However, the only noticeable furniture was the bed attached to one wall, and the room didn’t even have windows. The scenery visible to the eye was stark like that, but excluding that, this place seemed like an ordinary room.
Shortly after, Cassis quietly raised his body from his position. At that, a clinking sound came from the chains connected to his wrists and ankles.
The iron chains were connected to a pillar in one corner of the room. Still, since the length of the chains was long, it seemed like there would be less restriction on his movements compared to when he was in the underground prison. Of course, even so, it was to the extent that he couldn’t reach the door.
Cassis decided to quietly observe the situation for now. There was no gain in attempting a clumsy escape right now and drawing attention.
As per the words he heard from outside just moments ago, it seemed the Agriche had no intention of killing him right away. Seeing how they called a physician and even treated him directly, they didn’t seem to have any mind to torture him in the same way as before anymore.
Was it because he had become Roxana Agriche’s toy? Cassis ran his hand over the restraint tightening around his wrist and moved his gaze toward the door.
The Agriche still didn’t seem to know, but in fact, the great demon restraint that was currently constricting him was largely useless. It was something he had confirmed when the girl named Charlotte had burst into the underground prison not long ago and attacked him.
The great demon restraint activated from level 1 to 5 according to the excitement and aggression of the wearer, restricting their movements.
In other words, it meant that as long as one could maintain calmness in any situation, it was possible to minimize the restraint’s activation.
It could also be said that the timing was perfect. If that incident hadn’t happened, he wouldn’t have been able to test the restraint’s strength so naturally like this.
The girl named Charlotte seemed to have a rather simple personality, thinking that her failure to subdue Cassis was solely due to her own inexperience. She believed without a shred of doubt that the restraint breaking wasn’t because Cassis had induced it that way, but because she had lost her reason to anger and made a mistake.
Cassis’s pupils sank low for a moment. Until the day he escaped from the Agriche, he had to hide the fact that his power hadn’t been sealed. That way, they would all let their guard down.
While he was thinking such thoughts, suddenly, he felt a presence outside the door.
Cassis glanced sharply at the door once before lying back down on the floor just like when he first entered this room. Clank, the sound of unlocking the door’s lock was heard. After that, someone entered the room.
The light footsteps and the familiar scent stimulating his sense of smell were recognizable. So he knew the person who had entered now was Roxana. She approached Cassis and silently looked down at his appearance.
Now, the person who would decide Cassis’s treatment was Roxana, and there were only the two of them here. Moreover, Cassis was currently pretending to have lost consciousness.
So perhaps this time, she might finally reveal her true colors. As Cassis felt Roxana drawing even closer to him, he heightened all the senses in his body.
If she tried anything foolish, Cassis couldn’t just stay still either. If he reached out his arm when she got a bit closer and wrapped the chain around her neck, he could probably knock her out in one go.
Of course, if he set his mind to it, he could make it not just fainting but instant death, but he hesitated to go that far.
Above all…
Was responding to a threat with another threat in this position truly the right choice?
Cassis closed his eyes and gauged the distance to his opponent. Unaware of his anguish, Roxana pressed her body even closer to his side. Now, the two were perfectly within each other’s range.
“They really only did the minimal treatment.”
But what tickled Cassis’s ear next was a small whisper leaking out along with a low breath. After that, a soft touch reached his wrist.
Clink.
When Roxana lifted his hand, an unpleasant metallic sound rang out without fail from the chain connected to the pillar. A gaze as if examining his condition swept over Cassis’s body once.
After that, the gag blocking his mouth was removed. There was a rustling sound from the side as if she was doing something, and shortly after, warmth seeped into his wrist again.
Cassis held his breath, feeling an indescribable mood. Roxana applied medicine to the wounds the physician had roughly treated and wrapped bandages around them. Careful touches passed over the wrists and ankles where the flesh had been chafed by the restraints.
Going even further, Roxana removed his upper clothes, which were already torn to shreds, and placed her hand directly on the bare skin beneath. At the warmth spreading straight over his skin, Cassis nearly jumped up from his position, unable to hold back.
A stinging sensation spread from each spot where her touch reached the wounds. But what permeated through his flesh wasn’t just the sting.
Cassis barely managed to endure the ticklish touch.
Even after meticulously finishing the treatment, Roxana didn’t leave her spot. In the end, she sat down right beside Cassis.
No matter how clean the room was, he hadn’t expected her to just sit down on the bare floor like this, so Cassis was a bit surprised. Even his younger sister Sylvia, who had quite a lively personality, wouldn’t act so unreservedly.
But Roxana’s subsequent action was even more surprising. Cassis realized where the soft touch from earlier had placed his head and was silently appalled.
No way, is what I’m leaning on right now her leg…?
He debated countless times in a short period whether to come to his senses now and pretend to wake up. If Roxana hadn’t gently stroked his head, he might have really opened his eyes.
But at the warm touch tickling his forehead, he ended up even more speechless than before. For some reason, Cassis couldn’t shake the feeling that he had become an impudent person right now. Of course, a situation like this was something he neither wished for nor encouraged.
But in this very moment, where he was pretending to sleep while feigning ignorance, Cassis somehow felt like he had become a very cowardly person.
“I don’t want to die…”
While Cassis was inwardly agonizing alone like that, suddenly, a murmur rang out from above his head. It was Roxana, who had been stroking his head while seeming lost in thought, suddenly muttering.
Unable to understand what those words meant, Cassis felt puzzled. But Roxana didn’t say anything more beyond that. Cassis also had to devote all his effort to managing his expression while being conscious of the hand caressing him.
“But it’s strange.”
Then, at some point, Roxana’s touch, which had been brushing his hair, paused.
“Did someone wash you in the meantime or something? Why is your hair so soft?”
If Cassis’s eyes had been open, his pupils would surely have trembled finely for a moment.
“And no smell either.”
This time, he ended up trembling slightly without realizing it. He wanted to pull away from the body pressed against Roxana, but since he was pretending to be unconscious, he couldn’t move.
Whether she had noticed his inadvertent slight movement from earlier, a gaze that had become much more persistent fell over his face. Although Roxana didn’t notice, Cassis’s ears were slightly flushed red. The part she was curiously thinking about now was also related to his unique constitution inherited from the Pedelian family. Since he hadn’t expected Roxana to keenly perceive it and harbor doubts, Cassis couldn’t help but feel flustered.
Moreover, the fact that the one pointing it out so directly was a girl around his age made Cassis’s mind even more tangled up in a mess.
Fortunately, Roxana didn’t bring her face closer to smell him any further or fiddle with his hair more delicately than before.
It was an obvious thing to say, but at this point, Cassis truly couldn’t open his eyes anymore. He prayed for this ordeal of a time to pass quickly.
“…It’s a bit funny to say this to someone who’s unconscious, but I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you earlier.”
A soft voice rang out from above his head once more. Cassis quietly listened to Roxana apologizing for the earlier incident.
“But from now on, that kind of thing won’t happen. Now that you’ve become mine, no one else can touch you carelessly.”
The touch stroking his head was exceedingly gentle and affectionate. To the point where he could momentarily forget the fact that she was the daughter of his enemy, Land Agriche.
“I’ll definitely let you out of here.”
Once again, no falsehood could be felt in that voice.
It was still a strange thing, but…
Cassis was gradually releasing the tension from his body, which had been prepared to strike at any moment since Roxana entered the room. …For now, it seemed there would be no need to attack her right away.
Thinking that the air surrounding them felt strangely peaceful, Cassis let out a shallow breath.
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