Chapter 46: I am no Cinderella, I don’t need a Prince

Chapter 46: I am no Cinderella, I don’t need a Prince Cass was an idiot. He regretted agreeing to share a carriage with Lord Vespertine as soon as the carriage rolled around the corner. It was the most gaudy shit he’d ever seen. If Lord Blackburn was dark gothic, Lord Vespertine was white gothic. His carriage looked like it had rolled right out of Cinderella and she was going to climb off at any second. All he was missing was the damn mice, and he’d be there. Stealing a glance at Lord Vespertine, it made perfect sense. The man was the perfect Prince Charming. It made him disgusted as he happily chatted away to his aides. They had a damn second carriage for the aides, so Sam wasn’t even going to be able to save him. Sir Forsythe was going to use his horse to trail behind them, and that had been the plan the whole time so Cass didn’t want to ask him to get in the carriage with him. Fuck. Cass was fucked. He was even more fucked when Lord Vespertine offered to help him into the carriage, like some kind of damsel. It was even worse when he smirked at him, those damn blue eyes sparkling. "I can’t have both Fiona and Draken mad at me for treating you poorly." Cass had already put his hand in his, and Lord Vespertine’s grip was tight. This fucker. He couldn’t pull his hand out if he wanted. Thankfully, he didn’t yank him into the carriage, and had let him get in on his own. But that comment alone had made every hair on Cass’ body stand on end. That was not a good sign for him, and had been a good indicator of how their conversations were going to go. Cass had done his best to ignore him, keeping his hood up even as they were in the carriage. Lord Vespertine had been so kind to even take his hat off, showing off his perfect blonde hair. Cass would never admit that he’d once wanted blonde hair. He’d felt boring with his brown hair, and had wanted to stand out. He regretted his thoughts now, since he had a step above blond hair, and Lord Blackburn wasn’t exactly known for blending in. It had been commented on several times in the novel that Lord Blackburn had had a rather...interesting sense of style. Cass hated that he was experiencing that first hand. "So, you had several plans for the day in town? What were you going to get up to today without anyone watching you?" Lord Vespertine asked cheerfully, but Cass could feel the way he was probing him. Cass swallowed, pulling his hood down further over his eyes. "I was just planning to do a little shopping and check on how the town was developing." Cass didn’t feel like that was a strange thing to say. Apparently, Lord Vespertine didn’t agree. "You? Shopping? I have never heard those words together. You surprise me, Lord Cassian. I never would have thought that you knew how to shop." Cass felt uncomfortable with the way he was addressing him so comfortably. He’d gotten used to the sense of formality that came with this time, that it felt strange to have someone speak to him relatively casually. It also felt weird to hear Cassian out loud. It was so close to his real name, it made him nervous. "Of course I know how to shop. It would be embarrassing if the next Duke couldn’t shop." Cass muttered and Lord Vespertine chuckled. "Well, it would be embarrassing. Not as embarrassing as having to marry for the title and not for love, but that’s quite normal these days, isn’t it?" Cass did his best not to flinch. "Ah, of course, I wasn’t speaking about you, Lord Cassian. I know you would never marry for such reasons." He knew that Lord Vespertine was trying to get a rise out of him, but Cass didn’t view a marriage of convenience as a bad thing. He’d always felt that he would have had to do something similar in his real life. Not that his sister cared that he was gay or straight, but more so that she wouldn’t worry. And marriages of convenience weren’t always done between men and women. He for sure would have ended up in one with a man. He just...didn’t think he was capable of the same level of love that he could see between his sister and her husband. "I don’t see there to be anything wrong with marriages like that, Lord Vespertine. Love sometimes doesn’t come naturally to some of us, and I feel like it’s rather narrow-minded of you to say that." Cass told him, glancing at Lord Vespertine’s shocked expression before he turned to stare out the window. There wasn’t much to see, since the curtains were drawn, but he could at least pretend. "Well, I’ll be. I had no idea you were so sympathetic to others. I should have trapped you in a carriage with me sooner, Lord Cassian." Cass doubted that this conversation topic would have gone over well with Lord Blackburn. Even if the two of them shared similar traits, Cass didn’t think they shared a lot of the same thoughts. The fact that Lord Vespertine was so shocked told him that. Or, that no one had even bothered to try to get past Lord Blackburn’s hard exterior until Cass arrived. Until he had been injured. That thought alone made Cass’ blood boil. "I doubt that we would have had a conversation like this, Lord Vespertine. I believe everyone knows I’ve gotten more ’chatty’ since my accident." Cass deadpanned and Lord Vespertine grinned. "Oh, everyone knows that. The whole castle is in a buzz about it! A shame that you rarely show your face, but I do catch glimpses of you haunting the halls every now and then." Cass was sure he was trying to insult him, he had the feeling from the way he was looking at him, but he couldn’t help but laugh. Haunt the halls? It fucking checked out. He felt like a sickly Victorian child most times. It was a very apt description. "Well, I certainly shouldn’t be haunting anywhere else, now should I?" Cass asked him, smirking and Lord Vespertine seemed surprised, before his expression relaxed. Cass wondered if he was being this expressive intentionally. He had a feeling that he was. Lord Vespertine hadn’t been this reactive to his words the last few times they had spoken. In fact, his expressions had remained mainly neutral, like Lord Ridgewood, but today... Was this his front? His face? Was this what he was like when he was ’working over’ someone? Cass knew all about fronts, and working voices and things of that nature. He had done the same back in his time. He’d started working as soon as he was legally able to. "I, uh, s-so! You plan to check out the development of the town? Is there any reason why? Are you planning to invest?" Cass gave Lord Vespertine a look under his hood. "Lord Vespertine, are you honestly implying that I haven’t already? I wouldn’t be from one of the most wealthy families in the kingdom if I didn’t have my fingers in almost every pot, now would I?" Lord Vespertine seemed surprised at the candid way Cass was speaking, before Cass turned his head towards the window again. "That being said, I am deeply curious about how they maintain their good relationship with their neighbours. I wanted to investigate that while I was in town, and see if they have any marketable goods that we could promote around the Kingdom. If we are planning to live here, we need to make sure that we have everything we need within reach." Cass said. It wasn’t a lie. If Cass was going to live here, he was going to make sure that he could have everything that he would need within hands reach. He barely knew what this world could offer him since he’d been stuck inside his chambers this whole time. He knew he couldn’t participate in the food culture, which did suck. He was a fried chicken fanatic in his old time, and also loved fish and chips, but he doubted that they were on the menu here. He would just have to find the source of why he wasn’t able to eat what he wanted here, and why he had so many allergies. Sam was still being tight lipped about it. It was surprising, since the man wasn’t known for being so. What had made him remain quiet? Cass wasn’t going to punish him for saying whatever he did? Was he still worried that he was going to? Like the old Lord Blackburn would do? It stung, but Cass also understood. He hadn’t even been here for a month yet, and old habits die hard. "Well well. You came into town to work? How boring, Lord Cassian. I had thought you were coming into town to do something fun, but it turns out it was just plain old boring. I’m devastated. It sounds like I am going to have to take you shopping to show you how to have fun." Cass’ eyes went wide and he turned his head quickly, falling for his trap. Lord Vespertine was waiting for Cass to drop his guard just the slightest so that he could blow Cass’ hood off with his magic, revealing partially what Cass looked like today, and what he was wearing. He wasn’t wearing a completely black outfit, and instead was wearing a mostly dark brown outfit. It had been buried in the back of his closet. Cass had no idea why it had been shoved to the back of his closet, but seeing the pleased, feline smile that crossed Lord Vespertine’s expression, he now knew the reason. "Is this why you were being so shy? My goodness, Lord Cassian, that’s an adorable reason! No wonder those two have become fascinated with you so quickly! Come on, take off the cloak! I want to see it on you in its entirety! I bought it for you, after all? Gosh, how long has it been since I did that? A year? Longer? And you still fit it? You were skinny back then, so to imagine that you are the same now is frightening." He shuddered, his eyes bright as he continued to pull on the cloak. The carriage began to rock as Cass resisted, and Cass could feel himself beginning to panic. He’d heard about how unstable these carriages were once they were moving. This was dangerous. "L-Lord Vespertine, please! I do not want to show you!" Lord Vespertine frowned at Cass’ words. "Why not? I bought those for you, so you should show me! Honestly, you should have shown me when you wore them for the first time too, so I’ll settle for now. Come on, take off that shapeless cloak right this instant!" Cass was even more flustered, and was doing his best to resist the stronger man. "T-This is no way-ah!" The carriage went over a bump and Cass lost all grip he had on his side of the carriage. With wide, scared eyes, Cass was flung back towards Lord Vespertine, who had been tugging on him. Cass let out a little scream as the two collided, and Lord Vespertine caught him. Cass bumped his head against Lord Vespertine’s, and cursing, rubbing the spot almost immediately. "Fuck!" Cass exclaimed, before he gasped, covering his mouth right away. Lord Vespertine, who was experiencing several shocks, stared at the smaller man who he’d caught, who had just sworn for the first time he’d ever heard or known of. Lord Vespertine burst into laughter, his whole body shaking the carriage. "S-Stop laughing! The carriage!" Cass protested, the seal broken and Lord Vespertine laughed harder. "Lord Vespertine!" Cass felt desperate, shifting uncomfortably as he came to the sudden realisation that he was in the other man’s lap. Suddenly self conscious, Cass tried to escape his grip while Lord Vespertine tightened it. "I can’t let you go back there now, now can I, Lord Cassian?" Lord Vespertine’s eyes were dangerously bright, and the way he brought his face closer to Cass’ made him flush. Cass squeaked as he felt Lord Vespertine’s hand slide up his back, pushing him closer to Lord Vespertine who was grinning like a cat who’d gotten the cream. "L-Lord Vespertine! This is not-This is not appropriate!" Cass protested and Lord Vespertine gasped in fake surprise. He covered his mouth with his hand, before dropping it back to cover Cass’ backside. Cass flinched. "Oh? Is it? I had no idea. Let me fix that." Cass felt all of the air leave his lungs as Lord Vespertine pulled them even closer together until their crotches were flush against each other and Cass knew his face had to be burning. "There. Now we are well and truly not appropriate, don’t you think?" Cass was doing everything he could not to look Lord Vespertine in the eye. What in the world did this man have planned? And why Cass?