Chapter 163: Cassane & Margery’s Silence

The shrill scream drew the attention of everyone present; all eyes immediately turned toward where it had come from.

"Let me go! Let me go!" Alice shouted as she pounded her small clenched fists against a man who was trying to drag her away by force.

Murmurs quickly began to spread throughout the hall.

"Is that the Marquis of Montrose’s brother? What a disgrace."

"Shh, don’t say that. I heard he arranged a marriage with one of the daughters of the late Duke Vitalis."

The person who had made the first comment frowned. "So what? I don’t think anyone from that house ends up well, except for the Saint. The purge she carried out alongside Elara Demor makes that perfectly clear," he said with deep admiration in his voice.

"She’s just a child... I don’t think she would treat her own sister that badly."

"Then why is everyone talking about that same girl’s engagement to that man?" the first one pointed out, while the scene of the man pulling Alice showed no signs of ending.

No one seemed willing to intervene. Bethany had frozen at first, but she quickly snapped out of her hesitation or fear and rushed forward, trying to separate them.

"Let her go! You... you filthy old man! My brother will give you what you deserve!"

The man frowned and struggled to make the little girl let go. With a sudden shove, Bethany fell to the floor.

And in that precise instant, the moment the youngest girl hit the ground and the second that followed, the atmosphere of the place was plunged into a chilling silence.

No one moved.

No one said a word.

There was only a raw, dense silence that was extremely difficult to bear—so much so that for a moment, the hard gulps of some of the people present were the only sounds that could be heard.

However, what followed was not what the older women with graying and red hair—who had been speaking with complicity earlier—had expected. The sound resumed, abruptly interrupted by the authoritative voice of Lisbeth Vitalis.

"I don’t recall anyone who only lives off another person’s title being allowed to dare lay a hand on a member of my family."

Now, the only person who remained silent with a shiver running through his body was the man pulling Alice’s arm. He quickly released her, scratched the back of his neck, and put on a shameless smile.

"Saint, you must understand that Miss Alice and I are engaged. I was simply trying to teach her a few things."

"Engagement? I never agreed to any engagement. And I have no intention of validating one that clearly lacks the consent of both parties involved."

An awkward laugh escaped him. "Saint, please, don’t embarrass me. The terms of the agreement were clearly accepted by your stepsiblings."

"They have no authority in decisions of this nature, and some of them have not yet been fully judged for the crimes they committed. And even if it were sealed in blood, your behavior toward a member of my family, in front of so many eyewitnesses, clearly deserves punishment."

Lisbeth swept her gaze across the guests.

She paused particularly on one of them who wore an expression that was difficult to decipher—one that almost made the Saint step back for a moment—but she finally fixed her eyes on one of the guards not far away.

"Take this man to the dungeons beneath the palace. Apply the ’special’ punishment to him," she ordered, placing heavy emphasis on that last word.

Before the man could react, two guards firmly seized him by the arms and dragged him out of the room.

With that matter resolved, Lisbeth once again scanned the guests with her gaze, narrowing her eyes and drawing everyone’s attention to her.

"As you all know, this is a special day for our empire. And not only because from today we will have another emperor, but because the church and the noble houses have never been as close to the crown as they are now. Elara Demor will not only ascend as the first empress of this empire, but as the first to achieve what no one before her had accomplished: earning the respect of all of us."

With those imposing words—which sounded somewhat ironic knowing full well what Elara was really like—Lisbeth stepped aside. The main doors swung wide open, leaving the hall ready for the former masochist princess to enter and take her place...

The process was simple, and Elara did not show all the anxiety she had been carrying during the ceremony.

Lisbeth presided over the coronation, and the nobles representing each relatively important family of Demor signed the renewal of the blood contract, ensuring that the family whose surname had given the empire its name would continue to rule.

Among those who stepped forward, Cedric Windsteel stood out. Although he was the first to move ahead, he looked quite downcast due to the absence of his daughter.

Cassian’s eyes focused on him, sensing that something was wrong with his appearance, though his attention was more on the man who had been taken away by the guards not long before.

Special punishment? No... that shouldn’t be enough, he whispered with cold, indifferent eyes.

...

Beep, beep, beep...

The sound of a machine continued to echo.

Margery’s eyes furrowed in her sleep.

A woman with icy eyes and silver hair looked at her with concern.

"Margery, you have to wake up... it’s been too long," she whispered in a worried tone.

The sleeping woman seemed to react because her frown deepened and she shifted uncomfortably.

At that moment, another woman appeared from the entrance, her face more serious. She wore a white lab coat, had long black hair, and violet eyes that resembled the woman lying in the center, surrounded by machines.

"Still not awake? Cassane?"

"No, ma’am. It doesn’t look like she’ll wake up anytime soon."

The older woman furrowed her brows. "VIKTOR!" she shouted, calling for someone.

In response, a man wearing an identical white coat quickly appeared.

"What is it, Diana? I already told you she should wake up soon. There’s nothing more I can do. Since she was the bridge the machine sought and used, it’s only normal that it’s taking her a little longer to recover. Besides, Miss Cassane demonstrated her talent the whole time she’s been here, so I’m not surprised she woke up earlier."

This immediately drew a reaction from the older woman, who approached and grabbed the man’s ear, twisting it hard while scolding him. "Are you saying my daughter has no talent?"

"No, no! I just meant it’s normal that Cassane—who didn’t have to act as the bridge and even managed to break through three entire levels since she arrived here with our help—had no trouble waking up! Ow, ow, please stop!"

Diana let go and let out an angry huff, then turned her attention to the woman standing quietly to the side without intervening.

"You won’t tell me anything about Margery, or about my son either... We’ve helped you so much, Cassane. I think it’s time you spoke."

Cassane’s cold eyes looked at the two people who were staring at her expectantly.

When she had first woken up in this strange place and overheard their conversation, she had initially tried to flee. She had pretended she still hadn’t woken up, and when she thought no one could catch her, she ran out of this very room—only to find endless corridors made of a construction material she had never seen before. When she grew desperate from not finding an exit, she tried to force her way through, but her mana didn’t leave even a scratch on the walls, and she was quickly found.

She let out an exhausted sigh. Although she still distrusted them a little, she had learned many things from them during this time, so she couldn’t be ungrateful either.

"I don’t know what you want me to tell you. I think Margery will explain it herself when she wakes up..."

However, behind her words, Cassane’s eyes shone with a subtle but deep concern. What would Margery think if she heard that Cassian is dead?

Or at least her "brother" was... there was no doubt about it.

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Author’s Note

Hello everyone!

What a way to end this week’s load of Chapters!

I hope you enjoyed today’s Chapter! If you want to support my work and read ahead, remember that you can find 50+ advanced Chapters already available on my Patreon, along with some exclusive extra content.

The end of Volume I is coming soon!

Someone’s going to have to spill the beans!

Thank you for reading! Have a great weekend, and see you on Monday!