"Be honest with me, you're Cassian, right?"
The study went very quiet. Cassius kept his expression carefully blank, but internally, he was already running through the list of ways this conversation could go wrong. Which, as it turned out, was a very long list.
[Well. That's certainly one way to start a Tuesday.]
'Shut up, Kar.'
"Cassian," Cassius repeated slowly, as if tasting the word for the first time. "I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about, Lady Winter."
"Not gonna lie, it doesn't make that much sense to me either." Lyra's voice wavered slightly, uncertain in a way that didn't match the accusation she'd just made. "After all, what kind of idiot chooses a name so similar to his own?"
[told you it was a bad idea.]
' My name is gorgeous.' He scoffed, a
Though, he decided that perhaps next time he would choose a better secret name.
Cassius stared at the way she tilted her chin proudly. Even now, even dressed as a maid with dye staining her hair, she still looked every bit the spoiled brat who'd bullied him in his first life.
*Ew, how dare an Illegitimate touch my hand?*
*You're not a real Blackwood.*
*You know you're not actually going to awaken, right?*
he still remembered the way she flicked his hand away like he was something dirtied on her glove. He remembered promising himself she'd beg to lick his feet one day. He remembered how badly that promise had mattered to him, back when he still had the luxury of caring about things like pride.
None of that had happened yet. Technically. This Lyra hadn't said a cruel word to him in this life. in fact, she'd saved him from Leon, dragged him away from a Cerberus, poured his tea with shaking hands. But Cassius had learned, rather violently, not to trust people based on what they hadn't done.
'She's the same person underneath the maid's uniform. People don't change. They just wait for a reason to show you who they really are.'
[That's a rather bleak way to look at a twelve-year-old who just saved your life twice.]
'She knows exactly whose tea she's pouring. What she doesn't know is that I already hate her for something she hasn't done in this life.'
[But what if she's different in this life?]
'Look at her! You really think she's changed? She still has that same disdainful expression she had before.'
[They say people see what they want to see.]
'That explains why you're so hell bent on seeing her in a good light when you don't even know her like I do. You just see what you want to see.'
[Whatever.]
Cassius said nothing.
He picked up his sword, tested the edge with his thumb, and let the silence stretch until Lyra shifted her weight.
'Let her wonder who's in control here.'
[This is petty, even for you.]
'It's strategic.'
[It's petty.]
Lyra swallowed. She had asked a question, and he had decided to answer it with nothing at all.
Lyra shifted her weight again.
"You're not going to say anything?" She asked
"You asked me a question," Cassius said, eyes on his blade. "I'm considering it."
"It was a yes or no question."
"Those are the most dangerous kind."
[Did you read that somewhere, or did you just make it up to sound clever?]
'Both.'
The silence stretched. Lyra's composure lasted another ten seconds, which Cassius privately counted as a personal best for a twelve-year-old noble.
"Fine," she said. "Don't answer. But you should know I won't tell anyone. Not my father, not yours, not the people hunting for that reward." She took a breath. "Whatever you're hiding, it's safe with me."
Cassius's thumb stopped on the edge of the sword.
'Whatever you're hiding.'
Not why you lied about your name. Not why a swordsman's son sneaks into the merchant district at night. She'd said it as though she already knew there was something worth hiding, and that it was bigger than a fake name.
[She's not asking what your secret is. She's assuming you have one.]
'I noticed.'
"That's generous," Cassius said, finally looking up. "Why would the Winter heir protect a stranger's secret?"
"Because..." Lyra opened her mouth, closed it, and tried again. "Because it would be a waste if you died."
The room went very still.
Died.
Not punished. Not caught. Not disinherited.
Cassius kept his face perfectly blank. It was a skill he'd spent ten years perfecting, and it was the only reason his heart had not just leapt into his throat.
"I mean," Lyra added quickly, "if the Duke found out. Sneaking around the merchant district. It would be a waste if he, um, punished you too harshly."
[She's a terrible liar.]
'She's an excellent liar. She's just terrible at lying to me.'
[That's not the compliment you think it is.]
Cassius set the sword down on the desk, slowly enough that she could watch him do it. Then he smiled, the same polite, harmless smile he used on his father.
"Very well, Lady Winter. You may keep your position as my maid, and I will keep your secret."
Lyra curtsied, and for the first time since breakfast, her smile looked real. A little too real.
"That makes two of us, young master."
[This is going to be exhausting.]
"You may go," Cassius said. "Fetch fresh tea. The Duke's cup was not the only thing you spilled today."
"Yes, young master." Lyra bowed and left, quickly enough that it was almost a retreat.
The door clicked shut. Cassius leaned back in his chair and let out a long breath.
'Something's off about her.'
[Obviously.]
'I mean it. I just can't tell what.'
[You could start with the fact that she's a runaway noble pretending to be a maid.]
'That part makes sense. A girl running from an engagement, hiding in the last place anyone would look.' He frowned. 'It's something else.'
[Cassius, let me gently point out that you're the one who called her Lisa.]
Cassius paused.
[She told Casian her name was Lisa. She told the head butler her name was Lina. Only one person in this house could have mixed them up.]
'...I was trying to rattle her.'
[You rattled yourself. Well done.]
'You could have warned me.'
[I did. I said "Really? Casian?" and you ignored me.]
'That was about the name, not the strategy.'
[A man with your talents should be able to tell the difference.]
Cassius pressed his fingers against his eyes. A twelve-year-old girl had just rattled him in his own study. In his first life, he'd survived assassins, mercenary guilds, and a Blackwood Trial, and now he couldn't tell whether a maid was dangerous or merely strange.
'Fine. She's strange. For now, that's all I'm going to call it.'
[That's the most sensible thing you've said all day.]
'Let her think she's the one in control. If there's something worth finding, she'll show it eventually.'
[And if there isn't?]
'Then I'll have a maid who cant pour tea to save her life.'
[Anyways it's time for your second quest. ]
'Huh?'
[Mission: Find out who Anna's master is
Reward: Observation Skill]
'I guess it's time to return to the information guild'