Ti continued to pass almost too quickly. Several days passed, but Cassadin continued to treat like normal. It was quite a calm attitude for soone who confessed his past to .
He never ntioned the happenings of that day. It might have been his way of showing his consideration after I had cried in front of him.
Sister, what are you thinking about?
If there was just one thing that had changed since then, it was that if I took my eyes off of him for even a mont, Cassadin would ask that question.
I was thinking about you for a mont.
Cassadin smiled brightly, seeming to be satisfied with that answer. His pretty eyes folded into beautiful crescents, and his light pink lips curled up gently.
The mont he smiled, it felt like not just the flowers in the garden, but even the sun lost their luster, almost making it aningless for us to have co out to the garden.
Its already been months since I brought Cassadin, but I still couldnt get used to that smile. Did he show others this smile as well?
It was a hot sumr day that I brought you in.
Taking my gaze off Cassadin, I turned to the blooming flowers scattered across the garden. Out of the variety of flowers, the blue rose imdiately caught my attention.
Reaching out to touch the blue rose that Cassadin had once said looked like , I continued.
But its already autumn.
There had once been a ti when I did not trust Cassadin, only tried to ta him. Unable to trust each other, we lied to one another, hurt each other, and fought.
I could feel that Cassadin now partially opened up to after a series of events. Of course, that was likewise true for .
Cassadin, who had once put on a fake mask and constantly lied to , was now my most dependable aid. Thinking back on those tis, I couldnt help but laugh a little.
Do you rember this blue rose, Cassadin? Its the one that you said looked like .
Of course, I rember.
I was playing with the blue rose when I felt sothing warm press against my neck.
When I flinched and looked back in surprise at the sudden temperature change, I found Cassadin burying his face in my neck with his eyes closed.
How could I forget anything related to you, Sister?
The calm nature of Cassadins voice reminded of the serene afternoon sunlight.
Sister.
Calling out to , Cassadin wrapped his arms around my waist. He still had his face buried in my shoulder. Thanks to that, I was trapped in his arms without any way to escape.
Sister.
Was it because his hot breath blew against my neck, or because his large hands wrapped around my waist? I felt like a deer that had been captured by a ferocious beast.
Youve said to in the past that you love .
Why dont you say that to these days?
Love.
How naive I was to say such a heavy word. I now knew what results the words I said could bring.
Eyes crazed with a longing for affection. The one who made Cassadin like that was none other than .
How foolish I was to use the word love to Cassadin, who did not see , his sister, as a sister.
It was because I realized the weight of that word later on that I did not hastily use it.
What are you going to do if soone sees us like this?
I changed the subject and tried to push away Cassadins muscular arms with my hands. But the rock-hard arms didnt even budge.
Is it not right for others to see?
Why is that so?
Normal siblings do not hug each other like this, not even the closest of siblings. Doing such actions that only lovers would think of doing, Cassadin asked in such an innocent way,
Isnt this sothing lovers would do, not siblings?
Cassadin didnt answer. Instead of answering my question, he instead asked in return.
Then, do you not like it?
His voice had sunken into a deep ravine. Hearing him ask in what almost sounded like a desperate voice, I had to contemplate what to say.
Cassadin, who still had his head on my shoulder, slowly opened his eyes.
Thankfully, the emptiness I felt when I first t Cassadin seed to be completely gone. But instead, what filled that empty space was a burning heat similar to lava.
But your eyes, when you look at Aren, do not seem like those of a sibling. Rather, its more of a primitive look. Yes, like
Why was it that I recalled the Crown Princes comnt the mont I saw Cassadins eyes?
Not even the eyes of a passionate lover would burn this brightly. Unable to build up the courage to et those burning eyes head-on, I hurriedly turned away.
Maybe he didnt like that I avoided his eyes. Cassadin spoke again in a depressed voice.
We are not related anyway, are we not?
My breath hitched after hearing the depth of the fall in his voice. And I felt as though I was sinking into the abyss just listening to him speak.
I had been so flustered that I didnt notice I had pricked my finger on the rose thorn.
Youre bleeding, Sister.
Like Cassadin pointed out, there was blood pooling out of my left index finger.
It was almost simultaneously that I realized I was bleeding when a dark shadow fell over .
I didnt spend too much ti realizing that the dark shadow was made by Cassadin straightening his crouching body.
The force Cassadin had been using to clasp his arms around my waist loosened. Using that mont, I slipped out of Cassadins embrace.
But Cassadin then wordlessly pulled my left wrist towards him, making my efforts to escape pointless.
What are you
I was unable to finish my sentence because what Cassadin had done next froze all of my brains functions.
Pulling my left hand straight towards him, Cassadin brought my hand to his lips and started to lick my wounded finger.
I was unable to do anything, like a person who had forgotten how to speak. That was because Cassadin looked incredibly happy licking my finger.
When our eyes t, his eyes curled into a beautiful crescent. The feeling of his tongue sucking up the blood from my wound felt incredibly strange.
Like a predator who finally caught their prey after a grueling chase, Cassadin smiled contently as he licked my finger. I couldnt find the words to say to the man who looked genuinely happy.
With the purest, most innocent face, Cassadin was doing sothing completely opposite.
After quietly licking at my finger for a while, Cassadin stopped for a mont and looked up at .
I will stop if you tell to.
Like he said, I just had to tell him to stop. Then he was going to end this strange behavior right away.
But I was unable to do so.
Why hadnt I stopped Cassadin? Was it because I rembered Cassadin telling his past without hesitation? Or because his expression as he licked my finger was genuinely happy?
Maybe it was both. Like he had beco assimilated to , I had beco assimilated to him.
Nothing was going to change, no matter how much I tried to deny it now.
That night.
Planning to sort through my thoughts, I dipped my body into the warm bathwater without the assistance of the servants.
An hour later, I opened my wardrobe and changed into a comfortable set of clothes.
I changed my clothes alone.
It was sothing that a normal noblewoman would be horrified of doing, but because I was always alone in Damians duchy, not having a single maid I could trust completely, I had done everything that was possible to do alone.
Whether that was reading, changing my clothes, or reviving withering plants.
Just as I was staring out of the window at the twilight skies, reflecting on my foolish past, soone knocked on my bedroom door.
Knock knock.
Miss!
Recognizing the familiar maids voice, I imdiately opened the door. There were beads of sweat on Sashas forehead, and sothing resembling a newspaper was in her hand. She must have run all the way here, as her brown hair was a ss.
What is it, Sasha?
To my question, Sasha panted heavily and handed the newspaper in her hand.
Look, look at whats in the newspaper, Miss.
I scanned over the contents of the newspaper Sasha gave . The newspaper she had handed was from a large news company that had a high influence over their market.
Matching the interests of both the commoners and nobles, this newspaper was the most popular in the empire, as well as the most sold.
And they were also famous for only treating the biggest issues.
Seeing how pale Sasha looked as she ran here, the news wasnt going to be good. I carefully read through the newspaper.
The mont I spread out the very first page of the newspaper, there was one large sentence that caught my eye.
[One of the Most Popular Nobles in the Empire! Son of an Earl Praised to have Beauty of Gods Revealed as a Gladiator Slave.]
It seed like the newspaper company hadnt written Cassadins na out of concern for their wellbeing, but the article was clearly talking about Cassadin. And I knew imdiately who it was that caused this to happen.
Damian.
Because he couldnt put his hands on because of the Crown Princes promise to protect , he changed his target to Cassadin.
In order to defa our family, which was already struggling with our reputation, and to completely isolate Cassadin.
As Ive already known, Damian was a dirty rat. His reaction to what I had announced as the truth only proved even further that I was right.
I felt like slapping myself in the face for the fact that I had once loved that man.
Since Ive seen how Damian reacted, what I need to do next is clear. I called out the na of my kind and faithful maid,
Sasha.
Yes, Miss.
Spread this rumor far and wide. Bribe people to do so if you must. I will provide whatever expenses you make.
Hoping that the rumor I was spreading would reach Damians duchy in the northern region, I then added on.
Tell them that there is a person in this empire that is able to heal any disease and even restore a severed tongue.
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