Nether Love | Cassandra x Male!Reader

Ending

One could say that upon returning home from abroad, witnessing Daniela with an unsmiling face, unlike her usual cheerful demeanor, and entering the noiseless, lifeless foyer wasn't what was expected when bringing Cassandra back.

Feeling as if the place was dim despite being lit with lights and chandeliers, it was perhaps the strangest day of her life.

The sensation of entering the wrong house, devoid of familiarity and the warm embrace that greeted her daily upon returning from outside, engulfed her.

Upon asking her mother what was wrong, a silent gesture to the left towards the dining room beside the kitchen was the only response, without uttering a word.

Without pressing further, she walked with hesitant yet steady steps towards the dining room, adorned with precious wooden furniture and white and yellow lights hanging on the walls, among them artistic paintings of nature and people, some flying and some on the ground, their hands raised upward as if pleading to the gods for salvation.

Her family was seated around the long table with multiple seats, some empty and some occupied.

Cassandra sat beside Bela on the left, with Daniela at the head.

On the right of the youngest daughter stood Lady Dimitrescu, leaving the seat next to her vacant.

Cassandra felt suspicion as she caught their frozen gazes lurking at her, they didn't move or utter a word when she stood before them, as if they had a switch they forgot to press this evening.

Their faces were still, yet it didn't stop the tremble from coursing through her, only subsiding when she silently took her seat.

"What the hell is going on?" She muttered to them, wishing her voice was a little louder.

Noticing each of them had a bowl of crimson soup with a tinge of black and beside it, glass cups filled with what looked like blood, Cassandra realized none of them touched their bowl or cup, she guessed they either sat at the table minutes before her arrival or simply had no appetite.

"Why do you all look like you're at a funeral?" She broke the suffocating silence, grabbing their attention. "There's a big sermon affecting this house and everyone in it, like gloomy rains on a beautiful spring day.. but here, there are no gray clouds above us, only a black halo surrounding us in a tight bubble."

The eldest took a deep breath, filling her chest as if she hadn't been breathing from the start, then cast a sidelong glance at Cassandra, who stared at her plate with furrowed brows.

"We were waiting for you to take the first bite before we started dinner." Bela responded placidly.

"What's the rationale behind this honor?"

"This is your boyfriend's blood and flesh; we killed him to hold a dinner party." Daniela's hand trembled as she spoke, causing the spoon to slip from her fingers and fly quickly towards Cassandra's eye, hitting her with force. "Apologies! my nerves got the best of me when it came to confessing."

Cassandra's palm forcefully collided with the table, glaring at Daniela with a blend of rage and disbelief, her breath heavy with the intensity of emotion that threatened to overwhelm her.

"Is that tongue of yours capable of comprehending the rubbish it spits out, or is it just spewing nonsense?!"

"Perhaps due to the wine's effect on her mind, but the plan to kill him was meticulous." Bela spoke sarcastically, her confidence reflected in her calm eyes.