Chapter 39: The Ring

Chapter 39 – The Ring

’Am I dreaming?’

Isolde couldn’t help but think it, looking at the situation actually unfolding inside her own garden. It was surreal. Far too surreal to believe.

Yet there was no mistaking it.

She raised her head and locked eyes with Cassius who, despite the overwhelming resonating presence of her sister, was still looking at her as if she were the only person here.

Her heart began to speed up. The realisation settled slowly, and Isolde found herself using her own essence to keep anything from showing on her face.

"Why do you look so surprised?" Cassius asked, his expression lazy, his cane resting on his shoulder like an accessory designed to make him look good rather than a weapon.

Isolde said nothing.

Instead she turned toward her sister and Emrys, and saw expressions she had never expected to find on either of them.

Anesthesia’s face no longer carried that ubiquitous smile, the one that always seemed to mock Isolde simply by existing. Now there was only neutrality, and beneath it, visible traces of irritation and surprise flashing through her eyes.

Emrys showed little outwardly, only mild surprise. The villainess knew this was mainly because Cassius was behaving in a way completely unlike any man he typically encountered.

Emrys himself had never been included in that particular crowd. From the beginning, Anesthesia’s presence had never been able to influence him, he was far too protected for that.

But this was the first time a man their age had acted like him, in that specific way.

[

The Beggar of the Golden Thunder

twists his thunderous lips. He tells you to be careful. The white-haired man is a Blessed.]

’I figured that much.’ Emrys thought, hand tightening on his sword. ’But from whom?’

[

The Beggar of the Golden Thunder

shakes his head in disdain. He doesn’t know. Neither do the others. Which means she is a low-level goddess. Unworthy of your attention.]

’What about Desdemona? I feel uncomfortable. Same as I do with Isolde and... him. An enemy?’

[It could be.]

Emrys narrowed his eyes, then was pulled back to the present by a soft slap from Anesthesia.

"Are you listening to me, Em?" She said with obvious irritation, lips pressed together.

Emrys almost smiled. It was a rare sight, seeing Thesia angry.

"I am now." He said, looking at Cassius and Isolde together, with Cassius still watching Isolde intently.

"You will be the one to fight." Anesthesia decided.

"Are we really participating in this farce?" He sighed heavily. "This is pointless. I should be training and preparing for the Academy."

"Can you stop talking about training for once?" She scowled, turning her back on Cassius and Isolde and lowering her voice.

She could only let Emrys see her current expression. She had an image to maintain.

"You know what my father said." Emrys replied, hand tightening. "I need to be Palatine of my Year, Thesia. I need it if I want to obtain what I’ve always sought."

Anesthesia’s expression softened. She sighed. "You are stronger than all of them." She said, taking his free hand. "And I am here. I will help you, so stop worrying."

"I’m not especially worried. I just don’t like this. You were the one who provoked them. Can’t we just say sorry and leave?" He said, not comfortable with bullying someone who had done nothing first.

Because yes, Emrys was certain he would win if he acted. He always did.

"Hey, hey, hey! How much longer?" Cassius’s mocking voice erupted suddenly, startling them both. "Don’t tell me you are afraid of my incredible wife? Well, you—!"

He stopped abruptly, doubling over with a cough — Isolde had just punched him in the stomach, her face flushed with embarrassment.

Anesthesia and Emrys were some distance away, but they could both hear Isolde’s low whisper perfectly.

"Bastard, you are embarrassing me!"

Anesthesia grew even more irritated at that, watching an expression on her sister’s face she had never once seen before. Somehow, she hated it.

She turned back to her childhood friend and lover.

"I was going to wait to be sure, but here we go." She grated, leaning close to his ear. "There is a woman in the Royal Palace. A maid of the Prince."

Emrys’s eyebrows rose. He listened carefully. Anesthesia smiled, knowing her lover in a way no one else could claim to.

"She is being mistreated by the Prince, as you would expect from those arrogant high nobles. I thought she would be happier with you." She paused, smiling strangely yet warmly. "With us."

Emrys’s lips twitched. "You are blackmailing me."

"No. I am telling you that I will help you get to her faster if you teach the bastard behind me a lesson."

"Desdemona seems different from what we heard, don’t you think?"

"Yes." She frowned, glancing back at them. "Which is exactly why you should do it. Be quick."

"Why don’t you just do it yourself?" Emrys grumbled one last time. "It’s just who attacks first. Your Resonance could make you faster than Isolde for a split second."

"Too much effort." She shrugged. "And why should I do anything when others can do it for me?"

Emrys looked at her, deadpan. "Fine. I’m not arguing with you today. Move aside, Thesia. Let’s finish this."

Anesthesia grinned and turned back toward Cassius and Isolde, who were already watching.

Her grin widened, and she raised her hand, showing a purple space ring. "I’ll match the bet with everything inside this ring too, Cassius."

"Don’t call me Cassius." He grimaced. "You are far too familiar for someone I just met."

Anesthesia ignored him, though her eye twitched. "Emrys will be fighting. Don’t worry, he won’t use his sword. You are not worthy."

She looked at her sister, smiling knowingly. "I hope you’re ready, sister."

Isolde narrowed her eyes and shifted her gaze to Emrys, his sword still in hand despite his stated intentions. The lightning sizzling behind his eyes was growing sharper.

She cursed silently.

Anesthesia stepped forward and pressed a kiss to Emrys’s lips. Then she retreated several paces back, stopping just before the clear-water pond.

It was the kind of scene that would once have made Isolde want to cry, curse, and kill them both. But at that moment, strangely, none of that moved through her. All she felt was worry.

Worry about losing.

"He is faster than me." Isolde whispered to Cassius quickly. "Even without his sword. Don’t you know him? Don’t you know his As—!"

"You just need to touch him first." Cassius cut in, smiling reassuringly. "That’s all. So let me tell you one thing, darling: no matter what, attack. No matter what you see, attack."

He smiled. "You understand?"

"What—!"

"We don’t have all day, Cassius!" Anesthesia called, voice sharp. "What? Afraid of my gorgeous Emrys?"

Emrys smiled faintly at his girlfriend’s pettiness.

Cassius gave Isolde one last look, then turned toward Anesthesia with a sigh, walking toward her. "You are embarrassing."

"Just like you, I suppose."

He arrived and stood beside her without any words, a few metres from Emrys and Isolde now facing each other, their expressions set and resolute.

"We start at three." Anesthesia said. Both opponents took their stances.

After a moment...

"Three." Cassius said.

A beat of silence.

"Two." Anesthesia followed.

The tension thickened, and arcs of golden lightning tore through the space around Emrys, licking across his whole body.

The air turned electric. The sky churned, heavy clouds gathering overhead.

Isolde’s face was — for the first time standing in front of Emrys — dead cold. Her mind was fixed entirely on winning.

She didn’t know Cassius’s full plan, but after everything that had just happened, she was willing to bet on the bastard. She gathered all her essence for a single explosive burst.

Then suddenly, at the corner of their eyes, something made both of them instinctively snap their heads toward Cassius and Anesthesia.

Cassius’s face was dangerously close to Anesthesia, his lips appeared to brush against her ear.

Emrys’s eyes went wide, his heart slammed so hard it felt like thunder. His control over his power wavered.

Isolde was worse. Her heart felt like it wanted to tear itself out of her chest, her mind suddenly consumed by an enormous, boundless desire to kill her sister, who was that close to the only person who had ever truly seen her.

And then...

"One." Cassius’s voice landed like a hammer blow in that silence. Anesthesia’s eyes dilated, understanding dawned upon her.

Too late.

Cassius’s instructions surfaced inside Isolde’s mind, and her body moved before her mind caught up.

Sound disappeared, swallowed entirely by her power and her fury.

Emrys was still dazed.

The next second, he was on the ground, Isolde standing over him with a dagger pressed to his throat, her eyes cold.

"Game over." Cassius said softly, spreading his arms wide like wings before stretching one hand toward the stunned Anesthesia, grinning.

"The ring, sister-in-law. Hand it over."

—End of Chapter 39—