As Cassian explained his Killing Domain to the team, they listened with confused expressions—and Cassian himself wasn't entirely sure how it worked. A Killing Domain was supposed to enhance a person's ability to kill opponents, yet despite having killed a few, he hadn't noticed much difference. Perhaps he had never really tried to tap into it properly.
Thinking about it now, he decided he should focus on unlocking that potential during his next fight, especially when facing humans or intelligent creatures.
Meanwhile, the team looked visibly impressed, though still a bit surprised. After all, Cassian belonged to a lineage as powerful as the two biggest forces in the kingdom.
The Ven Dyke Duchy—the name alone sparked curiosity, and the team had a lot of questions. Unfortunately for them, Cassian didn't know much more about the Ven Dykes than they did. He hadn't been raised there and had only spent a few months within the duchy before accompanying Lady Katherine. Even then, she rarely shared much about her family, only telling him what he needed to know at the time.
To this day, Cassian didn't even know who Katherine's husband had been—or if he was still alive. He wasn't sure who held true authority within the Ven Dyke family. Technically, the title of Duke—or, as it stood now, Duchess—belonged to Katherine's mother, but Cassian had no idea who really called the shots.
Katherine's father had been quite famous in his own right, though she barely mentioned him. And when it came to her grandparents, Cassian knew just enough to realize they, too, had been renowned and exceptionally strong.
As Cassian reflected on all this, dinner came to an end, and the initial surprise of him being a noble had settled. The conversation had naturally drifted to other topics, and it seemed most of the group had forgotten what had led them down that path in the first place—or at least, they'd let it go. Cassian hadn't. He still remembered the disdainful voice sneering, "Disgusting hobos."
His gaze drifted toward the camp belonging to the person who'd insulted them—a camp he hadn't even glimpsed the owner of yet. It was noticeably larger than theirs, with spacious tents that almost resembled small houses and enough lighting to make it glow like a beacon.
In comparison, his own team's tents were modest at best, just large enough to hold two people lying down or sitting upright. They had three tents in total: one for the siblings, one shared by Cassian and Robert, and the third shared by the other two women.
Robert noticed Cassian staring at the neighboring camp and asked with a knowing look, "Still thinking about what that asshole said?" He grinned and added, "Bet he wouldn't have run his mouth if he knew we've got not one, but two nobles sitting with us."
"Technically, we had three," Cassian replied, glancing at Lumine, who was preparing to go to sleep. "She was a noble too—until her family fell during the civil war in their kingdom."
"Oh, about her…" Robert's gaze shifted toward Lumine and Wanni, who were quietly settling down for the night. Turning back to Cassian, he asked curiously, "You two are together, right?"
Cassian nodded, raising a brow. "Yeah. Why do you ask?"
"Someone asked me to bring it up, but since you two are still together, it doesn't really matter. Forget I mentioned it," Robert said casually, leaving Cassian puzzled and curious about who would be interested enough to ask.
He could only hope it was a woman—or anyone else, really, as long as it wasn't Robert—since he still had some lingering trauma from Vivienne's prank.
Nonetheless, he was still curious about who had asked about his relationship. If he had to guess, two names came to mind—Wanni or Althea—but neither of them had shown any noticeable interest, as far as he had observed. Besides, there weren't any new women he'd met recently who might be interested in him.
Shaking his head, he reminded himself that he didn't need any more women in his life right now. It was already complicated enough, with the ones he barely had time to spend with. Deciding to let the person's identity remain a mystery, he quietly slipped away from the camp while everyone else was asleep, as he had done on his first day.
He had been sneaking off every night. Not because he had to—he could've easily made up an excuse about training or something—but he preferred avoiding lies when possible. So, sneaking off seemed like the better option.
And where was he going?
To meet one of the women he was involved with. Well, a woman with whom he shared a physical, sexual relationship, who also came to be his girlfriend's sister.
As he slipped inside the larger tent at the center of the cluster, he called out, "Detective?"
"I'm a captain now, Cassian. Don't call me by my previous rank," Cassandra replied with a tired sigh, her attention still on the pile of paperwork in front of her.
"My apologies, Captain..." Cassian said with a smirk as he walked over and placed his hands on her shoulders near her neck.
Cassandra's eyes suddenly fluttered shut, a mix of pain and bliss crossing her face as she let out a soft moan.
Cassian, a bit surprised by her reaction, continued to massage her tense shoulders and asked, "Your shoulders are so tight... How long have they been making you work ?"
"Don't even ask..." Cassandra muttered, her voice laced with frustration and anger as she leaned back in the chair, finally relaxing a bit under Cassian's diligent massage. Noticing how exhausted she looked, he worked more carefully on her tense shoulders.
"I've been sitting in this damn chair almost every day for the past week. They haven't let me go out, not even once," she added, exhaling heavily.
"Wait, you've been stuck doing paperwork since day one?" Cassian asked, sounding surprised.
"Yeah. They won't let me near the battlefield. Apparently, I 'need rest,' there's 'not much to do out there,' and they 'need me here.' Those bastards... It's so frustrating, I'm starting to regret choosing to be assigned here instead of staying at the department," she vented, her irritation clear in every word.
Cassian listened intently, his focus split between her words and his hands gently massaging her shoulders. As he worked, he slowly eased her clothing down from her shoulders, exposing more skin.
"Why you, though? There are plenty of other people who can handle the paperwork," he asked, genuinely curious.
Cassandra looked a bit troubled as she opened her eyes and said, "I don't know..." She sighed before continuing, "I think it might be because they're suspicious of me. I've seen this happen to others in the department before—when someone's under suspicion, the higher-ups bury them in boring desk work to keep them under their radar."
Cassian frowned, confused as to why they would be suspicious of her. But as he considered her theory, a sudden thought struck him, and he tensed up. "Wait... if they're keeping you under surveillance, does that mean they know I've been sneaking over here to see you too?"
Cassandra smiled and shook her head. "Nah, don't worry about it. I didn't say they were actually watching me, just that they might be," she reassured him with a casual shrug. "And I knew that if they are," she added.