“You could be more surprised.”
“I wasn’t surprised.”
“Really?”
Liar. As if sensing I didn’t believe him, Cassis shut his mouth. His face was rigid for a different reason than before. It seemed he was quite shocked by the fact that he had been momentarily shaken by my appearance.
But that was natural, so there was no need to take it so sensitively. Everyone who had seen me so far had been astonished, lost in a daze, or wore expressions wondering if the place they stood was a dream or reality.
It had been especially so since I began to shed my childish image as time passed.
Moreover, my beauty had been honed relentlessly as a kind of weapon since childhood. So, no matter how much he was the young noble of the Blue house, it was impossible for Cassis, who was just seventeen, to remain completely unresponsive in front of me. It might be worth expecting if he became an adult who had experienced the world, but for now, it was naturally unreasonable.
Rather, he deserved to praise himself for not showing an unseemly sight in front of me. For reference, the previous gatekeeper named Yoan, who had been attacked by Charlotte, had his soul fly out the day he first faced me up close, even when I spoke to him, he just dumbly repeated ‘Yes? Yes?’ It took some time before he could even hold a conversation with me.
Compared to that, Cassis’s reaction was terribly boring. Right now, Cassis was silently looking down at my face. But it didn’t feel like he was gazing at me in fascination.
Cassis’s gaze was a bit cooler than usual. Come to think of it, it had been like that since he first looked at me upon entering the underground prison earlier. Being this close and meeting his eyes made the temperature difference feel even more pronounced.
“What are you thinking right now?”
I didn’t avoid his eyes. I had a guess about what the meaning contained in the gaze I was facing now was.
“Are you perhaps thinking you want to kill me?”
I deliberately chose somewhat extreme words. To my following whisper, low and soft, Cassis didn’t answer. Even though it was a somewhat out-of-place remark, he showed no sign of questioning it.
“Ask what you’re curious about. Now that you’ve seen my face, you must have something to say.”
I resembled my mother a lot, but that didn’t mean I didn’t resemble Land Agriche at all. Especially my red eyes were exactly like my father’s.
At that moment, the same ominous flame I’d seen before flickered in Cassis’s golden eyes.
He didn’t ask what my identity was. Instead, as if confirming what he already suspected, he murmured my name in a low, whispering voice.
“Roxana Agriche.”
It was a more specific name than what I had told him. I gladly confirmed the answer for him.
“That’s right.”
I wondered if he might cause a commotion like when we first met, but Cassis didn’t. He just quietly pierced through me with a terrifyingly cold gaze.
From his reaction, it was clear that Cassis had known my identity even before I visited today.
The source must be Charlotte.
There was a high possibility that she had said something while barging into the underground prison and attacking Cassis.
Well, what she would say was predictably obvious anyway.
It was a bit distasteful to explain it myself, but she probably blabbered something like, ‘I’d rather destroy you than let you be taken by Sister Roxana!’
Hmm, saying it like this makes it sound so petty and romantic. She might not have stopped there and even spat out the word ‘toy.’
I already knew that Cassis still didn’t trust me. And I knew that he had allowed me to approach under the pretext of treatment to discern my identity more closely.
This time, Cassis confirmed my position in the Agriche.
“What’s your relationship with Land Agriche?”
“My biological father.”
Then, what he said earlier might have been in this context too. He wanted to confirm my identity quickly, but since I hadn’t come, the time without me felt longer, that could be it.
Still, I had hoped Cassis would miss my presence a little and desire my help, but it seemed it was still too early. Well, if he were to trust me completely after such a short time, the name Pedelian would ring hollow.
But from the beginning, I had no intention of hiding my identity from Cassis to the end. If I had, I wouldn’t have told him my name, nor would I have let the spell be lifted so his eyesight could return.
Cassis needed to clearly recognize that he had received help from ‘Roxana Agriche.’ I wasn’t a philanthropist, and I wasn’t helping him without compensation.
“Why did you hide your identity and approach me?”
“I didn’t reveal my identity right away because it was obvious you’d be even more wary of me like you are now, and the reason I approached you is… I told you. I don’t want you to die here.”
At my words, Cassis let out a cold scoff.
“So instead of killing me, you’ll make me your toy?”
Ah, so Charlotte spilled everything up to that point. But there’s a reason for it…
Anyway, from now on, Cassis’s treatment was going to change, and there was a need to inform him about it, so there was no problem if he learned about the toy thing.
Hmm, but actually trying to explain it right now is a bit awkward.
“Isn’t that better than being tortured to death?”
But was that too direct?
“To escape from underground, this is the only way. If you want to leave Agriche safely, it’s wise to just accept my help.”
“You want me to trust the daughter of Land Agriche.”
Cassis seemed to be silently weighing something for a moment. I wanted to read his thoughts, but the wall was solid, I couldn’t fathom his inner feelings at all.
“I don’t trust you.”
After a while, Cassis opened his mouth, looking at me with calm eyes devoid of any agitation.
“But I don’t think you’re lying either, so it’s strange.”
Even as he said that, Cassis’s face remained inscrutable.
“Cassis Pedelian.”
At that moment, he and I were clearly sizing each other up.
“I’ll protect you.”
At that instant, Cassis’s expression became very strange. Toward Cassis, who was looking at me as if he’d heard something utterly bizarre, I continued speaking.
“Until you safely escape this place, I’ll protect you.”
If only that could change the end of this wretched fate.
Cassis Pedelian and Roxana Agriche.
The two names, which could never be on the same line, were now being written on the same page. The first chapter of his and my story had just begun.
A Dog and its Owner
Of course, my respected father, Land Agriche, wasn’t going to just nicely release Cassis from the underground prison as is.
Cassis was dragged out by Land’s subordinates and humiliatingly forced to his knees on the floor. Along with the thudding footsteps, Land Agriche approached and stood before him.
I quietly watched the two men’s gazes clash in the air.
Cassis was in the same state as on his first day here, with his limbs bound and a gag in his mouth. Just like back then, Cassis’s body was a mess of injuries. Moreover, now he was even forced into a posture that seemed like compelled submission.
But the look in his eyes, staring straight at the person facing him, showed no sign of yielding at all. Who would think of the current Cassis as a prisoner? The gaze Cassis directed straight at Land Agriche overflowed with intense killing intent.
To be able to create such an intimidating presence even while on his knees like that. I thought that was quite an impressive ability in itself. Land Agriche was looking down at Cassis with an equally formidable gaze.
I saw an illusion of sparks flying between the two. Then, at some point, a fishy smile crept onto Land Agriche’s face.
Thud!
Immediately after, his foot flew into Cassis’s chest. Seeing that, I inwardly sighed.
Yes, today too, my father is steadily accumulating death flags.
Thump!
Ah, that’s the side where Charlotte turned it into a ragged mess.
I hadn’t touched it yet, planning to treat him after fully receiving him, but to deliberately jab there with his boot. As expected of my father.
Thud!
“Kuh…!”
This time, Cassis’s face was kicked by Land’s foot. I recalled the events in the underground prison just moments ago and subtly turned my head away from him.
I couldn’t bear to watch Cassis’s wretched state any longer. It felt a bit embarrassing somehow, right after I’d said I’d protect him until he safely escaped this place.
But there was nothing I could do right now. I hadn’t fully received Cassis yet, and moreover, the one inflicting violence on him at this moment was none other than Land Agriche.
“Whether it’s the blood of Richelle Pedelian, your gaze is insolently just like his.”
Land Agriche finally stopped kicking him only after thoroughly painting Cassis with fresh blood.
Cassis had his head buried in the floor, blood flowing from his side, forehead, and the mouth gagged with the cloth. Even in that state, the glare he directed at Land Agriche was still terrifyingly sharp, to the point where admiration involuntarily slipped out.
“When I first learned that bastard had two children, I pondered a bit over which one to choose.”
At that moment, Land Agriche continued with a smile so vicious it could slap the faces of villains worldwide a hundred times over.
“Still, I figured a boy would last longer than a girl, so I deliberately chose you, and sure enough, this is how it turns out.”
My dear father seemed to only be satisfied after stepping on a landmine. To pick on his little sister Sylvia to Cassis, who overflowed with familial and sibling love.
Look at the heroine’s older brother’s eyes right now. Doesn’t it feel like he could easily tear a person or two apart just with that gaze alone?
“Roxana.”
“Yes, Father.”
Of course, Land Agriche couldn’t hear the voice of my heart. He called me while slowly crushing Cassis’s head under his foot. I, who had been quietly standing behind Land since earlier, softly responded to his call.
Cassis’s heated gaze slid toward me as well.
Hey, heorine’s older brother. You’re not lumping me in as an enemy too, right?
Just because my apparent position looks like this doesn’t mean I’m really on my father’s side. But that fierce look in your eyes is a bit…
No, yeah. Well, in this situation, it’s understandable.
If I were Cassis Pedelian, I’d see Land Agriche and me as the same villainess father-daughter duo. For some reason, a sigh wanted to escape, but I had to hold it back now.
“It’s been a short time since your birthday passed.”
“Yes, I’m glad you remember.”
“I’ll give this mongrel to you as a gift. Go ahead and play with him until you get bored.”
This person too. He could just give it, why bring up the birthday to act all fancy? A man who’s never once celebrated his children’s birthdays separately.
“Thank you, Father.”
I hid my cynical inner thoughts and smiled toward Land Agriche.
“I’ll educate him well so you won’t be disappointed.”
And so, I obtained my first dog of ownership.
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