Chapter 79
Cassel’s Secret
“Surely that couldn’t be the case? If it were, I wouldn’t be standing in front of you right now.”
“That’s true. With a wound that deep in the heart, survival would have been nearly impossible.”
Cassel kissed Riena’s forehead as she frowned, deep in thought.
“This has been here since I was born. Everyone is usually surprised when they see it for the first time, but it’s not painful or problematic, so you don’t need to worry.”
“So, when you were at the Dyke mansion, it was already there?”
“…You could say that.”
But she couldn’t verify it. Even when she was young, Riena never had a chance to see Cass’s body. Moreover, Cass hated showing himself to others and always bathed alone without the help of servants.
‘If Cass says so, it must be true.’
Who would lie about something like this?
Still, Riena couldn’t help but tap lightly on his wound, seeking reassurance.
“Does it really not hurt?”
“Yes.”
He didn’t show any signs of pain. Only then did Riena breathe a sigh of relief.
“That’s a relief. I was so worried earlier. You wouldn’t answer when I asked. If it was like this, you could have told me then.”
“Why would I, when you’re right in front of me?”
For the first time, Riena couldn’t tell if he was being truthful or just saying something casually. His words seemed like a half-hearted excuse, but his intense gaze suggested otherwise.
“You didn’t seem like you wanted to stop either.”
Cassel’s large, strong hand gently cupped Riena’s soft mound. She let out an involuntary moan.
“No… well…”
“Wasn’t it?”
His voice remained calm, but neither his eyes nor his hands were.
Feeling his unusually intimate touch, Riena closed her eyes.
“I’m going to sleep now.”
Finally, Cassel withdrew his hand. Though disappointed that he could no longer see her violet eyes, he whispered softly:
“Please, have a good dream.”
When Riena opened her eyes after falling asleep, the first thing she saw was a hazy sky. No—what was hazy wasn’t the sky, but her vision.
‘Where am I?’
As she tried to think through her drowsiness, a sudden, indescribable pain surged through her entire body. A pain she had never felt in her life.
It felt as if every bone in her body had been broken. Her ribs pressed against her lungs, making it impossible to breathe properly, and even moving her fingers was agonizing.
In reality, blood splattered with every dry cough, as if her ribs had broken and pierced her lungs.
Something fell lightly across her face. It felt like rain or tears. Now that she thought about it, she sensed someone holding her.
Struggling to lift her heavy eyelids to see who it was, Riena saw Cassel in front of her.
‘Why… why did you do this?’
He, who always swallowed his tears, was crying like a child, heartbroken.
‘If this was going to happen, why didn’t you just leave with me? Why… why of all people, you…’
His voice seemed both reproachful and sorrowful. Above his head, Riena saw a massive tower.
A red tower covered with ivy. Instinctively, she knew she had fallen from that tower. She was dying. And soon, she really would die.
Was Cassel grieving her death? She hoped he wouldn’t grieve too much.
She wanted to wipe his tears away, but her body wouldn’t move. She couldn’t even tell him not to cry. All she could do was close her eyes, praying for his happiness.
‘I will save you, no matter what happens.’
Just before her consciousness completely faded, she thought she heard Cassel’s anguished voice.
“Ah…”
Riena woke, tears streaming. Unlike in the dream, it was still dark around her.
Startled by the unfamiliar layout of the room, she looked around before realizing she was in Cassel’s bedroom.
Then, she saw Cassel’s face lying beside her. Watching his deep, peaceful sleep, she suddenly realized:
‘It was a dream.’
Cassel holding her as she fell from the tower and crying—it was just a dream. Yet her body ached as though it had truly happened. Her body trembled in his arms.
“Ria?”
Perhaps sensing something strange, Cassel opened his eyes and studied her expression carefully.
“Did you have a nightmare?”
Riena hugged his neck tightly.
“It was a nightmare, yes… but…”
She couldn’t bring herself to continue.
Previously, when she had spoken of dreams, Cassel had asked her to tell him immediately if she dreamt of him again. So she should have told him about this dream too—but her lips wouldn’t move.
It had been a terrible dream, and above all, she didn’t want to worry him.
Cassel would be devastated even if it were just a dream about her dying.
‘But this one feels different.’
She had begun to feel that her dreams were increasingly connected to reality. The events with Noah, the incidents with Raul—they all happened in ways similar to dreams.
And this dream also felt eerily familiar.
‘There’s a forest to the west of the capital. At the entrance, there’s a bell tower, and I’d advise against going there.’
‘The bell tower?’
‘Yes. There’s nothing to see, and it’s very sparsely populated. There’s also a risk of wild animals in the forest.’
When they first arrived at the Winkler mansion, Cassel had allowed Riena to do as she pleased—except he had asked her not to go to the bell tower.
And,
‘From now on, never do this again.’
‘I was worried when I couldn’t see you. What if something happened while we were apart…’
Even when Riena had briefly gone up to the watchtower alone, Cassel had reacted sensitively, as if she were a child left alone by the water.
At the time, she dismissed it, thinking it might have been because someone nearby had been injured. But with those two incidents and now this dream, she felt uneasy.
Riena gathered her thoughts and spoke.
“Do you remember, when I first came here, you told me about the bell tower in the western forest?”
“…Why bring that up now?”
As expected, Cassel seemed unusually sensitive. It was unlike the man who had acted like the happiest person alive after her confession the night before.
Riena swallowed hard but pressed on.
“What color is the bell tower?”
“….”
“Could it be red?”
“…!”
Though he remained silent, Riena noticed his slightly widened eyes—her intuition was correct.
“The walls have ivy on them too…?”
“How do you… know that?”
Cassel suddenly jumped up, washing his face hurriedly with a tense expression.
“Did you have another dream?”
“No.”
Riena quickly denied it.
“I just… thought I heard something like that somewhere before.”
But Cassel probably didn’t believe her. She could read his mind in the uneven rhythm of his still-rough breathing.
‘But why does Cassel act like I shouldn’t have dreams like that?’
Did Cassel really know something about her dreams? Could this dream be a prophetic vision rather than a simple dream?
Was that why Cassel prevented her from going to the western bell tower—to stop some misfortune?
‘But then the dream about Lord Beliar doesn’t make sense. That I married him and was abused…’
Then Riena recalled their first meeting. That night, Cassel had arrived through the heavy rain with only a single knight accompanying him.
At the time, she had only felt grateful that he had come at the right moment, never thinking it strange. But in hindsight, there were suspicious details.
According to Princess Anais, Cassel was a rigid man who followed etiquette unless there was a special reason.
Yet he had come at that hour, unannounced, in that state, to propose to her?
‘I couldn’t prepare a new ring because I came in a hurry.’
Cassel himself admitted he had come in a hurry.
Two months had passed since Count Dyke’s death. Even considering the time it would take for a letter from Dyke to reach him from the southern to northern ends, Cassel would have had enough time to formally contact her and visit the Dyke mansion.
Yet he ignored all those formalities.
Why? For what purpose?
Was the marriage that urgent?
Or maybe…
‘Did he want to prevent something?’
If so, what was it he wanted to stop?
