Chapter 551: Don’t cut off one head to let three grow in it’s place

"Alright, back to the problem at hand. I know it’s bad that the King, presumably at this point, invaded Fiona’s house and took her things, but why is it such a big deal? What am I missing?" Edgar asked, turning everything back to the original point.

Cass swallowed, then took a moment to gather himself. He was still blushing, still sweating, with Edgar still wrapped around him like a leach, but Cass had no desire to shake him off. It was strange, but Cass was...content.

Cass refused to look too closely at that point.

"Well, first of all, we don’t know that this was the King’s doing." Cass said. Edgar rolled his eyes, Byron snorted, and even Sam and Byron’s Mom looked like they didn’t believe that. Cass chuckled. "We don’t. Someone could just be using the King and the power he holds in his position to make us turn against him. They could be an advisor, whispering in his ear to do these things, manipulating his feelings so that he thinks he wants to do this all himself. Not that he had been manipulated." Cass said. Edgar rolled his eyes.

"All those closest to him are the Dukes, Cass. Your grandfather is notoriously anti-demon after everything that happened with your Mother, whether he was right or not. Then you have my Father and Gideon’s Father. Also both are anti-demon." Edgar pointed out and Cass shrugged.

"Yeah, but none of them can sense demons like Ava or Gideon can." Cass said. "Which leaves space for them to sneak in, like the advisor or diplomat or whatever the fuck he was that came from that other country to marry Ava." Cass pointed out. Edgar stiffened at the reminder.

"Yes. I suppose you’re right." Edgar said through clenched teeth and Cass gently patted his knee.

"What I’m saying is that there could be more of those people around the King. They might be hoping that we blame him for everything and take him down, which we are going to do because he’s made too many choices that go against the wellness of the country. I’m just saying we can’t blame him for everything, we need to share the blame with the people who deserve it. Otherwise, they could get away with their poor behaviour." Cass knew that his voice was rather ominous when he said that, but no one flinched.

Sam was nodding along to Cass’ words, his eyes sparkling from within.

"Which is why my Lord has also asked that Byron and I investigate another potential problem point." Sam said. Edgar’s arm tightened around Cass’ shoulder.

"Another potential problem point? What is it?" Edgar asked and Cass let out a shaky breath.

"How many deals a demon can make." Cass said quietly. "I asked Sam to see how many deals a demon can make at once." Edgar let out a soft breath.

"The book you lent Gideon doesn’t say?" Edgar asked and Cass glanced back at Gideon. Gideon had his brows drawn, his eyes distant.

"I don’t recall noticing anything about deals." Gideon muttered and Cass nodded in agreement.

"I don’t recall anything either, so we asked Sam but he doesn’t know. He’s going to go out and ask now that Byron is back." Cass said. "I wouldn’t want him going alone. My guess is that it’s a rather personal question." Cass commented and Edgar nodded slowly.

"I would say so. Maybe it’s something akin to exposing how powerful they are, or like the length of their cocks. Some men get rather uppity about that." Edgar muttered. Taniora turned pink, as did Sam. Cass coughed while Byron’s Mom smirked.

"Yes. Some men, particularly human men, do get rather uppity about it. I would say it is a fair assessment to say that demons would feel the same." She said, still smirking. She slid her gaze to Byron. "Keep your little one safe, Byron." Byron’s Mom told his son and Byron stiffened. He rolled his eyes, stepping closer to Sam instinctively.

"You don’t need to tell me that. I would rather die than let anything happen to Sam, and if something did happen, our Lord would have every right to discipline me for it." Byron’s voice was full of his conviction, and Cass felt his face warm.

"Don’t sound too much like Sam now, Byron." Cass muttered and Edgar started laughing. Byron grinned while Sam grew flustered.

"Of course, my Lord." Byron said, a twinkle in his dark gaze.

"Well, I should take my leave then. I’m happy I was able to be of service. Please let us know if we can be of help in the future, Cass." Byron’s Mom said, giving another small bow. Cass nodded.

"Thank you for doing this on such short notice." Cass said and she waved a pale hand dismissively.

"It was an easy task and it was nice to be able to do something to help my boy out as well." She said, pride in her eyes. "It’s not everyday that a Mom and her son can go out on a secret mission together. Isn’t that right, Byron?" Cass watched as Byron turned pink at his Mom’s words. Sam even seemed delighted that he was blushing. "Either way, I’ll take my leave. Taniora, are you staying or are you going to join us for our knitting circle?" She asked.

Cass was pretty sure it was less of a knitting circle and more of a drinking circle, but he wasn’t there to criticize them. Whatever they wanted to call it was fine by Cass as long as they were happy. Taniora glanced at Cass, glanced at the men around him, and then sighed.

"I think I have taken up enough of Cass’ time for today. I can always pester him tomorrow." She said, rising to her feet. "Do you want to keep the tears, Cass? Or should I give them to the fairies?" Cass shrugged.

"You should give them to them. Maybe they can make something nice out of them. Hey, if you cry even more, maybe they’ll start making your tears into something joyful." Cass joked, but Taniora and Byron’s Mom froze.

"Oh. We...could do that, couldn’t we? With Ailia pregnant, we could make a few things for the new baby." Taniora muttered, her eyes lighting up from within. Byron’s Mom reached for the tray that the tears were on, picking it up with a grin.

"That’s a wonderful idea Cass. I’ll bring it up at the knitting circle. We were already planning to make something for Ailia, but now we have a direction." She said proudly.

Cass watched the women leave, Taniora gelding gracefully across the ground with Byron’s Mom was just as elegant but more present then the ghostly fairy.

Soon, it was just the boys left and Edgar tightened his grip on Cass.

"Are you sending Sam out right now?" He asked and Cass slid his gaze to Sam. Sam was ready, Cass could tell from the look in his eyes and Byron was more than happy to accompany him. Byron had probably heard everything that they had talked about but he wasn’t treating Cass any differently.

Cass swallowed.

He could feel how wound up Byron still was, the dragon upset on Cass and Sam’s behalf, and probably on his Mom’s behalf since she wasn’t able to pinpoint any of the traces or scents down. Cass let out a soft sigh.

"Going at night is probably the best time for Sam to go." Cass muttered. "And he’ll have Byron. We’re going to use my inexperience as a demon if they question him." Cass told them and Edgar nodded.

"Smart to have a backup plan. I’m honestly a little surprised that Sam doesn’t know." Edgar said and Sam shrugged.

"I’m an imp. Contracts, deals, those kinds of things don’t really come our way. We just get told what to do." Sam said. Byron let out a slow exhale.

"We’ll be safe." Byron said, speaking not just to Cass, but Edgar and Gideon. There was a moment of silence before Cass nodded and spoke up.

"When you get back, come see me, alright? No matter how late that is." Cass told them and Sam nodded. Sam met Cass’ gaze head on, saw the worry there, and smiled.

"We will, my Lord. We’ll be safe, as Byron promised. I won’t put myself at risk just to get the answer." Sam told him, knowing that was Cass’ secret worry. Cass nodded.

"We have other ways to find it out instead of putting you at risk." Cass said, speaking to his concern. Sam smiled warmly.

"Thank you for saying so, my Lord. I should be disposable to you so it warms my heart when you treat me this way." Sam said, then turned to Byron. "We should go. I don’t know when that shop will open." Sam muttered quietly and Byron nodded. Byron turned, wrapping his arm around Sam’s shoulder as they both turned their backs to Cass, Edgar and Gideon.

"Don’t worry too much, my Lord. Make sure to eat your meals. We’ll be fine. After all, Lucian taught me everything he knows." Byron said with a small smirk and Cass nodded. His heart squeezed tightly at the reminder.

"I trust you two." Cass told them and that seemed to be exactly what those two needed to hear. Sam was beaming as they left and Cass sat there for a long moment. He watched the door close behind them, staring at it even after they had long left.

It was only Edgar’s squeeze of Cass that drew Cass’ attention to him. Edgar had a concerned expression on his face, his hand reaching out to press against the skin underneath Cass’ eyes.

"You look exhausted, Bunny. Your eyes shouldn’t be this kind of red." Edgar muttered. Cass let out a little laugh.

"Taniora and I got into some...hard topics. Good ones, just hard. I’ve been so focused on trying to adjust to my new life and the hand that I was dealt that I almost forgot what kind of duty I was given." Cass admitted softly. Edgar frowned.

"Hey, none of that. It is completely reasonable to be absorbed in something like this when your life has been completely flipped on its head. You fought so hard against the demon accusations for so long that anyone would be shocked if it turned out to be true. Add on the fact that you became a hero, and everything else that entailed, you’re allowed to give yourself some grace. You’ve held together remarkably well given everything that’s been going on." Edgar raised his gaze to Gideon. "We all have." Edgar added and Cass nodded.

"I can’t argue with that." Cass muttered. Gideon’s hand, which had been on the couch until now, reached for Cass’ shoulder. It was less of a shoulder grab and more of the side of the neck grab but his grip felt good so Cass didn’t complain.

"No, I can’t either. Should we call it a night and do something simple and relaxing? We’ve all been working non stop. We could go sit in the library and enjoy some reading?" Gideon suggested and Cass lit up.

"We could do that." Cass agreed and Edgar smiled.

"That sounds lovely." He agreed.