Triggers

"That decree is an abomination!" Penry raised his voice, his eyes glaring at Cassandra. "No matter what, you shall not agree to marry someone from the Royals!"

What a drama queen, she thought inwardly as she listened to Penry's nagging. It had been a few minutes now, and Penry seemed to have forgotten that fireball that she had fired at him.

"The Royal Family has been targeting our family for two years now! They want to remove the four great clans! They are— "

Cassandra didn't listen to the rest of his words as she thought about the visions she had seen before she fainted. One of her visions clearly showed her grandfather dying while the other showed an attack in the capital. However, it seemed like none of this had happened during the king's birthday.

This only meant that something had happened that had changed the plans of the people who wanted to attack the banquet. Was it something related to her or the Prince?

"The king wants to marry you to his crippled son because he wants to humiliate our family. To a man who has already lost two wives!. He thought he could bully us because you are still unmarried! I— "

Once again, her thoughts drifted as she thought of Hunter. If the King knew that Hunter was the one killing his wives, then he wouldn't allow this marriage to happen. After all, her death could easily offend all of the great clans.

Cassandra might have been considered unappealing because she was still unmarried at this age. However, that did not change the fact that she was a full-blooded La Roche, a powerful fire wielder and warrior who had fought at the gates at the tender age of eighteen.

While people in the capital didn't really like her, people near the gates were different. Moreover, the La Roche Family had amassed several strong fire wielders like Steve and the others working under her brother.

Aside from this, the Royal Family and the four great families had been having trouble in the past few months. If the other clans came to know that she was treated unfairly and died of mysterious circumstances in the prince's hands, then they would surely use this opportunity to revolt against the Empire, against the whole Royal Family. Of course, there was also the risk that she might actually die but that was something that didn't scare her much. She could take care of herself. Life had given her enough experience with that.

She needed time to think about all this!

"What? Why are you staring at me blankly? I will gather the clans and— "

"Leave us…" her grandfather interrupted Penry.

"Father! I am doing this for the family! I will— "

"Leave!"

"But—"

"Penry! Leave us!"

Seeing how his father's voice had changed, Penry scoffed and left the room after glaring at Cassandra.

"Do you know what happened before you lost consciousness?" The Patriarch decided not to beat around the bush. "Tell me everything."

Cassandra's lips thinned. She met her brother's eyes before she started speaking. "A demon appeared. I had to get rid of it quickly to avoid hurting the people that were looking for us." This was actually the primary reason why she decided to use magic like that. If she hadn't got rid of it, the demon would have attacked more people weaker than her. "The forest was too close and I knew Steve would have immediately informed you after what happened."

"Why did you grab the Prince?" Her grandfather's gaze turned chilly. "And not your brother?"

Why? Why the hell did she grab him? "I—I don't know." And that was an honest answer. Until now, she had been wondering what the hell had happened to the logical circuits in her brain.

Cassandra always thought she was smarter than most people. But then again, unlike most people, she could see the future.

"According to the prince, it was you who saved his life. Was that the truth?"

Carmichael's face hardened, "Grandfather, how come— "

"Carmichael, there are things that only the Patriarchs have the right to know." Turning his gaze towards his grandson, the Patriarch squinted. "From this day on, I will start training you to become the next patriarch of the Clan. Your excuse about the painful memories won't work anymore. Not when they are clearly targeting our family."

Carmichael was about to argue when Cassandra diverted her grandfather's attention back to her. "Grandfather, you said something about the prince saying that I saved him?"

The older man nodded and the visible lines on his forehead seemed to become more prominent. "He personally asked the king for the engagement. He said he wanted to pay you with his life."

Damn him! Cassandra cursed inwardly. What the hell was wrong with that guy? Was he punishing her on purpose for what she had done? "I will see him." Perhaps an apology would be needed to fix all the misunderstandings between them. She had kidnapped him, yes, but without her, he wouldn't have been able to kill that thirty-foot monstrosity on his own.

It was only fair that he called it quits.

"Why would you want to see him?" Carmichael growled. "That man actually said you saved him but intentionally spread rumors that it was him who saved you. He wants you to come to see him and add fuel to the rumors, and you're falling right into his trap!"

However, Cassandra only ignored him. "How did you find me?" she asked her grandfather.

"Steve and his men found you. He was carrying you in his arms."

Does this mean they hadn't seen the destruction caused by her magic? "Did they see anything else?" she asked.

"No. The Prince didn't say anything and they are not in a position to ask him questions."

"Then I will see him," Cassandra said.

"I am coming with you."

She shifted her gaze to her brother. She wanted to ask why he was coming before she saw him and the Prince fighting in her vision. Judging from the clothes that her brother was wearing, she could guess that the fight would happen a few hours from now.

Usually, her visions were triggered by touching something or hearing a word related to what was about to happen. However, Visions that involve her brother were just random. It doesn't have any trigger and would just appear out of nowhere. Sometimes, she couldn't help but wonder if it was because they were twins.

"Cassandra… what do you think of this marriage?"

Her grandfather's question plunged her into silence. She already saw herself marrying him, running away from him, and being killed by him. The visions were quick and changing, and even she wasn't sure what the future held. She was about to tell him that she didn't know when the door was flung open by none other than her uncle.

"The Prince is here! He wants to see you!"