Last Born Of The Desdemona

Chapter 166: Chapter 166: Kanam’s Family Wish of Revenge

Chapter 166 – Kanam’s Family Wish of Revenge

”I do, my Lady.” Aissatou said with a tense smile, her green eyes settling on Isolde.

Isolde nodded in satisfaction. ”I am listening.” She said. ”What have you found that could be of use?”

”I have found something, my Lady. Or rather, Leo told me something...something that occurred between the masters, thanks to his wife, who came home drunk and sad one night.” She replied. ”The issue, my Lady, lies in whether you can actually use that information.”

Isolde arched an eyebrow. ”Why wouldn’t I?”

Aissatou didn’t respond immediately, smiling wryly. ”Allow me to tell you first, so that you can judge for yourself.”

Receiving a nod from Isolde, the old maid continued, her voice slow and smooth, carrying a low echo that ensured only Isolde could hear.

”You must know that with your marriage to young master Cassius, our family has received many advantages.” She said. ”These are numerous: more Fractured Lands under our control, our reputation rising, more customers in the cotton and silk businesses the family owns, and much more. However, the most important benefit of all is that we are now linked to the Desdemona, who are in turn linked to the Royal Hood.”

”What is your point, Aissatou?” Isolde asked with a faint edge of impatience.

”I am getting there, my Lady. Please bear with me.” Aissatou said softly, then carried on. ”As I said, the benefit lies in our new relationship. And that new relationship is one many families envy, both openly and in secret. And you know well what envy can lead to.”

”They would either try to curry favour with us,” Isolde guessed, ”or they would try to sabotage us. The more likely scenario being the second.”

”True. And we have received that kind of attention over the past weeks. However, my Lady, the story I am about to tell involves a family that is neither of the two options.”

”Which family?”

”The Tier Three Kanam Family.”

Isolde paused abruptly, her brow furrowing. A confused expression crossed her face. ”Wait...” she murmured, pressing her fingers to her temple. ”...isn’t that the family Cassius’s mother half-wiped out years ago?”

Aissatou smiled without humour. ”Exactly them, my Lady.”

”What do they want with us?” Isolde asked, then frowned even deeper, understanding arriving almost immediately. ”No. Don’t tell me they want to use our connection to the Desdemona to cause trouble for them?”

”Exactly as you have guessed, my Lady.” The old maid nodded. ”The Matriarch of the Kanam — the very woman whose husband and children were killed by the Blood Demoness — came personally and in secret to visit the masters. She proposed a deal. Leo does not know the specific terms, as Veronica did not share them, but a deal was put forward. What we do know is this: all the Kanam Matriarch wants is justice for her husband and children. You already know the Kanam’s main bloodline has no heirs left because of the Blood Demoness. They want the same done to her family.”

”The same?” Isolde’s eyes went dead cold. ”You mean the death of Cassius?”

”Young master Cassius is not the Heir of the Desdemona, my Lady.” Aissatou shook her head. ”You already know that the majority of the Desdemona’s leaders have historically been women, men rarely. The Heiress is Lady Morgan Desdemona. However...”

Aissatou smiled awkwardly.

”...even setting aside young master Cassius — whom they would not touch given the benefit he provides us — the Kanam want the death of all his other siblings.”

”This is absurd.” Isolde rolled her eyes. ”What gave them the audacity to ask us to help kill the Desdemona? What made them believe we would?”

”Our relationship with the Stormblessed Family.” The old maid replied in a matter-of-fact tone. ”It may not be obvious to most, but as the only two Tier One families, there exists a deep tension between the Desdemona and the Stormblessed. A tension that could erupt into open conflict at any given moment. Given our close ties to the Stormblessed, the Kanam concluded we would not dare align ourselves with the Desdemona. They believe — as most families do — that this marriage is nothing more than a means for us to gain power and elevate our rank. In their eyes, we hold no real sentiment toward the Desdemona, so helping them eliminate the siblings, sparing only young master Cassius, does not appear unreasonable to them.”

The more Aissatou spoke, the more Isolde understood the logic behind the Kanam’s audacious move.

And she also understood, with uncomfortable clarity, that her family could very well do exactly that without losing much if it was handled correctly. In fact, they might even gain more.

With Cassius as the only surviving child and thus the sole heir, the urgency of continuing the Desdemona bloodline would intensify. That urgency might make the Desdemona — who were not a polygamous family — more open and invested in Isolde, and by extension, in the Amaris.

Yes. That was how most would reason it...if they did not know the true nature of the Desdemona and their relatives, the Hood.

Isolde doubted anyone would dare plot the Desdemona’s deaths if they truly understood who they were dealing with.

And yet, inwardly, she knew some would still dare.

Sefira had after all dismantled an entire family completely. The hatred of the Kanam must have reached a level where reason no longer existed inside their minds.

But there was one thing Isolde knew with certainty more than anyone else.

”My mother would never accept.” She said with confidence. ”She is not a fool who would risk her relationship with the Desdemona for a Tier Three family. The risk far outweighs any benefit.”

Aissatou allowed a faint smile to settle on her wrinkled lips. ”Another correct deduction, my Lady.” She said. ”And this is where I warn you that you may not be able to make full use of this information. Because you are right, Lady Sophia refused the proposal. But Lord Cole accepted it.”

Isolde’s heart stopped.

”What?” She exclaimed, rising abruptly to her feet, the table shaking. ”My father accepted the proposal? Why?”

”I do not know, my Lady. That is all Leo managed to learn from Veronica.” Aissatou said the name with unconcealed contempt. ”And that is where a dispute has erupted between Lady Sophia and Lord Cole, because of a divergence in opinion that has not been resolved. For now, the Kanam Family is waiting on an answer. The final decision lies between the two masters.”

Isolde drew a slow breath, trying to steady her heartbeat.

If Isolde feared her mother, she both feared and despised her father.

This was the same man who had cut her out, refusing to acknowledge her existence, refusing to look at her, all because she had started smoking. For that alone, he had treated his own daughter as though she had never been born.

Isolde had lost count of how many times she had stood outside his study, asking to be forgiven. Begging him not to abandon her. Not to cast her out.

Nothing.

Cole Amaris had looked at his own daughter with a disgust so deep that Isolde had come to believe she was nothing but something to be discarded.

But she had never stopped begging, until her mother made her face the cruel reality and forced her to stop.

Those experiences lived inside her as wounds that would not close.

And now, that same man wanted to participate in the assassination of her family. Because yes, the Desdemona were her family now.

Cassius was her husband. And his siblings, even if she had only briefly met Morgan, were hers by extension.

All of it because of the love and care Cassius held for them. A love he had shared with her in a way even Anesthesia had never noticed was being offered to her.

They say that, given enough time, you begin to love what your partner loves and hate what your partner hates.

Isolde was beginning to believe that.

And because of it, a boiling anger was churning inside her chest.

”I will not accept it.” Isolde hissed, her purple eyes glowing cold. ”I will never accept the death of any Desdemona. Who does he think he is? And why is my mother even entertaining that heartless man? We need to do something.”

”What can we do, my Lady?” Aissatou asked carefully. ”Informing the Desdemona could cause far too many problems. You know how far they go when they feel threatened.”

”So what? Let him have them all killed.”

”That would not be wise.” Aissatou shook her head. ”The last time, they were protected because of the Hood. But if this happens again, that will not be the case. Security and law in this Kingdom are controlled by the Deathless Crusaders, and they do not care about the rank of any family. This problem requires a subtlety the Desdemona are not inclined toward.”

”They are capable of subtlety. They simply do not care enough to bother with it.” She said, thinking of exactly how calculated and quiet Cassius could be when he wanted to be.

”Fair enough. However, this is your opportunity, my Lady.” Aissatou said, and then, with a quiet venom in her voice, ”it’s your opportunity to get close to your mother. Take her side, and have her kill Veronica.”

Isolde paused, looking at her maid’s composed face. ”Why kill Veronica?”

”Because she is sleeping with Lord Cole.”

—End of Chapter 166—