(BL) The Villain wants a Divorce!

Cass felt like everything was on the right track. Ever since Lucian had come back from speaking to his Aunt, everything was going smoothly. Contracts were falling into place, servants were getting hired without a hitch. They’d only had two times when they had to reject someone, and that was a miracle in Cass’ eyes.

The mood in the mansion was better, the village was flourishing. Ava’s Mom was doing really well at her job and everyone she worked with had good things to say about her. Ava’s dad and brother were groveling every day for her forgiveness and she hadn’t given in. Things were going great.

The nursery tree branch was planted in a very pretty pot that Sir Forsythe had brought in. Cass was surprised that it was him who found it, but he beamed proudly when he showed up in Cass’ office the moment he was thinking he needed to get a pot for the baby tree. The pot was a deep shade of black, but when it caught the light, the colour changed. It had flecks of red, blue and green in the darkness, like it was made out of a pretty, multifaceted gem.

Cass was pretty sure he’d seen a stone like it in his world, but couldn’t remember where he’d seen it, or what it was called. Either way, it was a pretty pot and Cass liked staring at the baby nursery tree from his desk. It gave him a sense of accomplishment and like he was moving on the right track.

Cass was the one who had conjured up the dirt for the pot, the one who had picked out the spot near where Sam made tea and had good sunlight from two windows and Cass hand watered the tree as well. He wasn’t sure if it needed water as much as a normal sapling did, but he had a feeling getting watered with magical water was for the best. He considered giving it some bones for nutrients too, but was going to wait for it to adjust to the soil first.

Cass stared at the pot, the little tree sticking out of it. Bare, naked, beginning anew, and wished that he could take a photo and send it to his Aunt. They didn’t have that kind of technology here and it was truly the first time that he wished that they did. Cass hadn’t had anyone close enough that he would want to share things with those who didn’t live with him, and the magical notes had really helped with the want to text. They had magical phones essentially, but they hadn’t advanced art far enough, travel far enough, or photos far enough.

Portraits were still the norm, even if they were done with magical means. Cass wasn’t quite sure what that meant yet since he didn’t have any portraits taken. Cassian had hated sitting still for them, and Cass wasn’t going to be much better. He’d never liked photos of himself, even in the other world. He wasn’t about to change who he was now.

It did explain why Cass’ photo wasn’t anywhere in the mansion while the others had several photos of themselves. Ava in particular had liked to get portraits done, it seemed, and her wing was covered in them. Ava’s Mom liked it, or at least that was what was communicated to Cass through Edgar’s words. Cass was glad that they at least liked it.

Slyly, the two lesbians had gotten a portrait made of them without anyone knowing. Cass hadn’t thought anything of it when he’d seen it and the copies made of it, but now he was a little annoyed about it. He almost wanted to get a portrait done of the four of them out of spite, but he still didn’t like the idea of getting a portrait of himself done. Especially when he was like this.

He did not want evidence of Cass like this to exist. Sure, having thicker hips could be good, but Cass had read enough romance novels to know that as soon as someone got birthing hips, that was a blaring danger sign. Cass was being very careful about that.

Thankfully, his body had made it pretty fucking obvious where he would be birthing from if he went down that route. He would still be in the mpreg gang, but it would be a completely different genre. No omega here. Haha.

Cass sighed, turning his attention back to the work at hand. He was almost at a point where all of the work that Cass had built up was done and scanned over. Sure, there was still a lot to do, but with Edgar’s help scanning through the things that the damn nobles sent for the hero, he was in far better standing on his backlog of work then he could have been. Cass could almost take a break.

Cass almost salivated at the suggestion.

He hadn’t had a day off in forever. He honestly couldn’t remember. The times traveling in carriages felt more like a break than anything else he’d done. He could laze on the relatively comfy cushions and read to his hearts content, but with that super large and soft bed and tons of cushions...fuck, Cass almost felt naughty thinking about a day off.

He hoped that the others would do the same. He really thought that they all needed a break. They’d been ramped up to an 11 since Lucian had left for his shed and they had all earned a moment of peace. The world wasn’t going to crash around them at a moment’s notice. They still had a timeline given the fact that he had been brought here to prevent the end of the world, but that wasn’t going to happen as long as Cass didn’t have that damn weapon.

As long as Fiona didn’t have that weapon either.

So, they were safe. The world might get a little more twisted if they took a break, but had they even had a honeymoon? A weekend off? They spent all of their time preparing and scheming and fighting off other’s schemes.

They’d finally all accepted who they were. No one was hiding from themselves, and that included Cass. He was allowed to have a few moments of peace surrounded by the people he was slowly opening his heart to. The gods better fucking not deny him that, and the demons would have to suck his dick before he’d let them get near him.

Granted, that didn’t apply to Edgar, but if he wanted to...

Cass’ cheeks burned as he went through several emotions of his own. He’d been nothing but a beast since he’d punished the boys. He felt like he was reaching for someone pretty much every night and that certainly hadn’t helped his ill-fitting clothes situation either. It was a miracle that no one pushed him away. He expected them to, but no one ever did. Instead they welcomed his touch and there was something intoxicating about that idea alone.

They weren’t going to reject him. Thinking about it left a lump in Cass’ throat.

Cass looked up, scanning the office. It was a quiet day. Sam had run off to check on the food that was being delivered today, Edgar was off delivering letters, and Lucian and Gideon were running the new guards through their paces while Sir Forsythe went into town. Sir Forsythe was there to speak to the Doctor, check on the state of the town, and let those that needed to speak to Cass step forward in a more comfortable way.

After all, not everyone was literate in town, and while that bothered Cass, there was only so much he could do about that. Sir Forsythe had a good reputation in town, and with Ailia and her husband still in the capital, he was their best bet for people to reach out.

Who was reaching out? Cass wasn’t sure, but he felt compelled to make sure that the city next to his home, and next to his aunt’s forest was well taken care of. It was also a blend of strange creatures and Cass wanted to show that he was protective of them, not that he wanted to chase them away.

The sunlight coming in through the windows was dulled by the shades that Cass had installed for Edgar’s protection. He was still trying to figure out the best materials for protection when it came to Edgar. He’d read the section on vampires in the demon book that he’d lent Gideon several times at this point. There were a few suggestions but they weren’t perfect. Cass wanted to have everything at once.

He was getting greedy.

He wanted to be able to grow the baby nursery tree and keep Edgar in his office at the same time. It was looking, day by day, that he was going to have to expand his office into the dark space next to the office and destroy the secret passage that his grandfather had been using to spy on him all at once.

Cass laughed at himself.

It was so funny that he’d found something out of a kid’s dream and he still hadn’t explored it. Instead he’d monitored it and forgotten about it. He should investigate it now that he was back home. Maybe he’d go with Lucian and see if he could sniff anything out. He’d probably like being asked since he’d been a bit strange since Cass had punished him.

There was a small part of Cass that wondered if it was tied to some of the weird shit that dragons liked their, uh, mates to do. Like beat them up. Cass shook his head at that. Yeah, he was going to be able to beat up Lucian of all people. With these hands?

Cass put down his magical pen and stared at his pale hands. They weren’t as boney as they had been when he’d first arrived, but he had a feeling they would break if he threw a single punch. They were nothing like his old hands, scarred and marked from years of hard labour. These were the hands of a young master.

A man who hadn’t been beaten, but ignored. Belittled. All of his scars were internal. That way no one could ever say that his acting out was reasonable. Not in this era’s understanding of abuse.

Cass sighed, squeezing his hands together tightly. That was in the past now, and Cass wouldn’t let something like that happen ever again. He was already working on giving more support to orphanages and safe houses for those like him. He was also working on getting the renovations underway for when Sam and Byron left for Byron’s shed. He wanted it to be done in the timeframe that they were gone so that they would have a sweet wedding gift to move into even if they hadn’t had the wedding yet.

There were a few other things that he wanted to do while they were gone but he also didn’t like the idea of Sam leaving his side. He knew that he was going to have to. For his sake, and for Byron’s. Selfishly, Cass didn’t really like that Sam would be able to support Byron in a way that Cass hadn’t been able to support Lucian. It was dumb and foolish, and just proved that he wasn’t as mature as he made himself out to be, but he was who he was.

The fact that he didn’t act on it was a good thing in his mind. He would also never tell Lucian or Sam about this. Sam didn’t need to feel guilty about being able to do what he couldn’t, and Cass couldn’t have gone with Lucian even if he had wanted to. He probably wouldn’t have survived it, and he had a feeling that Lucian knew that too.

So, it was okay. This was fine. If they were to continue their relationship, there was a chance that he would be able to help Lucian out too. Did it also mean that he would have to bond with him at some point? Yeah, and that terrified Cass out of his jealousy.

He still wasn’t ready to fully commit to anything. He’d just made a huge commitment to stay here and fix everything that was fucked up. He was allowed some time to settle with that.