Herald of Steel

Lord Cassius was never a strong willed man and had always found it very hard to say no to anyone, especially when they asked him for a favor.

This was the case even in his childhood, where he would be susceptible to being swayed by whatever his brothers and sisters asked of him.

It had even gotten to the point that sometimes they would intentionally pit him, knowing he could not refuse them.

Many of which inevitably get the big man in hot water, with the mess sometimes being big enough to force even their father to bring out the cane and turn the boy's white skin bloody.

But even after multiple such happenings, as long as his siblings sincerely apologized for their wrongs, Lord Cassius could not refuse them the next time.

And time and time after this continued.

But even when many of the situations repeated themselves, Lord Cassius never learned.

He only saw all these mistakes as his siblings being ignorant and oblivious. Like children.

And saw his favors to them not as chores, but as the duty of a big brother- as teaching his siblings the correct way to do things, even if they kept making the same mistake over and over again and refused to learn.

Just like Miss Linda had said- Lord Cassius was indeed a good man.

Naive, gullible, and maybe foolish even, but nevertheless a very good man.

Nobles like him were rarer than a golden deer.

And although all these might sound like criticism, which they indeed were, it was also these traits that had made the old Lord Margraves set his eyes upon the man as a potential grandson in law, as a good suitor for his granddaughter.

He intentionally wanted a weak man for her, so that his granddaughter, who was from the main family and effectively ruled the family, could retain full control of the family without any interference.

However, that sound idea from back then was now running up against a formidable barrier due to shifting circumstances.

The very malleable spine that had gotten Lord Cassius this 'post' was now being used against him to extract a concession that sounded like the devil's deal, as like father whispered and ordered very concerning commands.

Commands that wanted him to effectively betray his family.

And while a man with a true spine would have been able to outright decline if not at least stall for time against the withered, half bedridden man, Lord Cassius found himself shaking.

He was never the most eloquent in speech, and so when placed in front of his father like this, he just could not come out to decisively say no, feeling too scared to say it right to his face.

This was simply Lord Cassius's nature, being incapable of denying the man who raised and reared him.

He could not of course say yes either, as the very thought of doing something like that behind his wife's back made him sweat,

Thus as Lord Nolan made his requests, Lord Cassius only stood there stock still, his back wet from sweat even in this cold, chilly weather, his lips quivering nervously, his heart thumping in fear and his eyes twitching in trepidation.

He wanted all this to just stop.

But his father was of course not going to put on the brakes any time soon.

Not when he was so close and there was so much at stake- his very own life!

Thus taking advantage of this passive stance, Lord Nolan kept on piling on the pressure more and more on his son, saying things like, "Are you really going to abandon your father? For what? A traitor to our family?"

"And yes! Miranda is a traitor to us! What? You disagree? Just look at what she has done to our family! Look at what the mess we are in. No food, no water, and kept in gilded cages they call rooms! All because of her!"

"Why are you trying to protect her? Why are you trying to protect them? Fool! Open your eyes and listen to your father. When have I ever wronged you? Protect your family! That is the most important thing. "

"Do you want your father to die? Of thirst? Can your heart take that, my son? Can you really be so cruel?"

This torrent of emotional blackmail struck the soft hearted man like a hurricane of steel daggers, cutting, lacerating, and mincing his soft flesh, ultimately making him unable to respond to such a vile attack.

Lord Cassius would finally leave the room with a small nod, showing his tacit agreement, but claiming he needed a bit more time to think.

Which admittedly frustrated Lord Nolan a bit, as the old man wanted his son to agree then and there- he could not wait to flee this coup and was ready at the drop of a hat.

Thus he did not think Cassius would reject him even after all that pleading.

Pleadings that if were to be recorded and read out aloud, would have shocked the people.

To think a father could go so low and base just to save his own skin, even if it meant betraying his daughter in law.

It was revolting.

So it was fortunate that whatever the aged lord spoke, stayed within the four walls.

While Miss Linda, who was mostly a silent observer in this exchange, smirked at the result, feeling very pleased with it in much contrast to her elder counterpart.

She knew they were on the right track.

Success might not have been achieved right here, but they were well and truly on their way,

All they would need to do now is keep pushing Lord Cassius and not let up on the attack, and the man would surely break soon.

Thus the cunning lady would leave the room that night with a pleased heart, urging the elder Lord Nolan to continue to 'advise' his son, and not give him any chance to back down.

And this was exactly what would happen over the next several days, as such ministrations were applied continuously every night, with the father wishing to 'talk' for hours with his son, and just as Miss Linda had predicted, with this, the man was slowly but surely worn out.

As Lord Cassius was put under such severe mental fatigue, perhaps the greater tragedy in this whole affair occurred.

That was the fact that the man found himself utterly alone in this vast empty ocean, receiving no helper in his most vulnerable time of need.

Especially from his wife and partner Lady Miranda, who during this entire time never asked her man even once what was going on.

And it was also not like there were no signs.

During those days, Lord Cassius would regularly ruminate on the matter his father wanted to do.

And he would do so by sitting by the balcony or window and staring into the distant, blue sea and overcast sky that overlooked his room for hours on end, sometimes to the point the top layer of the drink on his hand would start to freeze over.

From there, Lady Miranda would of course see her partner in deep contemplation, his eyes unfocused and deeply troubled, but she only chalked it up to him feeling worried about his father's deteriorating health.

That was probably all the night visits were about, she brushed it aside reasoning so.

This happened because as already stated earlier, Lady Miranda was never a people person, and perhaps more importantly, she did not care much about her spouse.

The couple was never really close to begin with.

They had not married out of love but as distant cousins out of a political necessity.

So the two had little affection for the other and did only the bare minimum when it came to keeping tabs on the other's well being.

The two's motto was that since they were forced to become partners, they would tolerate each other and not get in the other's way, but little more.

In fact, that was a big reason why despite being married for more than three years, they had yet to have a child.

Which was very abnormal for a marriage of this time.

And much more so for nobles, as they tended to get a child as soon as possible because that was the strongest proof of their union.

Anyway, for Lady Miranda and Lord Cassius, all these extraneous apathetic circumstances added up to make Lady Miranda quite a negligent wife and thus miss out on this crucial clue.

While without her stepping forward, the habitually indecisive Lord Cassius was also left all alone.

He was never going to bring up the topic on his own, fearing betraying his father's confidence, as well as what his wife's reaction was going to be.

This left a wide, gaping hole in his defenses, and as the man continued to struggle with his inner demons, it was Miss Linda of all people who chose to thoroughly exploit such a vulnerability.

It happened one late afternoon, when the devilishly charming lady invited Lord Cassius for a small snack party, officially to discuss a way to defuse the situation between her and her eldest sister and reach more amicable terms.

While really it was just an excuse to honeypot the man. One that the lady managed to accomplish quite easily.

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