Tamed A Blackened Slave Man - Chapter 88: Dear To Me

After the commotion passed, the banquet hall quickly regained its vitality.

Among the people inside, some danced to the orchestra’s music, some engaged in conversations with those they favored, and all enjoyed the banquet in their own unique ways.

However, as the people conversed, they continued to sneak glances at me.

The ladies and noblewomen, pretending to engage in conversation, hid their mouths with their fans and quietly discussed me.

“Why does Lady Serkia have so many men surrounding her?”

“What is her relationship with Sir Damian? They don’t appear to be mere friends.”

“His Highness, Sir Cassadin, and even Sir Damian……”

“I am truly envious of her.”

Thanks to my sharp ears, I could hear everything the people said about me. Or perhaps they purposefully spoke louder so I could hear them.

“Well, Lady Serkia is quite the beauty. But what should I say? I feel there is a wall between us when I talk with her. She’s a bit cold.”

“From what I know, Lady Serkia rarely shows her face in public aside from palace banquets, yet here she is, stealing the hearts of every man in the Empire.”

“Perhaps she has a charm we don’t know of?”

“What do you think about what His Highness said, regarding Lady Serkia saving his life?”

“I’m not sure……”

The way their eyes watched me as they spoke felt incredibly sharp. Their gazes were filled with envy and jealousy.

As people born into nobility, they knew very well not to cross the line. Even if there was a situation to criticize someone, it should be done elegantly and not to such an extent that it could cause trouble later.

“By the way, I’m quite curious about the woman Sir Cassadin is interested in.”

“Likewise.”

“Did you see Princess Bella back there? I must admit that she’s unbelievably beautiful. But to think that he rejected even her, it must mean that the woman Sir Cassadin loves is far more beautiful than Princess Bella, is that not so?”

It seemed that everyone was curious about who the woman Cassadin loved was.

However, they only continued to whisper amongst themselves and did not consider approaching us for conversation. That was because the Crown Prince was standing next to me with a particularly menacing glare.

Some had gathered the courage to approach me but recoiled and retreated after seeing the Crown Prince’s fierce expression.

Although I didn’t understand why the Crown Prince chose to remain here instead of departing with the Emperor, his presence helped me evade several troublesome situations.

‘Isn’t the reason you invested two whole months into planning this banquet so that you could have Sir Cassadin in your control?’

That’s what the Crown Prince said. What reason did he have to defy his own father and protect me?

Regardless, it was true that I managed to escape from the Emperor’s test thanks to the Crown Prince causing that commotion, so I bowed to the Crown Prince and thanked him.

“Thank you, Your Highness.”

Upon hearing that, the Crown Prince turned back to look at me, then grinned joyfully when our eyes met.

His tightly closed lips curled upward as he began to speak.

“I don’t recall doing anything noteworthy enough to deserve that from you, Milady.”

“……If it hadn’t been for Your Highness, I would have undoubtedly fallen into trouble.”

“Trouble, you say.”

His eyes narrowed as he quietly echoed my words. The Crown Prince’s golden eyes fell to my hand, still clasped in Cassadin’s hand, lingering there for quite some time.

Then, after opening his mouth as if he had something to say, the Crown Prince let out a deep sigh and closed his eyes.

“Your Highness?”

His eyes slowly reopened at the sound of my voice. Meeting my gaze, the Crown Prince smiled bitterly and began to speak again.

“I’ve just realized that Milady is not smart……”

“……”

“But actually quite dumb.”

‘Huh?’

I stared at the man in disbelief, prompting him to snicker playfully.

“It’s just a joke. Don’t look at me like that.”

“……”

“I did that because I wanted to, so you don’t need to thank me. Instead……”

With a mischievous smile, he continued.

“I’d like you to call me by my name, not those cold formalities.”

The one who responded to his unusual request wasn’t me, but Cassadin, who had been quietly standing next to me.

“I’m afraid that won’t be happening.”

“I’m not talking to you, Marquess.”

“Since you spoke to my sister, it might as well have been directed at me.”

“……You never back down, do you?”

With a frustrated ‘tch,’ the Crown Prince grumbled to himself.

“Sister, as if. That creepy bastard.”

The Crown Prince’s problem was his mouth. The gratitude I had felt for him a moment ago vanished instantly.

“Your Highness.”

I quietly called to the Crown Prince, causing him to turn to me with a pained expression.

“Both last time and today, you’ve always taken that bastard’s side. I don’t know why you side with him. He’s not your brother anymore, is he?”

“……Even though he’s not family, Cassadin is still dear to me.”

The Crown Prince’s eyes widened at my response. But his wide eyes quickly sank beneath his long eyelashes, as if nothing had happened.

“Someone dear, you say.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

The Crown Prince probably had a vague idea about my relationship with Cassadin. If he hadn’t, he wouldn’t have stepped forward at that moment.

“Sister.”

A deep voice reminiscent of the vast ocean echoed in my ears. The hand gently caressing mine, as if checking something, felt searing hot.

When I looked up at the source of that heat, Cassadin was there, returning my gaze with a cheery smile.

His deep purple eyes, nestled under slender eyelashes, twinkled in the light. His firm, pinkish lips curved gently into a smile.

His smile was so dazzling that the chandelier on the ceiling seemed to dim.

“I wish this banquet would end soon.”

With his hand wrapped tightly around mine, Cassadin whispered sweetly into my ear. With his other hand, he tenderly brushed my hair.

His gaze was full of compassion, and his touch was gentle.

Time seemed to halt as everyone froze, staring in awe at Cassadin’s radiant smile.

The banquet hall, which had been bustling with noise just moments before, suddenly fell silent.

The noblewomen, who had been chattering behind their fans, all stared at him with mouths agape.

‘Cassadin, what is this…? Weren’t we supposed to hide our relationship? What will you do about the throne then?’

I wanted to ask him.

It would be foolish for anyone not to understand our relationship if he behaved this way toward me in front of everyone.

No matter how close, no brother in the world would treat their sister like this.

I looked up at Cassadin with a concerned expression. But the one who had caused this situation didn’t seem bothered at all.

The moment our eyes met, Cassadin kissed my forehead as if he had been waiting.

‘But why…’

The silence was broken by the despairing cries of a young lady with pink hair who had been watching Cassadin for some time.

“H-How could this be…?”

With that, the commotion began to spread among the others as well.

“So the person Sir Cassadin loved…”

“……Was Lady Serkia.”

I hadn’t known that Cassadin, who was smarter than anyone else I knew, would do something like this in front of so many people.

My head spun from shock.

The voices of the others seemed to echo from a distance.

I could only stare up at Cassadin, stunned, like a young child who had forgotten how to speak.

Unfazed by the gazes of others, the man with the purple eyes looked at me with immeasurable compassion.

My throat tightened at the sight of such a passionate gaze directed only at me.

I wanted to ask him,

‘What about everything that you’ve built up until now, Cassadin?’

‘You’ve done well for the past two months. But does none of that matter if you do this now?’

‘Is this an impulse? Are you doing this knowing full well what other people will think of us?’

Countless thoughts whirled chaotically in my mind, but I couldn’t voice a single one of them.

“So it was Lady Serkia that Sir Cassadin was interested in.”

“……But since when?”

“Weren’t they siblings in the past? But to think that Sir Cassadin thought of Lady Serkia in such a way after that.”

“That can’t possibly be. Sir Cassadin is a flawless man, isn’t he? How could such a person love the woman who had once been his sister?”

Each of the people’s comments rang out far too clearly.

The crowd seemed as shocked by Cassadin’s actions as I was.

The Crown Prince glared fiercely at Cassadin and, in a low voice so that the others couldn’t hear, whispered angrily.

“Sir Cassadin, has something happened to your head?”

“……”

“Why are you publicly exposing what I hid for you two? Are you truly planning to put Lady Serkia in trouble?”

‘So the Crown Prince really did know everything when he helped us.’

Cassadin then turned to the Crown Prince with a gaze so cold that it made one question whether he was the same person as the man who had been smiling at me just a moment ago.

“Of course not, Your Highness.”

“Then just why……?!”

Cassadin, who had been observing the frustrated Crown Prince with an indifferent expression, slowly dropped his gaze back to me.

“It is because I found no reason to hide it.”

“…….No reason to hide it?”

“Yes.”

Cassadin wrapped his large hands around my back. The way he gently swept his hands down my frail back was so careful that it almost felt as if he were handling a fragile doll.

And with me in his embrace, Cassadin whispered quietly into my ear so that only I could hear him.

“You’ve said that I was dear to you. You are also dear to me.”

“……”

“So, once I finish speaking, push me away and curse at me, calling me a bastard who is unappreciative of the generosity I have received. You’re now aware that I love you.”

What Cassadin said was not normal. After struggling to speak for a few moments, I finally managed to spit out the words stuck in my throat.

“……Why would I say such things?”

“Because I do not want my selfishness to hold you back.”

His voice sounded deeper than the abyss beneath the ocean, but what he said was the complete opposite.

“The Emperor has already taken note of our relationship. If we are to reveal that as a weakness, we should at least make sure that the others believe this relationship is one-sided. That only I have feelings for you, and you do not.”

How could I ever do that?

It was easy to speak of love to someone that I did not love.

But to say that I did not love someone that I truly did.

Not to mention that I had to push him away when he was asking for my love.

Was that not cruel?

“You have to do it.”