Chapter 255 – Forget The Gods, They Won’t Answer
Cassius had managed to obtain all the information Natasha had on Naomi Holloway.
He knew where she lived, that she was the 10th ranker in the second year, and, most importantly, how her classmates viewed her.
Unsurprisingly, she was intensely disliked by most of them, if not all of them.
That stemmed from the fact that Naomi had once been one of the women close to Copycat, a position that had let her torment her classmates without a single consequence.
"But that...that’s no longer the case." Natasha breathed, her chest heaving with exhaustion, her eyes refusing to stay open for long, "Naomi was abandoned by Copycat. The...the only reason she hasn’t been made a slave yet is because Copycat is away on a mission."
"Why did she lose his favor?" Cassius asked again.
"She cheated on him." She replied directly, "she cheated on him with Zakaria, the second ranker."
Cassius arched an eyebrow in mild surprise. It wasn’t an unusual thing, in this kind of environment.
It made sense that some men and women would cheat on their partners fairly often. Still, he hadn’t expected anyone foolish enough to cheat on a Palatine...with a second-ranked student.
Or maybe that was exactly what had made it happen.
Still, the more Cassius listened, the more he began to understand who Naomi was.
Once he felt he understood enough, he cut off the still-talking Natasha and stood.
He checked the time one last time and decided he had enough left for one final, quick visit.
He smiled and turned his attention back to Natasha.
"We’ll gently end our lovely chat here, Natasha. I hope you don’t mind?"
"Eh? No, no, no! I don’t mind! I don’t mind, Ang—!" She stopped herself abruptly from calling him Angel, as if something deep inside her refused to use that name for someone like him.
Cassius was almost amused.
"Now tell me, if someone asks who did this to you, what will you say?" He asked, looking down at her, hands in his pockets.
Natasha looked up at him, dazed, unable to say anything. She didn’t know what Cassius wanted her to say, and was afraid of saying the wrong thing.
Cassius turned to Nafissatou and asked her the same question.
The Magician, however, answered without hesitation: "Emrys Stormblessed." She said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, "I’d say Emrys Stormblessed did this to me."
Cassius’s lips curled, "And if they ask why he’d do that to you?"
"I’d—!"
"Don’t give any reasons." He cut in, shaking his head, "If they ask why, just widen your eyes, gasp as if you’ve seen a monster, and wail until every last tear inside you has dried up."
At those final words, he turned his attention back to Natasha.
"Do you understand me?"
"I...do."
"Perfect, then. And one last thing," Cassius leaned toward her ear and whispered, "next time you act against Klaus or any of my close friends, I will kill you. Understood?"
She nodded weakly, her heart still racing, "I...will never do it again. I’ll give the money back to Love. I swear."
"Swear on who?"
"...Vorn?"
"You’d better swear on the Queen of Fate, Natasha. You know what? If you change your faith, I’ll be merciful to you next time."
"...next time?" She shuddered, eyes widening.
"Figure of speech. Why are you shaking? Will you change your faith or not?"
"I will, sir! I will!"
"Then praise the Queen."
"Praise the Queen!"
"My goddess said nothing. It certainly lacked sincerity." Cassius’s eyes narrowed, "I want you to say it louder, with more faith behind the words. Think of how only she could stop me and save you. Think of that, and..." his voice dropped a notch, "praise the Queen."
That was exactly what she did. She looked at the monster before her, this beautiful monster with flaming eyes, who wouldn’t hesitate to kill her like an insect if he wished.
And with that monster fixed in her mind, she turned her thoughts to the only being who could stop him and save her: his own goddess.
With both in mind, and with her overwhelming desire to survive this hell, Natasha opened her mouth and spoke with a sincerity she’d never felt praying to Vorn.
"Praise the Queen!!" She bellowed with all her strength, straining her throat to its limit, and instantly felt something shift inside her.
For a fleeting moment, she felt a presence within her.
Boundless, profound, yet undeniably merciful.
Her fear eased, out of nowhere.
[...I’m liking this method.] Ananke whispered, smiling,
’It might just bee my favorite.’
"Perfect." Cassius’s voice pulled her back to reality, "Now you can go."
He stood and put some distance between them.
He took out two Tier 5 Healing Potions, tossed them to her, and waved her off.
"That’s the goddess’s mercy." He said, "Now go, and don’t forget, only by praying to her will you stay safe from me."
"Y-Yes!"
Natasha bowed until her forehead touched the ground, then hurriedly ran off, crying both from relief and from a deep, lingering fear.
That night was the worst of her life.
Once she was gone pletely, Cassius glanced at Nafissatou:
"I won’t keep you here much longer. You can head home."
Nafissatou nodded, relieved. She was the type to sleep early, and she was struggling to stay awake at this hour.
Still, before leaving, she voiced something that had been on her mind from the start:
"I’ve heard a lot about the Desdemona in my Kingdom." She said, "More than about the Hood Royal Family, even."
Cassius arched an eyebrow, "Is that so? What are you implying?"
"I finally understand something I’ve heard often about you." She continued, then quoted, "Dig your own grave, and the graves of those close to you, before you touch a Desdemona. And forget the gods, they won’t answer your prayers."
"Oh?" He exclaimed, "How does your kingdom know about us?"
"I don’t know." Nafissatou shook her head, "But rumor says the origin of Spell Creation came from the First Kurppe, alongside a Desdemona. Many respect you for that. But many also hate you, believing you’re claiming what rightfully belongs to us."
"Interesting. I didn’t even know that." Cassius chuckled, genuinely surprised, "It seems I’ll have to visit the Kurppe Kingdom someday. You’ll be my guide, Nafissatou."
Her body trembled silently, "If that is your wish."
"Don’t worry. We’ll only go once you’ve built yourself up enough not to tremble at the mere mention of returning." He said, walking away, Coco’s corpse in his arms, "But don’t take too long about it either. I won’t wait forever."
Soon enough, he was gone, leaving only Nafissatou behind.
She stared at the direction he’d gone for a while, then sighed under her breath, recalling his last words:
"The more I watch him...the less I understand him." The Magician shook her head, "It’ll be truly hard to give you a Name that fits."
With that, she snapped her fingers and teleported out of the chamber.
That chamber, reeking of death, grief, and...retribution.
...
Cassius was exhausted. Genuinely.
The only thing on his mind was sleep. But he couldn’t picture himself sleeping without paying a short visit to Naomi Holloway first.
It was impossible not to.
So he put on his Cloak of Invisibility, walked into the Persephone Building, and made his way to the 5th floor.
It was night, so there were barely any people wandering about.
Once he reached the room number Natasha had given him, he stopped and knocked on the door.
No response.
Cassius wasn’t surprised.
He used his newfound control over his strength to make the knock echo unnaturally loud in a straight line, irritating whoever lived inside.
Seconds later, he heard loud, angry breathing and stomping footsteps.
He knocked even harder, and the door suddenly opened with more strength than necessary, revealing the huffing, red-faced Naomi.
"WHO—!"
She snapped her mouth shut instantly. Her eyes darted around, confused for a moment, unable to actually see Cassius in front of her, shielded as he was by a Tier 5 artifact.
He gave her no time to figure it out.
He shoved her mercilessly into the room, making her yelp in surprise, and stepped swiftly inside behind her. He shut the door and locked it with a click.
"What’s going on?" Naomi hissed in anger, her eyes still darting around.
That was when Cassius finally put away the Tier 5 artifact, revealing himself before her.
The woman froze, staring at him as if he were a ghost that shouldn’t be there.
"What...what are you doing here?" She asked, an uneasy feeling suddenly crawling through her.
Cassius smiled harmlessly at her, "Didn’t you want to talk with me earlier, Naomi?"
He stepped closer, catching the scent of her fresh, flowery perfume. Looking at her, no one would guess she had just killed someone.
She seemed far too calm about it. There was still fear in her eyes, but Cassius could tell it wasn’t fear of being caught for Coco’s death.
It was fear for her own survival.
His smile deepened, even as something inside him turned colder.
"Talk?" Naomi said, now smiling strangely, her eyes burning with a repulsive mix of hope and pride, "So now you want to talk to me? I knew it. I knew it was because of her. I wasn’t wrong. I was truly not wrong. Yes, yes. e!"
Her smile widened, her tongue sliding across her lips sensually.
"Let’s talk, Angel! Let’s do it on my bed!"
—End of Chapter 255—
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