The way to Protect the Female Lead’s Older Brother - Chapter 29

CASSIS POV

(Flashback continued)

Cassis laid in bed. If he tried, he could move his pinky finger. 

It was peaceful to stay still and be painless, even if he had an occasional itch around his dry eyes.

There were no windows. He could only stare at the ceiling now, but he recalled dark square marks on the whitewashed walls, as if paintings had been removed. The stone floor was clean and dry; there were no rats scurrying for invisible morsels on the ground. 

The help must have prepared this room for him. Strange that they would allow a prisoner to stay in a nobleman’s room.

No, they don’t see me as a prisoner. They see me as a toy, Cassis thought grimly.

His eyes slid to the side to see his ankle chained to the bed stand. The bed was bolted to the floor. Once he regained control of his body, he would be able to break the restraint easily. 

He bit his lip as the paralysis potion became ineffective. Almost every part of his body seemed to be throbbing; for now, the pain scale was almost negligible, as if he had stubbed his toe. It would be worse later on.

Cassis grimaced. He didn’t expect to sleep well tonight.

He started to recall a young soldier named Piklin who had gone mad from drugs. 

Cassis felt his tongue dry in his mouth. He was already craving the morphine substance again. He hungered for it more than food or drink. 

Think about something besides drugs for a second, Cassis told himself. They don’t mean to kill me now. That’s a plus. 

It was obvious that the physician had not cared if the toy died or not, but none of the henchmen would dare go against one of their master’s orders. Cassis was saved once again by Roxana Agriche.

Although I won’t say I’m in debt to her. Not yet, Cassis thought. 

It didn’t seem like he was going to be tortured anymore either. Unless this madhouse meant to break and patch him up again and again like a toy ship.

Was that the definition of a toy? To be broken and played with at the mercy of psychopaths?

He felt a cold, buzzing sensation from his right wrist. The anti-magic restraints were holding some of his powers back. 

He grimaced, remembering his last meeting with Charlotte….

Title: How Cassis Pedelian First Met Charlotte

He was in the dungeons, his arms were spread apart, like Jesus Christ nailed to the cross, and his legs were subjugated in an awkward kneeling position.

The red haired girl was crazy. There was no other way to describe her. Her screeches echoed in the dungeon as she tore his hair from the follicles and scratched his face with her fingernails.

“I won’t bring Melly out to play with you. I can’t trust you’ll last long with her,” Charlotte had laughed. She swung a spiked mace deftly with one hand before throwing it behind her and lodging it in between the cell bars. The sharp CLANG made Cassis Pedelian’s ears hurt. 

“How would you like to meet Tris or Stacy instead?”

A scalpel fell out of her sleeve and slipped into her hand. Charlotte jutted her hip out to showcase her signature whip.

Cassis should have been scared, but truthfully, his Pedelian pride prevented him from being afraid of a little girl. Even if she killed him by mistake, it would be an embarrassing end, but not worse than killing someone shorter than his shoulder blades.

Her anger cooled him. After days of hating the Agriche, Cassis felt level-headed and bored. He would not act out against a child, or reciprocate her juvenile behavior. He began to regret his actions against Roxana. If he had had a clear head earlier, he might have been able to learn more about his situation or find out why she was interested in his fate. 

A hot whip latched onto his right arm and twirled around his wrist, digging into his skin. The whip must have been laced with poison. Cassis felt his blood literally boil from the wound as the whip touched bone. 

His scream was muffled underneath his gag. 

His eyes teared as the whip unwound against his arm. 

“Don’t worry, Blue sh*#,” Charlotte giggled. “I like to go easy on my toys first.”

Cassis felt his wrist shackle slacken. He lowered his head as if to hide his agony—it did actually hurt—and glanced at the arm she had attacked. His vision wasn’t perfect, but he thought he could see the smallest of tears at the edge of his leather restraint. It couldn’t be from that one attack. He could detect a stronger magical aura from the girl than the group of guards who visited him for the occasional beating, but she had not evoked her powers yet.

What’s the difference this time? Cassis thought.  

He grew frustrated and suddenly felt the leather shackle repair itself. 

Cassis felt his heart pound wildly. He willed himself to stay calm again. 

He needed to test this theory.

He looked up at the red-headed girl again before shrugging his shoulders.

“What, do you have something to say?” Charlotte jeered.

Cassis wriggled his mouth and raised an eyebrow.

Charlotte snapped her finger and the gag snapped in hand. The round ball and leather straps dropped to the floor. 

Cassis moved his jaw to relax his muscles.

“You mentioned this Roxana. Is she beautiful?” Cassis said.

“What?” Charlotte grew cold.

“It would be nice to meet a lady,” Cassis said. “I suppose you have the upper hand now, but I could see myself running you through easily with a sword. My sword arm is my right arm,” he added.

Cassis wanted to close his eyes in shame. After spending so much time with those atrocious guards and their snide banter, his punk act sounded almost realistic. 

“Should I take away your pretty arm then?” Charlotte said. “You won’t be holding a sword anymore.”

Charlotte’s green eyes began to glow as an electric static seemed to blossom behind them. 

Cassis relaxed and waited for the blow. He willed his heart rate to slow. And then—.

The metal blade piercing skin made almost no sound.

The girl stabbed through Cassis Pedelian’s forearm with her scalpel, lodging the short blade in his arm to the hilt, as if she planned to etch her initials on him.

Cassis gritted his teeth against the pain. He could feel one of his teeth crack as clenched his mouth tightly. He absorbed some of the magic from Charlotte’s aura and focused on an exact point on his demonic restraint.  The right shackle tore apart.

Charlotte tried to draw back in surprise but it was too late.

Cassis grabbed her by one of her pigtails and smashed her forehead against the wall. He heard the girl give a soft OH before slumping to the ground. 

Cassis was breathing heavily. Concentrating magic that he had not used for years took a toll on his body. He pulled the scalpel out of his forearm with his mouth before dropping it on the floor.

He was dizzy. The poison from the whip was affecting his consciousness. 

—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

When he woke up, the child and all of her weapons were gone. Bright, new, metal shackles adorned his wrists and ankles.  

Since then, Cassis began to periodically practice breaking his restraints. Apparently the magic was based on harnessing aggressive magic. If he kept calm and focused his energies right before the moment of impact, the restraints would break. 

He didn’t have the ability to break the restraints on his own yet, but he would focus on improving. 

He heard someone talking at the door.

Cassis closed his eyes and loosened his bite on the gag ball inside his mouth.

The light footsteps and alluring smell told him Roxana had appeared again. He still hated the pretense of playing dead, but he was also curious about how she would treat him after standing idly by while her father almost murdered him.

He was prepared to attack her.

Once he could reach her, he would stretch out his arms and strangle her with the chain attaching his shackles. Killing her would be the most prudent outcome. Yet in his heart, he didn’t know if he could murder a lady. As soon as she fell unconscious, maybe he would tear her dress and gag her instead. 

Should I go through with it? Cassis thought. Her scent was already affecting him. He wouldn’t admit it to anyone, but he was slightly afraid of touching Roxana. She was very beautiful.

“You’ve only had minimal treatment,” she whispered. She was kneeling beside him. Her soft breath tickled his ear.

She untied his gag and unlocked his metal restraints before treating him. Blood rushed back to his wrists. Cassis held the saliva in his mouth as Roxana massaged his wrists with her soft hands. 

Her touch slid to almost every part of his body. She tightened his bandages, reapplied cream, and applied a cool cloth against his sprained ankle.

He was disgusted at himself as she hummed a soft melody. He knew he could never kill Roxana now. The act was impossible for him.

After treating him, Roxana did not leave. Cassis grew anxious as he felt her gaze on his face. It took all his energy to refrain from gasping in pain—the morphine had subsided ages ago—or from blushing from his neck to his ears.

His heart almost stopped as she moved onto the bed and rested his head on her lap.

There was no doubt in his mind. If Roxana was an enemy, he wouldn’t make it out of Agriche territory.

The woman had him wrapped around her finger.