Chapter 239: Let’s Dance!
Chapter 239: Chapter 239: Let’s Dance!
Chapter 239 – Let’s Dance!
"Who. Is. The. Target?"
Cassius smiled, seeing the nightmarish smile of his aunt. Surprisingly, he found that, despite everything, there was a subtle layer of beauty in that horrific sight.
A beauty that could not be seen, only felt by those with an unholy love for women who carried something broken within them.
Cassius Desdemona had to admit that he was very lucky.
Not only was he reborn into a family that loved him unconditionally, he had somehow managed to gather around him exactly the type of women he liked to be around.
What he felt for Mallory and his Aunt Seraphim was the same feeling he had once felt for Katherine back on Earth.
Awe.
Not because they were beautiful. Not because they were gentle with him.
But because there was something profoundly twisted inside of them.
Something wretched that made one able to kill families in the morning and act like a loving big sister at night; another ready to gouge out his eye despite him being innocent of all blame; and the last one having a concerning love for torture.
Thinking about all of this, Cassius couldn’t help but recall a sentence he had once stumbled upon while looking for information on Characteristics just before the Entrance Test.
A sentence written by MasterofPaths himself:
"The perfect human is uninteresting."
A perfect sentence that gave reason to his fondness for these women.
"So?" Seraphim prompted again, still smiling, "Who is the target, my pretty baby?"
Cassius smiled, dispelling his thoughts in order to focus on the current situation.
"I have been thinking about Omar Ibn Omar." He said, "I didn’t like how things ended last time. Far too easy."
"Hm...who is that?" She asked, not one to remember any random nobody.
"The man I killed during the Test." He clarified, eyes narrowing, "I also wanted to ask how effective the Vice Dean’s Power of rebirth is."
"Oh, that boy? White didn’t actually heal him." Seraphim clarified, "He had just rewound that boy’s life to before he died, effectively giving him his life back. It’s a limited power, and he must act immediately before the soul slips through the Gate of Death."
"So as long as I stop him from rewinding time immediately, it won’t work?"
"Yes. These kinds of powers all have limits." She said, then tilted her head, "Why do you want to torture that boy after that? He died and revived. No child is going to be fully sane after that."
"It’s not enough after what he dared to say to me." Cassius’s voice was dead cold, "Nearly not enough. So I will find a way to send him to you soon enough."
"As you wish. Anyone else?" Seraphim asked with an eager smile.
She was loving this situation far too much.
None of her nephews and nieces were that close to her. Maybe it was because she was a Hood, and what she had done to Dantes — and her ugly face — made her look hideous to them, but they all kept a reasonable distance without being impolite.
She had never forced anything either, not wanting to humiliate herself even further.
But Cassius...smelled like her. She knew...she knew that deep within, he was no different from her.
Cassius was simply more... shrewd and patient. Like a snake, he slithered, lurked, and waited. Then, when the perfect opportunity finally came, he struck, and devoured you whole.
’Ah...I knew it. He is so perfect for that task. So perfect for us. But not anymore. I don’t want him in danger. I don’t want him...in our affairs. I will keep you for me alone, my pretty baby. For me. I will choose the other two. Yes. They will do the jobs. Yes...I will not let them touch you.’
As she thought about all of this, Seraphim pressed her face against Cassius’s hand, seeking his warmth, hoping that it would ease the eternal pain frosting her face like stone.
"Another one, huh..." Cassius echoed, slowly adjusting to the sight of his aunt, "I have another one. She is named Theophane Celeste."
’I like dangerous women, alright, but everything has a limit. And Theophane had crossed mine.’
"That impossibly beautiful woman?" Seraphim asked.
"You know her?"
"With her strange beauty, everyone does." She frowned a bit, "And it would be hard to do the same to her."
"How come?"
"You know today we have a meeting to decide the new teacher for the First Year. You would be surprised, pretty, it was actually the High Priestess who was chosen. Hahah, I still remember that ordinary-looking girl we were young. Her father was killed by yours, you know? Maybe I should threaten her not to touch you, for revenge?"
’Completely unnecessary, Aunt. Helene is a lovely woman. Still, she was indeed chosen, huh? This is getting interesting.’
"Let’s focus here, Aunt." Cassius said gently, "You were saying something about Theophane."
"Oh, yes, her." She nodded, making a pensive expression, "I accidentally heard Adam Kai saying he was going to take her directly under him."
Cassius frowned instantly, "Take her under him?"
"Yes. Apparently his disciple, Emrys Stormblessed, has been urging him to do so because, as you know, Theophane is—!"
"His aunt." He finished, frowning even deeper.
It wasn’t that he didn’t know this, but the point was that in the Game, Emrys never went that far for his aunt.
In fact, he had somehow been avoiding her.
Why the change?
’Did Anesthesia’s absence affect him so much? Did he truly think Theophane would smile and cuddle him like a lovely aunt after what his family had done to her sister? No...she might not even care about it...and that makes it worse. If she can’t care about her own blood sister, then you, a damn nephew, are in an even worse position.’
Annoying.
There was nothing worse than Theophane having a strong backing. This was going to be harder than he thought.
’Queen’s breath! Can I just go and kill this damn girl?’
[I told you there would be consequences after making Anesthesia a Main Villainess.] Ananke said, looking inside her Gate at the tapestry of fates spreading out in front of her, her face twisted with worry, [This is worse than I thought, Cassius. Theophane’s Fate can no longer be accessed by me. It has almost the same level of protection as Emrys Stormblessed. Do you know what that means?]
’...she has become a Chosen One.’ He pressed his lips into a thin line, ’A Main Heroine, I assume.’
[...most likely.]
’Queen above...’
The worst person alive now had the backing of gods and the World. Cassius barely stopped himself from cursing aloud.
He would have chosen Anesthesia as an enemy over Theophane any day.
"Are you okay?" Seraphim asked, worried, seeing his face darken, "If you hate her that much, I can find a way to get her."
"No. Don’t do anything to her." Cassius said immediately, "I will deal with her myself."
’Now that she is a Main Heroine, sending my Aunt after her is like seeking her death. I need to be more meticulous with this one. Queen’s skirt, time to interact with the students and pull some strings.’
"Let’s stop at Omar for now." He said to his aunt, "I will inform you if I have any other names."
"Alright." Seraphim said with a smile.
The room was then plunged into a sudden silence, yet it was not uncomfortable at all.
Cassius was busy thinking about his next step, while Seraphim was enjoying the presence of her nephew.
However, after so much time spent talking, Seraphim Hood began to notice something unusual.
She cocked her head, looking at Cassius more seriously, sensing his weak aura. Then she lowered her eyes and noticed that he hadn’t moved at all since the beginning. His feet had remained rooted to the ground.
"Are you...training, maybe?" she guessed, seeing no other explanation.
"Huh?" Cassius exclaimed, startled by the question, then nodded, "Oh, yes. I am."
"What kind?"
"Hm...my power has been sealed except for my physical strength. I’ve been tasked to climb a mountain through a path filled with traps, and I also need to make sure my steps stay consistent as I walk. Otherwise my weight increases until I can no longer move."
"Oh." She smiled, "Is that why you haven’t moved since the beginning?"
He laughed awkwardly, "I guess so...I’m still adjusting."
"Interesting. Do you want help?" She said, slowly taking his two hands, "I can help you."
"How?"
"Let’s dance."
"Huh?" he stammered, arching an eyebrow, "Dance?"
"Yes, dance." She said, and for the first time her face looked less maniacal and insane, and more normal and joyful, "Do you know how much attention you need to pay to your steps when you dance?"
She asked, already guiding his hands toward her waist, and continued without waiting for his answer:
"More than you can imagine, pretty." She chuckled, "Sometimes your steps need to be firm, sometimes light so you can slide into another form swiftly, and sometimes impactful. You constantly need to be aware of the strength you’re applying; your whole body, and even the limbs you think don’t affect your steps. If not, you’ll certainly get one step wrong and fail the rest. So what better way to learn how to control the result of your steps than by learning how to dance?"
His eyes widened in understanding, finding it strangely logical. "How do you know all of this, Aunt?"
"How else? Dance was my hobby when I was young." She winked at him, "I was among the best at it, you know. With my beauty and my skill, I was very loved."
She paused, then said slowly, "But I am no longer pretty. However, even though it’s been a while since I last danced..."
She leaned forward, whispering in his ear.
"...my current skill might be enough to teach you something. So? What do you say, pretty? Will you allow your Aunt a dance with you?"
Cassius smiled nervously, "...what about the music?"
"I can play some on my phone."
"What if my weight increases, making it hard to even move?"
"We will still dance."
"Really?"
"Really."
He sighed slightly, before smiling again, "Then I will be in your care, Aunt."
Seraphim Hood smiled brightly, taking the lead,
"Alright, pretty."
She laughed joyfully, heart pounding, about to do something she had abandoned since that fateful day.
"Let’s dance!"
—End of Chapter 239—