Last Born Of The Desdemona

Chapter 440: Chapter 440: Don’t You?

Chapter 440 – Don’t You?

The guests began to focus on Klaus, who was standing on the stage, handsome and grinning. He didn’t have any kind of amplifier for his voice, yet he needed none, as the wind itself carried his voice as far as possible.

Cassius was seated with Isolde and their families at the same table. He was smiling wryly, not knowing what to expect from his friend.

There were also Natalia and Keisha, who were looking coldly at Klaus, waiting for him to disobey them.

After all, the two had warned Klaus beforehand not to say any kind of bullshit during his speech. They had even threatened him, with Keisha participating for the first time. And that alone showed how serious the girls were.

But honestly, had Klaus ever listened to them? Even when threatened? Sadly, it was a resounding no.

So they were hoping against hope.

As for Love, she was strangely eager to hear his speech.

Knowing Klaus, she knew the bastard wasn’t going to say anything lovely. And that was exactly what she couldn’t wait for.

So she suppressed a laugh and focused, giving Klaus all her attention, looking at him as if only he existed in that wide space.

Her strange behavior didn’t escape Meadow and Sarah’s notice.

Both of them were women who loved a man, and they knew what a woman in love looked like. And Love strangely bore that look when gazing at Klaus.

That sudden realization made them look at each other, then grin strangely.

Many guests had their own thoughts about the coming speech, yet they couldn’t deny they were quite curious about it.

And so, after making sure that everyone’s attention was on him, Klaus cleared his throat, then spoke:

"First of all, I must admit something: I didn’t prepare anything," Klaus said, making eyebrows rise throughout the crowd. "Not because I didn’t want to, mind you, but simply because I tried and couldn’t manage to write anything. After all, it still feels surreal to me that my own friend, this little bastard I’ve known since he was a toddler whose mother couldn’t even bear to let him wander beyond where her eyes could see, is actually getting married. I mean, come on. We’re eighteen. I was expecting a little more time before something like this happened. I was expecting us to go on adventures across the world, like those tales of heroes of the past, to experience all kinds of things together until we finally reached a point where one of us would look at the other and say, ’I’m tired of your damn face. Let me go find myself a wife.’ But if there’s one thing you can say about Cassius, it’s that the bastard is impatient as hell."

The crowd suddenly fell silent, quite surprised by the unexpected sincerity in his words, and even more so by the fact that Klaus’s face was no longer arrogant or shameless, but steady and serious.

Cassius smiled sadly at his friend.

"Now, don’t get me wrong, ladies and gentlemen, I’m still happy for him. And that’s precisely why I won’t be the usual Klaus today." He chuckled. "I know many of you were expecting me to say something that would make Cassius wish he could crawl into a hole and never come out, but I’m not that bad of a friend. On this day, I wouldn’t want to tarnish his image of me. Because, in all honesty, Cassius is a good friend. Of course, no one is perfect. He really is a bastard, and sometimes he’s so focused on whatever he’s chasing that he forgets about the people around him, even those who have been standing beside him since he was very young. Sometimes he’s genuinely inconsiderate toward people who have known him all their lives, people who loved him long before he even understood what love meant."

At those words, Natalia’s body trembled subtly, and so did Keisha’s, the two women instinctively reaching for each other’s hands and holding them tightly.

"Yes, Cassius can be selfish and foolish sometimes, and he can do things that make you wonder how in Vorn’s name this bastard managed to get himself into such a bloody situation in the first place." A ripple of laughter rose from the crowd, and Klaus allowed himself a faint smile before continuing. "But despite all that, he remains one of the best human beings I could ever hope to meet. No matter how many times he’s absent, no matter how caught up he becomes in his own affairs, whenever I truly needed him, sometimes without even knowing that I did, he was there, standing before me and offering me a hand. And he helped me without ever pointing a finger at me, without making me feel like some miserable bastard who needed to be saved, and I think that’s one of his greatest qualities."

He smiled.

"Most of you know what I’m talking about, don’t you? Cassius can witness you at your absolute worst, see you struggling with something the world would condemn you for, something people might despise you for or even use as a reason to turn their backs on you, and still stretch out his hand toward you as though you were... normal. As though there was nothing wrong with you, and whatever he had just witnessed didn’t suddenly make you someone unworthy of being treated like a human being."

High Priestess Helene, Raven, Esmeray, and even Mallory felt those words resonate within them in ways that only they could truly understand.

Even Isolde, sitting beside Cassius, knew exactly what Klaus meant.

"I’m usually not okay with people calling him an angel. He’s not, ladies and gentlemen. He’s a Desdemona, come on, open your eyes." Klaus shook his head, earning another round of laughter. "But I suppose he does have something of an angel in him, as annoying as it is for me to admit. He’s compassionate, and he has this incredibly irritating ability to understand you better than you understand yourself, sometimes even when you would rather he didn’t. And that’s what makes this bastard the kind of friend everyone would love to have, although I can also understand perfectly well why some people hate his ass. This man is annoying as hell."

Cassius’s eyes twitched, and he was already preparing to curse Klaus when Isolde grabbed him, preventing him from interrupting the speech.

"Now, I’m mostly talking about myself," Klaus continued, "but I know many of you have seen different versions of Cassius, and I’m sure many of you have your own stories to tell about him, some good, some bad, and some probably so embarrassing that he would kill you before you finished telling them. But unfortunately for you, I’m the Best Man here, and you’re not, so sit down and keep those thoughts to yourselves."

A few curses rose from the crowd, but Klaus merely smiled, clearly enjoying himself.

"But Cassius isn’t the only one getting married today. We also have our dear Isolde Amaris." Klaus turned toward Isolde, his grin widening. "And honestly, you have all my damn respect. The very fact that you managed to snatch Cassius away from so many women is a feat so profound that I’m pretty sure some people here will never forget it, even if they live for another hundred years."

He glanced toward Natalia with a deliberately taunting smirk, and the woman immediately scowled at him.

"And to make things even more ridiculous, you quite literally appeared out of nowhere. Don’t take this badly, but before all this, I didn’t even know there was someone named Isolde in this world. Yet here you are, wearing a wedding dress, holding Cassius’s heart in your hands, and somehow managing to convince this bastard to go through with the Official Wedding. Vorn’s balls, congratulations, Isolde. You actually managed to put a damn chain around my boy. No, what am I even saying? Knowing this bastard, I’m pretty sure he picked up the chain himself and put it around his own neck."

"Like a good boy," Isolde said aloud, and Cassius turned to stare at her with wide eyes.

Another wave of laughter echoed throughout the venue as everyone witnessed the expression on Cassius’s face, which had gone noticeably pale.

"I’m not even surprised." Klaus laughed. "Still, congratulations on your wedding. You completely destroyed all the adventurous fantasies I had about traveling the world with this bastard, but it’s okay, I’ll forgive you. I just pity you a little, because now you’re doomed to spend the rest of your life with Cassius Desdemona, and I can’t imagine how easy that’s going to be. Seriously, how does anyone manage to live with someone as melodramatic as him?"

Cassius’s lips twitched again, while Isolde let out a chuckle before replying, "That’s one of his charms."

"Now, ladies and gentlemen, don’t take her words as the truth. That’s love speaking, not reason," Klaus said, shaking his head. "Anyway, I should probably stop hogging all the attention before certain people start getting worked up."

Then he turned his attention to the entrance, "Hey, you journalists and photographers over there, I’ve been dragging this speech out specifically to give you more opportunities to take a good picture of me. Have you gotten one yet? Because it’s hard as fuck to keep improvising like this."

The sudden question caught everyone completely off guard, and for a moment, the entire crowd simply stared at Klaus with blank expressions.

The journalists and photographers themselves took some time to answer, and only after receiving their confirmation did Klaus finally step down from the altar, looking thoroughly satisfied with having been the center of attention for so long.

The guests couldn’t help but shake their heads at him.

But Love was cackling, calling Klaus an attention whore. Klaus heard it and replied with something about a Maid Dress, which made Love suddenly go silent.

But those words were also heard by Meadow and Sarah. So when Love turned and saw their faces, she almost jumped on them to rip the knowing smiles off their faces.

"It’s not what you think!" Love growled. "It’s fucking not! You’d better forget about it immediately!"

"It’s exactly what you think," Klaus said, grinning, and Love punched him in the gut. At least, she tried to. But Klaus dodged the punch easily, then laughed before walking away.

Love found herself under the deeply irritating gaze of Meadow and Sarah, who spoke soon after.

"If you need advice, I am here," Meadow said. "I have read many romance novels, and Cassius is a close friend."

"Well, my life itself was a romance until recently. Just a tragic one," Sarah added dryly. "But I can give you advice. And oh yes, Cassius is a close friend."

"The two of you, go fuck yourselves," Love spat at them, her face red with embarrassment. "And since when is Cassius being your friend enough reason to give me romance advice, damn it?"

Meadow and Sarah only smiled, and Love was about to lose her mind.

The wedding went on just like that, with people talking, enjoying themselves, drinking and eating.

Cassius took the time to speak with Cassandra and Bishop, the two of them now quite close. He had missed these two Palatines.

Isolde talked with the other people who came to congratulate her, especially Keisha.

Isolde loved Keisha very much.

The woman was just so lovely that Isolde wanted to keep her close and have her tell stories about Cassius’s childhood and about herself.

But talking with Keisha also meant talking with Natalia, which was easier said than done.

After a moment, though, Isolde said just one thing to her, "Fair play?" with a grin. It was obvious that Isolde was not sorry about taking Cassius for herself.

Her smug grin only gave Natalia the urge to slap the shit out of her. But she did nothing, and instead reached out, grasping Isolde’s hand. "Anyone can die, you know? I am very patient."

"Die?" Isolde retorted, then smiled. "Not even death can stop me, Natalia. I can assure you of that."

"Tsk."

"You know, I think it’s time to let go of my husband. I can introduce you to a man if you want."

"What man?" Natalia hissed, thinking Isolde was mocking her. Keisha was struggling to hold back her laughter.

"How about my brother-in-law, Lucian?"

"I will kill you, Isolde."

"Hahahah."

The conversation went on and on. At some point, Isolde and Cassius stepped onto the stage again, but this time to show their musical talent.

Isolde sat at the piano and played a song she had personally composed for Cassius, simply called Light. Cassius played the flute alongside her, but only in support.

The scene was magical, the lights shining upon them, the guests listening, their hearts easing.

Sophia and Anesthesia remembered then just how good Isolde was at the piano, and had been since she was young.

But that day, the whole kingdom learned of it, through a song she had made for her husband.

The Net was exploding, and people were already calling Cassius and Isolde the couple goals of the generation, just as Mother System had said.

After the performance, Klaus became the DJ once more and made sure every guest danced.

Hell, even Mallory, Helene and Seraphim danced. Seraphim took Sea Wealth to dance, and the young wealthy man immediately became flustered.

Seraphim was just that beautiful.

Sea tried many times to remind himself that he would soon be getting married, but he couldn’t quite resist Seraphim’s charm.

Rose followed, dancing with her daughter Ophelia, who was quite angry at Morgan. Cassandra was dancing with Bishop, while Lilien was forced to dance by her twin and ended up dancing with Blossom.

Lucian found himself dancing with Natalia after Keisha pushed them together, and William danced with Diaila.

Omm danced with Jeanne, who had been the first to ask. Meadow stood there, unhappy. However, Sarah grabbed her hand and made her dance.

Not only for Meadow’s sake, but because she didn’t want to watch Raven and Anesthesia dancing.

Only Keisha was alone, and she planned to stay on the side, watching. However, someone suddenly took her hand.

She lowered her head and saw a young, innocent boy, surely the child of one of the guests, who wanted to dance. She smiled and danced with him, the two of them so innocent it was heartwarming.

But all those dances swirled around Cassius and Isolde, who were dancing at the very center.

"Drag me with you, darling," Cassius said, and Isolde smiled.

"Of course."

The wedding continued like that until four in the morning, with people laughing, drinking, dancing, and enjoying themselves so thoroughly that many had long since forgotten how many hours had passed since the celebration began.

But eventually, even a night as wonderful as this had to come to an end.

Eventually, the guests returned to their homes, exhausted beyond words, yet carrying with them memories of a wedding they would undoubtedly speak of for years to come.

And eventually, after all the laughter, the congratulations, the endless teasing, and the countless people who had demanded just one more moment of their time, Cassius and Isolde finally found themselves inside a luxurious hotel room, in a hotel that Meadow had quite literally purchased in its entirety and presented to them as a wedding gift.

For the first time since the day began, there were no guests surrounding them, no journalists desperately trying to capture their every expression, and no friends waiting for an opportunity to embarrass them.

There was now only Cassius Desdemona and Isolde Amaris.

Husband and wife.

And, well, everyone knows what a newly married couple does when they finally find themselves alone on their wedding night.

Don’t you?

—End of Chapter 440—