stammered, struggling to keep any composure at all. He was always the one making sexual jokes, always the one pushing. But now that the moment had arrived unexpectedly, he found himself with no bearings whatsoever.

And that sight appeared to give Isolde a surge of confidence from somewhere entirely unknown.

She bit her lower lip faintly — and the Queen knew perfectly well that Isolde felt something firm press against her; she shivered from the unfamiliar sensation — and wrapped both arms around his neck in a way that was loving and sensual and deeply possessive all at once.

"You have already kissed many women, Cassius." Isolde whispered. She leaned her head forward, stopping an inch from his face, where their breaths met and mingled together, beginning a quiet, anticipating dance.

"That is technically true." Cassius said with a crooked smile. "But you would be wrong to hold my past life as Noah against me."

"And why is that?"

"Because I am someone new. I am the Noah of Earth and the Cassius of Sunu Gaal in one body. I am both of them. I am neither of them."

Isolde smiled faintly. "That’s true. And I told you I don’t care, as long as this..."

She pressed one finger gently against his chest, where his heart was roaring like a lion that had been challenged.

"...and this."

She moved the finger to his forehead, her smile widening ever so slightly.

"As long as your heart beats only for me as your partner. And as long as your mind cannot conjure the image of any other woman beside me then I don’t care, Cassius. I truly don’t."

"Don’t you have questions about the game?" He asked, watching her. "About your fate, or your family’s, or the Kingdom’s...don’t you want to know?"

"How does any of that matter now?" She replied. "Nothing is the same as what was written anymore. Nothing at all. So it is useless to care about something that no longer carries any significance. Not now, at least. We have more pressing matters, Cass."

"...which are?" He asked slowly.

"Obvious." She whispered. "Guess."

His brow furrowed faintly. "Guess?"

"Stop acting clueless." Isolde said, her voice carrying an embarrassed edge. "I can already feel it poking at me. So don’t pretend you don’t know what I’m talking about."

"In my defence," he said, "it would be more concerning if I didn’t react this way when my own wife sits in my lap." He smiled, then with a familiar mischief. "Besides, I cannot know what you want unless you say it clearly."

"Why do you need me to say it?"

"I don’t know—!"

"You know perfectly well what I want, Cass." Isolde cut in, her lips drawing even closer to his own. "Why do you need me to say it?" She repeated, her voice now carrying something that had no business being that sensual.

"I simply want to hear it."

"Would it please you that much?"

"More than you can imagine."

Isolde paused.

At that point, their lips were brushing against each other, their bodies growing hotter, their breathing shallow and unsteady, as though both of them were desperately trying to keep from giving in entirely.

The wait stretched on, each of them slowly approaching their limit.

And finally, Isolde let go. She decided to give her husband what he wanted and answer the overwhelming desire taking over her body.

"Then Cassius..."

’Close your eyes, Queen.’ He whispered immediately, inwardly.

"...kiss me."

And kiss her, he did.

—End of Chapter 123—