It had been a few weeks since Cassius had been living in the castle. He and Isabelle had bonded over reading, although in the start, Cassius's objective was to find as much information as he could about Netherworld and leave. But the company of a fellow reader, or that's what he used to call her, had made him delay his mission.
Every morning, Cassius decided to leave, and every evening, he decided to leave tomorrow. For some reason, Cassius felt attached to Isabelle. He thought her to be strong when he first met her, but as he came to know her in the past few weeks, he felt she was more clumsy and weak than she showed herself to be. There was a hint of sadness in her, it felt like a huge burden had been placed on her little shoulders, but she never disclosed anything to him.
It had been the same day like every other day until Cassius reached the door of the dining room for breakfast. The butler was standing outside, not letting anyone inside the room.
_Crash_ A sound of ceramic plate shattering in pieces could be heard from inside.
"I don't wanna hear it, please just leave," said Isabelle.
"You can take your time, little girl, but don't take too long, else who knows what might happen," said Malakai, a middle-aged fat man, his two ugly yellow fangs protruding out of his mouth. His son, Roderick, a teen boy with the same features as his father, stood beside him, a wicked smile on his face.
"I hope to see you again, milady," said Roderick, grinning from ear to ear.
As they walked out, the butler bowed at them.
"Ah.. a snack I see, the Lady has good tastes," said Malakai as he saw Cassius.
Cassius didn't pay attention to them, he went in as soon as they left. Isabelle was in a bad mood, having just attended to two guests who wanted to do bad things to her family.
"Hey, Cassius," said Isabelle, forcing a smile on her face.
"Who were they?" asked Cassius.
"Ah, them, no one to concern yourselves with," said Isabelle, trying to end the subject.
"Were they... threatening you?" asked Cassius.
"Cassius, do not meddle your business where it doesn't belong," said Isabelle in a firm and serious voice.
This was the first time Isabelle talked to Cassius in such a way. Cassius had no choice but to give it up.
"Well, let's eat breakfast, shall we?" said Cassius, trying to ease the tension between them.
"Hm," said Isabelle in a low voice. She wanted to apologize to him for speaking so rudely to him, but it was for his own good, to stay away from this situation.
Days went on as Malakai and Roderick came back every day, taunting her to make a decision, sometimes even beating her servants, to show their power in front of Isabelle. Cassius kept quiet, sometimes even he was spat on by Roderick.
Today, Malakai went a little too far, shouting at Isabelle, the mistress of the castle, warning her that if she didn't marry Roderick soon, something life-threatening could happen to her. Cassius overheard this and he had enough of their nonsense. He decided to move forward and kill them, consequences be damned, but the butler came in front of him and told him to behave.
As Malakai and Roderick left, Cassius walked inside.
"Tell me, how can I help?" said Cassius in all seriousness.
"I don't need your help. We don't owe each other anything. You have overstayed here in this castle, you must leave now," said Isabelle without any emotion.
"I'm not going anywhere," said Cassius firmly.
"You don't know these people. They'd kill you just like..." said Isabelle, before her words completed, she ran crying.
"They murdered her parents. Now that she has lost her support, the neighboring families want to absorb the Scarlet lands and estate. What better way than to marry the young mistress?" said the butler.
Cassius finally had the big picture. He recalled the scene of a few days ago, where they sat in the garden, Isabelle was particularly gleeful that day, happy with no burden on her, perhaps she had forgotten about it for a second. She was... like a normal girl that day.
A little girl like her thrown in the chaos where her parents were murdered, the neighboring families salivating on her estate and lands. Cassius didn't want to see her in the middle of the storm. He decided to leave the castle that day.
"He left, why did you let him leave, I didn't mean it..." said Isabelle, standing up to go after him. But then, thinking about what would happen in the future, she steeled herself and sat back down.
"It's good that at least he'll survive. It was a short time, but at least I had fun. Thank you... Cassius," Isabelle said, smiling sweetly as she looked up at the sky, tears welled up inside her, but she didn't let them come out.
Eighty miles north of Isabelle's castle were the lands of the Roland family. In the center of the lands was a huge Roland castle. In the castle's hall, the father and son, Malakai and Roderick, were talking.
"Father, I want her already, why don't we just storm the castle?" Roderick said, his eyes filled with greed and lust.
"We can't, we aren't the only ones eyeing her," Malakai replied. "If we force her, it'll allow others to get inside, then we'll have to share the lands with the new competitor."
Just then, a voice came from outside the hall. "Only filth can come out of your mouths, you dark creatures."
Malakai looked up, questioning. "Who is it?"
A figure emerged from the shadows, and Malakai's eyes widened in surprise but just for a second. "Oh, it's you, that bitch's snack. Came here to swear your allegiance to us," Roderick mocked, laughing.
Malakai and Roderick laughed loudly, but their amusement was short-lived. "Guards, kill this scoundrel!" Malakai shouted, but no guards came. He felt a sense of unease.
Cassius stepped forward, his eyes blazing with anger. "How low do you have to fall to prey on a little girl?"
Malakai took a step back, feeling a sense of trepidation. "You..., who are you?"
Cassius's response was cold and detached. "You vermin have no right to ask."
As he spoke, his body began to glow with a pure holy energy. For a second, his body became brighter than the sun, and Malakai and Roderick's flesh started to burn away from the light. They screamed and tried to run, but it was too late.
The last thing they heard was Cassius's voice, saying two words: "Divine Requiem."
The Roland castle, the dark creatures living inside it, everything was gone, turned to dust. Only one exhausted man, Cassius, was standing in the middle of it all, naked as a newborn baby.