Last Born Of The Desdemona

Chapter 42: Chapter 42: Meeting with Sophia [1]

Chapter 42 – Meeting with Sophia [1]

Morning came, and with the first rays of the sun blazing over the Amaris Household like a sea of gold, the third and last day arrived alongside it.

A certain melancholy — or even a faint apprehension, a sadness — cloaked Isolde’s room like one of Vorn’s cursed hoods.

Isolde didn’t know why, but a sense of loss kept creeping inside her heart, worming its way through it restlessly at the simple thought of being separated from Cassius.

She stifled a sigh, back against the shelf.

It was strange, truly, how a relationship between two people could shift in a matter of days with just the right shared experiences.

Isolde felt that feeling annoyingly clearly, one part of her still afraid to admit it, as she stared at Cassius sitting at the edge of her bed.

The Badur Kingdom, situated in the Heartland of Sunu Gaal, had a temperature that was neither scorching like the eastern dunes nor freezing like the Northern Sea. That mild climate let Cassius wear a simple black shirt that framed his body perfectly, paired with matching black pants.

A luxurious white runic watch on his left wrist. A clean, pleasant scent wafting from him.

It wasn’t the first time Isolde had noticed. But she was a woman who liked to repeat things for greater emphasis. And so...

’He is so beautiful!’

...she squealed inside her head, completely out of character for herself, while showing absolutely nothing on her face.

”What are you doing?” She finally spoke, herself dressed in a full black eastern robe, her hair combed into a large knot with only two loose strands falling against her face.

”Me?” Cassius echoed, staring blankly ahead. ”Just thinking and checking my status. Want me to tell you my Charm score? I bet mine is higher.”

He was lying. What was in front of him was not his status.

[You have completed your Quest: Provocation.]

[NEW ACHIEVEMENT! Insufferably Insufferable.]

[We don’t know where you learned to use that tongue of yours, but it was enough to earn you the special attention of the Chosen Ones.

Good or bad?

Either way, Last Born of the Desdemona, you deserve something for being an Insufferable Villain.

Note: Insufferable Villains always die the earliest.]

[Rewards: 15,000 VP (+5,000 bonus).]

Cassius’s lips twitched hard as he read it. He didn’t know who or what was behind this System, but if the day ever came he met that being...

’I will show you how truly insufferable I can be.’

”Are you listening?” Isolde spoke again, her tone worn thin by constantly and uselessly trying to hold a conversation with him. Her patience was gone, and her face made no effort to hide it.

Cassius dismissed the System and turned his attention to her, taking in her attire.

He smiled and before she could curse him for not paying attention, his lips opened.

”You are beautiful.” He said simply, already reaching for his Runic Phone. ”Can I take a picture of you?”

Isolde was getting used to this so she snapped out of it faster than before. But that didn’t mean her blood wasn’t rushing inside her.

”You’re asking permission now?” She arched an eyebrow. ”You didn’t yesterday.”

”Yesterday I needed to capture the moment before it passed. Now I want you to smile for it.”

”That is not happening.” She scoffed, making an irritated gesture. ”And focus, bastard, you meet my mother in...”

She looked at the clock on the wall.

”...thirty minutes.”

Cassius nodded, his face going serious.

He honestly didn’t know much about Sophia. The game had barely shown her except alongside Anesthesia or in the backdrop of Isolde’s storyline.

But every player who paid attention noticed the same thing: she was a completely different woman between her two daughters. One she spoiled rotten, the other she ignored like the air around.

Added to that was the famous trait most players had come to despise: Sophia was greedy for power and prestige. Which explained perfectly why she poured everything into the daughter born for exactly that.

’Tier Three families,’ Cassius thought. ’They have noble status, but barely worth anything in the circles above them compared to Tier Two and One.’

Or even the unique power groups of the Kingdom: the Church of Death, the Deathless Crusaders.

And the Amaris with their Sound Origin Pool and talented offspring...of course they wanted to climb the ladder.

’So I am one of the rungs on that ladder. And with Anesthesia already inside the Royal Palace...’

He didn’t need much more than that to see what Sophia was after. It was obvious. Far too obvious.

The harder question was how to deal with her.

He tilted his head and looked at Isolde, clearly nervous about this meeting.

”So,” he began, lacing his fingers together and resting his chin on them, ”how do you want me to behave with your mother?”

”Huh, what?” Isolde blinked, thrown off by the question.

”You know her better than I do.” He continued. ”And she must have asked something of you. So, how can I act in a way that benefits both of us?”

Isolde’s mouth opened and closed silently, words stuck, her brain working to process what she had just heard.

She couldn’t help but exhale, wondering quietly when she would get used to being seen, considered, and cared for.

It was a strange feeling. And she was loving it — no, more than that. She was slowly becoming obsessed with it, like the way a woman who had been blind all her life might want to see everything at once, all the time.

But more importantly...

She looked up at Cassius who was waiting for her answer.

...her mind was beginning to wander somewhere dangerous. Somewhere concerning Cassius, concerning... her husb—!

”Still waiting.” He said, cutting her off cleanly.

She shook her head, heart pounding at where her thoughts had been going. She pulled herself back together and answered, her tone deliberately dry.

”This meeting is a formality. My mother doesn’t particularly care to see you. What she wants is to check my... my progress.”

”Meaning?” He pressed, already knowing.

”She will want to know if I seduced you like she asked.” Isolde said, embarrassed. ”So ideally, you act like I did.”

Few could understand how humiliating it was for Isolde to say those words out loud in front of Cassius. She wanted to disappear, because in saying it, she was plainly admitting how her family was using her.

But that feeling shifted the moment she noticed Cassius’s expression.

He was looking at her like she was the dumbest person alive.

Her lips twitched, the urge to slap the sense out of him became overwhelming. ”Why the fuck are you looking at me like that, bastard?” She snarled, defensive.

”Because you are a damned fool.”

”Say that again.” Isolde growled, stepping forward. ”And why?”

”Isn’t it obvious?” He sighed, slowly rising. He cracked his neck, rolled his shoulders, and walked toward the door without a glance back at her.

”Darling, you act when you need to fake something. But tell me...” he paused just before the door, turning his head just enough to look at her ”...do I need to act to show your mother I’d bark like a dog if you told me to bark?”

”Cassius, bark like a dog.”

”Woman...” His eye twitched. ”That was an analogy to prove a point. Not an actual invitation.”

Isolde shrugged. ”At least I tried.” She said, with a barely-there smile.

Cassius saw it and mirrored it before pushing the door open with a creak and stepping out.

”Just wait for me.” He said, ”I will make your mother love me.”

”I might as well pray for your soul.” Isolde answered, knowing well the ordeal of speaking to her mother.

His laughter echoed, his body already out of sight, but his voice still drifting back.

”Then do it in the name of Ananke, the Queen of Fate.”

[...]

The Goddess’s lips twitched, a smile on her face. And Isolde narrowed her purple eyes at the sound of a woman’s name in Cassius’s mouth.

—End of Chapter 42—