Cassian Valmont.
[New Gossip Discovered.]
Cassian froze.
<…Seriously?>
[The Blackwater Gang has activated one of its contingency plan.]
[Eight assassins are currently hidden inside the royal palace.]
<…You’ve got to be kidding me.>
<Allow them find the Crown Prince first of all before you throw in the assassins!
If they find him before anything happens to him, that is.>
<I think I need an excuse to leave this place behind, I won’t stay here to suffer any assassins attack that doesn’t concern me at all.>
<Good, that’s i—>
“Cassian Valmont.
Torturing a minister even before I have passed my verdict, do you want me to abdicate my throne and present it to you as a reward?”
<I hope not.>
“Forgive me, Your Royal Majesty.
But I did no such thing!”
Cassian instantly turned towards the king and bowed deeply, his hand coming to wipe off some of the blood he could get off his face with pure distaste.
“Are you calling my ministers blind?
Are you calling my Eldest brother and my Eldest sister blind?
Do you take me for a fool?”
The pressure rolling off the king was suffocating as several ministers instinctively lowered their heads while others stole mocking glances at Cassian, convinced the reckless youth had finally reached the end of his arrogance.
Even the palace guards unconsciously tightened their grip around their spears.
No one believed the king would let this slide as feet shuffled behind him but Cassian was not afraid at all, at least not one bit.
That thing that he just did would cement his reputation as cruel in every one’s eyes and that was just what he wanted, he wasn’t going to be a pariah for this set of ungrateful souls again.
Not in the life that had been given to him for the second time.
“My King, I wouldn’t dare to think that but what just happened happened and if I had not done what I did, I would be the one in that ground right now.”
He said, his voice clear as many ministers had annoyance rising through their hearts at the thought and sight of this boy as if they didn’t root him out then he would surely root them out instead while pretending to not know anything about it.
Murmurs immediately spread throughout the hall.
“Self-defense?”
“That was butchery.”
“Still…the Baron attacked first.”
“The boy isn’t entirely wrong…”
“Silence!”
Eldest Prince Trevor narrowed his eyes as he watched Cassian…the boy hadn’t panicked once.
Even after offending half the court and drawing the king’s anger upon himself, his breathing remained perfectly steady, as if he had expected all this and just couldn’t find it in him to even care at all.
One might say that he was enjoying it way too much.
Interesting…
“Self defense?
Self defense was dislocating his elbow and perhaps his kneecap, but I really don’t see how the rest is self defense.”
He finally said to the boy, his voice dry and Cassian chuckled..much to his surprise.
“Anything that happens after another attack to kill is seen as self defense.
If another man aims to kill me, I will return that with triple the ferocity.
But that…is just what self defense is.”
Cassian explained, his voice calm and leveled as if they were talking about the weather and Eldest Prince Trevor felt his lips twitch as he held back his chuckle.
This boy sure was a character.
“And besides, should I have stood there and waited for the dagger to sink in first so you as he harmed me first before I make any moves on him?”
He asked and many shifted on their feet as they heard this.
“I would be dead by that time and why didn’t anybody try and stop him when he came for my head?!”
All legitimate questions and even the queen gave a slight nod as if she was silently in support of his words.
Duke Clovis slowly stepped out from among the ministers, smoothing the wrinkles from his sleeve before offering the king a respectful bow.
The faint smile tugging at his lips was hidden well enough that most failed to notice it.
Well most people but Cassian noticed, this Duke had always been after him even in his past life so it was hard not to notice when he wanted to do just that again in this life.
After the deep and respectful bow to the royals, he started to speak.
“My King, every single action that the third son of Count Valmont has been taking has always been disrespectful to the court, the ministers and the Royal family in general.”
<Old man!>
<I didn’t come to find you and you brought yourself to me?>
“I wouldn’t dare to disrespect the royal family.
That would be treason and I’m sure that’s not what Duke Clovis was trying to say.”
“My King, I suggest we punish him for it.”
“Yes!
Punish him!”
“Punish him for it!”
Like hungry wolves scenting blood, more and more voices joined in and Cassian felt a memory tug at his mind but he but his lower lips as he forced it back down.
<No!
Not the time or the place!>
“Punish him!”
“Disrespect cannot be tolerated!”
“The dignity of the court must be upheld!”
Soon the cries echoed through the throne room until it sounded less like the imperial court and more like an angry mob.
<Punish me?>
<Like you did in my past life and I didn’t survive it?>
<Try it and I swear that this kingdom will see flames by the end of the week.>
<You think I was given a second life to allow you trample under me like in my past life?>
<Not happening!>
<I’m not stupid!>
<I didn’t live a whole ten years of my life just to come back here and start being foolish again!>
<Please, just give me a good reason.>
<Just do it and I swear to whatever god you all serve that I will make sure you all regret it.>
<But first of all, Duke clover or Clogis, what’s with the aggression?>
<Someone pee in your tea this morning?>
“I suggest a hundred strikes to serve him as a warning and a deterrent for future misdeeds.”
Duke Clovis suggested with a small tug to his lips as he looked mockingly at Cassian who still wasn’t even paying him any attention as for the first time that day, the king actually smiled.
But it wasn’t a warm smile at all, it felt like one that reminded one of a ruler who seemed to have had something thrown to him that he didn’t have to wage wars for.
Cassian folded his hands neatly behind his back as he straightened and then fixed the King with a daring look as he quietly wished for them to really hit him so he would finally be able to let go of every single thing holding him here.
That way, when they all died, he wouldn’t feel even a single sliver of emotion for them.
“Daddy!”
A shrill sweet voice filled the air from the double doors as it was opened and some one rushed into the throne room like a speeding carriage, her hair a bouncy mess of curls filled with lots and lots of hay.
“You went to the stables again, didn’t you?”
The king shook his head at her sheepish smile as he raised his hand to remove some of the hay on her head that she had brought in with her.
“A horse, brown in color like my eyes!
I want her, she’s so beautiful!
And obedient too!”
Cassian stiffened as he stared at the new intruder while the king sent her a small fond smile as she barreled into him and quickly took her place on his lap like she owned the throne with him.
“Princess Claire,”
“Daddy, what’s going on?”
Her little head of hair bounced along with everything she said as Cassian felt his eyes water as he stared at the girl in front of him with an emotion he thought himself incapable of feeling after his past life.
“Carie…”
Her nickname that he had given her once slipped past his lips in a soft whisper before he could stop it and those beautiful brown eyes turned to stare at him in confusion.
Unconsciously, his knees buckled as he lost control of his legs and fell straight to his knees, his shoulders slumping a bit as memories pulled at him.
“…Cassian, grumpy Cassian!”
“Grumpy grumpy guard!”
“Lysander doesn’t like your grumpiness!”
“(Faces) ahahaha!”
“Cassian!”
“No!!”
“Father, father don’t!!”
So many memories tugged at him as he raised his eyes up to glimpse the sweet soul that had been the only one in his past life to even care about his wellbeing.
The only being who had stood by him despite anything that was thrown at him.
Be it accusations, lies, punishments he never deserved, lock downs!
And so much more.
Princess Claire had been the only light he had ever had in his past life and no matter how much he had tried to push her away from him to avoid getting her hurt, she never agreed to go.
He even started avoiding her at some point but she somehow always managed to find him and sometimes, she was the biggest pain in the ass anyone could ever hope to bear.
A small smile tugged at his lips at those thoughts and he shook his head as he deflated even further as he thought about so many things that she did for him..even though she had been a minor then but he always took her as his very small annoying little sister who was a cotton ball of energy.
And….she died for that same reason.
Cassian called his hands into fists by his side as that memory tried to pull at him, tried to pull him down into the abyss with it but his nails dug deeply into his skin until it drew blood just to stop it from resurfacing.
Because he knew himself….if that memory came back?
He had no clue if he or anyone close to him could survive the wrath it would bring with it.