Last Born Of The Desdemona

Chapter 320: Chapter 320: The Curse of Beauty

Chapter 320 – The Curse of Beauty

The crowd roared with excitement, the arena itself trembling in answer to their shared heightened emotions.

Everyone waited eagerly for the battle to begin. And finally, the two contestants stepped into the center of the ring, facing each other.

There stood Klaus, his long green hair tied into a ponytail, framing his annoyed yet deeply serious black eyes perfectly.

It was rare to see Klaus this serious, and his childhood friends knew he wasn’t joking around this time, evidenced by the green ring on his index finger.

A ring his mother had given him back when he was a toddler, one that grew alongside him. An extraordinary artifact only the Handoffs could wield, this particular one forged specifically for Klaus, in the Spirit Realm itself.

Klaus normally avoided wearing it, disliking its look. But when he got serious, aesthetics stopped mattering to him entirely.

He wore a black training suit trimmed in green. For those able to see spirits, Windy sat lazily atop his head, grinning sheepishly at the crowd.

Then came Love de Bayard. The moment she appeared, men and women alike lost their minds, fawning over her beauty and graceful figure.

She was stunning, especially her long legs and perfectly model-like waist. Her body curved like a flawless hourglass, her pink eyes with heart-shaped pupils adding to her striking, unique appearance.

She wore a pink suit, hair tied into a ponytail matching Klaus’s style, her expression equally serious.

The presenter was, as always, The Watcher.

The two faced off, ready to begin.

Meanwhile, Cassius sat among the spectators, feeling a strange thrill at, for once, being the one watching rather than watched.

Or so he thought.

Even without fighting himself, the sheer volume of stares directed his way was off the charts.

Cassius felt as though ants were crawling across his entire body.

[What did you expect?] Ananke scoffed, [Have you seen your own beauty lately? And look at them, the only reason they aren’t leaping on you is your two friends here.]

The Goddess of Fate wasn’t wrong.

Keisha and Natalia glared daggers at any woman — hell, even a few boys — who dared drift too close to Cassius, whose beauty had become almost unbelievable.

Yet even they weren’t immune to his enhanced allure.

No one was immune.

No one at all.

"Cassius..." Keisha murmured, heart pounding, staring at her friend in astonishment, "...you’re...you’re..."

She didn’t know how to finish. Words like "beautiful" or "handsome" no longer felt sufficient to describe him.

The admiration she’d carried for him since childhood surged sharply, growing stronger.

Natalia felt the same awe, though it hit her in an entirely different way. Seeing Cassius this beautiful only reminded her, painfully, that she’d never be with him.

That realization nearly dragged her into a spiral of morbid thoughts, with an urge to tear her own eyes out just so she wouldn’t have to see him again.

It hurt.

Yet even within that pain, her love for him only deepened, her desire to be with him growing more dangerous, slowly eroding whatever restrictions and morals she’d once imposed on herself, as though they were built from nothing but sand.

And in that reckless state of mind, dark thoughts began surfacing, thoughts even she found frightening.

She lifted her head, stared at Cassius, and felt an irrational urge to kill Isolde and be done with it.

If she sacrificed everything...maybe she could actually pull it off? She was a Blessed. She was Chosen.

She could absolutely—!

"Naty!!"

Natalia’s mirror-like eyes snapped back to the present at the sound of her name. She turned to find Keisha watching her, worried.

"Are you okay, Naty? You’re crying."

"Huh? Am I?" She muttered, surprised, lifting her hand to her cheek, feeling the damp wetness there. It was true.

She laughed awkwardly, wiping the tears away with her sleeve. "Haha-ha. It’s nothing, probably just dust in my eyes. Don’t worry, my cute Kei."

She said the last part as sweetly as she could, pinching Keisha’s cheek. Keisha giggled and nodded,

"Don’t cry anymore, Naty. It makes me sad!"

"And you, don’t ever change." Natalia kissed her forehead, "I need you exactly like this, Keisha. I really do."

’Otherwise I’ll do something I’ll regret for the rest of my existence.’

"Of course! Never changing! Keisha is Keisha!"

Cassius watched the exchange, frowning slightly. He didn’t quite understand why, but he could somehow sense the emotions people felt toward him to a degree.

He could feel Keisha’s intense admiration and platonic love.

And from Natalia, an overwhelming love threatening to consume her entirely.

That wasn’t all. If Cassius focused through his left eye, which now held Dragon, Spirit, and Adonis’s eyes combined, he could actually see a kind of "fire" burning inside people’s hearts around him.

The colors varied, though some shared the same hue, meaning they shared the same emotion.

Many burned blue, signifying admiration, with tinges of pink here and there indicating love.

And, of course, there were others burning deep crimson, which Cassius could only interpret as hatred.

Natalia’s Heartfire — the name Cassius decided on for this strange new ability — blazed pink so bright it nearly blinded him. Yet within that pink, a trace of black crept in, spreading slowly.

Cassius didn’t yet know what that black signified. Nor was he given the chance to figure it out, as his eyes began aching, signaling he’d reached the ability’s limit.

He glanced once more at Natalia, Keisha hugging his arm affectionately, and found the Heiress of Glassscion staring back at him.

She smiled slowly, her teeth so white they looked almost artificial, her eyes burning with something unknowable, better left that way, "At this point," she mouthed silently, out of Keisha’s earshot, "You want me to never forget you, Cassius."

A bad feeling, sharp and crawling, surged through him.

And given his new eyes, Cassius’s understanding of emotion had grown remarkably sharp, which only made it more alarming.

’Queen...what the hell is going on?’

Ananke smiled wryly, shaking her head.

[The curse of beauty. Now you understand why no one truly knowledgeable would ever wish to be Adonis. And I’m afraid you’re about to drag me into this mess with you.]

His smile turned equally wry as he refocused on the duel, still feeling the weight of stares, murmurs about his "impossible" beauty rippling through the crowd.

Cassius could feel hatred, envy, and jealousy directed at him. From men who resented him, from women who couldn’t have him.

’...fuck.’

[Yes. Isolde will suffer deeply, profoundly. And even you, my Blessed, will suffer too.]

And again.

’Oh fuck.’

...

"Who is that young man?" A woman asked, standing atop the arena wall, her face and body wrapped in unnatural darkness despite the blazing sun above.

Beside her stood a short man, full forest-green hair, dwarf-short in stature. He followed her gaze, raising a thick eyebrow,

"Wow. What a disgustingly handsome bastard. Fuck him and his whole family."

"Drop the jealousy and just tell me."

"Miss, with all due respect, kindly go fuck yourself. Are you blind? Come on, open your Vorn-cursed eyes! White hair, crimson eyes, you don’t see that everywhere. And hell, his crimson eyes even have a hint of pink now, what is this beauty even? Fuck him and his whole family." He stomped his foot, "And yes, he is Cassius. Call him Angel, or Skyburner or White Snake or just whatever you fucking want. He is Lucian’s little brother. Now tell me, are you still in love with Lucian? Because his brother’s clearly more handsome!"

"I knew he felt familiar. So it’s because he’s my formidable, charismatic, lovely man’s little brother?"

"You mean rude, bullying, bastard of a man?"

"Say one more bad thing about Lucian, and you’re dead, Shorty." The woman turned toward him, her shadowed face unsettling.

He shrugged, "Fuck you."

"Better." She nodded, pleased, "Now, should I send something to my brother-in-law?"

"By the way, Lucian doesn’t love you."

"Yet." She clarified, "And this might help me earn his devotion. You need to help me, Shorty. I’m shy, go talk to my handsome brother-in-law and tell him his sister-in-law wants to give him a gift! Whisper to him that he can mention it to Lucian. Be subtle about it."

"Will you help me with Lilien, then?"

The woman snapped her head toward him, looking him up and down — mostly down — and sighed.

"I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that."

Shorty coughed, "Fuck you."

DING! DING! DING!

"THE DUEL BEGINS!"

The strange woman and Shorty fell silent as, at last, Klaus and Love’s duel officially got underway.

—End of Chapter 320—