Tamed A Blackened Slave Man - Chapter 67: Shameless Cassadin

After sending Tuule back to his room, I stood there and thought about all of the things that had happened until now.

Unlike my experiences from my past life, the events that unfolded were completely different.

Damian’s heart disease had been publicized, and Cassadin, who had been the loyal aide of the Crown Prince, went out to the Fighting Competition and obtained the title of a Marquess.

Alone in my room, I thought of what might have happened had I not approached Damian.

At the point that Cassadin had poisoned the Crown Prince, if I hadn’t turned the blame to Damian. If I pretended not to know anything and had only healed the Crown Prince.

‘Then our family may also have been endangered.’

It had been a risk to reveal my healing abilities to Damian.

But it would have been a matter of time until Damian found out once he would come to the realization that I had been the one who healed the Crown Prince, or that Cassadin had been the true culprit to the Crown Prince’s poisoning incident.

Since the unexpected could happen at any time, I just decided to take the initiative before Damian decided to threaten me.

Damian’s heart condition became more painful the stronger the emotions he felt were, after all.

‘Though I didn’t expect him to collapse during the final match.’

I needed to think through my next course of action before Damian regained consciousness.

Damian was far too smart. If it was impossible to avoid his suspicion even after using all means possible, then it was better to maintain a vague sort of relationship with him rather than completely turning against him.

‘He even went as far as to drink the blood of commoners in order to reduce the pain of his heart condition, after all.’

Damian only cared about himself and considered the lives of everyone else like pebbles on the side of the street. To think that he was able to continue living completely normally even after committing such heinous crimes.

‘If God does exist, why do they leave people like him alive?’

Massaging my forehead with one of my hands, I started to head to the dining room, where Father was waiting.

After changing into a tasteful uniform instead of the black robe he had previously been wearing, Cassadin immediately headed to the dining room.

I was already seated at the table with Father. Utilizing his long legs to travel quickly across the room, Cassadin then slipped into the seat next to me.

Now that Cassadin had taken a bath, there was no longer the metallic smell of blood coming from him but the light and watery scent of soap instead.

His hair had also returned to its original silver color instead of being black. And seeing me stare at his hair, Cassadin smiled kindly and provided me with an explanation.

“I used a hair dye that washes away with water.”

“I see.”

“Sister. Ah, I should no longer call you that. Between the black hair and silver hair, what did you prefer?”

“You look good either way.”

Cassadin beamed happily at my response. Father gazed disapprovingly at Cassadin as he watched him converse with me, and then he finally spoke up.

“Now then, explain what happened from the moment you left our family, everything from the beginning to end, so that I can understand.”

But with unfortunate timing, the maids started to push carts of food into the dining room as soon as Father finished his sentence.

Out of frustration, Father thumped his fist against his chest and let out a deep sigh.

Having no way of knowing Father’s current state, the maids all blushed a bright red after seeing that Cassadin was there. Unlike their usual steady attitude, the maids’ hands were shaking as they put the dishes on the table.

Was it because they had seen Cassadin for the first time in a while? Or maybe this was something that had always happened, but I only started to realize now.

“T-The food is ready.”

“Have a great meal.”

The maids continued to steal glimpses at Cassadin as they placed down the platters of food.

They even went so far as to purposefully slow their movements when putting down the bowl of beef soup in front of Cassadin. It bothered me a bit, but I pretended not to notice so that I wouldn’t be suspicious.

Cassadin was bound to feel the intent gazes of the maids, but he was still just staring at me with a happy expression.

‘Dumb Cassadin. You’re being too obvious in front of Father.’

Feeling conscious of Father’s gaze, I slipped my hand under the table. And then I used the index finger of my right hand to poke Cassadin’s thigh. It was to tell him to please get a hint.

But then he also slipped his hand under the table and grabbed hold of my hand.

‘No, not that!’

When I glared at him, he just returned a bright smile. With an innocent grin, he placed my hand on top of his thigh.

Baffled by his shamelessness, I tried to pull my hand away, but Cassadin’s hand didn’t budge, just like a boulder.

Instead, he even laced our fingers together so that I couldn’t pull away. Thanks to that, my hand was now trapped on top of Cassadin’s thigh.

Barely managing to keep my face straight, I glanced at Father and the maids to see if they noticed. Thankfully, it seemed like no one had realized what had just happened under the table.

“Th-then, have a good suppertime.”

Finishing their duty with a teacup and teapot filled with herbal tea that my father enjoyed, the maids hurried away in a rush.

Starting from juicy steak to lamb stew, neatly cut portions of grilled turkey and a fresh salad were displayed scrumptiously on the table, but not a single person reached for the food.

In the midst of the heavy silence, Father opened his mouth.

“Cassadin, I would advise you to confess right now. What is Aren to you?”

‘Don’t tell me, did Father find out about our relationship?’

Feeling my heart tighten, I listened intently to Father’s next words.

“Don’t you even feel sorry for her? And then there’s your sudden decision to participate in the fighting competition. Do you know just how worried Aren has been about you all this time?”

Thankfully, it didn’t look like Father knew of our relationship. I felt extremely guilty to Father for thinking this, but I let out a sigh of relief internally.

“Even just today, her lips were all swollen and red because of her lack of sleep!”

Father pointed at my lips with his hand. My own hand was still stuck on top of Cassadin’s leg. Now giving up on pulling it out, I mustered up a smile and spoke to Father.

“Father, Cassadin’s a Marquess now…”

“Marquess or Duke, I cannot forgive him for stabbing us in the back after all the trust we had given him.”

Father seemed quite mad from how strongly he was expressing his thoughts. From his resentful glare toward Cassadin, I could see that Father had unconsciously put more trust in Cassadin than he realized.

“Father, Cassadin hasn’t betrayed us.”

“If this isn’t betrayal, then what is? He had promised that he would return once his duties were over. So what is the point of suddenly participating in the fighting competition and revealing that he was once a slave, if not betrayal?”

Then Father, who had been staring angrily at Cassadin, turned to me.

“But Aren, why do you keep defending him?”

“…Cassadin was once my sibling, Father.”

“Aside from all of that, though, don’t you feel even a little angry? You’ve gone as far as Grand Duke Damian’s mansion to find Cassadin, but were unable to find him there.”

Hearing that, the strength in Cassadin’s hand around my hand suddenly loosened.

“What do you mean, Sir?”

“Did you just find out about it now? Aren had gone all the way to the duchy in the northern regions to look for you. That is how much Aren cared for you. But you…!”

Father was unable to continue. That was because Cassadin’s expression had darkened, and his fists tightened furiously. It seemed like his trembling fists were ready to split the table in half at any moment.

“Sir, did you just say that she had gone there alone? Aren, by herself?”

It looked like Father was quite surprised after hearing Cassadin’s cold tone for the first time. Just his voice was enough to make it feel like the temperature of our surroundings had turned cold.

Father seemed so surprised by Cassadin’s icy voice that he didn’t realize Cassadin had called me by my name.

“…Ah. So that was why he made that face…”

Seeming to have come to a realization, Cassadin mumbled something to himself. Then, having recomposed himself, Cassadin smiled softly at Father and opened his mouth.

“I know that Sir told me to return once my duty had been completed, but I knew that some would have most definitely challenged my origins.”

“……”

“I had already been so thankful for the acceptance I was given, so how could I have dared to come back with such dishonor? I didn’t want to burden the family any longer. So through my victory in this fighting competition…”

Pausing, I could feel Cassadin caressing my hand under the table. Unlike before, his touch was starting to feel much more sensual. Maybe it felt more so because the actions he was making above and below the table were the polar opposite.

“I had specially requested to His Majesty that I participate in the war instead of you, Sir.”

“!”

“I wanted to repay the kindness Sir had shown me in any way possible. But I do apologize, as I seem to have caused more trouble in that process.

Cassadin bowed his head as he spoke. Not only did he claim the title of a Marquess, but he even gained permission to take Father’s place in the war at the same time.

‘I didn’t know because the Emperor didn’t announce that part. So you really were planning to participate in the war instead of our father.’

Father must have been as surprised as I was, as he was staring at Cassadin with awe.

“Though I will be given the title of Marquess by His Majesty tomorrow, Sir and Aren are like the heavens to me. So please, treat me as you are doing now.”

Hearing Cassadin’s comment, Father let out several big sighs and then started to speak.

“Do you think His Majesty will allow us to treat you like we do now?”

Bringing the cup of herbal tea to his mouth, Father downed the entire cup in a single sip.

Clack.

Putting the cup back down, Father wiped his mouth with the napkin and continued.

“The reason why His Majesty has invited me and Aren to your awards ceremony is to test your loyalty.”

“……”

“He is not giving you that Marquess title without cost. It is likely that tomorrow, His Majesty will be testing whether you follow us, your previous family, or him.”

Father was right. If the Emperor saw that Cassadin followed us, his past family, more than himself, who gave him the title of nobility, then the Emperor would be unable to trust Cassadin and might even decide to revoke Cassadin’s title from him.

“So Cassadin. When tomorrow comes, I will not treat you as a family but as a Marquess.”

“…Sir.”

“But that means I should be able to treat you comfortably today. I want to believe that the side you have shown us during your time at this mansion was not false.”

With a humane smile, Father added.

“Now then, that was all I wanted to say. Let us eat now.”

I felt a lump form in my throat after hearing what Father said. And it seemed like Cassadin also had something called a conscience, as he withdrew his hand and started to eat.

We had finished eating dinner in a much lighter atmosphere.

Even after we finished eating, Father, Cassadin, and I continued to converse for quite a while.

Once it was time for us to go to bed, I changed into a negligee so that I could also go to sleep, then lay down in bed.

Staring up at the ceiling, I started to think about Cassadin’s award ceremony tomorrow.

‘As Father had said, the Emperor is definitely going to test Cassadin’s loyalty, so it will be wise for me to treat him like a Marquess for his own good.’

Just then, the image of Damian’s desperate face as he collapsed with his hand clenching his heart popped into my mind. But it didn’t matter what happened to him anymore after he killed me in my past life.

‘He’ll come looking for me if he needs to. I just hope he doesn’t try to hurt Cassadin after he gets back up.’

Just as I was about to fall asleep after cursing Damian in my mind, I heard someone knock on my bedroom door.

Knock knock.

“I want to speak with you for a moment.”

The low voice that resembled a calm ocean was most definitely Cassadin’s.