(BL) The Villain wants a Divorce!

Since Lucian had left so quickly, Cass didn’t get a chance to speak to him about his plan to overcome his hell week by micro-dosing. With that being said, Cass felt like he’d probably micro-dosed enough for the day.

He had other fish to fry.

Sam was coming back. Sir Forsythe was on his way to the mansion. Cass hoped that Sir Forsythe got there in time to deal with the shitstorm that Lucian was going to drop into his lap. Cass did send a magical note to the mansion that they were to deliver to Sir Forsythe once he arrived.

It wasn’t encoded per se, but it definitely left a lot up to the imagination. It just told Sir Forsythe to keep a good eye on Fiona’s section of the manor. That was all.

Sir Forsythe was a smart man. He’d get that something was up.

What that did leave Cass with was an Edgar who was in shock, and also pissed that his family was being fucked with, a distraught Lady Ava, and an equally distraught and pissed off Fiona.

And two guards who weren’t human in the slightest.

So Cass got to work. He sent word to Duke Vespertine immediately so that he knew about the situation and that he was planning to do something about it. With or without his collaboration.

It was a short half an hour after Cass had sent the letter that an aide from the Duke was back at his door, holding a letter and offering his own assistance. He was a mage, able to communicate with the Duke easily, and it was a sign. A sign that the Duke was pissed, and wanted to collaborate with Cass on this.

Cass was pleased that the Duke bent over so quickly. He immediately asked the Duke to find Lord Ridgewood and bring him into his mansion. He didn’t want someone else to get to Lord Ridgewood before them. Not that he doubted that Lord Ridgewood couldn’t stand up for himself, but Cass had a sneaking suspicion that the two other Ducal families had their fucking fingers in this.

He was sure his grandfather did. There wasn’t a doubt in his mind. So soon after he’d moved into this estate? There was no fucking way. Plus, the girls weren’t straight. If he had a few eyes on them anyone would be able to tell, and that would make that old fucker pissed.

Cass wanted his head on a silver platter, but it felt too soon. That, and Lord Blackburn was the first to remind him that he didn’t know what shitty evil clause the man had put into his will to fuck Cass over from getting the title of Duke.

Why this title was so important to Lord Blackburn, he didn’t know. He wasn’t going to spit in the face of his desires, even if it was driving him up the wall. It would be so much easier for Cass to deal with this situation if he didn’t have to worry about the life of a shitty, homophobic old man. Someone who probably had never known what love was his whole fucking life, and got off on others being miserable.

At least when Lord Blackburn was evil, he wasn’t ’I hate gay people and wish they would burn’ evil. He was just, ’I’m going to use your secrets against you’ evil. You know, classic shit. Lord Blackburn hadn’t gone burning villages to the ground and blaming it on an enemy force. That was what his grandfather did.

Lord Blackburn hadn’t burned people alive because they liked the same sex. That was his grandfather.

What had Lord Blackburn done? Secretly undermine every damn noble in the Kingdom, get his fingers in every damn pie and put people in charge of monitoring said pies so that he could wiggle even deeper and deeper until there was no way that the Kingdom would be able to survive if he pulled his funding.

He was a true, classic evil villain. Billionaire didn’t even cover what Lord Blackburn was.

The fact he was being held back by an old man with a fucking complex was wild, along with the fact that he’d had to steal from the hero party. That was insane to Cass as he discovered more and more about Lord Blackburn. The man had weird standards. Weird lines he wouldn’t cross.

Cass wasn’t like Lord Blackburn. He wasn’t afraid to flex his fingers, to show how much of the pie he was holding in his hands. He wasn’t afraid to lose a little bit of pie because hell, it was just the filling. Cass still had the crust.

Let the fools think that they had won. Negotiated with him. Won.

Cass was going to be the winner in the end, and they would look like damn fools.

Did this go against his ’changing his image’ plan? Yes. Was this a necessary step to keep the hero party together? That could be argued, but Cass also thought that it was important. The hero party saw him in a new light, and that could be argued as the main point.

His mission was to not make the same mistakes as Lord Blackburn. Flexing his villain muscles to save the people in the hero party felt like the right thing to do. That, and it made Cass feel good.

He couldn’t deny that part. Oooo, he was simply overjoyed that he was going to be able to fuck up these shitty nobles. It was going to be sooooooo satisfying to watch them squirm as they realised that Cass was giving them what they wanted, but that it wasn’t going to satisfy their desires.

To watch him acquiesce, but know, deep down, that something was terribly and horribly wrong. To see Cass, in all of his dressed up, villain aura say, ’sure. We can do that’, but watch as a shiver ran down their spine.

Oo. Cass was so excited to watch the joy fade from their eyes as they got exactly what they wanted, and more. Like a twisted genie, Cass was gleeful as he plotted.

Fiona and Edgar had been wonderful helpers in the 12 hours since Cass had found out their plan. They had first done damage control with Lady Ava. She had been, as Fiona had said, practically catatonic. The poor girl.

Cass could feel sympathy for her. It was something he had always felt sympathy for her over. They had married her off in this world, and in the story as well. At least in the story she married a noble from this Kingdom. To try and ship her away? So fucked up.

They had proven that they didn’t care about her feelings and while Cass didn’t get along with her, that wasn’t okay either.

Fiona forced her to come down for breakfast and Cass watched the puffy-eyed woman spoon food into her mouth, a shell of herself. Cass was going to have to give her a pep talk soon, because they couldn’t have her like that if he wanted his plan to work. She was going to have to be herself. She could still cry, since that was a Lady Ava trait, but she needed to be stronger.

She needed a backbone.

With that said, she could mope for a little longer. He had a feeling that Fiona doting on her for a little bit was working for both women, since she looked a bit better after spending time alone with Lady Ava.

Edgar had spoken to Lady Ava, before he came down to help Cass. Cass, being careful, had forced Edgar to sign a magical contract that would mean that Edgar could not tell anyone else about what he read while he was helping Cass. Cass didn’t have his people with him, but he needed help.

He needed to go through his files, his papers, and Edgar was one of the people who was around who could help him. Edgar seemed a bit offended by the contract at first, but didn’t kick up a fuss. After seeing the first seriously incriminating files, Edgar seemed to come to a realisation why Cass had made him sign the contract.

Cass had basically handed Edgar all proof that Cass, and the Blackburn family, ran the Kingdom. The King was basically a placeholder, but he was sure that the King wasn’t even aware of it, nor was anyone else.

The Blackburn family had been able to cover up their tracks. While most people joked that they owned everything, it wasn’t far from the truth.

Lord Blackburn had several names he did business under, and he had a rather solid paper trail that clouded up who owned what. Cass had good people who worked for him. Er, Lord Blackburn had good people who worked for him.

Cass couldn’t take credit for his work. It felt...wrong.

Edgar, after getting over his initial shock, was a great help. He knew what Cass was looking for because he knew how the nobles thought. He was able to gather information that Cass could use, and Cass was grateful for that.

Within 24 hours, Cass had compiled enough evidence to sink the whole Kingdom in one fell swoop, and it made him a little giddy.

But now he had something else to worry about. While Cass had been busy plotting and scheming, two very important people in his life had arrived into town. Cass had been awake for over 24 hours at this point, with even Fiona and Lady Ava taking breaks. Hell, even Edgar had taken a nap on the couch in Cass’ office.

Cass, however, had not. He’d been eating, mainly because Edgar threatened to do more than smooch him if he didn’t. They were good threats, even if Edgar protested that they shouldn’t work as well as they did. He was smiling as he complained, so it took some of the hurt out of them.

What Cass was not ready for was the way Sam flung the office door open, Byron a blue haired dark shadow behind him.

”My Lord! What’s this about you not resting?!” Sam sounded distraught, absolutely beside himself. ”You must take breaks, my Lord! Your body is precious, and fragile right now!” Sam cried. ”And why didn’t you call for me right away, my Lord? Did I do something to displease you?” Cass, who had been vigorously writing out a step by step plan, was slack jawed as he stared up at the relatively normal-looking man.

The freckles, the brown hair, brown eyes, and the trembling bottom lip. It was Sam.

He was here, and Cass was, no doubt, in trouble.

”S-Sam! It’s so good to see you!” Cass said carefully, putting down his pen and moving papers to cover up his villainous plan. Sam would be even more distraught to find out he was plotting without him.

It seemed that Sam had already been informed, as his bottom lip trembled more and tears formed in his eyes.

”I-I hear you’re plotting to overthrow the monarchy. Without me?” Sam asked in a small voice and Cass knew he was in trouble.

Concerned, and unsure how to comfort him, Cass got up from his desk. He pushed his chair back, his hands out as he approached the other man. Byron, behind him, didn’t look much better. He too, had tears in his black eyes. He looked about as upset as Sam did.

They certainly were two peas in a pod, weren’t they? Ganging up on him to make him feel bad.