Last Born Of The Desdemona

Chapter 489: Chapter 489: Breathe, Cassius

Chapter 489 – Breathe, Cassius

Eventually, Cassius and Isolde reached the Elysia Academy after spending almost an hour in a carriage where anything could have gone wrong.

Cassius had learned that it was never a good idea to be in the same place as Klaus and Love, for not only would they never stop bickering with each other, but the two of them had this impossible talent for angering anyone with just a grin, let alone words.

Their mouths were foul, and they showed no mercy in what they used to hurt others. In short, it was better to keep them away when people were around.

Isolde didn’t share his feelings, however, as she had rather enjoyed the two of them.

For some reason, she had grown closer to Love, and now the two of them could even be called friends.

That was a pleasant surprise for Cassius. His wife slowly opening up to other people was a great thing. Hopefully, one day, she would have friends of her own, just like he did.

During the ride, Omm barely talked. But the few times he did, it was mainly to Jeanne, who looked, in Cassius’s eyes, more tired than she let on.

He didn’t know why, but there was a forlorn aura coating Jeanne. An aura he couldn’t explain, which made him quite curious.

Among all the scions of the Golden Generation, Jeanne might have been the one with the least screen time, if he remembered the Game correctly.

And every time she had appeared, it was related to battle and training.

Nothing else.

’A true training maniac.’

That had been his impression of her.

Yet that impression now seemed lacking. Jeanne Safara didn’t look like the training maniac he had been expecting.

However, the woman herself wanted nothing to do with him. He had tried to speak with her, but she ignored him as if his existence were inconsequential.

Jeanne only replied to Omm, and every time Klaus and Love made their usual rude comments about Omm’s commoner background, Cassius could see Jeanne about to attack the two.

An attack Omm always stopped by calming her down.

There was more to their relationship, the Last Born deduced.

And the more he observed them, the more certain he was that Meadow... might not get what she wanted. At least, not so easily.

But all of that was set aside, saved in a corner of his mind, as Cassius entered his room.

He was exhausted, wanting only to sleep for the rest of the day.

Isolde had gone back to her dormitory, telling him that she planned to take care of something along the way.

So she went off, and Cassius fell onto his bed, not even caring about classes, his mind sinking into the realm of dreams immediately.

...

Hours passed, and it was almost night when Cassius’s eyes flickered open in the darkness of his room.

Isolde was still not back.

He rolled onto his back, yawning as his eyes fixed on the ceiling above.

His mind was refreshed after catching up on sleep, giving him back the ability to deal with his current situation without losing his patience or making poor decisions.

After staying in that position for a couple of moments, he reached for the phone sitting atop the shelf and picked it up.

Turning it on, Cassius saw so many messages flickering on the screen that he didn’t even know where to begin.

’It looks like news of my return to the Academy has spread.’

His brother Dorian had replied, informing him that he would be free to come to the Academy in three days, so Thursday.

’Well... Thursday, then,’ Cassius said while replying with an ’alright’. In the same breath, he also sent messages to Lucian and Lilien, and even Morgan.

Hell, he went as far as sending his parents messages, even though he knew it was unlikely they would reply.

Now that Cassius understood that he had not been cultivating his relationships with his family properly, he wanted to change that as soon as possible.

’I am such a fool sometimes.’ He shook his head. ’I ignore the most basic things, like knowing my family, while worrying over something far above that... like protecting them.’

After all, how could he protect people he didn’t even know properly?

The Last Born wanted to slap himself for his idiocy.

But he stopped himself, knowing it was useless. Instead, he looked at his other unread messages.

Seraphim Hood, his aunt, had sent him a message. So had Bishop and Cassandra in their group, and even his own master, who wrote, ’Come to my office. Immediately.’

Reading that message, Cassius remembered everything he had done in the past few days, and knew that he had put his master through constant pain.

He knew for certain that meeting her would lead to her asking what he had been doing, and that question would make him recall the information he had received about Hamdall.

Now, that was another thing the Last Born didn’t know how to deal with.

’First, the 333rd, my ancestor, did something I can’t even make sense of; something affecting my master on a personal level. Now it’s my brother, doing something I would never have expected him to do. And unfortunately, it does affect me in some way.’

Things had been getting complicated on all fronts lately. And these matters affected people he cared about, which made them even more troublesome for Cassius.

[It will be okay, Cassius,] Ananke said, her voice as soothing as ever. [Take these matters one at a time. You don’t have to deal with everything at once. Breathe, think, and act. Not think, act, think, act. Breathe, Cassius.]

’Queen, I am trying,’ Cassius replied.

And, needing someone to hug, or just a presence around him, he summoned Stella. The white snake appeared in a heartbeat and began to hiss in contentment.

She snuggled into him, wrapping around his neck and the rest of his body.

Cassius laughed at the tickling feeling, his heart strangely growing calmer at the sight of this snake he had named after his sister.

"I missed you too, lovely," he said, understanding her feelings. "I don’t know why I don’t summon you more often. I will try to do it more often now, alright?"

Stella hissed, happy to finally be remembered, her tongue licking Cassius’s face.

[You see, it’s not that difficult,] Ananke chimed in again. [Just take things slowly. The main problem with you is that you always rush things.]

"I’m afraid of losing momentum, Queen," Cassius replied with a strange honesty. "I feel like if I take things slowly, if I don’t rush toward the next big thing that might help me achieve my goals, then I’m falling behind, and my enemies are only getting stronger and more prepared to face me. I keep telling myself that this is a race against time."

[It might very well be a race against time. But you don’t win a race by pushing yourself to your limits every single second. Sometimes, you need to slow down.] This time, Tysche was the one who spoke, her tone strangely serious. [This is a journey, Cassius, and you can’t rush through every step of it simply because you’re afraid of settling down and doing something normal for once. Aren’t you tired of jumping from one thing to another?]

"I’m not—!"

[That’s what you say,] Tysche cut him off. [But look at yourself. You’re already overwhelmed by the recent revelations about your brother and your master, things that ordinarily wouldn’t have left you in such a mental state. Without even realizing it, your mind has become exhausted, and rightfully so. Have you stopped for even a moment to consider everything you’ve done lately? You spoke with an Error, went to the Sun, and nearly died there, surviving only thanks to our intervention. Then you went ahead and received memories from a dragon older than most kingdoms, even inheriting some of his feelings along the way. And then, as though all of that wasn’t enough — and it’s never enough with you, is it? — you decided to take things one step further and create an entire Pantheon.]

Hearing everything laid out like that, Cassius began to realize just how absurd the situation truly was.

He had done all of this in... a matter of days?

[Do you see now how ridiculous this is? No wonder your mind is exhausted. In fact, you’re lucky that exhaustion is all you’re suffering from at this point.]

"Argh. I get it," he whispered, closing his eyes and hugging Stella to his chest. "I am rushing, I know. I am not giving myself the time to properly process the things I go through, and thus..."

[...you are reaching the limit of what you can bear without slowly crumbling,] Marvela finished for him. [I think you sometimes forget that you are human, a mortal, despite all your uniqueness.]

[And if even gods can go mad,] Persephone added, surprised herself by everything Cassius had gone through lately, [in what name do you think you won’t?]

"Alright, alright, alright," he relented, finally accepting defeat. "I’m just worried, that’s all. But I understand that rushing things doesn’t help. I’ve been told that more times than I can count, yet I still struggle to put it into practice."

[People don’t realize it, but you’re quite impatient,] Tysche whispered.

[Insecure might be a more accurate word,] Ananke corrected. [He’s insecure about the outcome of things, and that insecurity pushes him to rush. It’s mainly a problem of lacking confidence in himself and struggling to believe that things might turn out well if he doesn’t constantly push himself.]

"That’s... how do you know me this well?"

[Heh.] Ananke let out a chuckle.

Cassius let out a long, steamy breath.

"I... I’ll work on it. I’ll take things slowly from now on, or at least try to. It’ll give me enough time to properly sort through the dragon memories I’ve received. Besides, I wouldn’t mind spending some time training with Master to prepare for the Wastelands. That’s still almost two weeks away."

[What about our meeting?] Persephone asked.

"Is there any need? You already know everything I would have said from the others." He shrugged. "What else do you want us to talk about?"

[I just want to know how much you remember of your past life. And how... how come you have changed so much?] She was perplexed. [Only one wife? You, Adonis? How does that make sense?]

"I am also curious about how Adonis managed more than one wife. If I am truly his reincarnation, then something doesn’t add up here." Cassius tilted his head. "I am a monogamous man. I always have been."

[...Uhm.] The Reluctant Queen didn’t say anything else, lost in thought, and neither did Cassius.

Instead, he closed his eyes again, intending to sleep some more.

"Let me sleep again," he muttered, kissing Stella and hugging her tighter.

His Master would have to wait a bit longer to see him.

—End of Chapter 489—