Chapter 683: I know what boys like

When Gideon and Lucian arrived, the boys read the letter back to them. Gideon remained seated, but just as angry as the others. Lucian, however, like Cass, needed to pace the space provided as his anger seeped out of him.

Of course, he offered to eat Cass’ grandfather several times. It was almost expected at this point that he would do such a thing, but Cass turned him down.

He could get away with eating some random man that meant nothing to the kingdom, but eating a Duke? There would be too much paperwork, and it would start a chain of events that would probably mean that he would need to eat more people. Much like Cass, they should worry about Lucian over-eating and getting sleepy.

Lucian looked touched when Cass said that, while Gideon and Edgar didn’t even flinch that their fathers were considered on the list to be eaten. Edgar in particular didn’t seem upset, while Gideon was still rather reserved.

What they did do was have to decide what the steps forward were, and that was when Cass had to explain the plan that he’d had, but hadn’t put into true action yet. Of course, he was building up his reputation and ruining his grandfather’s plans. That was a given at this point, and whether or not he was going to do anything with the chaos he was causing his grandfather, it just felt good to fuck with him.

However, it was the groundwork laid to a bigger, better plan that was going to disrupt the whole kingdom. The only tragic part was that with Christopher being forced to fight his grandfather, he was going to need financial backing and a lot of research, but Cass would have to show his face and give his grandfather a middle finger. He just...couldn’t in his current state.

What did that mean?

Well, for starters, Cass was happy to give Mr. Collins full permission to support his beau. Money really was no object when it came to giving his grandfather the middle finger. They would hire the best team to fight against him in court with as much help as they needed. Christopher wouldn’t even need to pay him back for it because fuck that man for attempting to use his name and say he was against the gays.

Not anymore, you fucker, and never, actually. Cassian was just repressed because he was an asshole. He was already getting beaten at home for something that couldn’t have been proven, even if it had been true.

The second step was that Cass was going to have to hire a secondary team to work on getting what was owed him from his grandfather. From out under him.

Much like what his grandfather had done to his own son. Cass was just going to give him a taste of his own medicine, and if he couldn’t find that out? He had Lucian. A solid back up plan, and Cass wasn’t above forging documents to get his way. Why not use the skills that Cassian had given him to get what he wanted?

How could he be the villain when it was to better all of human society?

There was then, of course, the issue with his being unable to go to the capital to defend his honour. The best he could do is write a letter that would verify he was the one talking and that his grandfather was using his own beliefs to hurt other people. Cass would play no part in it, and that being called a homosexual didn’t bother him because unlike his grandfather, he didn’t view it as something shameful.

Cass was going to need Gideon’s help with the letter because he knew the temple scripture like the back of his hand, and he was going to use the temple to help get the people on his side. Fuck the nobles, and if he needed to reveal he was a second hero, he would. Using the temple as a way to verify his words would be a good way that his grandfather couldn’t get away with saying that it was forged.

If the High Priest verified it to be Cass’ writing, he had no way to say that it was false. It wasn’t like he had any of Cassian’s writings around that would justify his hatred, and if he did, they were forged.

This obviously bled into the issue of going to court and having to defend one’s self. Cass didn’t think it would happen immediately since his grandfather’s first goal would be to drag out the case and bleed him dry until he had no choice but to sign a contract that would ruin him in two ways, instead of one.

Cass wasn’t going to let it be known that he was supporting Christopher, but as time creeped on and Christopher wasn’t bending nor was his fortune depleting, his grandfather would get suspicious and would then push for the trial to start.

Cass knew that this would happen, he just didn’t know how long that in between time periods would be. Either way, Cass needed to make that period as long as possible because he needed to be able to speak to the general public by then. That meant he needed to heal his body because with the gift that his grandfather was giving him, this was the perfect time to wrap up the issues with the Blackburn family and finally clasp onto the wish that Cassian had always had.

Prove his worth and become Duke Blackburn.

That and be loved, but Cass felt he was doing a pretty good job of that now that he was out from under his clutches and everything had been cleared up.

So, Cass was going to slow down the other adventures he was doing, and focus on this. He’d already slowly started turning the nobles against his grandfather, with a few hiccups, but that plan was doing great. Now he had to bribe officials who were in charge of making the laws.

Was that wrong? Absolutely. They shouldn’t even be able to be bribed in Cass’ opinion, but that wasn’t his concern right now. His concern was how they had been allowed to be bribed by his grandfather already. Cass was just learning from his elders. There was nothing with using another’s tricks against him.

In a way, he was pretty sure that his grandfather would be proud of him. He was a true Blackburn in the end. Oh, it would be so good to rub it in his face that he was right and wrong at the same time. Cass did have demonic blood, but he was a Blackburn through and through.

The others listened to Cass’ plan actively, surprised a bit that Cass had been working to undermine his upper hand for a while, and when they heard about the secret tunnels in the house that Cass hadn’t agreed to but that someone else had added? And that one was in the office? Lucian was pissed.

"We’re checking that space right now." Lucian growled, storming towards the bookcase that Cass hadn’t moved. Cass, who had sat down at some point during his explanation of his plan, jumped to his feet. He was going to try and stop him, but the soft, warm hand that Gideon placed on his shoulder had him stopping in his tracks.

When Cass looked at him, Gideon was smiling softly at him, shaking his head. Cass mistakenly felt relief, thinking that Gideon was going to take his side. He should have known better.

Gideon moved and began to help Lucian move the bookcase out of the way. The two didn’t even care about the fact that it was a hidden stairwell so there was a lever or something that they had to pull. No, they just dismantled the whole thing. They moved the bookcase to the side and it was Lucian who snapped his fingers and a small, glowing orb illuminated the stairs down.

"Now is not the time." Cass groaned and Edgar laughed, getting to his feet.

"You would say that there was never a time, Cass, and I inclined to agree with the boys. You left something this dangerous near you and didn’t inform us?" He asked and Cass shrugged.

"Byron was keeping an eye on it until now, and so was Sir Forsythe." Cass told them. They looked deeply upset about being excluded and Cass wasn’t certain how to appease them. The only thing that they wanted was to explore the hidden space that Cass hadn’t bothered with, so he guessed now was the time to let it happen.

Sighing, knowing that his fate was decided for him, Cass waved an arm and let them do what they wanted.

Lucian went down first, Gideon following behind him. Even Edgar moved towards the stairs, giving Cass an excited smile as he moved towards the dingy, dark stairwell. Cass stared at the stone steps, feeling like he was going to lose his damn mind.

Of course this was what they latched onto. Not his plans or plots, not the idea that he would need to be pumped full of ’food’ so that he could become a real boy, a secret stairwell underneath his office.

Serves him right for thinking he knew what boys liked.

Cass followed after the trio slowly, taking his time descending the stairs. He summoned his own glowing orb to light the way, the dim light from Lucian’s magic visible, but not by much. Instead, he paid attention to the walls and the stones that made them up.

It was painstaking work, that was for sure. Each stone seemed roughly hewn, but placed intentionally. Whoever had built this space had done so with care. Probably one of the many teams that Cass had hired, he just didn’t know which one.

He also wasn’t upset with them, either. Money was money, and people needed it to live. He rarely blamed those who did things like this, and instead disliked those who hurt him actively. It was the difference between a spy who knew what they were doing, and one who had been left intentionally in the dark.

Intent mattered, and Cass knew that very well.

The stairs kept going down, descending deeper and deeper until Cass began to grow worried. It didn’t feel like it was a magical effect either, which worried him more. Who had built this far down?

He felt relief as he noticed the flickering flame grow brighter, meaning he’d either met the bottom or the guys had stopped up ahead. He wondered if that was a good thing, or a bad thing? What had this room beneath his office and rooms been used for? Byron had suggested spying, which Cass was inclined to agree, but he did wonder where it connected to outside of this space?

Somewhere inside of the mansion? Somewhere outside of it? He supposed he was going to find out today.