KALEB


    Much to my surprise, Cassandra walked into my study with a smile on her lovely face. As she approached my desk, though, |


    could sense that there was nervousness beneath the surface, like she was cornered prey. She seemed prepared to run at any


    given moment, and the sight of it, as well as the very idea, made me feel strange.Belongs ? to N?velDrama.Org.


    | remembered the first time I’d met Cassandra in the vige square in Anemond, in the back alley behind the pet store. When I''d


    saved her from the kidnappers, she’d thanked me while wearing the same expression. Smiling, but nervous.


    “Take a seat,” | requested. Once she sat down in the chair opposite me, | cleared my throat and continued. “How was the part at


    Ronald''s residence?”


    She smiled politely. “It was quite lovely, thank you for asking.”


    My lips drew into a thin line. She was speaking to me as if she did not know me in the slightest, and | wasn’t a fan of it at all. Why


    was she behaving this way in front of me? Was she truly so scared of me that she was going to act like a stranger?


    | let out a soft sigh and rolled my shoulders back.


    “What brings you here, Cassandra?” | shifted the subject and then | smirked at her. “We just met yesterday. If | didn’t know any


    better, | would think that perhaps you''ve truly fallen in love with me after all.”


    Cassandra bit her full lower lip and her cheeks flushed scarlet. My words had practically fallen out of my mouth, and the moment


    they did, | wished | could unsay them. She was clearly feeling awkward about it, but she managed to quicklypose herself.


    “| wanted to talk to you about something,” she said, and she tugged on a lock of her long copper hair. “I discovered something


    strange that | needed to bring to your attention.”


    Truth be told, | wasn’t surprised by this in the slightest. Here in Viokwell, weird things happened daily, if not hourly. There were


    loads of people who came to ask for a meeting with me, iming that they found a traitor or unearthed a conspiracy. Some of


    them might be true, but most were not. Many sought attention or desired to use me as a tool to banish their enemies. All it took


    was a simple usation to open up an investigation, and many in the castle were well aware of this fact.


    But Cassandra... | had never expected her to say such words to me. What did she want to report to me? What did she want?


    Was this some sort of attempt at deceiving me?


    “What is it?” | asked.


    She took a breath. “It’s Helene. She’s acting... strange.”


    I raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”


    | had heard about all of the fusses caused by Ronaldtely. Rumors had spread around Vliokwell saying that my cousin had


    confined his fiancee, who''d allegedly lost her mind and persuaded a maid to take her own life. | also knew that Ronald, in an


    attempt to halt the rumors, had held his little party to clear his and his fiancee’s reputations.


    +5


    | had little reason to care. Ronald would be dead after the wedding, so | didn’t care or feel troubled


    at all.


    | took a moment and contemted the best way to go about this. | obviously couldn’t let Cassandra in on the truth, so | needed


    to y along and act at least halfway interested.


    “I''ve heard about the things that happened to Helene,” | offered, and | leaned forward in my seat and rested my hands on the


    table. “I assume that most of them are nothing more than rumors. She might just have premarital anxiety. I’m sure Ronald will be


    able to handle it.”


    “| don’t know,” Cassandra countered, and her eyebrows knitted together as she shook her head politely. “I think there’s more to it


    than nerves. She’s acting like apletely different person. It’s like she’s been hypnotized, Kaleb.”


    |ughed before | could stop myself. “Hypnotized?”


    She nodded her head and |ughed again.


    “Ronald isn’t capable of something like that,” | assured her and then | reached my hand out toward her. “You might be over-


    exhausted these days, Cassandra. Maybe we could go on a trip after this so you can get some air.”


    Cassandra hesitated for a moment and then spoke again. “I don’t think it’s Ronald. What if... it''s Raven? | think she has


    something to do with this, Kaleb.”


    Well, that had certainly been a surprise.


    | hadn''t expected Cassandra to put things together so quickly. I’d been so absorbed in other business these days. Roxy and


    Anubis’ dyed returns, necessary arrangements for the wedding, and the other issues that urred amongst the other high-


    born lords in Yurene... all had consumed my mind sopletely that things had fallen through the cr acks. | had forgotten to


    keep an eye on


    Raven.


    It seemed | needed to thank Cassandra for what she had told me, though none of it was surprising in the least. Unlike her sister,


    Roxy, Raven had always been interested in these evil games. She enjoyed manipting people and loved the idea of using


    sorcery against people. She had always been difficult to keep under control, and it was clear that she was up to something.


    There was a time when she was obsessed with the idea of hypnotizing lords who came to meetings in the castle. She had great


    fun making them do things that they never would have done by their own will, like taking off their trousers and other shenanigans


    like that in front of the other lords. There had been several high-born court members who had asked me directly to execute


    Raven for


    | had strongly considered taking such an action to show that | didn’t allow such-foolery to take ce in my own home, but the


    cons outweighed the pros. | knew that Raven had so much more to offer than these childish pranks. She was a talented


    sorceress and had a lot of potential to do great things. She just needed strong supervision and observation.


    It wasn’t until | let her research the living dead n that she finally stopped such mischief. She ceased all childish pranks and


    focused all of her time and energy on research and theorizing what poisons and magic could really do. She’d seemed dedicated


    to the idea of using mind control for Yurene’s gain, but now that | knew she was up to more than just that...


    Since | had objected to her crazier ideas and the research had reached a bit of a block, she seemed to want to resume these st


    upid games and pranks. Perhaps Ronald had taken note of her restless behavior and appealed to her more immature side to use


    her for his own nefarious schemes.


    Anger swelled within me at the very thought of it all.


    Ronald was not the innocent, kind-hearted man that people believed him to be. | had a strong feeling that he had offered his


    fiancee up to be Raven’s pet and puppet. | knew he coveted my power. Maybe he thought this would bring him closer to bringing


    me down.


    Either way... this wouldn’t stand.


    Ha