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The next day, I visited the underground prison again.
Originally, the first time is always the hardest, and from the second time on, it gets easier. But for me, entering and exiting this prison had been easy from the start, so the second time was even less of an issue. Without needing to particularly coax the gatekeeper, he opened the door wide as soon as he saw my face.
Just before stepping inside, I turned to the gatekeeper and asked.
“After I left yesterday, has anyone else come in here? Like Jeremy or Charlotte. Or anyone else, for that matter.”
“No, the master said not to let anyone inside.”
“But I came in.”
He paused at my casual remark as I passed by. I glanced sideways at his face, then smiled softly, folding the corners of my eyes as if I hadn’t just been observing him.
“You let me in specially, huh.”
It seemed true that no one else had entered besides me.
“What’s your name?”
“Pardon?”
“You. What’s your name?”
Even though I, who was much younger, was speaking bluntly to him, he blushed foolishly without any sense of discomfort or displeasure.
“Y-Yoan.”
“Got it. Thanks, Yoan. To make sure you don’t get in trouble because of me, I’ll just take a quick look at his face and leave today.”
“No problem at all!”
Just for calling his name once and smiling a bit, he stammered incoherently, his ears turning bright red like he was drunk.
“I-I’m honored to meet the famous Lady Roxana in person, and happy that I could be of even this small help…”
Ignoring his excited rambling with a smiling face, I entered the prison.
Hmm. Still a nasty place. The air is unpleasant. I wouldn’t want to come here if I could help it. But since Cassis Pedelian is here, I have no choice.
Creak.
Today, the iron door let out an ear-grating sound again. It was a horrific noise, like it hadn’t been oiled in at least a hundred years.
Are all prisons like this? In novels, movies, or dramas, the doors in places like this always make creepy sounds. Is it because the air is damp?
Having such thoughts as I entered, I suddenly locked eyes with the boy inside the prison. Intense golden eyes, like a blazing sun, stared at me without a single inch of deviation.
“Ah, you’re awake today.”
Was it because the image of him unconscious yesterday lingered in my mind? I hadn’t expected him to be wide-eyed like this already, so I paused for a moment.
He watched me silently, holding his breath, then flinched and furrowed his brows at the sound of my voice.
“You…”
Soon after, he glared at me sharply and opened his mouth.
It seemed he had just realized that I was the one who had come to see him yesterday. Had he been too dazed to properly see my face back then?
As I stepped inside the bars, he asked warily.
“What did you feed me yesterday?”
His voice was still hoarse and cracked. Even so, he shot me a chilling gaze, as if he’d cut me down at any moment. His limbs were still bound, so was it bravery? Since he was curious, should I answer?
“Antidote. You were hit with paralysis poison, right?”
I continued in a calm tone.
“If you just leave it, it’ll last at least five days. And then you’ll get terrible muscle pain.”
From what I could see, he hadn’t been beaten additionally since yesterday. I’d checked roughly, but no new wounds seemed to have appeared. Treating the whip marks would be too conspicuous, so I hadn’t planned to go that far anyway.
“You expect me to believe that?”
“Doesn’t your body feel much better than yesterday? You’re even having a proper conversation with me like this.”
At my words, he clamped his mouth shut. Naturally, he didn’t trust me right away. He seemed to want to ask me more, but being quite cautious, he didn’t open his mouth easily.
“If that’s really the antidote, then what’s your ulterior motive for giving me the medicine?”
“Nothing like that.”
A flicker of confusion passed through his sharp eyes for a moment. Of course, it was just an instant, and soon he looked at me again with a cold face, his lips moving.
“You… who the hell are you?”
His low, raspy voice crawled across the floor to reach me. But isn’t it common sense to introduce yourself first if you want to know someone else’s identity?
“Cassis Pedelian.”
The name that flowed from my mouth next made the boy flinch.
“Is that your name?”
Up until now, I’d been holding onto a tiny bit of hope. Maybe this boy wasn’t who I thought he was. But at the killing intent that pierced my eardrums soon after, I had no choice but to abandon that lingering thought.
“What kind of denial is this now? You clearly know who I am, yet you used despicable tricks to drag me here.”
Ah, damn it. So it is him after all. Still, I wanted to hold out hope for a one-in-ten-thousand chance.
“Stop hiding your identity. Are you one of the filthy Agriche’s lackeys too?”
He’s crazy, he even knows this is the Agriche place.
Well, my father isn’t the type to secretly hide his identity while committing crimes. Rather, he’d openly sneer at the other person right in front of them before stabbing them.
I stood in place, looking at the boy in front of me with slightly troubled eyes, then let out a low sigh.
“Um, but there’s something I’ve been curious about all along.”
“I asked what your identity is. Answer first.”
Ignoring Cassis Pedelian’s words, I asked what had been bothering me since yesterday.
“You… you can’t see right now, can you?”
Right after that, silence lingered in the underground prison. Cassis Pedelian didn’t show any agitation at my words. But by looking at his eyes quietly watching me, I found the answer.
“I’m right, you can’t see.”
Even as I moved closer now, he was looking exactly at my face. From the moment I opened the iron bars and just stepped in here earlier, Cassis had naturally followed me with his gaze. That’s why I kept being suspicious and couldn’t be certain.
“How many do you see this as?”
“Get it away.”
I approached Cassis and waved my hand in front of his eyes. Of course, he didn’t play along with me. But I was already convinced from his attitude.
“No wonder you were so unresponsive even looking at me.”
Yeah, if his eyes could see properly, there wouldn’t be no flicker in his pupils even with me right in front of his nose like this. At the very least, there should have been some agitation in the first moment our eyes met. No one who’d seen my face up until now hadn’t been even a little surprised.
Of course, since I was someone he’d seen on the enemy side, it was natural for him to be wary and hate me, but that was separate from this. Sure, if someone heard, they might think it was terminal axe sickness. But this was a very reasonable conclusion.
As expected, Cassis seemed not to grasp what my words meant.
Yeah, if he can’t see, that makes sense.
Moreover, what he’d asked me just moments ago—’Are you one of the filthy Agriche’s lackeys too?’—was decisive. Clearly, yesterday Cassis had locked eyes with me standing alongside the other family members.
In my opinion, when they kidnapped him, besides the paralysis poison, they must have used some means to take away his sight as well. What Cassis was wearing on his hands and feet now wasn’t just for magical beasts but restraints for great magical beasts. Great magical beast restraints were made by processing magical beast tendons into regular restraints, so their strength was far superior. From that, it seemed capturing this boy hadn’t been easy at all.
I was surprised by the sharp, glaring eyes he directed at me and my family yesterday, but even then, had he just located us by presence alone?
I briefly scanned his body up and down. Not for any impure purpose, but to look for signs related to his eyes.
Finally, some trace caught my eye. Without hesitation, I reached out and pulled apart the gap in his torn shirt. The moment my touch reached him, Cassis flinched, narrowing his brows.
“This isn’t poison, it’s a curse. It’s temporary, so it won’t last long.”
Seeing the small spiral pattern engraved on his waist, it was clear that Cassis was essentially blind right now.
And yet he’s acting so convincingly… This guy is kind of impressive?
I narrowed my brows and looked up at his face in front of me. This time too, he met my eyes exactly.
Seen up close, Cassis exuded a much stronger presence than I’d felt yesterday. When he was unconscious, I’d thought he had a very refined and gentle impression, but now with his eyes properly open and looking down at me, the pressure emanating from him was considerable.
Maybe because, despite being only seventeen, he gave off a mature aura unlike a boy his age. Maintaining such composure even in this situation.
“For now, I’ll leave your eyes alone.”
Even now, far from showing fear or anxiety, his gaze was so coldly sharpened that it sent chills down my spine.
“Anyway, in about two days, your vision will start returning bit by bit, and since it’s a tricky curse to dispel, touching it now would be inefficient.”
Cassis fell silent for a moment, as if trying to discern the intent behind my words. I could feel him trying to read my presence in front of him.
“And anyway, you won’t believe me even if I say this.”
I murmured quietly toward him.
“I don’t want you to die.”
“What…?”
My words must have been unexpected, as his expression changed.
“Then I’ll come again.”
“Wait, hold on…!”
Cassis tried to stop me, but without hesitation, I turned and left the underground prison.
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