(BL) The Villain wants a Divorce!

The sounds didn’t fade as Cass remained in the bath. Whoever was getting beaten was probably in terrible shape. Cass, feeling a little calmer from the sweet scent of the bubble bath, the soft glow of the candles, and the option to read, finally got out of the bath.

He actually felt a little ridiculous for his reaction, honestly. He was embarrassed.

How embarrassing was it for him to add, once more, to the dramatic stairwell confessions? God, who the hell heard him? The whole mansion? He wasn’t going to be able to look anyone in the eye when he got out of the tub. Tomorrow would be a damn nightmare.

It was made worse by the fact that Lucian, of all people, was right. He had overreacted, only a little bit, and he should see where Edgar was coming from. Did it hurt any less? No, but if he didn’t at least hear him out Cass would be even more upset with himself than with Edgar.

Fiona’s letter had been rather cryptic, if he thought about it. She didn’t clarify how the gods thought this was a good idea, how they would make this right by Cass, none of that. She just said basically that things would work out, so he shouldn’t worry.

She should have known, but now, that that wasn’t going to fly. Cass, angry, but now with a head on his shoulders, summoned his magic. If she hadn’t gotten too far, Cass could send her a one way short message. He didn’t think she could have gotten too far in a day without a dragon helping with transportation. At least, not so far that Cass, and his magic abilities, couldn’t message her.

So, he forged her a message and sent it off.

You’re in big, fucking trouble

Cass thought it got to the point. It was succinct. Perfect. It encapsulated all of Cass’ feelings in five words or less!

That was great for Cass. It was only made better by the fact that Cass got notification that it had been delivered when he was draining the tub. A slow, evil grin touched his lips.

Yeah, he hoped she fucking sweated, thinking that he was going to chase them.

He wasn’t going to. No, he didn’t have to. He had a Lucian, and he also had to confront the gods about what fucking shit they had done. And argue about his contract.

If they weren’t going to fulfil their end of the bargain, how could he trust them? How could he trust that they were doing what they said they would? He would use this terrible, fucking awful moment to see if he could barter to get a glimpse of his sister and her family.

It wasn’t like they weren’t watching over everyone like fucking creeps. The very least they could do would be to show Cass that his family was doing okay. He knew that the demons could do it now, he was going to demand a fucking shot of his family. If they couldn’t do that, Cass was going to stop doing what they wanted him to do. Stop the dungeons? Nope. He’d stop doing that. He would go off script, and fucking dealing with some other problems piling up on his plate.

Like the Dukes, the king, and everything else.

He’d drag their precious little hero back into her story if he didn’t get what he wanted.

They gave him the villain’s story line. They should not be surprised that he wasn’t going to do anything their fucking way. However, that also didn’t mean he was going to work for the demons either.

Honestly, the only being of higher intelligence that Cass respected was the nursery tree. Maybe he should go on a mission to save and revive nursery trees across the world. That would be a cute way to give the gods and demons a middle finger.

It would be so fucking cute if they had to get another hero, and they wouldn’t be able to remove Cass’ mark. At least, he was pretty sure.

He’d have to check that. Maybe he would be able to get that out of the gods when he confronted them about what they had done.

Cass felt like his head was back on his shoulders and while he didn’t want to admit it, Lucian played a big role in that. It was a begrudging thought that made him scowl at his reflection in the mirror as he looked at himself.

His face was pale, but it was always pale. However, he looked far more healthy than he thought he would look. Even while he felt like he wasn’t quite full on the inside, his body was showing signs that he was getting better. His cheeks weren’t as hollow and the bags under his eyes were better. Not as intense.

His red eyes stared back at him, full of complex emotions. Cass felt himself gasp a little as he realised that they weren’t quite what they used to be. In fact, they appeared to glow just a little. It was a surprising revelation. Cass also wasn’t sure what to do with that information, but it made some kind of sense.

After all, Edgar’s eyes glowed when he felt strong emotions or at certain points when he was using his demonic powers. Cass’ chest tightened as he thought of Edgar and he let out a soft sigh.

He couldn’t put this off any longer. Well, he could, but he shouldn’t. Especially since the sounds of flesh meeting flesh had slowed down, but hadn’t completely stopped.

He really hoped that wasn’t Lucian just beating the ever loving shit out of Edgar. Not that he didn’t deserve a few hits, but not that many. He was too handsome for it, and he wasn’t the kind of handsome that asked for him to be hit a few times.

He used to be, but at some point Cass’ perception of him changed. It was annoying, but Cass was slowly learning to live with it. Slowly.

~

When Cass opened the door, he found that Lord Ridgewood was the one hitting Lucian, and Lucian was barely doing anything to stop it. It looked more like a teacher letting a kid hit him while they were training, or a kitten attacking a much larger, more dangerous cat.

There was amusement in Lucian’s gaze and Cass stood in shock, towel around his chest and private parts since it felt too dangerous to be without his chest covered around these mongrels.

”What are you three doing?” Cass asked, noting that Edgar had tucked himself into a corner of the couch, his knees up, his shoes off and his arms around his legs. He looked like he was curling in on himself and Cass hated how his chest ached at the sight.

Seeing a handsome man so damn depressed was not good for him when Cass knew he was fragile right now.

Lucian grinned at the sight of Cass, while Lord Ridgewood looked like a deer caught in the headlights. Like he’d been caught doing something he wasn’t supposed to do. Was he not allowed to fight with Lucian? Cass didn’t give a fuck, especially since it didn’t look like any of his stuff was broken.

He bet Lucian had something to do with that. Cass fought the urge to smile.

”Just helping Gideon get out some of his anger. Do you want to try?” Lucian asked, his orange eyes sparkling. He looked like he was having a great time. If Cass had been as angry as he had been when he’d first gone into the bath, he would have been pissed that Lucian was having such a good time. However, he was calmer now, focused in his anger.

Cass shook his head with a chuckle.

”I’m good, thank you. I don’t want to have to drink the healing tonic after breaking my hand on your abs.” Cass said casually and Lucian gave a bark of laughter. Cass made his way towards the dresser that he knew housed his clothes and opened the drawer.

”You could slap me? I’m sure that would be somewhat satisfying.” Lucian suggested, like violence was common and expected. Cass paused in his rifling. Wait, it was common. Lucian expected that if he fucked up, Cass was to use violence to put him in his place. Or, use someone else to put him in his place.

Cass had forgotten that in the face of everything else that was going on. Cass sucked in.

Had Lucian been doing that for Cass? Because he viewed Edgar as one of Cass’ partners and Cass was unable to discipline him himself because his body was weak and fragile? Cass felt his heart tremble at the realisation.

Oh.

”Maybe? Not tonight though.” Cass muttered, his hands shaking slightly as he reached for his clothes. ”I’m going to go put my pajamas on before I speak with you. I’d rather the towel not fall off during an important part of our conversation.” Cass told them.

”I wouldn’t mind.” Lucian said and Cass did smile at that. He was still facing the wall so he knew that no one saw.

”I know you wouldn’t mind, but I doubt everyone else would be okay with it. I’m...” Cass trailed off. He was about to say he was too skinny, unattractive, but he’d rather hold his tongue. He didn’t want to hear Lucian wax poetic about a body that still didn’t quite feel like his own, and he was a little unstable still.

So, he just sighed.

He closed the drawer, the sound loud in the now quiet room. He glanced over his shoulder as he gathered up the clothes in his arms. Lucian and Lord Ridgewood were staring at him and Edgar was glancing at him, looking fucking miserable.

There was a rather large part of Cass that was pleased that such a handsome man was upset. Good. He knew that he fucked up. He just hoped that he knew before Lucian had said anything to him. If he didn’t?

Well, Cass didn’t let fucking idiots stay in his room. Just pretty idiots.

”I’m going to get dressed now. Gideon, Lucian, stop fighting.” Cass ordered, giving both of them a scathing look. Lucian took his hands off of Lord Ridgewood immediately. He took a step away from Lord Ridgewood too.

”Okay.” He said, clearly looking for praise that he was being so obedient. Cass just scoffed, shaking his head while Lord Ridgewood nodded, stepping away from Lucian as well. It was funny how both men had the same vibe, but in very different fonts. Lord Ridgewood’s was much softer. Not as loud as Lucian’s, but Cass could hear it.

The soft, sweet mutter of ’praise me’ that Cass swore the man would say.

Cass turned and headed back to the bathroom with his bundle of clothes.