The way to Protect the Female Lead’s Older Brother - Chapter 27

CASSIS POV

(Flashback continued)

Cassis felt another presence approaching him and the two guards who were transporting him off the ground. He released his grip on the chain attached to his shackles and smoothed the crease on his forehead.

“Good evening, Ma’am,” the senior guard said. He took one hand off from grasping Cassis’s shoulders to point at his subordinate. “Make sure you clean up the blood on the floor after we move this mess,” he hissed. 

Ma’am. One of the madams? Could this be one of Lant Agriche’s wives? Her sudden appearance had been unexpected. 

Unlike the Pedelians who were monogamous, the Agriche Head had a harem. There had never been a female Agriche who led the family to his knowledge, but Cassis understood that if Roxana became the next family leader, she might have scores of men at her side. 

The image nauseated him. He knew Roxana was far from innocent—she teased and attacked him too skillfully—but to touch multiple men…even his knights had a superstition about losing their virginity. His body shuddered and a rib bone pierced out of his skin. It took an inordinate amount of self-control to keep from gasping from the pain.  

“That child, is he dead?” The madam’s voice was weak and fearful. 

It was the same tone that Sylvia mimicked when she played pretend as a damsel in distress. One of her twig, child arms would hold a knight or princess in trouble, before Sylvia would come in and save the doll. She had often begged Cassis to shriek like a young woman. She was the only person who dared to laugh as Cassis’s voice changed during puberty. 

Is she mistaking me for someone else? He thought. No Agriche would be concerned for a Pedelian. His prejudice ran deep, regardless if he was sometimes swayed by Roxana. 

“Ma’am!” the senior guardsman said, alarmed. 

The Madam was now reaching to touch the prisoner’s face. Cassis could feel the shadow of an arm over his head. 

The junior guard grunted as his senior pushed him and Cassis back. 

What if the woman has a fetish for blood? Cassis thought meanly. He was dripping in it. Lady Agriche may only be feigning concern to touch an open flesh wound.

“No, Ma’am. It’s only passed out,” the senior guardsman said. His voice was deferential, and Cassis felt the power behind the mystery woman. She seemed to want to see her subordinates suffer. Why was she holding them up?

“Ma’am, what brings you to the main house? Do you wish to see Miss Roxana?” The senior guard seemed reluctant to discuss the prisoner he was holding.

The Madam stepped away. Cassis opened his eyes into thin slits. She was a gorgeous woman with straight, platinum blond hair and wore a wispy, light blue dress. Contrary to his initial thought, the woman did not seem interested in gore at all. Her eyes were turned away from him and a hand covered her mouth as if she were keeping in her lunch. 

The guard had mentioned that the woman might be meeting Roxana. What was the relationship between the two? Could this be Roxana’s mother?

“I heard that my daughter was given a new toy. Is this the one?” The Madam’s soft voice said. Unlike Roxana’s cordial tone, her mother sounded solemn and hesitant. 

“Yes, Ma’am. It is.”

Cassis felt his ears go red. He did not like to be described as a toy. The connotation made him sound weak and stupid. 

“What has happened?” The Madam’s concern was evident. She was not mocking him. Somehow, her pity made Cassis feel worse.

Doubt and fear sprang from her voice. Both of her hands were now gripping the folds of her dress. “Did Roxana do this?”

“No, Ma’am. It wasn’t the Miss. T’was Lord Agriche.”

The woman exhaled as if a huge burden had been lifted from her conscience. Her thin shoulders slackened and she grew brave.

Her hand whipped out to hold Cassis Pedelian’s chin. 

“Ma’am!” the senior guard said. He could no longer retreat. His grimace deepened as he saw the toy’s blood drip onto the Madam’s dress. 

He must either idolize her as an innocent woman or a beast, Cassis thought. 

She held Cassis’s chin gently between her thumb and forefinger, ignoring the blood and snot falling on her skin. For a moment, her repugnant look was lost. Her gaze became curious, as if she were trying to determine who Cassis was. 

“Asil,” she murmured. Her sigh carried a sound of regret and loss. She sounded half-deranged, as if she were lost in the past. 

The atmosphere changed. Cassis couldn’t place the feeling she was giving him now. It was something he had felt before; a feeling that had been alien to him since arriving to the Agriche household. 

He thought that the woman genuinely cared about him. 

“Ma’am, yers hans’ ar gittin’ dirty,” the junior guard spoke up. His strained voice indicated that he was getting tired of holding the prisoner up. 

The woman seemed to break out of her reverie.

“Yes, it seems so.” Her hand slowly let the prisoner’s head recline in the air before releasing him. “Will he be treated?”

“Miss Roxana has requested a physician to see him,” the senior guard said. 

“I see. Then it would be best for him to be seen and then have some rest,” the Madam said. 

The woman looked down at Cassis again. Her eyes were still vacant, as if she were thinking about something else. She nodded to herself, her mouth slightly bent. She seemed satisfied after meeting him. 

Cassis didn’t know why the woman was interested in Roxana’s new ‘toy.’ As he and the guards left her presence, Cassis hoped that he had met a decent human being in this place, even if she would not help him escape.