Chapter 159

Jan 20, 2024

* * *

Just as she had heard, Cassis Pedelian had indeed gone into the burning Castro wing of the castle. Since the Blue clan had been the first to learn of the fire, the Blue Heir and his knights had rushed to offer their assistance with the rescue.

“I’ll head upstairs!” Cassis shouted. “The rest of you try to find out where that noise came from!”

“Yes, sir!”

The fire had made its way rather high up and was already gradually burning overhead. Cassis tasked his men with searching the far less hazardous areas, then proceeded to rush straight up to where he believed the Red clan members were still trapped. He could sense faint life energy in one of the rooms, and upon investigation found a Castro who had suffered from excessive smoke inhalation.

As soon as he noticed the person, he grabbed their arm and hoisted them over his shoulder. All the while, he couldn’t ignore the troubling objects he spotted scattered about the room floor. His expression stiffened once he realized what they were.

“Those are...”

Flutter.

A crimson butterfly suddenly appeared before him. Its movements seemed to be beckoning him to follow.

Roxana.

Then a sharp light flashed in front of him as he continued to stare at the miniature demon’s wings. The familiar scent of the poison butterflies shook him back to his senses. He found it strange, however, that the number of butterflies seemed more concentrated in that specific room.

Even so, he decided to ponder over the issue at a later time and instead hurriedly followed behind the butterfly as he carried the unconscious Red clan member.

* * *

“What’s all this?! What happened to those who were inside?! Have they all been evacuated?!”

“Not yet I’m afraid. Some men have gone back in to rescue them.”

The clan masters all arrived at the scene at the same time. They seemed to have been in the same place when news of the fire reached them. Like everyone else, all they could do was watch helplessly as the flames continued to engulf the building.

“Sis!” Jeremy cried out as he ran to where Roxana stood, but then almost immediately clamped his lips together upon realizing she was preoccupied.

“There they are!”

One after another the people who had gone back to rescue the trapped Castros were returning to the waiting crowd outside. To Roxana’s relief, Cassis was among them and still carrying the unconscious Red clan member she had seen him recover through her butterfly. Badrisha had set to tending to the wounded almost immediately.

“Is everyone safe?”

“A few were burned, but there appear to be no critical injuries, Red Master.”

The medical staff had just finished checking the wounded before making their way to her. To everyone’s collective relief, no one had died as a result of the fire.

The Castro leader’s stiff expression gradually softened as she heard report after report that the members who had been trapped were in stable condition. Luzark had also sustained burns on his arms and legs, but they too were not fatal. He left his mother’s side for only a moment to receive medical attention along with the others.

“M-Master...”

Just as everyone had begun to think the worst was over, the last Castro to escape the burning building called out to Badrisha, then whispered something into her ear. Her softening expression became as firm as stone almost immediately.

“What?! How could tha—?!” She quickly bit her lip as she became aware of the eyes around her, but her face was filled with shock.

“Cassis! Are you all right? Are you hurt?!” Sylvia asked.

“I’m fine. Don’t worry.”

The Blue Princess had rushed to Cassis’ side almost as soon as he had handed over the Red clan member to the medics. Roussel and Jeanne also tended to the knights who had gone into the fire with their son. To the Blue Master and Madame’s relief, they all appeared to be in one piece.

Cassis’ attention immediately turned toward Roxana, but he was only able to meet her gaze for an instant as the crowd of people between them soon blocked his vision. Before too long, the staff were finally able to get the fire under control. A second team was soon organized to reenter the building and check for any other hazards, as well as assess the damage to its interior.

“You can’t go back inside yet!”

“Why not? The fire’s already been put out.”

“It’s still too dangerous, Red Master. Once the search team is fini—”

The back and forth at the still-smoking entrance was hard to miss. Badrisha eventually grit her teeth at the man who insisted she must wait before returning to the Castros’ charred wing. It was inevitable that their clan had no choice but to move their lodgings after the incident. The cause of the fire also remained unknown, but it was rather fortunate that it had not spread to other wings of the castle to displace any of the other clans.

“They’re right, Master Badrisha. If you go in there now, the floor could collapse underneath you or the ceiling might cave in on top of you.” Jeremy spoke as he approached the Castro leader’s side.

“Black Master, y—!” For some reason, she immediately cast him a menacing glare. He in turn raised his brows ever so slightly. However, the Red Master once again chose to speak no further and sealed her lips shut.

“The Black Master is right. Many of your people have been injured, so we should focus on having others help them relocate.”

As the other masters chimed in, Badrisha felt it best to cease speaking for the time being. Even so, her eyes reflected an unspoken panic and anxiety. Roxana noticed the Red Master’s behavior, then slowly made her way to the back of the congregation without a sound.

As she had hoped, no one sensed her movements. As she was slipping away from the crowd, she noticed her younger half-sister standing away from everyone as well. She took a few quick strides toward the teenage girl, then grabbed her arm.

“Hey! Who the hell do you think you’re tou—?! Oh! R-Roxana?” Charlotte’s expression changed from irritation to trepidation almost instantaneously. Jeremy’s recent round of “re-education” did not help stop her eyes from quivering or teeth from chattering. “What is it? What did I do now? I haven’t done any—!”

“Charlotte, listen. I need you to do something for me right now.” The redhead’s eyes widened at her older sister’s whispered request. “Go into the Castro wing, then...” Roxana briefly explained to her younger sister what she needed done, then gently nudged the other girl behind her. “Five minutes should be plenty of time for you. Now go.”

Charlotte was filled with a plethora of questions but decided her best option would be to follow her half-sister’s instructions and move swiftly. When the blond returned to her original position, a few individuals gathered around the entrance of the burned building. Unable to contain her nerves, Badrisha finally stepped forward. “W... Wait! Just a mo—!”

But right at that moment, a hand gently tapped her arm.

“There’s no need to worry, Red Master.”

A calm whisper tickled the Castro leader’s ears. The older woman turned around to see that the hand on her arm belonged to the Black Master’s beautiful sister.

Roxana calmly met her gaze and whispered just loud enough for only her to hear. “I assure you there’s nothing to worry about, so please just act naturally.”

The Castro flinched upon hearing those words. She continued to stare at the Agrece who seemed to have an indescribable glow about her. Jeremy nodded slightly in agreement as he stepped over to his sister’s side.

Badrisha’s hardened expression seemed to refuse any possibility of subsiding, but the tension in her rigid body soon began to relax. By then, the search party had already gone into the burned wing and were finally returning from completing their inspection.

“It’s in better condition than we expected! It should be safe for others to go inside now.”

Contrary to Badrisha’s worries, removing the Red clan’s belongings and moving them to a new wing of the castle proceeded without much trouble. Even so, a look of panic seemed to be swimming in her violet eyes.

Upon further inspection, it was determined the fire was a direct result of one of the Castros’ unattended candles which ignited when a gust of wind from an open window blew the tablecloth they set it upon over the open flame.

Although it was unfortunate that no one had noticed the fire before it spread due to the majority of clan members still returning from the previous night’s festivities, it was for that same reason that no one had been seriously hurt.

“Blue Heir, a moment please.” Without warning, Isidore approached Cassis. He gave his leader a quick whispered report, then the younger man’s golden eyes suddenly appeared to freeze over.

Cassis’ gaze slowly shifted toward Roxana, but he immediately proceeded to turn away without reacting. Aside from the masters and heirs, those who had gathered around slowly began to disperse and return to their respective quarters one after another. The blond mixed in with those who were leaving the scene then hurried back to her room.

“I did as you instructed.” Just as she was about to place her hand on the doorknob, Charlotte returned from completing her mission. “It was just like you said. There weren’t many lying around in that room, but I cut it pretty close being in there. Those inspectors came in sooner than I expected. I couldn’t hide these in there, so I brought them with me. Is that okay?”

The teen was hesitant as she gave her report to her half-sister, but the blond simply reached out toward her.

“Give them here.”

“S-Sure! Here you go.”

Charlotte quickly handed over what she had recovered from the Red clan’s chambers to Roxana, then fell silent. Although she knew what the items were, and would have loved to gossip about them a bit, she also knew better than to do such a thing with her crimson-eyed sister. At the moment, all of her focus was on escaping from what felt like a lion’s den as quickly as possible.

However, the older Agrece continued to hold out her open palm toward the redhead. “Everything.”

“Huh? What else is there?”

Her older sister’s chilling gaze seemed to pierce through Charlotte’s cluelessness and force the younger Agrece to be on guard.

“What you’ve been using without my permission.”