Chapter 156 – Great Shift

’...What?’

Cassius’s face went completely still, unable to process what he had just heard.

But only for a moment.

Almost immediately, he snapped out of it, understanding at once why Katherine had said those words.

’She wants me to be her son?’ Cassius thought with an expression of pure incredulity. ’How did she arrive at that conclusion? Woman, you have stepsons. Can you not simply choose one of them?’

He genuinely wanted to cry.

"You... you don’t want to?" Katherine asked slowly, her voice cracking.

With a wry smile, his face still an inch from hers, he answered. "It is not that I don’t want to... but this is far too sudden. And may I ask why me? You could choose one of the Jurish family’s stepsons."

"They do not love me." She answered. "They look at me with scorn and contempt, seeing me as a whore who disturbed their family by bearing a bastard child for their father."

"I thought Joe Jurish cared deeply about his brother. He made quite a scene in front of Anesthesia and Emrys when Nick died."

"Only for Nick." She replied. "Not for me. That is why Nick wanted so badly to be recognised as a true heir. All of it was for me."

Cassius didn’t know what else to say. He did not want to wound this woman further, but he was genuinely not comfortable calling anyone mother except his own.

[Given your mother’s nature, she would kill this woman the moment she heard of it.] Ananke said. [Not might. She would. Definitively. And I would help her.]

’What? Why would you help her?’

[Not your concern.] Ananke scoffed, visibly irritated for reasons Cassius could not identify.

He exhaled, already exhausted by all of it.

Why did strange situations always find him?

"But I already have a mother." He tried to reason with her.

"You can have two."

"That would be complicated. My mother is the jealous type. Things could end very badly for you."

"I have heard of Sefira’s love for her youngest son." Katherine said, with a faint smile that sent a quiet shiver down Cassius’s neck. "That only tells me you are a good son. And you are the only one I can ask."

’Not at all, I am a terrible son. And since when does anyone ask someone to be their child?’

Cassius looked at her with difficulty. Her eyes were still quietly crying, and she was watching him with so much intensity and raw hope that the weight of it was almost physical.

It was clear that Katherine was reaching for him to be saved from the pain that threatened to finish her entirely.

Her eyes were desperate. Her mind was barely holding on. In that moment she was operating on instinct and feeling alone, her rational mind having seemed to shut down entirely in the wake of learning the truth about her son’s death.

Cassius could see all of it. And he understood that denying her this possibility — denying her the very connection that had been the centre of her life — would send her straight through the Gate of Death.

For a brief moment he wondered if this was what Vorn had intended. What the Lord of Death had wished to witness.

But that was a useless thing to contemplate right now.

Cassius had already chosen his family’s safety over a fully honest truth with Katherine. He had made that decision.

Now he realised that in return, he would need to set aside his own discomfort and accept something from this broken mother in order to salvage a state he had, in part, caused himself.

’And now I find myself wondering...am I truly the Fated Villain the World has labelled me?’

No. That was the wrong question.

The real question was what being a villain meant to him. Because there was villain, and then there was VILLAIN.

Cassius knew that it was impossible — and unthinkable — for him to extend this kind of care to every life inadvertently touched and damaged by his actions in pursuit of his goals.

It was simply impossible.

And he could not pause to care about each one while moving, or he would never move at all.

And yet...

’But if...if an unintended consequence of my actions ever came back to me demanding something...I will answer it, as long as my family is unharmed. As long as my wife is safe. As long as those I have taken responsibility for — by friendship or otherwise — are safe. And as long as it does not cost me something permanent.’

That was his line.

He did not know how coherent those principles were in any logical sense. But a person’s principles did not need to be perfectly logical. They needed to give meaning to what they did.

And right now, it was time to give a grieving mother somewhere to direct the love that no longer had anyone to receive it.

"Slowly." Cassius said, gently. "You must understand that a meaningful relationship is not built overnight. And right now you are in pain and barely thinking straight. Perhaps a day will come when you will regret asking this of me."

"I will not regret it. And I am thinking with my whole mind, Cassius. You are a good person. And you care about me. I want you as my son."

"Who said I am a good person?"

"I did."

"How could you possibly know that? If it is because of what happened just now, that is a hasty judgment of my character."

"You are a good person." Katherine repeated, with quiet conviction, smiling at him strangely. "Because it takes a heart that feels too much to lie to a mother in order to save her. And to tell a story just to give her hope."

Cassius’s eyes widened.

And Katherine let out a chuckle that sounded far too close to a smothered cry.

"You... knew?"

"Am I a child to you, Cassius?"

"Then you know that I—!"

"I do not know what you lied about." She cut in. "But I know that you did. And do not speak, Cassius. Close your mouth. I do not want the truth. I do not want to bear what the Katherine of your story carried after her brother’s final letter. You chose to lie at the beginning, then lie through to the end. But if you feel guilty. If your heart grieves at seeing me like this. Then call me your mother, and I will be born again."

’You want the person responsible for your son’s death to be your son?’

The words nearly escaped him. He pulled them back.

"Are you certain?"

"Look at me." She said. "I am already calmer and clearer at the mere possibility of having you as a son. I am certain. I have not been this certain of anything since the day I chose to keep my child despite knowing he would be seen as a bastard and be hated for it."

A short silence followed, one in which Cassius’s mind moved quickly before arriving at a compromise.

"Then let us build toward it." Cassius said. "Learn to know me, and I will learn to know you. And one day — perhaps — you will receive what you are hoping for from me."

Katherine was unexpectedly energised by that. As though she had just been given a quest, with the reward at its end being a son who would love her and pull her back to life.

Her motivation surged.

"I agree." She nodded firmly. "I no longer have a phone, but I will buy one. Yes! Give me your number and I will message you. Every day, I swear it. I will take care of you. I will show you that I am a good mother!"

"...I already know you are." Cassius said wearily.

He had no idea what he would tell his actual mother when the time came to explain this.

’Why am I feeling irritation from your side?’ He suddenly asked Ananke.

[You are now accepting a random stranger as your mother?] Her voice was heavy with disdain.

’I did not technically accept. And what exactly would you have me do...let her die?’

Ananke said nothing, choosing silence, quietly annoyed that yet another woman was seeking to claim the maternal portion of love in Cassius’s life.

Sefira and her were already more than enough. And now a broken, desperate, half-delirious woman had been added to the count.

’Should I just kill her?’ She considered briefly, then shook her head.

No. She should not. Cassius had set aside his own discomfort to make this choice. She would not undermine his resolve.

It was also true, she admitted, that a man who fled every consequence of his own actions was not someone people could safely rely on.

So she held her tongue and watched him give his number to Katherine who, afraid she might forget it, burned it into her own skin with a thin blue flame.

Cassius was visibly stunned.

And at that point, when everything seemed to have reached its natural end — with Katherine no longer speaking but simply looking at Cassius as though she was memorising his face — the System chimed.

DING!

[NEW ACHIEVEMENT! New Mother?]

[Description: You have acquired yet another potential mother. A somewhat unhinged one, at that. Do you not value peace?

Sefira Hood Desdemona would certainly have opinions about this. We strongly suggest informing her.

We genuinely admire your boldness.]

[Reward: 20 Stat Points.]

[NEW ACHIEVEMENT! Villain?]

[Description: What is a Villain? That is the question you were always meant to ask and answer from the beginning. You allowed yourself to become distracted.

Fortunately, Last Born, you have finally taken the first step toward defining what that word means to you.

One thing is already clear, you walk a different path from your ancestors.

Whether that is good or bad, time alone will tell.]

[Reward: Ancestral Call Ticket.]

And as though that were not enough, one more Achievement, entirely unexpected in this moment, appeared before him.

[NEW ACHIEVEMENT! Great Shift!]

[Description: You are indeed a Villain.

Because of you, the relationship between Anesthesia Amaris and Emrys Stormblessed has been irreparably damaged. A return is no longer possible, for Anesthesia Amaris has chosen to deliberately dismantle the barrier that protected her standing as a Chosen One.

She will no longer restrain her darker impulses. She will no longer act with care around the Chosen Ones.

And so, from this day forward, Anesthesia Amaris is no longer the Chosen Heiress.

A new designation has been granted to her by the Eye of the World.

Anesthesia Amaris is now the Fallen Heiress, a Main Villainess category.

Congratulations, Last Born. You have corrupted a Chosen One. Among the strongest and most loved ones.

Your Villain standing continues to rise.

The Eye of the World grants you greater attention. Your actions have reached a higher plane. The gods are stirring.]

[Reward: Blessing Ticket.]

—End of Chapter 156—