Last Born Of The Desdemona

Chapter 491: Chapter 491: Her Name Is Stella

Chapter 491 – Her Name Is Stella

The runic elevator plunged into silence after Cassandra’s words. Neither Bishop nor Cassius was in any position to say anything, completely caught off guard by the revelation.

Brother?

So the person Cassandra had been mourning for years was not even her lover, but her brother?

To say they were surprised would be an understatement.

At least the silence was broken as the door of the runic elevator closed with a sharp metallic sound, letting the tension ease a little.

Cassius turned slightly, reached out, and pressed the 0 button on the control panel to go to the lowest floor.

The runic elevator began to descend, and Alexander Bishop asked the one question that puzzled him.

"How?" he said, his blind eye itching. "You don’t have any brother, from what I remember. The Widow of the Goddess only has you as a daughter."

’True,’ Cassius thought, confused himself. ’Who could this brother she is talking about be?’

"You are asking too many questions, Bishop. Don’t pry into my affairs," Cassandra said with real irritation.

She never liked talking about her brother, for she knew none of these people would truly understand.

How could they?

What would they think if she told them she was not from this world? That before being Cassandra, she had been Stella, daughter of two ordinary people she could no longer recall, but most definitely the sister of Noah?

How could she say that before entering this world, she had been in a realm between the living and the dead, and there, she had met the soul of a being long past and forgotten? The soul of the one known as the Devourer of Spirits, which she had eaten without even realizing the consequences, and that she was now plagued by power and fragments of memories unknown to most?

How could she tell all of this to these two men?

Cassandra would have loved to.

She enjoyed Cassius’s company, and Bishop... she was not indifferent to him. But a relationship was built on transparency, and she couldn’t be transparent with anyone.

So she chose silence, and chose to remain just as she had always been since she came here: alone.

’It’s better to be alone and remain yourself than to be surrounded by others and lose yourself out of fear of what they might think or do.’

Bishop fell silent after her words, recognizing the pattern of Cassandra retreating into her shell. He sighed, annoyed, but could do nothing about it.

Cassius was feeling quite awkward, so much so that Stella was hissing softly, snuggling deeper into him as if seeking the comfort the runic elevator lacked.

Suddenly, his mouth opened, and words slipped past his lips before he even realized he was speaking, the realization coming only after he had already said them.

"I, too, have... lost a sibling. A sister, to be more precise."

"Hm?" Both Cassandra and Bishop flicked their eyes towards him, surprised by the sudden words.

Cassius himself was too. But he continued anyway. "And before you ask, no, it’s not one of the Desdemona. And I think that’s why I can understand Cassandra here. Because someone doesn’t need to be related to you by blood to be seen as a brother or a sister." He looked jokingly at Bishop. "Am I not your brother, Bishop?"

Alexander chuckled briefly. "Of course you are. It’s hard being the youngest and only male sibling in a house dominated by women. I gladly welcome you."

"How did you lose her?" Cassandra asked, strangely interested in Cassius’s story.

"In a random accident," the Last Born replied. "It happened without notice, without warning. One moment I was saying goodbye to her, and mind you, she was crying the last time I saw her, hahah, like the crybaby she was, and the next, I received the news that she... was dead. Not a glorious or extraordinary death. Just one of the many that happen all over the world."

The Drunken Widow’s heart was hammering against her chest, these words strangely... familiar? Her breathing slowly grew unsteady, and her eyes became completely transfixed on Cassius’s face.

"How old... was she when she died?" she asked again, this time in a slightly trembling tone.

"Too young. She was less than two years old," Cassius replied, his eyes glazing over as though he were swimming through memories of a distant past. "Maybe that’s what makes it so hard to accept. Because sometimes, I find myself wondering just what kind of woman she would have become if she were still... alive. What would she have liked to do? What would she have enjoyed watching? What would her hobbies have been, and what kind of dreams and goals would she have wanted to pursue?" He chuckled dryly. "That’s the thing about seeing people leave this world far too soon."

The Last Born smiled sadly, and Stella hissed with that same sadness, gently rubbing her head against his cheek. "You’re left with the memories of who they were, and the curse of forever wondering what they could have become if only — if only, guys, if only! — they were still alive."

"Oh," Bishop exclaimed, his eyes slightly wide. Those words hit something deep within him, as memories he had thought forgotten clawed their way back into his mind.

Cassandra was having a harder time. The more Cassius talked, the more she had this strange, unbelievable feeling that maybe he could understand her?

Maybe he could hear about Noah and not judge her, or look at her as if she were imagining a whole other life.

But more than that, why... just why did Cassius’s smile suddenly remind her of her brother Noah’s?

Not the young Noah she had last known when she died.

But the Noah she kept dreaming of, especially in one dream... one dream where Noah was braiding her hair, talking about something she could no longer remember after waking up.

And recalling that strange, vivid dream, Cassandra asked one last question just as the runic elevator reached the ground floor, its door slowly opening.

"What do you do to bear the pain of losing your sister?" she said with a hint of desperation, of longing. But longing for what, exactly? Cassandra had no idea, yet she quickly went on, "I read a book, Cassius! I read the book ’Still Alive’ to... cope. I do it every day! I even have it on me. And you? What about you, Cassius?! What do you do to cope?!"

Cassius’s eyes widened at the mention of the book. He remembered being given it by his master.

And in his dream, when he had talked with the Stella constructed by his memories and expectations of who she could have been, and braided her hair, she... she had talked about the book.

His heart began to race for reasons unknown, and he replied, "I know the book Still Alive, and I have read it too. I liked it, for it helped me understand and manage my grief without losing myself in it."

The Drunken Widow took a step towards Cassius.

"And as for how I cope," the Last Born said with a slight grin, looking at the white snake around his neck, "I honestly don’t know. But I try my best to always keep her in my mind, as both a comfort and a reminder. And this snake you see here is my little reminder."

"What... what is its name?" Cassandra asked. The door of the runic elevator was fully open now.

Cassius opened his mouth to speak, but suddenly a voice echoed sharply inside his head, filled with irritation.

"You are making me wait now, Cassius Desdemona?" his master, Mallory, said coldly inside his mind.

Her voice was accompanied by the appearance of a white runic circle beneath him.

A teleportation rune.

Cassius cursed. ’Queen’s skirt.’

He quickly looked at Bishop and Cassandra, who were both staring at him in confusion, and smiled wryly. "I am sorry, I think I have made her wait too long. And as for the snake’s name, Cassandra, she is named after the sister I lost."

His smile deepened, and his body flickered with white light and vanished. However, the Last Born still managed to speak the name faster than his master’s teleportation.

"Her name is Stella."

Those last words rang over and over in Cassandra’s mind.

Her legs went weak, and she fell to the floor, her eyes wide open in tremendous shock.

"...W-What?"

—End of Chapter 491—