With the task finally complete, Lucious meticulously gathered the last confession, stacking the sheets with the precision and care for which he was known.

His expression remained calm, his movements unhurried, but a flicker of curiosity simmered beneath the surface. Questions tugged at the edges of his mind, and he found himself eager to share them with his young master.

After ensuring the confessions were properly handed off for safekeeping, Lucious stepped into the garden.

The cool evening air washed over him, a refreshing contrast to the oppressive tension that had suffused the hall. His steps crunched softly against the gravel as he followed the winding path toward the fountain.

Upon nearing a fountain, Lucious came to an abrupt halt when he saw a rather suprising sight that made him wonder if he was seeing wrong.

His master stood at the water’s edge, his head fully submerged beneath the surface, sending ripples outward with each faint movement. It was an almost absurd sight, as though Cassius were imitating an ostrich burying its head in the sand, only this time his head was submerged in the water like he was trying to drown himself.

Lucious blinked, momentarily taken aback, before continuing forward.

“Ahh!~ That was refreshing!~”

And just as he did, Cassius suddenly lifted his head from the water, droplets cascading down his pale skin, his wet hair clinging to his face. His blood red eyes glinted with satisfaction, his expression one of serenity—as if he had just emerged from a tranquil bath.

“Ah, Lucious.” Cassius said cheerfully, a playful smirk curving his lips when he noticed his butler approaching. “Hear this…I was hoping to find some fish in this fountain and admire the funny looks they had on their faces. But sadly, there’s nothing but a lonely toad at the bottom.”

Lucious inclined his head, suppressing a faint smile. “I’ll arrange for some beautiful fish to be placed here, my lord. I’m sure it will make your next…bath far more engaging”

Cassius chuckled softly, accepting the towel Lucious offered. He began to dry his face, erasing the remnants of blood that had stained him earlier. His features, now pristine, appeared far more composed, though his eyes retained their unnerving glint.

“So…” Cassius began, casually wiping at his damp hair. “Is everything handled? Any complications?”

Lucious nodded smoothly. “Yes, my lord. Everyone wrote their confessions without resistance. As for the punishment…they followed through, though most were thoroughly shaken by the end.”

“Shaken?” Cassius arched a brow, pausing mid-motion.

Lucious tilted his head slightly, his tone calm and matter-of-fact. “Several broke down weeping afterward. Some even curled up and couldn’t stop shaking and shivering while calling out to their mothers to save them…It caused some delays in getting everything finalized.”

Cassius smirked faintly, leaning back against the fountain’s edge. He draped the towel around his neck, his gaze flickering with faint amusement as he asked, “I see. And what about you, Lucious? How are you feeling?”

“Young Master?” Lucious blinked, a hint of confusion crossing his otherwise impassive face. “What do you mean by that?”

Cassius gestured lazily, his eyes narrowing slightly as they studied his butler. “I mean, you were there the entire time, weren’t you, Lucious. You saw it all. Are you not frightened just like the rest of them? Or are you merely maintaining this calm facade to uphold your image as the perfect butler?”

Lucious remained silent for a moment, his grey eyes catching the faint light of the sun. And then, slowly, a small smile tugged at his lips—a smile that was far too sharp, too unsettling, to be innocent.

“Frightened?” He echoed, his tone carrying a faint trace of amusement. “No, my lord. Not in the slightest.”

Cassius blinked, momentarily thrown off by the sudden shift in Lucious’s demeanor.

“In fact.” Lucious continued, his voice lowering slightly, “I found it…beautiful. Mesmerizing, even.”

“B-Beautiful?” Cassius’s smirk faltered, unease flickering across his face.

Lucious’s smile widened, his gaze gleaming with a fervor that bordered on reverence. His voice dropped slightly, his words spilling out with a passion that made Cassius shift uncomfortably.

“The sound of the rock smashing through his skull…” Lucious began, his tone rich with admiration. “…The weight of the rock as it struck his head…The way it shattered flesh and bone so effortlessly. The way the blood sprayed across your face, my lord—”

He took a step closer, his expression unguarded, as though describing a work of divine art.

“At that moment, you looked more handsome than I’ve ever seen you. The calmness in your eyes, the precision of your movements…I-It was breathtaking. Every strike was deliberate, calculated, like a maestro conducting a symphony of destruction.”

Cassius blinked, his hand frozen mid-motion as he wiped his face with the towel. He stared at Lucious, unsure whether to feel flattered or deeply unsettled.

“And the way you didn’t even give him a chance to speak.” Lucious continued, his voice growing softer, almost reverent. “The sheer finality of it…The mercy you withheld, Young Master. It wasn’t cruelty—it was justice, divine justice delivered with the calmest, most elegant manner I’ve ever witnessed.”

“…You painted the scene with his blood as if it were your canvas, each strike perfect in its execution.”

Cassius cleared his throat, taking a deliberate step back, though Lucious didn’t seem to notice.

“The satisfaction I felt in that moment…” Lucious went on his voice trembling slightly with excitement. “…was indescribable. To see you, my master, holding power over life and death, wielding it so gracefully—it was…art. Pure art.”

Cassius pressed the towel to his face, hiding his expression for a moment as he processed the disturbing enthusiasm in Lucious’s voice.

‘My cute little butler is definitely unhinged…Maybe even worse then me.’ He thought to himself, swallowing hard.

Finally, Cassius lowered the towel, his eyes narrowing slightly as he regarded Lucious. “Y-You have a…unique way of looking at things, Lucious.” He said carefully, his tone measured like he didn’t want to provoke the little psychopath in front of him.

Lucious tilted his head slightly, his sharp smile unwavering. “Do I, Young Master?” He asked, his tone polite but laced with amusement. “I simply admire what is worthy of admiration.”

Cassius sighed, rubbing his temples as he turned back toward the fountain. “Remind me never to give you a paintbrush.” He muttered, more to himself than to Lucious.

Lucious’s soft laughter followed him, tinged with that unsettling edge that made Cassius vow silently to keep his butler’s sadistic tendencies in check.

Cassius then tossed the bloodied towel onto the stone ledge and glanced back at his butler with a faint smirk as a question came to his mind.

“But Lucious, if you’re so calm after watching a man get brutalized and murdered.” Cassius asked casually, his tone light yet probing. “Then why were you blushing so much yesterday, just from eavesdropping on what was happening inside?”

Lucious froze, his eyes widening in panic when he hears his master’s question.

His previously composed demeanor shattered, and he waved his hand in the air, his cheeks flushing as he stammered. “Th-That’s too embarrassing to think about, Young Master!” He exclaimed, his voice rising a pitch.

Cassius chuckled, thoroughly entertained by the stark contrast between the sadistic butler from moments ago and the flustered, almost childlike one standing before him now.

“Ah, so you can admire the artistry of blood and gore…” He said, his voice dripping with mockery, “…But a little intimacy makes you crumble?”

Lucious coughed loudly, straightening his posture in an attempt to regain his composure.

“Ahem! My lord.” He said, his tone suddenly serious, though the blush on his cheeks betrayed his embarrassment. “Rather than dwell on such…improper topics, there’s something else I’ve been meaning to ask you about.”

“Oh? And what might that be?” Cassius tilted his head slightly, letting his easily flustered butler go for now.

Lucious hesitated for a moment, his expression shifting to something more solemn, even nervous. His eyes darted away before returning to meet Cassius’s steady gaze.

“I noticed something, my lord.” He began cautiously, his voice low. “Something that others didn’t seem to catch. Perhaps because they were too focused on Harland and what was happening to him.”

“What exactly did you notice?” Cassius raised an eyebrow, intrigued by the shift in his butler’s demeanor as he didn’t seem like someone who would unnecessarily like he was now.

Lucious exhaled softly, glancing at the ground before continuing. “When you brought the rock down on Harland’s head.” He said, his words a little hesitant like he couldn’t believe what he was saying himself. “I think that, just for a moment…I saw something…A blue light…A blue light flash around the helmet.”

Cassius frowned slightly, leaning in. “A blue light?”

Lucious nodded, his expression tense. “Yes, my lord. A faint glow that flickered the moment the rock made contact with the helmet.”

Cassius’s eyes narrowed, a faint smile pulling at the corner of his lips as he figured out what his observant buter was trying to ask. “Go on.”

Lucious hesitated again, as if weighing the implications of his next words. “At first, I thought I must have seen wrong. After all, it’ s impossible—or rather, it should be impossible.”

Cassius straightened, a faint air of amusement in his tone as he replied, “And yet, here you are, about to tell me the impossible.”

Lucious glanced up at his master, his gaze filled with both awe and disbelief. “The blue light, my lord…” He said as he remembered the scene he had just witnessed. “…it was the repulsion field activating, was it not?”

Cassius’s smile deepened, though his eyes remained unreadable.

Lucious continued, his voice steady despite the weight of his words. “I know because I’ve studied the properties of those types of runes before. That rune on that helmet is designed to repel objects, to soften impacts to the point of harmlessness and when it activates it usually shines blue because it is Eather based which is also blue in colour.”

“…It’s advanced technology that’s even used in milita, so not even a massive boulder should have been able to break through it.”

He paused, swallowing hard before adding, “But then I saw the rock you used, Young Master. The crater it left on its surface after you smashed it onto the helmet. And I knew…you didn’t just break through the helmet. You shattered the repulsion field itself.”

Cassius remained silent, his expression calm but his gaze sharp, as though he were studying Lucious with newfound interest.

Lucious looked at him, a mix of awe and disbelief flickering in his golden eyes.

“My lord.” He said softly, his voice trembling slightly. “How is that possible? Not even a machine built to crush stones could have caused that much damage. And yet you did, with your bare hands.”

“Just…What are you?”

Lucious looked at his master like he was wondering if he was a normal human or some kind of monster in the skin of a human being.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep