Chapter 75 – Cupid’s Curse

The first box was square, coloured in blinding pink and laced with a matching ribbon that gave off a strange aura — the kind that made your heart beat faster, your face flush red, and your hormones rise for no particular reason.

On the box, etched in stunningly pink-white threads, was the figure of what appeared to be a woman wearing strange dresses by his standard.

Yet staring at it, Cassius had the instinctive feeling that this woman matched the vibe of the ancient Greek women from Earth, and that she was specifically someone well known.

He wasn’t particularly interested in mythology back on Earth, though. So nothing came to him except a vague shape and a name sitting at the edge of his tongue that refused to be uttered.

He gave up, shook his head softly, and opened the box with a soft pop, his red eyes settling immediately on three pink-coloured vials nestled comfortably inside rosy heart-shaped petals.

His lips pulled into a smile. "My mother will certainly like this." He said, inwardly happy at the thought of giving her something. "Next time I have something interesting it’ll be Morgan and Lilien."

[What about your brothers and your father?] Ananke chimed in.

Cassius slowly closed the box and stored it in his space ring as he answered. "The women are the priority right now. But of course I won’t forget them when the chance comes."

The Goddess grunted in acknowledgement and watched her Blessed open the second box, painted black and blue, with the symbols of keys covering its entire surface.

If one looked closely, all those keys formed the shape of a portal — a door of some sort — blinking in and out of a faint blue-white light. Cassius didn’t notice. Even Ananke didn’t. As if something was deliberately drawing their attention elsewhere.

Inside the box was a key, normal by every appearance, rusty blue in color with its jagged teeth deep black. Its size was moderate, fitting his palm easily.

Yet despite how mundane it looked, both the Goddess and her Blessed could feel the strange power churning through it constantly.

Ananke more than Cassius. But his talent for Essence Manipulation made him more sensitive to these things than most.

Satisfied with his purchases, he stored the key in his space ring and fell backwards onto his bed, eyes drifting to the purple ceiling and the equally purple light of his room.

"That was a good Saturday’s Origin Store." He muttered, smiling to himself, heart at ease. "All thanks to the tickets I managed to collect, and the new Achievement on top of it."

He paused, smile growing a little more eager. "And do you know what that means, dear Queen?"

[It means I won’t enjoy what you’re about to say.]

Cassius chuckled. "Why so pessimistic? But you can’t deny it, can you? It’s plain. The simple truth that was there from the beginning. And it’s that I need to remain in constant contact with the main characters — directly or indirectly — in order to use this System to its full potential. Only then can I grow fast and strong and utterly unique."

He paused, exhaling. "Only then can I protect them."

[I won’t deny it.] The Goddess acknowledged. [And I won’t stop you from doing what you must...]

’For fear of straining what we have.’

[...but you must be careful, Cassius. That is all I ask. The last time you acted with unfounded confidence, dealing with that Fangs agent, you almost died.]

"Are you going to bring up that one mistake every single chance you get?" Cassius grumbled.

[Without question.]

He sighed. "Don’t remind a man who has moved past his sins of his past sins. If you haven’t heard that before, you have now." Ananke rolled her eyes and Cassius pressed on. "And I know I made mistakes. But I’ve learned from them."

[I certainly hope so.] Ananke nodded. [So what do you plan to do now?]

"The Royal Meeting is in roughly two weeks." Cassius said immediately. "It lasts one day, the day all heirs of the Tiered Families gather for a first look at who they’ll be going up against in the Academy Test."

[Will something particular happen on that day?] She asked, already feeling, from the way he was speaking, that something absolutely would.

"Aye." He nodded, closing his eyes. "Not one thing. But two."

His mind summoned the memories of his time in the game, filtered them, and landed on the Second Event, replaying everything he could still recall clearly.

"The first is my lovely aunt will try to seduce Emrys. Needless to say, it will fail spectacularly." His smile turned thin. "And as if that alone wasn’t already a significant blow to her confidence... Anesthesia will engineer the situation so that Esmeray loses control, thus exposing to every noble family in the Kingdom something the Hood has been desperately trying to bury forever."

[Bury what?] Ananke echoed, confused.

"Esmeray Hood has to take pills every day to suppress her own sexual urges." Cassius said plainly. "It’s something she was born with, something she’s struggled with her whole life. You can imagine how hard it is for an ordinary person to control their desires. In Esmeray’s case, it’s far worse. Let’s say she developed some rather questionable habits because of it."

[That description...] Ananke muttered, frowning. [That sounds very much like Cupid’s Curse. If it truly is, your aunt will have a difficult time for the rest of her life.]

"Cupid’s Curse?" Cassius whispered, confused.

[A well-known curse in Sunu Gaal. The effects are exactly what you described. And yet your aunt’s case seems somewhat milder...either she has a very strong will, or she carries a lesser version of it.] She paused. [Either way, the curse can only be dispelled by ingesting the Blood of the Pink Arrow That Pierces Hearts.]

"The blood of a god?"

[Aye.]

"Then my aunt will be suffering with this for a long time." Cassius said, seeing no easy path to obtaining a god’s blood. "But I can’t let this event happen."

He smiled.

"Aside from wanting to punch Anesthesia in the gut even more than I already do, Esmeray is my family. Whatever else she is, whatever she thinks of us. I won’t watch her be publicly humiliated for something she didn’t choose, something she was simply born with."

He paused, then smiled wryly. "Even if she seems to have made a full peace with it."

[That’s harder than you think.] Ananke replied. [It takes real courage to take a part of yourself that most people would call sinful and disgusting and immoral...and choose to own it without shame.]

"Courageous." Cassius nodded. "Though a fool can be courageous in his foolishness too. But let’s not dwell on that. No matter how she is, I’ll reach out a hand."

Ananke nodded simply. [What’s the second thing that will happen?]

"Ah!" Cassius exclaimed, then sighed. "That’s something related to my dear, loving big sister."

His smile turned wry and twitching as he continued. "She will do something rather inappropriate to the Hood. Something she’ll pay for dearly if the Hood ever find out, and not even my mother would be able to help her."

[Will she be caught?]

"Not with me involved." He grinned. "At least, I hope not, Queen. I’ll help her with Isolde in her task without her knowing. It’s time to put in full use my knowledge gained after 333 attempts at this game. And since I feel a bit guilty for moving against the Hood, let’s say helping Esmeray cancels it out."

[All just to ease your own conscience?] She scoffed.

"Obviously." He admitted, entirely shameless about it. "And for all of that to be possible..."

He leapt off the bed, landing on his feet in a single motion, finding himself standing in front of his shelf, his reflection meeting his own red gaze in the mirror.

"...I need to be in the Capital well before the actual event."

[Oh my...]

"Yes. I’ll go in advance." He decided, looking at his own striking reflection. "One week from now, Ananke."

He took out his Runic Phone and called his mother, smiling faintly.

"In one week, I’ll go to the Capital...simply because I want to see my family and spend some time with them before the event."

[Do you think they’ll believe that?]

"If they don’t believe that," He whispered, shrugging carelessly, "what else would they believe?"

And right at that moment...

"Oh, my baby! How are you? Do you miss me? I miss you too, my baby!!" Sefira answered with her usual voice, loving and excited in equal measure, and Cassius’s smile widened naturally.

"I do miss you, mother. And because of that, I got you rather a splendid gift." He replied, then, slowly, "A gift and something to ask you."

A short silence before Sefira answered, her voice cooling into something measured.

"Tell me everything, my baby."

—End of Chapter 75—