"Looks like it went well."
When he returned to his bedroom, Akira was sitting on the edge of the mattress, with a leg crossed over the other and arms folded. The look in her eyes, when she started at Varian, was one of disdain and…suspicion.
"You killed the two peak rank 2s that day. But to think you're actually a rank 3…you hid well." Akira's gaze was piercing, like a scientist's gaze toward an experimental monkey.
"You don't seem worried about it." Without much worry, Varian sat right next to her and said.
Akira's brows furrowed and she scowled at him.
H-How dare he? How dare he sit next to her and talk like an equal?
"Do you really think I won't kill you? Your job is done and that means, your use is over." She clutched Varian's neck before he could react and leaned her face toward his.
Her crimson eyes gazed into his pitch-black eyes and a thick killing intent enveloped Varian.
Varian could escape this predicament by elementalizing and teleporting. Of course, an Adept—the pursuer of a perfect cosmic body—could still injure him badly, but the surprise element would ensure he'd manage to get away.
But he didn't make any attempts to escape. He simply stayed still and looked at Akira as she tightened her grip.
Her finger impressions slowly imprinted on Varian's skin and the bones began to slowly crack.
"Why don't you speak?" Akira sneered as she felt blood slowly seep out of his neck. "Have you accepted your death?"
"…Well, I'm currently recording everything that's happening here. If you continue to mistreat me, then this recording and the real secret about the medicine will reach the Duke in seconds." Varian said calmly.
Akira's pupils dilated for a moment before she slammed him onto the bed. "Don't lie, the Duke won't share his contact with someone like you."
The mattress exploded and the bed split into two. Thankfully, Akira wasn't too forceful as the floor only cracked and didn't split open.
Varian lay on the floor, putting his hands behind his head and resting on it, a leg crossed over another as he said. "I'm his lifesaver. Giving me contact isn't surprising."
With a swipe of his fingers, a small holographic card popped up in front of Akira.
Her chest heaved up and down and she glared at him viciously. "You scummy bastard! Aren't you afraid I'll kill you?"
Saying so, she activated the life strand in his body.
Or she should've.
Unknown to her, Varian had already separated the strand from his body and sealed it up in a sphere build-up of order.
It's pretty hard but he already had the experience with the death strand. So, he was able to do it in just a few days.
Still, he had to put up an act, right?
"Ugh, argh, aaaah~" Varian groaned and writhed on the ground.
"…" Akira looked at his blatant faking with dumbfounded eyes.
H-How did he overcome it? No rank 3, even rank 4 should be able to do that.
How?
"Arghhh~"
"…Stop! Your faking is so obvious! Stop it!" Akira screamed.
Varian sat up and looked at her with teary eyes.
"But I tried." His voice was on the verge of a breakdown and he choked back his tears. "I really did."
Akira exploded into anger and was about to lash at him when he smirked at her. "Patience, lady. Or whatever you're planning against the Duke won't come to fruition. Don't touch me and I won't touch your plan. We'll go our separate ways after that day."
"You'll pay for this one day, I swear," Akira vowed and left.
Varian cracked his neck and stretched his arms. His posture looked casual but only his eyes were bone-chillingly cold.
He caressed his neck which still had the deep fingerprints and said word by word. "Pay? Of course, I'll pay. With your head."
A rank 4 was a big deal for him just a few weeks ago. But now, it's inevitable sooner or later.
If Akira knew Varian, she'd be questioning how many months did she have?
"Anyway," Varian snapped his fingers.
A white light spread out from his fingertips and enveloped the exploded mattress, split bed, and the cracked-floor.
Then, the exploded mattress got back together, the split bed joined and the cracked floor reverted to its former self.
"Manipulating matter isn't very hard when you have the power order in your hands," Varian smirked.
His bracelet shone and it was a message from Theoron.
[Mr. Constantine, the guards have changed their treatment towards me suddenly. They aren't letting me out. I'm under house arrest, I'm afraid.]
Varian's lips curled up. "Good job, Akira."
He then sent a message to the Princess.
[Your boy is waiting for you in the Eagle Quarters, Room 5C7Y.]
He didn't need to tell her to look out for guards or keep the meeting a secret. Catherine was a bit emotional and even righteous, but she wasn't dumb.
What would others say when the Princess meets an unknown man in his house before her marriage? That's obvious for everyone.
He wasn't much worried about their meeting. What really bothered him was the Duke and the future that awaited him.
In his room, the Duke was still drinking a strong wine. As he stared into the distant sky, his younger years passed in his mind.
'I was so energetic, so bright, so hopeful of the future…'
How long had it been since he felt this 'old'?
Cassius looked at the wrinkled skin on his arms and gritted his teeth.
'I regret going on that adventure. I shouldn't have been so reckless. I regret…'
His eyes grew moist and he dreamed of a life where he didn't make the wrong choice.
A life where he left the Duchy right after the war and established himself in better, larger places.
'I…I'll be a rank 6, I'll have a good family, I don't have to be Duke, I can just enjoy my life.'
Tears slowly slid down his wrinkled cheeks.
Why? Why was he so obsessed with reviving Centaurus?
The Duke wiped the corners of his eyes.
It wasn't that he loved Centaurus to the point of death. No.
It's just that…in his hellish life, it's the only thing that kept him going. It was the only thing he could do so that reality wouldn't catch up to him.
If he left the dream, then he'd have to confront that his present was terrible, his future was hopeless, and his past meaningless.
There's nothing more terrifying to a man than such a bleak reality.
So, Cassius dreamed. He dreamed of a Centaurus with no poverty, no fear, no hunger, no crime.
He dreamed of a Centaurus whose ruler was praised, not just in public but also in private, after people were drunk and said whatever was on their minds.
He dreamed of a life where he didn't regret his actions. A life where his struggle amounted to something. Anything.
He dreamed of a death during which his chest was light from the weight of regrets.
"Yes, one day, one day, Centaurus will be revived," Cassius muttered his obsession one more time.
