Tamed A Blackened Slave Man

‘She’s returned to the past after dying.’

After returning to his residence, Cassadin continued to ponder Aren’s words.

“What is the matter, Sir?”

Lumen’s casual voice interrupted Cassadin’s thoughts.

“……Sir Lumen, why are you here?”

“Haven’t you ordered me to help Princess Bella stay at my residence? I’ve come to report that she has arrived safely. By the way, is it alright for the star of the banquet to have returned home this early?”

“His Majesty ordered me to attend the banquet, not to stay until the end. Is it not my choice to either stay or return early? Besides, there is still one day of the banquet left to attend.”

“That is true.”

Over the past couple of months, Lumen and Cassadin have grown quite close. No. It was more accurate to say that Lumen followed Cassadin everywhere.

Initially, Lumen approached Cassadin under the pretext of wanting to learn swordsmanship from him. However, after witnessing Cassadin’s personality and elegance, he began to follow him more than the Emperor did.

He visited Cassadin’s residence so frequently that the workers would simply open the door for Lumen whenever he visited.

Volunteering to become Cassadin’s follower, Lumen requested to be treated as someone of a lower rank.

This wasn’t technically a breach of etiquette, as although they were both Knight Commanders, Cassadin held the title of Marquess while Lumen was an Earl.

“How careless the workers are. They just let you in without informing me.”

“That is quite hurtful, Sir. And technically speaking, I am not inside the house just yet.”

Lumen was correct. He and Cassadin were currently strolling through a rose garden within the residence.

Though it was winter, the roses were still in full bloom as though it were summer, perhaps because only the most valuable seedlings had been planted in the garden.

“Sir. There is one thing I would like to ask.”

“……”

“Why are all the roses in this place blue, and why is there only one color?”

Cassadin stopped in the middle of the garden at Lumen’s question and fondly stared down at the blue roses.

“Because I like blue.”

Blue was the color of Aren’s eyes, and he had a special memory with Aren related to these blue roses.

Because of that memory, Cassadin had decorated the entire garden with only blue roses.

“I’ve heard the news. So, Sir has revealed at the banquet hall that you and Lady Serkia are not the average sibling relationship.”

“……”

“Why would someone as brilliant as Sir, who even asked me to build that cottage in private, do such a thing? You should have kept it hidden until the very end.”

Cassadin lowered his head as he listened to Lumen’s criticism.

“If it were something that could have been hidden by will, then I would have.”

Looking at the blue rose that had grown next to his foot, he remembered what Aren had said to him.

‘Would you believe me if I said that I had died and returned to the past?’

Aren and Cassadin exchanged a few more words after that, but what Aren told him was difficult to believe.

She had been Damian’s fiancée in the past. Not only that, but she had also been used by him and had ultimately died at his hands.

As Cassadin watched Aren calmly confess her death and situation to him, he was swept up in an emotion that was impossible to describe.

Cassadin always felt as though Aren seemed unsteady.

While he still resided in the Earl’s residence, Aren sometimes stared into blank space.

The way she stared off into space with eyes devoid of anything made it seem as if there was truly nothing she had to lose or desire.

She looked like a butterfly that could flutter away with a wave of a hand, like a night fog that would dissipate at the touch.

Thinking that Aren’s behavior had originated from her death made Cassadin’s insides feel as if they were being torn apart.

Cassadin tightened his arms around Aren, who seemed ready to disappear at any moment.

He wanted to make Aren happier than anyone else in the world, so happy that she could not think of anything bad for a single moment.

It was alright with Cassadin, even if Aren had truly come back to the past, as she had told him.

Aren had been the one who pulled him out of that hell. Amidst the empty darkness, Aren had been his shining light.

After escorting Aren back to her residence and returning to his own house, Cassadin immediately bribed several news companies and ordered them to write articles supporting Aren’s decision.

He couldn’t just sit back and watch after Aren had damaged her reputation to protect him.

The Emperor had promised he would restore Aren’s reputation, but that old fox could not be trusted.

And there was always the possibility that Damian was scheming something once again. He was the only person who knew Cassadin was the culprit behind the Crown Prince’s poisoning, after all.

So he needed to make preparations before Damian did something.

Cassadin had already spent months collecting evidence that proved the crimes Damian had committed.

There were traces left of him exchanging letters with the ministers of Elsia, who were now piles of ash, and of the number of people who had been sacrificed for Damian’s cause.

Even beyond this, there were countless sins that Damian had secretly committed.

Damian was meticulous enough to have also stamped the documents with the insignias of other families instead of the Grand Duke’s insignia, so it did not appear that he had been the one to do it.

Damian had many followers, so Cassadin spent the last couple of months gathering his own loyal supporters.

One of these individuals was Lumen, who once admired Damian but had since become Cassadin’s devoted henchman.

Cassadin stooped to pick up a blue rose next to his foot. Holding the rose, he murmured quietly.

“……Do you think it’s possible to return to the past after dying?”

“What do you mean, returning to the past?”

“……Never mind.”

Cassadin chuckled softly. Lumen peered at him, then rested his chin on his palm with a grave expression, as if pondering something profound, and spoke.

“I’m not sure what you’re contemplating, Sir Cassadin, but I’ve heard of something similar before. They say when the wheels of fate collide, the present vanishes, and the past takes its place.”

“What are you talking about? The wheels of fate colliding.”

“I only caught a whiff of the tale in passing, so I’m not clear on the specifics……”

Lumen trailed off and glanced at the blue rose in Cassadin’s hand before adding,

“Maybe the renowned Great Prophet knows something about it. It is known that his prophecies are always fulfilled. Unfortunately, he’s said to have passed away.”

“Are you referring to Notius?”

“Do you know of him, Sir?”

Indeed, he did.

On the eve of the Founding Day festival, during their heartfelt confessions, Aren shared everything with Cassadin except the fact that she had traveled back in time.

Prophet Notius, long believed to be dead, was actually alive. His prophecy had prompted Damian’s father to annihilate the Hyran Kingdom.

In a sense, that prophet was the catalyst for all that had transpired.

“Notius is alive.”

Lumen’s eyes widened in response to Cassadin’s revelation.

“Is that true?”

Cassadin flicked his head down in acknowledgment of Lumen’s question, to which Lumen bowed in response.

“I will go in search of his whereabouts.”

Lumen already knew what Cassadin was thinking without him having to say anything. He turned around to figure out the whereabouts of Notius.

Cassadin watched Lumen shrink into the distance, then lowered his head to gaze at the blue rose in his hand.

‘Flowers, no matter how beautiful, are bound to wither, no matter how rare they are.’

The conversation he had had with Aren as they admired the blue roses was still clear in Cassadin’s mind.

Actually, that was the case for anything related to Aren for Cassadin.

The first day he met Aren.

Cassadin was unable to tear his eyes away from her.

As she gazed upon him from under the tented seat, her eyes held an incredible sorrow.

Inside Aren’s deep, yet calm blue eyes, was a sadness that matched the depth of the blue of her irises, yet something distinctly different from sympathy or pity.

He could not see trivial things, such as the faces of others.

Only Aren was visible to him. She exuded an otherworldly aura of mystery while looking down on him with a pained expression.

His eyes were practically drawn to her.

To the woman with slender wrists that looked as though they could easily shatter in his hands, sapphire irises, holding unfathomable misery within.

He felt his heart shatter into pieces every time he saw Aren walk down the path of bramble thorns.

Perhaps that was when he began to desire Aren. Because he had never wanted anything in his life, he did not understand what he wanted.

Without realizing that his desire was indeed desire, it soon became possessiveness. So he continued to deceive.

At first, Cassadin maintained a facade with Aren, but not everything had been a lie.

“I don’t have a lover, but there is someone that I dare to carry in my heart.”

‘The person wore a sky-blue dress that revealed her collarbones the day we first met. She also sported a shiny sapphire necklace around her neck.’

Cassadin wanted Aren to realize the truth.

He wanted her to understand that he was the Crown Prince of the Hyran Kingdom. He yearned for her to see his dark intentions, the feelings he harbored for her.

That was why he had intentionally placed the book back in the library with all the pages related to the Hyran Kingdom torn out. He slipped information about himself to her after she returned his dagger.

And Aren had accepted a twisted man like himself.

Because of her acceptance, Cassadin would also accept all of Aren.

Even if she had indeed come back to the past and taken him in, Cassadin felt not even a trace of resentment toward Aren in his heart.

Instead, he felt thankful that she had chosen him.

Cassadin closed his eyes and inhaled the scent of the blue rose. However, he couldn’t detect Aren’s scent from the blue rose.

“My beloved Aren.”

He had learned that the last day of the banquet was to feature a masquerade ball.

Although the Emperor seemed to be in deep anguish over the fact that his son, Crown Prince Leon, had drunk poison of his own choice, he would not suspend the banquet due to his acute awareness of public perception.

Moreover, none of the people who had been in the banquet hall were aware of Leon’s incident.

The knights who had reported to the Emperor that the Crown Prince had collapsed were also from the 2nd Order of Knights, which was under Cassadin’s command.

Everything had proceeded according to Cassadin’s plan.

The last day of the banquet would continue as planned.

The masquerade ball, open to uninvited nobles, would also take place.

According to the Emperor’s announcements, an entire palace was to be used, so a significantly larger crowd was expected to attend tomorrow compared to today.

If what Aren said was true, then Cassadin would never be able to forgive Damian for killing her, his former fiancée.

On the last day of the banquet, the masquerade ball took place.

Cassadin publicly revealed through the papers that he and Aren were lovers.

It was not a case of Aren’s unrequited love; they were both already in a relationship.

Likely driven completely mad after seeing the news, Damian would most definitely attend the masquerade ball the next day to confront Aren.

If Aren did not attend the masquerade ball, then Damian might even ignore her requests and go visit her mansion.

He was completely oblivious of his place.