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Chapter Ten
Cassian Valmont
The Crown Prince turned towards him with question brimming in his eyes and Cassian raised an eyebrow before looking behind him.
For a fleeting second, his heart skipped.
Had he acted too quickly?
His fingers had moved on instinct before his mind had the chance to stop them.
Years of fighting, surviving and killing had engraved those reactions deep into his bones.
The moment he sensed danger, his body simply moved.
Fortunately, the tiny buttons had already disappeared into the chaos before anyone could pay attention to them.
He forced his expression into one of pure confusion, looking around just as everyone else did.
“Damn, where did that come from?!!” He exclaimed in sheer terror and jumped out of the place he had been standing as if it was hot enough to burn him.
There was no need to show his cards and everything he had learned in his past life this early to this evil man.
Who knows what evil thoughts he might cook up in his head.
The Crown Prince didn’t seem to suspect him as he turned around and barked out orders to the guards who had retreated in sheer terror as the huskies fell to the side, eyes darting around in search of their unknown assailant.
Cassian quietly studied the man’s back.
There was no suspicion whatsoever…..not even a second glance.
It was either the Crown Prince truly believed someone else had interfered…..or he was far better at hiding his thoughts than Cassian remembered.
Neither possibility made him feel any better.
“What are you doing?!
Leave them be for now!
I’ll deal w–”
The Crown Prince was cut off when the five dogs suddenly turned and bounded over towards Cassian and his eyes merely shifted a little bit as he gave them a mean stare.
Stupid intelligent huskies!
How had they figured out so quickly that he was the one who threw those buttons at them?!
If they tried any nonsense with him, then he would have to blow his cover just to put them down and that was not what he came here for.
When the five huskies reached him, he began to take a step back but they all stopped in their tracks and sat down in front of him quite obediently.
The entire building suddenly became deathly silent as several guards who had instinctively drawn their weapons slowly lowered them again, confusion plastered across their faces.
One even rubbed his eyes before looking again as though he had seen an illusion.
Moments ago, these same beasts had looked ready to tear people apart.
Now…..
They looked no different from obedient pets waiting patiently for praise.
Huh?
What’s going on?
He took a sniff of his clothes but found no smell of any kind on them, glanced around him once more but found no one behind him that was making the huskies this obedient.
His brows slowly knitted together.
He had encountered countless animals in his previous life.
Some had been intelligent and some dumb while others had possessed terrifying killing instincts.
Yet never—not once—had they behaved like this towards him.
“Do we know each other?” He asked stupidly and the huskies’ tongues came out to lick at their snouts but other than that, they had nothing to say to him.
He took a tentative step closer to them and they let out small whines that didn’t fit one bit with the ferocious attitude they were exhibiting just seconds ago.
He stopped himself as he stared at them in question and for a minute, he didn’t move to do anything else except watch them as if, if he watched them long enough, he would decipher exactly what was going on with them.
Instead, the dogs merely looked back at him with unusually bright eyes.
There was no fear or hostility.
Only an inexplicable sense of familiarity that made the back of his neck prickle.
Then he placed his hands on one of their heads and began to pet it.
The husky let out a sweet whine that had Cassian’s lips tilting to the side as he alternately petted the other four for a while.
One shamelessly pushed its head further beneath his hand while another nudged against his arm as though demanding its turn.
“…”
Cassian blinked in surprise at the unexpected turn of events.
Were these really the same dogs from earlier?
Around him, the guards exchanged bewildered glances as even the pet store employees who had been tied up for questioning stared with their mouths hanging open.
No one dared interrupt the strange scene unfolding before them.
Then a mischievous expression appeared on Cassian’s face as he raised his head up and dusted his palms before setting his sights on the Crown Prince.
“I never thought there would come a day where something would dislike you so much, princey..…and it turned out to be dogs?!
These loyal, friendly and lovable dogs!”
He exclaimed with a small clasp of his hands and the Crown Prince gave him a shake of his head before he turned around to the guards and began to give out orders once again.
Several guards stiffened.
One even lowered his head to hide the smile threatening to appear on his lips.
Mocking the Crown Prince to his face…..only Cassian Valmont would dare do such a thing.
“Send out a message, anyone who had their animals stolen from them can come to this building and identify them from now till the end of the week!”
Two guards nodded and quickly dashed out and Cassian froze in place as those words registered into his mind.
Whatt?
How is this possible?
His face remained calm.
Inside, however, his thoughts had descended into complete chaos.
No one knew about this in his past life until later when so many assassins had been sent after him for disrupting a lot of their plans and they had almost succeeded before he had to take matters into his own hands and went after them himself.
How did this happen?!
Returning these animals wasn’t merely about reuniting pets with their owners, because it had a possibility of exposing an entire underground chain.
Once people realized where their missing animals had been taken, the local authorities would inevitably be ordered to begin investigating every person connected to the store.
One lead would become another and one arrest would uncover another accomplice….then it would all snowball from there.
None of this was supposed to happen yet because it never did until he stepped in himself.
He turned his gaze to Crown Prince Lysander as his mind worked around the clock to try and understand how this evil man had come into such valuable intel.
The same Crown Prince who had tried repeatedly to stop him from doing all these things to the Pet Store was the same Crown Prince who had turned around and started actively investigating the Pet Store?
And from what he could tell, he didn’t seem like he didn’t know what he was doing, which could only mean that somehow…in some way he still didn’t know about, the Crown Prince had gone down a different path as opposed to his past life and investigated this place.
The thought alone unsettled him.
Ever since his rebirth, he had relied heavily on memories of the future and the strange Gossip system thingy.
Every decision he made was based on what he already knew would happen.
But if events had already begun changing this drastically…..
Then just how much of the future could he still trust?
His eyes narrowed and as if sensing the energy he was giving off, the five huskies turned around and faced the Crown Prince, then they began to growl menacingly.
A low rumble echoed through the room.
Every guard immediately reached for their weapons again.
Cassian snapped out of his thoughts and glanced down at them as they all prepared themselves to lunge at the Crown Prince if he so much as said so and his brows furrowed.
What was this?
Animals rarely hid their instincts.
If all five had suddenly decided the Crown Prince was their enemy….
Then they must have sensed something he couldn’t or maybe they were leeching off his emotions?
Didn’t make any sense to him.
“Down.”
He simply said and their entire countenance changed as they let out small whines as they sat back down on their haunches.
The obedience was immediate and there was not even a single moment of hesitation.
Cassian frowned at that.
Strange.
Turning towards the Crown Prince who had just finished giving out orders, his eyes once again narrowed.
Is it possible?
I’m not saying it is but is it possible…
…that the Crown Prince might have been able to hear m—
“Report!!”
A visible breath of relief left the Crown Prince at the timely interruption that quickly pushed away the dangerous thoughts Cassian was having at that moment and they all turned towards the door.
The first guard that had been sent out to report to the King rushed in alongside the guards that were sent to notify the commoners about the animals.
“There are many commoners currently waiting outside for a chance to be let in to make their identification!”
“The King has ordered for the entire investigation and rewards to be left in your hands to do as you please as long as you’re fair, Your Highness!
And the local authorities are also waiting for your orders outside!!”
The Crown Prince nodded when he heard all that before turning to the other guards that had returned from within the Pet Store and they all gave short bows in response.
“Good, the four of you!
Go start the identification process with the local authorities in charge while you assist.”
The four guards bowed and rushed out.
The building quickly became far livelier than before as people hurried in and out, carrying ledgers, opening cages and calming frightened animals.
Soon, five commoners were led into the place and they all gave short bows towards the Crown Prince alongside words of praise and appreciation.
“Do not thank me, it was the Count’s son who made all these possible.”
The Crown Prince said and their eyes widened in surprise before they all turned toward Cassian and bowed deeply.
‘Thank you, Young Master!’
‘Thank you for saving our animals!’
A little boy clutched a brown puppy tightly against his chest, tears threatening to spill from his eyes as he hugged the animal with all his strength.
Beside him, an elderly woman wiped the corners of her eyes while repeatedly thanking Cassian between sniffles.
Watching the joyous reunions unfold around him, Cassian felt oddly uncomfortable.
In his previous life, people had looked at him with fear, respect at times and perhaps admiration…but gratitude…
Pure, heartfelt gratitude like this…it was strangely unfamiliar and from his perspective, he didn’t like it one bit….
If he let this continue then they would keep wanting more from him whereas he had no clue as to what the Crown Prince had meant by those words he had uttered.
“Bring in the next people.
Remember to inform them of whom their appreciation is to be rendered to.”
“Yes, your highness!”
What?!
How is this going way different than how he had expected it to go?
What thanks?
He didn’t do anything!
What was this Crown Prince even saying?!
He didn’t do anything at all!
So why was he being pegged as the one who saved these entire animals?!
His gaze instinctively shifted back towards Crown Prince Lysander.
The man had already turned away, calmly watching the commoners reunite with their beloved companions as though pushing all the credit onto Cassian had been the most natural thing in the world.
Cassian refused to believe it.
Nothing this man did was ever without purpose.
If the Crown Prince had intentionally thrown all the praise onto him…then there was definitely a reason behind it.
The only problem was…Cassian couldn’t figure out what game this cunning fox was playing.
This wasn’t how it was supposed to go!!!!