"Since the bottle's already open… stay and have a few more drinks with me."
Cassian had made the offer. In modern terms: rainy night, dim lights, shared liquor, he might as well have said "Netflix and chill".
I didn't plan on staying. Of course I didn't. But then…
[Hidden mission activated.
Cassian's emotions are in turmoil. Aurora has moved on to a new target, and now even Davina doesn't seem to want him. Cassian is lonely. Seize the opportunity.
Objective: Comfort Cassian's loneliness.
Reward: +10% affection. +10% trust.
Penalty: -20% affection. Trust will falter. Cassian may reconsider the deal.
Time limit: 59:59:57.]
Seriously? How many missions does this damn system expect me to juggle? I still had two incomplete ones dangling over my head!
But wait, so Aurora's "new target" is… Killian?
That conniving witch. Moving on that fast?
Well, at least this mission didn't require me to sleep with Cassian. And the rewards were decent.
"Alright." I said after thinking it over, settling back into my chair.
Cassian turned his back, and under the flickering candlelight, I thought I saw the faintest sigh of relief tug at his lips.
A hallucination… maybe.
He brought over a plate of fruit, probably for snacking. Poor guy was so lonely, he had to get drunk with his enemy.
Then again, what friends did he even have left in this empire?
Even the one he saw as his savior had now abandoned him for someone better.
Yikes. I actually felt… sorry for him.
Cassian refilled our glasses. We sat across from each other, separated by a table, yet the distance between us felt impossibly vast.
Rain continued pelting the windows. The only sounds in the room were the crackling fire and the steady patter of storm.
I lifted my glass to my lips, hiding my awkward expression behind the rim. What now?
"Why… the sudden change?" Cassian spoke at last, carefully, like he'd been debating whether to ask for a while.
I flinched internally but quickly masked it with a faint smile.
"Change? I haven't changed at all."
"Really?" Cassian leaned back, his gaze sharp. "Then where is the Davina who used to obsess over me?"
He despised that version of Davina. And now he was questioning her absence?
Typical. Never value something until it's gone.
"Who knows." I shrugged. "Maybe she got bored and moved on."
"Bored, huh?" Cassian chuckled darkly, his voice echoing in the quiet room. "You destroyed a kingdom, took me prisoner for your amusement, and now you're bored?"
Yeah… this grudge wasn't going away anytime soon.
It had rooted itself deep in his heart, twisting everything. Love and hate lived in him side by side, a ticking time bomb.
Maybe it was time I started pulling up those roots, before they strangled us both.
"I haven't moved on. The sins I've committed are still here. Right in front of me." I looked him in the eye, voice steady, honest.
Davina had poisoned everyone around her, knowingly or not. Those people were now warped, wounded, broken by the very love they gave her.
"Think of the Davina standing before you now… as her atonement."
Atoning on her behalf, and for my own survival.
Wait. What if… what if this is what the system wants? To redeem the male leads?
As if it were something so noble. I dismissed the fleeting thought the moment it crossed my mind.
"Atonement?" Cassian's bitter laugh snapped me out of it. "And how much of that would be enough, Davina?"
Nothing is ever truly enough. Even I knew that.
"So what? If it's not enough, I'm not allowed to try?" I took a slow sip of my drink.
Her sins were countless. Her pain, unknowable. Let's just call it even.
Cassian looked like he wanted to dig deeper, to rake me over the coals. But I wasn't in the mood for more guilt trips.
"So you invited me to stay just to mock me?" I asked, setting down my empty glass with a weary sigh.
He hesitated, eyes narrowing. Then silence.
We had nothing to talk about, outside of tearing each other down.
Forty-five minutes left until the mission ended.
I had to kill time somehow.
What did I used to do when drinking with friends back in the real world?
"Oh, this is boring. Let's play a game." I suggested, trying to lift the mood.
Cassian raised a skeptical brow and — hilariously — instinctively tugged his robe closed over his chest.
I'm innocent, thank you very much!
"Ahem." I cleared my throat, pretending to be unbothered. "Let's play Truth or Dare."
It was the only drinking game I actually knew. Plus, it might help me dig up more intel on Cassian.
"Truth or Dare? Sounds strange." He said.
"It's not that complicated."
I explained the rules. As I spoke, a curious glint lit his eyes.
"Alright. We'll go in turns. I'll go first." Since I was the one who brought it up, I figured I should start. "Truth."
Cassian tapped a finger against his lips, thinking.
"Are you still interested in me?"
He started with that?
If I said yes, he might get disgusted. If I said no, it might trigger another one of his emotional spirals.
In the end, I raised my glass and downed it in one go.
"I see." He murmured, smirking faintly. "Your turn. I'll go with truth as well."
You want honesty? Fine.
"Do you love Aurora?"
For a moment, the smile froze on his face. Then he raised his glass and chugged it without a word.
Was he too afraid to speak the truth, or simply incapable of lying?
"My turn. Truth or dare?" He asked, eyes narrowing with something wild and unreadable.
Was that hatred? Desire? Both?
"Truth." I answered firmly.
And so the game began, Truth or Dare, except neither of us ever chose to tell the truth. What a joke.
About ten questions in, the bottle was almost empty. Neither of us had gotten a straight answer.
My head was starting to spin.
"Truth or dare?" Cassian slurred slightly, cheeks flushed, though he tried to look composed.
No one wanted to back down.
Time to shake things up a bit.
"Dare."
"Oh?" Cassian raised a brow and leaned back lazily in his seat. He spread his legs and pointed to the floor between them.
"I dare you to kneel before me."
What a smug bastard.
***