Chapter 133: The Rumour and the Truth

Chapter 133: Chapter 133: The Rumour and the Truth

The last of the fighting was quickly brought under control.

Bran wiped the blood from the edge of his blade before sheathing it and stepping forward.

"Your Grace, we managed to capture two of them alive. We’ll take them back to the manor and question them as usual."

Cassiel merely acknowledged him with a faint hum.

His attention had already shifted elsewhere.

Bran studied his lord for a moment, unable to conceal the relief in his eyes.

Seeing Cassiel standing again had stirred joy that he had not felt in a very long time.

Yet beneath the happiness was an unmistakable concern.

"Your Grace, shall I lend you my arm?"

Cassiel did not even look at him.

His gaze had settled on Elysia instead.

She remained where she was, staring at him with an expression that was difficult to decipher.

The astonishment had faded from her face, but something heavier had taken its place.

"Are you frightened?" Cassiel asked quietly.

Elysia shook her head.

"No."

"Then come here."

She hesitated for only a moment before walking towards him.

She stopped beside him.

"What is it?"

Cassiel glanced down at the small distance between them.

"Too far."

Elysia blinked.

Then she obediently took another step.

That was when Cassiel let go of the sword in his hand.

The weapon struck the ground with a dull metallic sound.

Before Elysia could react, his weight shifted towards her.

She instinctively reached out and caught him.

"Can’t stand."

Bran, whose arm had been hovering uselessly in mid-air, stared blankly at the two of them.

He had just been ignored.

Completely.

Elysia tightened her hold on Cassiel.

"Your legs still haven’t recovered?"

"No."

Cassiel’s voice was noticeably weaker than it had been moments ago.

"I forced myself to get up earlier."

He lowered his head and coughed lightly.

"I pushed it too far. The effects of the wine seem to be returning. I feel a little unsteady."

Bran’s expression became increasingly strange.

He looked at Cassiel leaning against Elysia.

Then at the sword lying nearby.

Then back at Cassiel.

Something about this was profoundly difficult to accept.

In the past, His Grace could remain on the battlefield from dawn until nightfall without eating or drinking.

Once, he had taken a sword through the shoulder and had continued fighting as though the wound were nothing more than a scratch.

And now...

He had apparently become dizzy simply because he had stood too quickly?

Bran’s face twitched.

"Should we summon a physician?" Elysia asked immediately.

"Yes."

Cassiel turned his head slightly towards Bran.

"Bring Doctor Wulfric Grey."

Bran straightened at once.

"Yes, Your Grace."

He hurried off to carry out the order, though his mind was still struggling to reconcile what he had just witnessed.

Cassiel lowered his eyes to Elysia.

"Wulfric is an old friend. One of the few people in Caelvyr whom I trust."

He paused briefly.

"He was away from the capital for some time. He only returned recently."

Elysia gave a small nod.

She knew exactly who he meant.

Doctor Wulfric Grey was hardly an obscure physician. His reputation had spread throughout Caelvyr and beyond.

In her previous life, Wulfric had been the one to treat Cassiel after his condition deteriorated, eventually managing to bring him out of his coma.

But his medical achievements were not the only reason people spoke about him.

His appearance had become almost legendary.

They said his lips were as delicate as rose petals and his teeth as white as pearls. His features were so exquisitely beautiful that they were often described as feminine, though there was nothing delicate about his temperament.

Women admired him.

Men admired him too—sometimes with considerably less restraint.

More than one person had deliberately sought his medical services merely for the opportunity to get close to him, only to discover that Wulfric possessed a temper far sharper than his handsome appearance suggested.

Perhaps that was one reason he preferred travelling outside Caelvyr.

A fresh carriage was soon brought around.

Cassiel settled back into his wheelchair, concealing his earlier strength as though he had never risen from it at all.

The guards remained behind to deal with the aftermath of the ambush while Cassiel and Elysia returned to Draevenor Manor.

By the time they reached the estate, Bran and Wulfric had yet to arrive.

Elysia helped Cassiel into the main hall and settled him onto the chaise.

The familiar surroundings gradually calmed her, but as she stood beside him, another memory surfaced.

Wulfric and Cassiel had known one another since childhood.

Wulfric was only a few years younger, and the two had always been unusually close.

In her previous life, that closeness had fuelled an absurd rumour throughout Caelvyr.

Some had whispered that Cassiel’s beloved was not a woman at all.

It was Wulfric.

The theory had been ridiculous, yet there had been no shortage of people willing to defend it.

Cassiel was unmarried.

Wulfric was unmarried too.

Wulfric spent most of his time travelling from one place to another, practising medicine. Yet whenever Cassiel sent him a letter, he would return to Caelvyr.

There were countless other little details that people had pieced together until, in the minds of gossip-loving nobles, the two men had become an oddly convincing pair.

One was a powerful duke.

The other was a renowned physician.

Both were exceptionally accomplished, strikingly handsome, and—most importantly—unmarried.

The more Elysia thought about it, the more ridiculous the whole thing seemed.

She almost laughed.

Almost.

Realising she had been standing there lost in her thoughts, she turned to leave.

Her wrist was caught before she could take a second step.

Elysia looked down.

Cassiel was still holding her.

"What is it?"

His voice was quieter now.

"I’m unwell."

His fingers tightened slightly around her wrist.

"Stay with me for a while."

The request immediately softened her.

Elysia sat down beside him again.

Cassiel did not let go of her hand.

For a moment, neither of them spoke.

Then he asked, "Do you remember what I told you in that room at Merlinspire Manor?"

Elysia froze.

Of course she remembered.

The instant the memory returned, so did the sensation of his lips against hers.

Her cheeks grew warm.

She lowered her gaze, pretending to consider his question.

"You mean what you said about the aphrodisiac wine?"

She paused.

"And that kissing you would make you feel better?"

A quiet laugh escaped Cassiel.

"Not only that."

His thumb moved slowly across the back of her hand.

"I also told you that my beloved is you."

Elysia’s eyes widened.

She stared at him.

For a moment, her mind went completely blank.

Then a hundred questions rushed in at once.

She did not know which one to ask first.

Cassiel simply watched her, giving her as much time as she needed.

At last, Elysia swallowed.

"Is it the truth?"

Her voice was barely audible.

At Merlinspire Manor, she had assumed his words were nothing more than the reckless nonsense of a man affected by the wine.

Her sister-in-law had once warned her that men could become especially persuasive when caught up in passion. They would say whatever a woman wanted to hear, showering her with sweet words simply to coax her into lowering her guard.

So Elysia had never believed Cassiel meant it.

"Yes."

There was no hesitation in his answer.

Her heart began beating faster.

Elysia bit her lip, uncertainty clouding her expression.

"But..."

She struggled to find the right words.

"When you first knew of me, I was very young."

Her fingers curled slightly within his grasp.

"Barely in my teens."

She hesitated before adding,

"Although... I suppose things were different in those days."

In poor and struggling households, girls could be married astonishingly young. Fourteen was hardly unusual.

Some families married their daughters even earlier.

Even eight or nine was not entirely unheard of.

It was only recently that the King had issued a decree forbidding marriage before the age of fifteen for both men and women.