Chapter 261 – Are You a Virgin, Cassius?
Cassius, instead of training as he was supposed to, found himself sitting under an oak tree with a dense canopy of leaves, Mallory beside him.
He was reading Still Alive, written by a nameless female author who had decided, after losing her husband and son in the First War against the Kurppe Kingdom, to share her grief.
It was a true story.
And the book described, without any filter, how she’d lived through that traumatic experience, trying to stay alive in a world that felt dead to her.
Cassius was immediately drawn in, letting himself forget everything else. He immersed his mind fully in the author’s.
He felt her grief. Her helplessness. Her sense of self shattering like glass crashing to the floor after losing those who were part of her.
It was visceral and poignant.
And Cassius found himself forming a connection to a person he’d never known and probably never would, yet somehow understood better than most.
Because, though people might forget, he too had once lost his family in a car accident.
And maybe it was simply human nature to find fort in shared pain, to feel less alone, but he recognized in Still Alive echoes of his own past grief.
Soon he wasn’t reading it as a novel to pass the time, but as a book that had managed to put into words what a young, 5-year-old Noah, back on Earth, never could.
At some point, he was no longer reading the grief of another woman.
He was reading his own grief, still partly unresolved inside him.
And he was enjoying every moment of it.
Pain, as it turned out, could be enjoyable.
Mallory, for her part, watched her disciple from the corner of her eye. She’d worried Still Alive might be too heavy for him, but was relieved to see that wasn’t the case.
These were exactly the kind of books people who’d lost someone precious loved to read.
It wasn’t as mind-blowing as The Tales of the Fool, nor as deeply artistic and inspirational as MasterofPaths’s works.
Those were great men and women who’d achieved much in life and simply happened to be gifted with words too.
Still Alive, in every respect, was written by someone ordinary. Someone you might pass on the street without a second glance. One could feel that, reading it.
That was exactly what made it so intimate.
Mallory smiled, almost imperceptibly, and closed her eyes. Lately, whenever she was with Cassius, she found herself more willing to revisit her own memories from the past.
Memories of her family, slaughtered for their unique power.
Memories of her own daughter, beheaded by her husband, who’d wanted her heart because it could grant a step into the next rank.
Mallory paused at that particular memory, her hand clenching slightly, before allowing herself to sink into it further.
And then the memories of her own disciple...who had once tried to steal her power.
The pattern was clear by now.
Everyone wanted her power. Even those she’d believed were with her out of genuine connection.
But power had a way of corrupting even the purest souls.
And it had cost her her entire Clan. Everyone but her.
She was the Last. The Last Hope. The Last Dragon of the Vaelgrim Clan, descendant of Elira, the Origin Dragon.
There had been a time when Mallory believed she’d never have a disciple again, let alone someone she’d grow close to.
But Fate had a strange way of doing things. It knew exactly how to push at her heart.
And it did so by offering her the fort of safety, making Cassius unable to harm her unless he wished to harm himself.
That knowledge made it insufferably easy to let her guard down.
And she hated it.
’Again, Mallory. Again. You’ve lost everything in life. You always lose everything. Are you really going to get attached again? Will you really, Mallory?’
She wished she had the power to control her heart and emotions.
Unfortunately, she didn’t.
Unfortunately, her heart was starving for affection.
And, unfortunately again, her heart had found a vessel to pour everything into.
Mallory could feel it.
’I’m going to regret this.’
And yet...
She turned her head and watched Cassius reading intently, his beautiful, focused face a sight worth beholding.
’This bastard is growing on me. Ah, Dragon Queen, have mercy on your last remaining descendant. I won’t survive another betrayal. Another loss. I’ll die. I know I will. So have mercy.’
She lifted her head to look up at the blue sky, the white, wispy clouds rolling endlessly over themselves.
Mallory smiled.
That morning felt strangely pleasant, as if to balance out something far heavier.
She looked back at Cassius and found herself in a teasing mood.
She leaned in close and whispered into his ear, playfully.
"Are you a virgin, Cassius?"
Dead silence.
Cassius paused pletely, his mind unable to process what he’d just heard.
He turned his head slowly toward his master and found her grinning.
Bad sign.
"Where did that question even e from, master?"
"Inside my brain, idiot."
"No, of course, I know that! But why now, suddenly?"
"I’m curious. I am your master, after all."
"Why are you curious about something like that?"
"Because I want to know." Mallory said, "Now, will you tell me or not? I hear men love having someone they can talk to about that sort of thing."
Cassius stared at his master, blankly.
"Please...let me read. I was at the most heartbreaking part. You just killed my immersion."
"Oh. What page are you on?"
"Page 33."
"Too slow."
"Unseal my power and see how fast I can read."
"No."
"Tsk."
"Did you just tsk me, little bastard?"
"What? Me? No! Must have been the wind."
Mallory and Cassius kept bantering, until he finally managed to get his master to leave him in peace to read.
But soon it would be 8am, and the training session would officially end.
Even so, Mallory still expected her review by the end of the day.
Cassius could only ply.
Still, a part of him couldn’t help but think of Meadow while reading the book.
’I wonder how her writing is ing along. Does she even have time to write, at this point?’
He smiled, deciding to ask her later, when he’d see her.
After all, he had a pen to deliver.
...
If Cassius’s morning had been leisurely and calm, that was certainly not the case for everyone. Especially not the Faye Twins.
They usually woke up late, since they spent their nights brewing potions to sell, and their parents understood and respected that.
But that day was one where respect had fled the world, replaced by madness and desperation.
In the middle of their sleep, the phone flared to life, ringing so hard and loud it was almost unbelievable.
Aminata was the first to stumble up, her blue hair pulled into a pixie-like tangle, the mole beneath her eye clearly visible, followed closely by her twin sister, Awa, whose hair hung loose.
They wore matching blue pajamas.
They looked at each other, eyes still hazy with sleep, confused about what was happening.
Awa reached over and grabbed the phone, seeing it was their parents calling.
"...At this hour?" She muttered, glancing at her sister, instantly sensing something was wrong.
She picked it up,
"Hello—!"
"WHAT DID YOU DO?!" Her father bellowed, so loud both girls flinched, "WHAT DID YOU DO AT THE ACADEMY, YOU TWO?!"
"Honey...please, calm down. Shouting won’t solve anything." They could hear their mother trying to reason with him, though none of it made sense to them yet.
"Wait, father, what? What’s happening?" Awa asked, her silver brows furrowing deeply.
"What’s happening?" Her father echoed, his teeth grinding audibly, "We’re ruined because of you, that’s what’s happening, you stupid girls. What did you do, huh? What did you do that we’ve received a letter from the Wealth Bank saying we need to pay over 100 million SN in three months! IN THREE FUCKING MONTHS! 100 MILLION!"
Aminata and Awa froze, hearts skipping dangerously. All traces of sleep vanished at once, their minds sharpening even as they struggled to make sense of it.
"Do you know what that means?" Their father continued, and they could hear their mother crying in the background as he fought to keep his own voice from breaking, "It means we’re going to lose everything! Everything we worked so hard to build! And with debts like that, we’ll be imprisoned, our freedom gone forever! Even you two will lose your scholarships! You know why we left the tribe...you know why we gave you a life outside that endless winter..."
He faltered. His voice cracked and broke.
And it broke the hearts of Aminata and Awa right along with it.
"...now everything’s lost. Everything. Because of you."
"Father—!"
"BECAUSE OF YOU!!!"
The Twins trembled, looking at each other, seeing horror, pain, and fear tangle together into a despair that spread through them so fast and so deep it stole their words entirely.
And in the end, they both asked themselves the same question.
"...what did we do?"
—End of Chapter 261—
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