Last Born Of The Desdemona

Chapter 348: Chapter 348: Am I Not Your Friend, Dear? [750 GT Bonus Chapters 1/3]

Chapter 348 – Am I Not Your Friend, Dear? [750 GT Bonus Chapters 1/3]

Where...where...where...please...

’...where am I running off to?’ Sarah thought with a dizzy mind as she hurried down the street.

Her steps were wobbly and unsteady, and she felt like her face could kiss the ground at any given moment.

She didn’t even know where she was going, but she knew for certain that she didn’t want to go back to her room.

So Sarah wandered, her mind spinning, her thoughts all mangled.

Her face was soaked in tears, and her heart hurt so much that she wished someone could rip it out of her chest.

It was agonizing.

She began to remember all the things she had done for Raven. And more importantly, all the things she had accepted just because she loved him.

Sarah had been ready to fight another woman for him. She had been ready to give her body to him, something she had never allowed any other man to lay his hands on.

She had been ready to serve him and stay at his side no matter what happened.

Sarah had truly come to understand that her love for Raven had never been about his identity as a Prince.

She simply loved him.

And she had done so since the very beginning.

She had hoped that one day he would come to love her too. But hope was the worst feeling a being could ever have.

Because only hope could make you so disappointed that you would begin to doubt yourself and everything around you.

Sarah had reached that point.

She continued walking through the streets without knowing where to go. Because until now, her whole life had been about serving Raven and...serving Cassius.

To serve. To serve. To serve.

That was all she had been doing since she was born.

Serving others, yet never learning or even trying to serve herself.

Her sobs began to echo louder, and passersby watched her in stunned, confused silence, wondering what was happening to her, yet no one tried to approach and ask.

So Sarah continued until she reached a state where her whole body seemed to shut down, her mind slowing.

She began to struggle to move, her heart aching so bloody much that it felt like she was going to have a heart attack.

Her steps became even more unsteady, and she began to drift closer to the road meant for carriages without even realizing it.

’I...am tired.’ Sarah thought, wobbling, her head down. ’...Goddess...I am tired. I can’t anymore. I—!’

Sarah’s left foot slipped, and instantly her body fell onto the road.

The shock of the cold ground cleared some of the fog from her mind.

She sluggishly lifted her head and saw a carriage heading straight toward her.

The driver’s eyes widened visibly behind the screen, and he began shouting something at Sarah while erratically trying to stop the carriage before it crashed into her.

But Sarah heard nothing at all.

And in all honesty, she didn’t care at that moment.

She even welcomed the collision, hoping the physical pain might somehow drown out the pain eating away at her from within.

Thus, she closed her eyes, and—!

"Wow, lovely Miss." A gentle voice echoed close to her, followed by a pair of arms scooping her up from the ground. "Does your heart hurt so much that you are no longer thinking straight?"

At the same time, crimson chains appeared out of nowhere, wrapped around the carriage, and forcefully pulled it to a halt just before it reached them.

Sarah slowly opened her teary eyes, directly taking in the sight of Cassius’s smiling face looking warmly at her.

She bit her lips, her body shaking. Then she suddenly hugged Cassius, pressed her head against his chest, and broke into a chorus of sobs.

Cassius stood there in the middle of the road, holding Sarah while the carriage remained chained behind him by his Skill.

On both sides of the road, people stood watching curiously, some already taking out their phones to record the whole event.

But the Last Born didn’t care about any of them.

His focus was solely on the crying Sarah.

"C-Cassius...he didn’t—!"

"I know." He said softly. "I know, Sarah. But first, shall we find somewhere more private?"

Without waiting for an answer, Cassius vanished from the road, going deeper into the Outer Ring.

...

Cassius brought Sarah to the same place Isolde had once brought him when they went to Love Island.

This time, he chose nothing fancy or romantic, and instead selected a beach setting.

The illusion worked perfectly, making both Cassius and Sarah find themselves on a beach with the blue sea stretching endlessly before them.

The sand beneath them was soft and brown, while the salty air surrounded them, accompanied by a cool breeze.

It was peaceful.

And it was in that peace that Cassius sat on a bench nestled close to the waves of the sea.

Sarah sat beside him before placing her head on his lap, her tears still flowing.

The Last Born said nothing.

He sat there without a single word, only caressing her hair to give her some comfort.

The situation continued like that for a good twenty minutes before Sarah finally stopped crying, or at least, stopped crying with the same intensity.

That was when Cassius finally decided to speak.

"Can I do something for you?" He asked gently. "Something that might help alleviate the pain?"

"I don’t know." Sarah replied hoarsely, still lying on his lap. "I don’t know, Cassius. I don’t think anything can help alleviate this pain inside me."

"That’s usually what it feels like when we are dealing with a loss. It always feels like we are never going to get back up from the pain and setback." He smiled. "But guess what? We always manage to get up again. Somehow, someway...we find something inside us that helps."

"There is nothing left inside me."

"Then take something from the outside." He replied. "Look at your friends—!"

"I don’t have a friend."

Sarah cut him off, her voice slightly edged and cold.

"I have never had a friend. Raven was not a friend, he was my master. Meadow and Lady Isolde are not my friends, they are simply people who share the same Sect as me. And you, Cassius..."

She smiled sadly, hiding her face.

"...you are not a friend either. You are my master. Don’t forget that you hold my soul in your hand."

Her voice broke.

"I am your subordinate...and your slave."

"Is that how you see me?" Cassius asked.

Sarah didn’t answer. But she didn’t need to, as her feelings and thoughts were very much clear.

"I’m kinda sad, you know?" He continued, chuckling softly, still caressing her hair. "I’ve seen you as a friend all this time, Sarah. It’s true that our beginning might have been...rough. But I believe I have always treated you right."

"You still hold my soul."

"I can give it back to you, if you wish."

"Huh?"

Sarah jolted up, staring at Cassius’s smile.

"Why are you surprised?" He chuckled. "If the fact that I still hold your soul through the Death Contract stops you from seeing me as your friend, then I’ll give it back to you, Sarah. Because I don’t want you to see me right now as a master, as the Last Born of the Desdemona, or even as Mr. Earth."

Sarah’s breath caught in her throat.

"I want you to see me as a friend who is here to help you. Most likely, I can’t do much about this whole situation. You loved someone who didn’t love you in the way you wanted, and now you’re suffering because he chose the woman he loved." He sighed. "I’m powerless, Sarah. But I can at least listen to you and give you my advice if you want it. However..."

He leaned closer to her face, smiling.

"...you must see me as a friend. Am I your friend, Sarah?"

Sarah hesitated for a couple of seconds before slowly nodding, looking into Cassius’s sincere eyes.

"...you are."

"Then talk to your friend." He looked ahead at the beautiful waves slithering close to them. "Bare your heart. Tell me what you feel, tell me what you regret, tell me what you hope for tomorrow, tell me what you want to do from now on. Tell me, Sarah. Just tell me everything you need to get off your chest."

Her eyes glistened with tears. "Even if it’s curses toward your uncle and your sister-in-law?"

He laughed. "Especially if there are curses toward my uncle and sister-in-law."

"Will you not be disappointed in me if I say I wish him to be unhappy for life?"

"I won’t be, sweetheart."

"Will you not be angry if I say I wish Anesthesia could die?"

"I won’t be, Sarah, dear."

"Will you still see me as a friend if I say that I hate the fact that I was a maid of Hood, and I hate the Hood Royal Family?"

"I would understand your opinion and why you feel that way. And yes, I would still see you as a friend. Do you know why?"

"W-Why?"

She began to sob again.

Cassius turned to look at her, saw her tears, and smiled sadly.

"Because I know you are only saying this because of anger and disappointment. I know my Sarah, and I know anger doesn’t suddenly erase everything else she is."

"Your Sarah has been destroyed by the Prince."

"Then shall I pick up the pieces with her?"

"She wants to be another person."

"What type of person?"

"No longer weak and submissive."

"Then shall we pick up the pieces, discard the weak and submissive parts, and replace the missing parts with...?"

He tilted his head.

"...well, you tell me, Sarah."

"I want to be my own person." She said, wiping the tears from her face. "I want to be strong and independent."

"Do you need my help, or do you want to do this alone?"

Sarah paused, then slowly said, "The...the help of a friend?"

Cassius chuckled. "Yes, why of course, dear Sarah."

He summoned the Death Contract regarding Sarah from his space ring.

"Help from a friend, alright."

Sarah looked intensely at the Death Contract, her heart pounding.

Cassius used his Skill and burned the Death Contract to ashes without much hesitation.

Instantly, Sarah felt something loosen inside herself, her eyes widening.

"I no longer hold anything over you, Sarah." Cassius said. "You are now as free as any of us can be in this world. Now what?"

He tilted his head. "What is your next step?"

"Just..." she whispered, gathering herself, then placed her head on his shoulder. "Just lend me your ear, Cassius."

"I’m listening." He replied. "What do you want to talk about?"

"I don’t know." She said, looking at the sea, her voice low and tired. "I just want to talk."

"Then talk." He closed his eyes.

"But first, I want to say something."

"Huh?"

"Thank you," Sarah whispered. "Thank you for everything, Cassius. Thank you for helping me reach this level, for giving me the Goddess, for making me a member of your Sect, and thank you...truly, thank you for trusting me enough to give me back control of my own soul. Thank you for coming here. Thank you for being willing to listen to me. Just...just..."

She hugged him and began to cry.

"Thank you for seeing me as Sarah."

Her grip around him tightened.

"You don’t know, Cassius. You truly don’t know how much I admire you. How much I adore you. Because somehow...just somehow..."

She lifted her head and looked at his beautiful, warm face.

"...you make people want to become better than they are." She smiled through her tears. "And you made me better."

—End of Chapter 348—