Chapter 493: Let Me Put Them Back In

Even though Cassius thought he looked cool right now—standing tall, his hands bloody but his posture noble, holding out his own eyes like some dramatic hero from a legend—that illusion of badassery shattered immediately.

Because instead of holding his offering toward the vampire...he was, in fact, facing one of the empty cages.

For several seconds, no one said a word. Even the vampire just blinked in confusion, tilting her head slightly as if to make sure she was really seeing what she thought she was.

Then Aisha finally broke the silence.

"Cassius..." She began, her voice trembling between horror and disbelief. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!"

Cassius turned his head—or at least, tried to—and replied, dead serious.

"What does it look like I’m doing? I’m proving my sincerity."

Aisha stormed over to him, grabbing him by the arm.

"Proving your sincerity?! You just ripped your own eyes out! And you’re talking to a cage! A goddamn cage!"

There was a pause. Cassius blinked or rather, attempted to, then said,

"Ah. That explains why she wasn’t answering me."

Aisha’s expression twisted into pure disbelief.

"Are you stupid?! Are you actually brain-dead?! Your eyes are not grapes, Cassius! You don’t just pluck them out like snacks! They’re your eyes! You need them to see! Do you even realize what you’ve done?!"

Cassius, completely unfazed, just shrugged.

"Eyes are overrated anyway. I didn’t use them much."

"Didn’t—didn’t use them much?!" Aisha almost screamed.

Before she could strangle him, Skadi ran up from behind, tears welling up in her eyes as she tugged at his hand.

"Why did you do that, Master?! Why did you do something so dumb?!" She cried. "Half of your handsomeness was in your eyes! They were so cool, and sparkly, and...and made you look all mysterious! Now—now what will you do without them?!"

Cassius turned his head slightly again, in the wrong direction and patted her head.

"I’ll manage, Skadi. My handsomeness is eternal."

Skadi sniffled.

"No, it’s not! Without your eyes, you can’t seduce women anymore! They’ll just pity you for being blind!" She wailed. "You’re supposed to be a cool, scary noble, not a tragic romance story!"

Julie rubbed her temples, looking one step away from screaming.

"Cassius, I swear, I’m this close to slapping you right now. This close. But then I’d basically be assaulting a disabled man, and that just feels...wrong."

She groaned before she turned to Aisha, exasperated.

"Can you fix this, Aisha? You’re the mage here. Do you know any healing magic? Something that can put his eyes back in?"

Aisha froze.

"Wh—what? No! I’m an earth mage! I can maybe fix a wall or two, but reattaching eyeballs? That’s priest-tier stuff!"

Julie’s voice rose.

"Then what are we waiting for?! We need to get him to someone who can! Aisha, you’re taking Cassius back to the surface to find a healer. Skadi and I will handle the vampire."

"What?!" Cassius raised a hand in protest. "No way. You’re not dragging me anywhere. I didn’t go through all that trouble just to get kicked out of my own story."

Julie blinked. "Cassius—you’re blind!"

He scoffed. "Blind? Please. My other senses are sharper than ever. I could fight better like this."

"You’re not even facing us." Julie said flatly.

Cassius paused, then turned slightly—still facing the wrong direction.

"I know. I was testing you. See if you’d notice."

"Cassius..." Aisha said tiredly. "You’re talking to me, not the captain."

He adjusted his stance again. "Right, right. There. Got it."

"Now you’re facing Skadi." Aisha muttered.

"Ah, Skadi, good! Anyway—you said I can’t charm girls anymore, right? Look at me now. Even without eyes, my face still oozes charisma."

Skadi took one look at his hollow, bloodied sockets and immediately flinched back in horror.

"No, Master, no! You look like a ghoul!"

Cassius smirked. "A ghoul, huh? Maybe that’s my new look. Dark. Mysterious. Dangerous. The ladies will love it."

Skadi shook her head furiously. "No, Master! The ladies will run away! Even I want to run away right now!"

"Unbelievable. Utterly unbelievable." Julie groaned again, muttering under her breath.

And as all four of them bickered and flailed around—the mage scolding, the beastkin crying, the captain losing patience, and the blind noble trying to flirt with the air—the vampire woman stood there, utterly baffled.

Moments ago, the air had been tense, brimming with deadly seriousness. And now, the same group that had terrified her moments ago was fighting amongst themselves like a bunch of lunatics.

She stared at Cassius—blind, bloodied, smiling confidently—and thought to herself, What on earth is wrong with these people?

He was supposed to be a high noble, a man of authority and power...but instead he seemed like a jester you would see in a court.

But just as she was trying to figure him out—Cassius turned his head towards where she the vampire was standing, almost as if he always knew where she was all along.

"Anyway." He said, clearing his throat as if nothing had happened. "Now that I’ve done what I promised and plucked out my eyes..." He juggled the two blood-slick orbs casually in his hands. "...I think it’s about time you hold up your end of the deal and trust what I said."

Skadi immediately turned green and whipped her head away. "Ugh! Master, please stop doing that!" She cried, covering her eyes. "That’s disgusting!"

Cassius ignored her, tossing his eyeballs from one hand to another like juggling balls.

"Or..." He said with a sly smile. "...you don’t have to trust me. But if that’s the case...that means your word isn’t worth even as much as those greedy, disgusting, lying nobles you hate so much. Guess that makes you worse than them, huh?"

The vampire froze, her expression darkening instantly.

Cassius tilted his head. "Aisha, what’s her face look like right now? I can’t see."

"S-She looks like she wants to tear you apart limb from limb, Cassius."

Cassius grinned.

"Is that so? Well then, what’s it going to be, Miss Vampire? You going to rip me apart? Tear me to shreds? Because if you do, that’ll just prove my point—that your so-called ’noble’ vampire race can’t even keep a promise."

That did it. The vampire’s eyes flashed crimson, her fangs bared.

"Who..." She said coldly, her voice echoing with fury. "...said I’m not keeping my promise?"

Cassius smiled faintly, wiping some blood from his cheek.

"Oh? So that means you’re finally joining our side?"

Her glare sharpened.

"Don’t push your luck, human." She said icily. "I may not kill you for now, but that doesn’t mean I’ll ever trust you. I’ll acknowledge one thing only—that you’re trying to save these children. Until every last one of them is safe, I’ll stay by your side. But if you ever try to touch me, or make a move I don’t like..." Her voice dropped into a hiss. "...I’ll make you regret it."

"Great. Now we have to watch out back against a vampire. Just what we needed." Julie muttered under her breath.

"She’s scary..." Skadi pouted.

"Well, congratulations, you got her to agree. Barely." Aisha folded her arms, giving Cassius a look.

Cassius chuckled.

"I’ll take that as progress." He then tilted his head slightly toward the vampire. "And atleast now, could you please tell us your name. It’ll be awkward calling you ’Miss Vampire’ every time. Makes it sound like I’m flirting with you."

The vampire frowned, silent for a moment, clearly reluctant. Cassius smiled disarmingly.

"Come on, even if you don’t want to tell your real name, make one up. Call yourself anything you like—it’ll make communication easier."

There was another pause before the vampire finally said in a low voice.

"...Carmela. You can call me Carmela."

Cassius’s grin widened.

"Carmela, huh? A beautiful name for a beautiful lady. Well then...hello, Carmela."

Her brow twitched. "Don’t push your luck." She said again flatly.

Cassius laughed softly. "Alright, alright. Now then, we’ve wasted enough time with introductions. Let’s start getting these children out of here before that cult tries anything."

Julie nodded. "Finally, something sensible."

Aisha added. "We should move quickly. The blood moon’s rising."

"Of course." Cassius said with a smile and then added casually. "But before that, I should probably put my eyes back in."

Everyone froze.

"Wait. What?" Aisha said, dumbfounded.

Even Carmela blinked, utterly confused.

And before anyone could stop him, Cassius took the two eyeballs he’d been juggling and, with shocking casualness, pressed them back into his empty sockets.

There was a soft squelch as they slid into place. One eye pointed slightly upward, the other sideways.

Skadi gagged. "Eww, Master, stop! That’s so gross!"

But then, before their eyes, the two pupils began to rotate within his skull, spinning wildly until they clicked back into alignment.

The faint glow returned, and Cassius blinked several times as if nothing had happened.

"There we go." He said brightly. "Good as new!"

Skadi peeked out nervously. "M-Master? Are they working?"

Cassius turned to her. "Perfectly."

Aisha, still pale, said faintly. "I don’t even know how that’s physically possible..."

Julie shook her head in disbelief.

"Cassius, you just took out your eyes and shoved them back in like they were...accessories. How the hell did you even do that?"

Cassius waved them off casually.

"Oh, that doesn’t matter right now. What matters is—my eyes are back, I can see again, and our lovely Carmela here has agreed to protect the children."

He smiled, his crimson eyes gleaming once more as if nothing gruesome had happened.

"Now then, everyone—let’s get to work."

And with that, the others reluctantly returned to escorting the children through the tunnel, still in shock at what they’d just witnessed.

Meanwhile, Carmela watched Cassius for a long moment, her expression unreadable.

She had seen many strange things in her long life. But this man, this noble, who smiled even after tearing out his own eyes, might have been the strangest of them all.