The Baroness Misbehaves
Chapter 96: A Look At His Scar (1)

Chapter 96: A Look At His Scar (1)

Madeline stepped into Cassian’s study room and was immediately engulfed by the warmness emanating from each corner. Hearing the door close shut behind her, Madeline halted as her eyes widened in half-surprise, seeing Cassian’s study looking as spotless as him.

But at the same time, she shouldn’t really be surprised since she knew Cassian for his good maintenance.

The walls were lined with bookcases, which towered up to the high ceiling. They were filled to the brim with leather-bound tomes, ancient scrolls, and delicate manuscripts. The air smelled of old parchments and ink, and Madeline couldn’t resist the urge to run her fingers along the spines of the books as she walked deeper into the room.

There was a strange magnetic feeling that coursed through her veins, reassuring her that she could feel safe here.

In the center of the space stood a massive oak desk, behind which sat a plush Bergère chair. The desk was covered in books that were stacked at the center of the table, well-arranged papers were neatly kept at the side, and various writing implements were arranged at the other end.

To Madeline’s unexpected surprise, a hot cup of green tea was placed on the table beside the writing implements.

The room was bathed in a warm, amber light, with a chandelier casting a soft glow over everything. The windows were covered by heavy brocade curtains, lending an air of mystery to the room.

"This is my sanctuary," said Cassian, gesturing around the room. "My haven, where I usually come to lose myself in the past."

Madeline couldn’t help but feel a sense of awe wash over her as she looked around at this incredible space. Cassian’s study had an indescribable energy to it, as if the knowledge contained within those walls was alive.

She knew that she would spend countless hours here, learning from Cassian, exploring the world through history, and uncovering the secrets of the past.

"It is a very lovely place." Commented Madeline as she looked at him with impressive eyes, and then her gaze questionably shifted to the hot cup of green tea that rested on the table, as though asking when it arrived here since the door was locked.

Noticing her gaze, Cassian went behind his seat to pick up the cup of green tea in his grasp, his exquisite fingers curling against the handle and he said. "Frederick normally leaves a cup of green tea before I show up at my study. Since I haven’t been available for a while, I didn’t think he’d still send a cup over."

"Oh!" That definitely answered the question that silently rampaged her mind, and Cassian continued whilst taking his seat on the chair. "Frederick and Amade were always the first to receive what I call a panic attack whenever I felt under the weather. Due to that, I was forced to drink this liquid, and eat brussel sprouts, broccoli and all other species of vegetables you can think of." He shuddered at the discomfited memories, feeling glad to have grown past that stage of immaturity, but he immediately snapped back to the present when he heard Madeline chuckle in his direction.

"Are you laughing at my grievance?"

"Me? I certainly wouldn’t dare." Madeline denied, her voice nearly faltering when he narrowed his eyes at her, but she thoughtfully turned away while pretending to have a look at the study before he catches her in her own lies.

"You still owe me a story concerning the late uncle Williams, I asked you earlier but you never responded."

"Kindly refresh my memory."

"How is he related to your family? Was he a family guest? Or did he live under the same roof with everyone?" She quietly took her seat on the extra chair that faced Cassian, wanting to view the young lad properly as he answered her question.

Dropping his cup of green tea on the saucer on the table, Cassian’s gaze lingered on the enthusiastic woman before his mouth lifted. "Uncle William is the deceased younger brother of my father. He moved in a year after I was born due to some family matter that I can’t remember."

He shifted the box he had brought with him to his side, going through the content and reaching for the old photograph of uncle William. The picture was already showing signs of fading, but nevertheless, he handed it to Madeline who could still make out his face from the washed picture.

"He looks... distant." Commented Madeline after taking notice of how he appeared in the picture, and that didn’t soothe her spirit.

"Some said he was mentally disturbed, some said he had an accident that led to his psychological condition- the rumors were endless, but I believed that this was just uncle William being strange on his own accord." Asserted Cassian as he leaned his back against his chair. "He never spoke with anyone, not even with father. He locks himself in his study room for weeks without coming out, he’s always lost in thoughts and easily gets startled."

Cassian shrugged. "He was the strangest man I have ever met, and another thing about him is that he gets violently furious when someone disrupts him in the study room. And that my dear is how I got to face his wrath when I stepped into his study without his knowledge, and I...."

"...And you encountered a ghost." Madeline completed it, earning her a faint smile from the young lad, and then it gradually disappeared. "He got so furious with my actions that he gave his two able-bodied men a pair of knives, and ordered them to carve that weird tattoo that still displays itself on my back."

He finally revealed, and Madeline’s eyes widened in half shock and surprise. "Those scars.... he’s the one responsible for it?"

"Yeah." Cassin nodded, feeling a bit odd to bring up something like that, but he felt the need to tell her. "My parents weren’t at home to stop him, and then he..." his voice trailed off as the image of those sharp knives going through his skin surfaced in his memories, and he pushed it aside.

"And that’s it." He sat up properly, trying to compose himself in front of Madeline who looked aghast, and also visibly upset after hearing about how he got those scars.

"But that is just extreme cruelty!" Madeline exclaimed in shock after seeing Cassian speak lightly about something so horrendous. "And you let him get away with it? No matter what you did, you were still a child and you were prone to mistakes, he didn’t have to commit something so atrocious with the excuse of punishment! That is inhumane."

Madeline couldn’t explain why hearing how he got that scar made her upset, and she felt bad that he had to experience something so terrifying.

Cassian silently watched her as her expression frowned. She pursed her lips as though her mind was plotting something evil against William’s, and the young lad couldn’t resist a smile seeing his little wife getting upset for his sake.

When she lifted her eyes to look at him, he immediately averted his gaze elsewhere, wiping the smile off his lips, and he heard her say,

"Can I have a look at your scar?"

"Hmmn?"

"I want to see your scar." She requested in a voice Cassian couldn’t possibly refuse.

Standing before the mirror, Cassian unbuttoned his shirt, letting it fall past shoulder and stopping at his forearm. From the mirror, he watched as Madeline inspected the scar on his back, for reasons that were unaware to him.

Madeline took notice of the scar, and they appeared faint unlike the last time she had seen them. One would easily mistake it for an actual tattoo due to how neatly the cuts on his perfect skin were made.

Curious, she let her index finger touch his scar from where it started. From his shoulder blade, her finger gently traces the scar down to his spine, feeling its roughness against the tip of her finger.

Meanwhile, the young lad instinctively closed his eyes as he let out a soft hiss, thus, leading Madeline to take her hands away as she assumed she must have hurt him without knowing.

"Pardon my actions, I didn’t mean to hurt-"

"Who said I was hurt?" He interrupted her in the middle of her apology, shaking his head at how clueless this woman was. His reaction was mainly because he enjoyed feeling her hands on his skin, and he couldn’t explain the displeasure that came afterwards when she took her hands away.

"Continue with whatever it is you are doing." He gave her the go-ahead, and Madeline, who was clueless as to why he was letting her touch him, obediently continued, her eyes and fingers tracing the lines of his scar like a researcher who has found something rare.

"Cassian."

"Yes?"

"Can you take off your shirt completely?" Her innocent eyes looked through the mirror to meet those Amber-brown eyes that were currently far from being innocent, and he tilted his head at her.

"Are you taking me under some sort of strip-session?