Chapter 24: Childhood Crush (1)
In the house of Roland, Auriela handed the newspaper to her husband so he could read the trending reports that were circulating around Carmarthen Town. A look of displeasure contorted her aging face as she turned away from her husband, who's eyes were now engrossed on the newspaper headline.
"Is this possible? Why would a certified man like Lord Cassian marry a common Baroness like Madeline? I can't say they grew acquainted to know one another since that girl spent most of her life locked in a room, so how did the marriage even happen?"
The puzzles simply refused to fit no matter how hard she tried to forcefully make them fit. It pained Auriela to see that girl enjoying her life now in Dukedom, while she- she's currently thinking of a way to escape the sticky mess that might come her way in the future.
Roland said nothing to his wife's constant inquiries. He shifted his gloomy gaze to his bandaged knee, and the memories of Lord Cassian shooting him without a look of remorse made his mind and body feel more agitated. Something told him that the young man would definitely come for him if he tried something stupid.
"Let it be Auriela." He closed the newspaper, folding it and keeping it beside his bed. "Leave Madeline for now, once the Young Lord gets to know about her disorder, I doubt he'd still want to have her as his wife."
In other words, it was Roland's only hope of getting his hands on Madeline's property. No one from a reputable family like the Albrecht family would want a woman who suffers from a mental health condition as their daughter-in-law.
"We should be more worried about Gregor and his unquenchable anger." Roland murmured to his wife in annoyance, and Auriela's mind was instantly drawn back to what happened at the altar. It felt like trouble only kept rising instead of decreasing.
"Gregor is another problem we have to get off our back, we need to calm his temper a bit. He's seriously pissed at the fact he got left at the altar, and I'm afraid he might barge into the house of the Duke and create a scene."
That was Auriela's second worry. If Gregor can't control his anger and ends up going there to claim Madeline, then they'll also be legally exposed for the crimes they've committed towards the girl.
No one will be spared from the Young Lord's wrath.
~
It was almost evening, the sun was starting to set below the horizon, leaving the sunlight scattering above the atmosphere and turning the environment into a twilight scenery.
"Maddie." Cassian's lilting voice was the only thing ringing in Maddie's subconsciousness as she tried to force herself awake.
"....."
"Maddie." He called her name with a soft tone, sounding calm and trying his possible best not to jolt her awake.
When she passed out in front of him, he never imagined she'd take this long to wake up. Seeing her in this state, he was starting to feel guilty about not preparing her properly for what she was about to see, and it was his fault she's lying unconscious on the bed right now.
Looking at the little girl who exchanged glances with him. She didn't look as scary as she once did, she just stared blankly, with no form of human emotion in her emerald green eyes. She was a lifeless ghost who couldn't feel guilt, and could only stare at the two couples like strangers meeting for the first time.
Her emerald green eyes retracted to the sleeping beauty, then back at Cassian who indicated with his brows that she should leave now. The little girl remained mute, and quietly exited the room by going through the walls.
At that time, Madeline's eyes fluttered open. She blinked a few more seconds to steady her vision, and when she looked up, Cassian's handsome face was the first thing she saw.
"You're awake." He said, and from his expression, Madeline couldn't classify if he was concerned that she passed out or not.
"Cas?" Like someone who's memories were still rebooting, Madeline's eyes gradually contracted when the little girl, and the scenes that led to her unconsciousness surrounded her vision, and the terror instantly skittered through her veins.
With a short shaky gasp, she quickly sat upright and did something Cassian never saw coming.
She hugged the young lad due to the fear that had overwhelmed her body within a short time. She instinctively wrapped her hands around him after seeing he was here with her, and that he didn't vanish from her sight.
"Where did you go?" Her voice trembled. "I couldn't see you anywhere, the place was dark and I got really scared! I....I saw the girl, I saw her ghost, she was…"
"Shhhhh." He silenced Madeline who was still ranting on with a shaky voice. He gently stroked her soft black hair to ease her from the tension that had invaded her system. He understood her situation, the fear had invaded her body before it could even recover, which explains her sudden fright.
"You do not have to worry, I'll protect you." He assured her in a soothing voice. No matter how brave one can be, they will surely quiver at the sight of a ghost, and he was hoping this was something she would get used to, cause she'll have to start seeing them from now on.
"It's okay."
Hearing his voice that assured her all will be fine, Madeline closed her eyes to finally get a grip, oblivious to the fact that she was burying her face in his chest.
After spending a few minutes calming herself in his arms. Cassian finally stood up from the bed. He poured a glass of water on a cup, and handed it to Madeline who was lost in thoughts. She looked at him before giving a silent thank you and receiving the water.
"How are you feeling?" He asked.
"Confused." She gave her honest response with a subtle frown, "the girl, I saw her in the darkness, she was looking all scary, and different." Recollecting the images made her shudder a bit, and she quickly drank the water on the cup like it would steady her nerves.
Cassian was impressed by how fast she calmed herself down. After figuring out what little information he could get on her background. He realized she was an orphan who lost both parents in a tragic accident, but she survived.
She was known as the invincible Baroness since she never stepped out of her uncle's home, but judging from how she fled and asked him for help, he could guess her uncle was behind the reason for her staying indoors as well.
"Ca_Cassian, can I ask…!!. I mean how could you tell that I can see ghosts?" Madeline switched the question when he glared at her, forgetting he warned her not to seek his permission before asking a question.
"What do you do??" Although many people called the Young Lord insane, and titled him as a chaosmaker, Madeline found nothing abnormal about his behavior towards her, and she could guess that whatever mischief he oriented in the past, had some connection with his title.
"I am sorry if you think I'm crossing the limit with my question but…"
"I'm a secret detective." He responded, bringing out his legal badge from his trouser pocket and showing it to Madeline. "I work undercover, and secretly solve crimes without having to let the world know who's responsible for the peace they enjoy."
Madeline looked amused by it as she stared at his badge. Secret detective? That is new for someone who might end up being Duke. She's even more surprised his family allowed it.
"Does your family know about this?"
"Only Amade is aware of everything I do, you're the third person."
Madeline blinked when he said she was the third person. "Who's the first??"
"Orson Cooper, he's the.."
"He's the son of the Marquees, " Madeline completed his statement, to Cassian's surprise. "He works in one of the famous court agencies known as LEA, and he is very known for how good he is at his job."
Cassian remained silent as he heard her speak. It's the first time he's heard his wife say so much about someone with such pureness in her sparkling eyes, and that left him curious.
"How do you know?"
"I've been one of the secret admirers of Orson since my teenage years till this day." She smiled. "He's smart, good-looking, intelligent, and very skilled in handling these vicious criminals. He was my childhood crush."
Something shattered inside of Cassian, and he nearly choked after hearing his wife make mention of a crush. "My best friend is your what now??"
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone