Katherine had faced a problem since childhood. Born with a weak constitution, it was a significant issue for someone of her status as the daughter of a duke. Fortunately, her family found a way to manage her condition, but it inadvertently created another problem.
Though her health improved, Katherine began getting tired easily—a complication that only emerged when she entered her thirties. The initial solution had been a family mana-gathering technique that worked wonders for most with normal bodies, but for her, it caused unforeseen complications. Determined to resolve the side effects, Katherine embarked on her own search for a cure. She eventually found one, but it left her with a minor, albeit persistent issue: the muscles in her lower body would tense up once or twice a week, requiring regular massages.
These massages had to be performed using a specific technique her ancestors had developed for reasons unknown to her. It seemed like a series of complex coincidences too far-fetched to believe, but that was the reality. Adding to the oddity, the massage manual only addressed the lower body, from her waist to her feet, which was fortunate since she didn't need the upper body treatment. Yet, her curiosity lingered. Katherine suspected that the full manual might hold secrets—perhaps even a hidden mana-gathering technique. As a skilled mage and a leading researcher in the field of mana and its effects on the human body, Katherine couldn't help but be deeply intrigued by the possibility.
Katherine began researching the effects of the massage technique on herself and others. She discovered that it increased mana flow in the veins of the massaged body parts, albeit temporarily. However, with consistent application, the mana flow gradually improved over time. Because of this, she had made these massages a part of her daily routine. Not wanting others to know the true benefits, she had personally trained a trusted subordinate to perform the technique. That subordinate had been Sumina, who had served her faithfully for the past five years. Now that Sumina had left, Katherine found herself in need of a new person to fill the role.
And for better or worse, her replacement was now the boy sitting under her desk, focused intently on massaging her feet. The massage manual, titled 'Feet is Life', contained a range of techniques—some as simple as gentle finger strokes from one point to another, and others far more complex, involving precise control of pressure down to mere centimeters.
To Katherine's surprise, the boy had already mastered several of the techniques in just a month—techniques that had taken Sumina an entire year to complete. While Sumina had only finished learning the basics of the foot massage, Katherine herself had barely progressed beyond the legs before giving up on discovering any further connection to mana-gathering properties. It had taken her years to learn even half of the techniques described in 'Feet is Life', which contained ten in total. Yet here was Cassian, and in just a short time, he had perfected three of them with remarkable skill.
Katherine looked at Cassian with an amused smile, her thoughts wandering. 'I've found myself a genius puppy…'
Feeling her gaze, Cassian glanced up at her with wide, innocent eyes, further enhancing the comparison between him and the puppy. His fiery red hair, now neatly brushed and styled in the sleek manner expected of the servants in Scarlet Castle, only added to the image. His once small and tired face, now fuller and glowing from proper nourishment, revealed the transformation he had undergone. No longer the scrawny boy who often went days without a meal, he now had a certain radiance about him that was impossible to ignore.
"Did I cause you any discomfort, my lady?" Cassian asked, a hint of worry in his voice.
Katherine shook her head. "No, you're doing well. I've been thinking about whether to keep you on," she said, then without pausing or dragging out the suspense, she added, "You are now one of my official servants."
Cassian's face lit up with a bright smile, his hands slowing their work on her feet as he responded, "I will serve you with all my heart, my lady."
In truth, Cassian had no grand ambitions beyond tracking down the three people who had tortured him. His focus had been entirely on becoming strong enough to exact his revenge on them. Though he was curious about how the system had ended up with Master Russell or what it was really, for now, his single-minded goal was to seek retribution for the torment he had endured.
But now, as he looked at his lady's smiling face, Cassian couldn't help but think, 'Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to make her my life motive.'
The idea might have seemed exaggerated to an outsider to think like that as he had just met her a few minutes before, but in Cassian's eyes, Katherine was just that beautiful. She was an angel, a goddess—whoever was more beautiful. Her lips, soft and lush like cherries, shimmered in a rosy pink that seemed almost too perfect to be real. They curved into a warm smile, parting just enough to reveal her flawless, pearly white teeth. The sight alone could have made his heart race, but it was her eyes that truly enchanted him.
Those brilliant yellow eyes, like twin suns ablaze with fire, held a fierce intensity. They shone with a glow that captivated him and radiated both intelligence and mystery. Her fiery red hair, bound elegantly but flowing with a life of its own, cascaded down in soft waves. The vibrant color reminded him of a flame that couldn't be tamed.
The pale, flawless skin that framed her features had an ethereal glow, like porcelain kissed by moonlight, and the soft blush on her cheeks only made her seem even more enchanting. Her beauty was something beyond what he had ever known—it was intoxicating, a presence that demanded attention without a single word.
Cassian felt a strange flutter in his chest, his eyes fixed on her, captivated. 'I call her a moon, but even the moon has blemishes in it,' he mused, but in Katherine, he saw none. The thought of serving her no longer felt like an obligation—it was a privilege, something more profound, almost like a calling. Her smile, her fiery gaze, her entire presence—he could easily see himself devoting everything to her.
But the dream he had woven in his mind quickly shattered as her next words reached his ears.