Free Web NovelChapter 573: A simple smile
Unfortunately, it was too early for anyone to retire from the ball. Especially Cass who wanted to get more done for the day before he left. He’d barely been at the ball but Gideon could not remain at the ball in the state that he was. Edgar offered to bring him to the carriage and then come back, but it was Byron who put his foot down.
"No. I’ll do it. I can move easily through the palace without drawing attention. If you left it would make a bigger issue. My Lord is non-negotiable." Byron said and Cass flinched. He knew that was true, but hey! That was rude. Byron’s Mom laughed, along with the other fairies.
"Hey, you can’t be mad at him for not being well taken care of. Be nice to your Lord, Byron." They teased and Byron huffed. Gideon was sitting up at least, and he looked a lot better. He hadn’t thrown up for at least 5 minutes so he was doing remarkably well. After they had prompted him to throw up, he hadn’t stopped until now.
"I am being very nice to my Lord. I’m being practical and realistic. I’ll take Lord Gideon to the carriage, or I might just even bring him home myself. It’ll be faster, Lord Gideon will get the care he needs earlier, and if anymore bothers me I can just scare them away." Byron was being realistic. If Edgar went there could potentially be some issues.
Cass closed his eyes, shaking his head as he sighed.
"Fine. Do what you want. We’ll go back with you guys and just say we sent Gideon home with a servant if anyone asks. I don’t need to explain myself more. We’ll say he was hit by a sudden wave of tiredness. Something related to his training. I’ll pretend like I have no idea how knights work." Cass said with a dismissive tone. Edgar chuckled.
"I’ll say I ran into you two while your servant was helping Gideon leave, that way my excuse is reasonable." Edgar added. Even Gideon was nodding at their words.
"Alright. I’ll head home. I’m sorry you two. I wanted to be of more help and instead I just made it harder for you." Gideon sounded very upset that he’d even considered inconveniencing them, but Cass just shrugged.
"You did help us in some way. You irritated the Queen enough that she sent people after you. That’s a big deal and helpful for the bigger picture." Cass told him. Gideon looked minorly relieved that Cass wasn’t bullshitting him and was being sincere.
"You mean it?" He asked and Cass nodded.
"Well, I would have preferred if you didn’t get drugged or something, but I can’t have everything the way I want." Cass muttered. Edgar snorted.
"You sound truly upset about that." Edgar told him, his blue eyes warm as he glanced at Cass. Cass flushed. He knew that the other man was making fun of him and didn’t really appreciate it in the middle of a serious conversation. When he looked at Gideon he noticed that his expression had relaxed and he looked happy to see Cass and Edgar bickering.
Alright, he’d allow a few jabs for Gideon’s peace of mind.
He didn’t have to worry too much, as Byron decided that sooner would be better and he lifted the human knight up onto his feet. There was a lot of shuffling and movement before Gideon and Byron were on their way. Byron knew the palace too well, and Cass turned a blind eye to that.
What he didn’t ask about he didn’t have to know.
The rest turned and returned to the main ball as a unit. Cass could feel how everyone was watching them as they essentially re-entered the ball. They tried to be cool about it, but how could they? This was the second ball that Cass had attended in years, and back to back for Cass at least.
Everyone was curious about what he was doing. What his next step would be, everything.
"I’ll go back to getting information." Edgar whispered quietly and Cass gave a small nod. He slipped away from the others, not melting into the crowd but behaving as if he didn’t want to be around Cass for long.
Cass, for his part, wanted to make a beeline towards the Queen and question her, but he decided not to. It wouldn’t do anything good for him if she connected the dots, so Cass turned so that his back wasn’t completely to her, but that she wasn’t the focal point of his attention.
Byron’s Mom slipped her hand into the crook of Cass’ elbow, tugging him closer to her with a chuckle.
"Such a severe look, Cassian. You’re ruining all of our efforts to give you good looks." She teased, loud enough that other nobles could hear her. Cass frowned as he turned his attention towards her. He could feel how the nobles around them held their breaths. They had never heard anyone speak to Cassian like this.
"You didn’t have anything to do with my looks. You are not my Mother." Cass told her seriously and she laughed. She leaned in closer to Cass, her eyes sparkling. Even if she didn’t give birth to Byron, that look in her eyes was similar enough to his that Cass didn’t question his paternity.
"How cruel. We’re only off by a tree in our lineage. I’m basically your aunt too, but on the other side of the family." She was putting on a grand show of looking like she was pouting. Cass could tell that the nobles were freaking out.
Cass looked like a villain. A true blood monster that everyone was afraid to touch. Hanging off of his arm was a stunningly beautiful woman who they didn’t know was married, older, and was claiming to be an aunt of Cass. The fairies hadn’t really changed their outfits too much, sticking out like a sore thumb amongst the more conservative clothing of the human nobles.
It was probably a rather funny sight to witness from the outside.
"I had no idea of that. My aunt did not explain that to me clearly." Cass told her, intentionally being stiff. She squeezed his arm.
"Alysora has always been greedy. After all, one has to be to become the Matron." She said it simply, like a universal truth. Cass had no idea being greedy was something one needed to make them a Matron. This was the first time he was hearing of it.
He gave her a curious look, surprised.
"Is that something everyone knows?" Cass asked and she nodded.
"Of course. Fairies are rather indulgent creatures, after all, and tend to do whatever they desire. Take Ailia for example. She could have stayed in the forest and lived a perfectly happy life. Instead she went into a human settlement and found herself a knight school and also a husband. Her mother nearly had a heart attack. Ailia isn’t young by any standard, but she is her heart. No one likes it when their child runs off and then comes back with a partner you knew nothing about." Cass winced.
That didn’t feel like it was directed towards Ailia.
"He’s a good man." Cass defended both Sir Sanders and Sam all at once. She grinned, reaching up and patting Cass’ arm.
"I know. He’s made that clear in the time we’ve been observing him. Doesn’t make my statement any less true. Completely blindsided, but also a moment filled with joy. After all, any parent worth their salt wouldn’t want their children to fail. They would do anything to see their child succeed and put their own selfish desires to the side to let that happen." Again, Cass was sure that it wasn’t directed to just Cass alone. frёeweɓηovel.coɱ
Cass almost smiled at the slight sense of unease that filled the nobles around them. He could feel them shuffling about nervously, like he and Byron’s Mom were going out of their way to attack them.
Cass wasn’t, but she clearly was. Who was Cass to tell her to stop when she was playing the doting fairy aunt who was pissed at the way that Cass had been treated? Her necklace of Taniora’s tears was on clear display. She was not going to play fair.
"Cass!" The call of Cass’ name had his head jerking up. He looked around, trying to scan the area for the face that went with that voice only to have someone run into him, arms first.
Cass stumbled, but the other fairies swarmed forward to protect him and catch him. It was a rather surreal experience but not one that Cass hated. His Aunt giggled, wrapping her arms around him tighter and giving him a squeeze.
"Have you been drinking?" Cass asked, unable to keep the hard exterior up as the woman tilted her head back and grinned at him like a child. Her war crown glittered prettily in the magical light of the ballroom and Cass let out a soft exhale.
"I have, do you want some?" She asked, turning her head to the side as if she was scanning to see if she could find someone to give her more. Cass took a step back, taking her with him.
"No. You don’t need anymore, Aunt Alysora." She puffed out her cheeks, her husband coming closer. His eyes were sparkling at the sight but he was still shaking his head.
"Aly." He warned and she huffed.
"What? I’m just spending time with my nephew." She protested and Cass’ mask cracked slightly. A small, tender smile touched his lips and it was like the other nobles lost their damn minds. They had never seen Cassian’s mask crack like that.
Love? Tenderness? They thought Lord Blackburn was incapable. It just turned out that he needed to be surrounded by the right kind of people. freёwebnoѵel.com
Those people were not human, it turned out, and that would explain why he had never smiled around them so far. At least, that was what the nobles told themselves. Otherwise, they would have never missed out on seeing Cass smile.
His aunt was right. He was pretty and handsome, he just usually had a frown so deep in his forehead that it made whenever he did smile look forced and terrifying. With his expression flatter, softer, the smile was able to come through and it was like they had seen the light for the first time.
Cass, even in his villain outfit, looked kind. Sweet. Attractive. Cass wasn’t aware of it, but this moment would change how others treated him going forward. Especially the nobles who had avoided him up until this point.
If Cass was capable of making that face around people who he didn’t know now, he would be capable of doing it again. Cass didn’t realise that with that one, tiny smile, he was going to have not so secret admirers going forward. He was just spending time with his family.
