Page 271 of The War God’s Favorite

She was very careful about her tone of voice and what she tried to convey through her eyes, hoping he would understand what she really meant by it all. Opheus was completely focused on her, but with his brother listening too, she had to be extremely careful.

“The only thing I can do is give you more time with your father before he...before the Emperor passes. I do not want you to get injured or your father to be left to die alone.”

Opheus opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out, looking unsure and terribly confused, but Cassandra knew he would be smart enough to understand.

In their current situation, Cassandra couldn’t do anything for the Emperor. She was trapped with no medicine and no supplies. If she had any chance to bring something to help, she would have. She didn’t think the Emperor would have been imprisoned in Vrehan’s apartments or that he would be in such bad shape by the time she arrived. But she had to face reality, she couldn’t save him in their current situation, even if she did her best. If Lephys hadn’t shown up, she may have been able to buy some time, if only a little, but not now, not anymore.

Yet, there still might be hope. There was someone else in the Palace with knowledge similar to hers who could help. Lephys did not know that her younger sister was in the Palace too, but Opheus did. If he could bring Missandra back here with some proper medicine once she and Lephys were gone, maybe they could buy some time.

Missandra was not as good with medicine, but she knew about poisons, and she had learned quite a bit from Cassandra over the last several weeks. It wasn’t much, but it might be enough to save the Emperor, or at least win him some time - it was the one thing they needed the most right now.

Time. All the time they could possibly get, if they could just save the Emperor before his sons returned.

“What’s the catch?” asked Lephys, squinting his eyes in suspicion.

“There is no catch, Your Highness,” said Cassandra, turning to him. “You already know I am not a fighter. I won’t resist. All I wish is for Prince Opheus and His Highness to be left alone. We already know the Emperor is condemned. I only want to give him a chance to die peacefully, and for Prince Opheus to leave here unscathed.”

“What tells me my brother won’t come and kill me as soon as I turn my back?”

Cassandra glanced towards Opheus, who was still glaring at his younger brother. She could understand why there was absolutely no trust between them. It was hard to believe they even shared a drop of blood.

“You have me as a hostage. His Highness won’t risk hurting me and losing his chance to be left out of all of this. I...coerced him into helping me in the first place. He has nothing to gain in this.”

Lephys looked doubtful. Opheus was indeed not a good fighter and he was the one Prince who probably didn’t care much about either side winning over the other. He wasn’t close to any of his brothers, but seeing that he had helped Cassandra was already troubling him. It confirmed that he cared enough about her.

The Fifth Prince hesitated. There had to be a catch somewhere. He didn’t consider Kairen’s favorite to be a cunning woman, but he couldn’t process her sacrificing herself for his father and brother without getting anything in return. None of it made any sense, especially not Opheus helping her out in the first place.

“Why did you help this woman?” he asked his brother.

“Why indeed?” sighed Opheus, putting his hand on his neck as if to massage it. “Women are such mysterious creatures.”

“Answer me!”

Opheus glared back.

“Don’t start ordering me around. I helped her because I wanted to. Satisfied?”

Lephys wasn’t buying it. He looked even more annoyed, his fingers fidgeting on his whip.

“You’re lying.”

“What do you know? Maybe Kairen and I have more in common than you think?”

“Don’t take me for a fool, I’m well aware of your tastes!”

Opheus scoffed, covering his mouth in a mocking expression and raising an eyebrow.

“You think you know me, Lephys? Do you really think I’m more like you than Kairen, perhaps? You idiot.”

Suddenly, Opheus turned to Cassandra and before she could make a move, he grabbed her chin between his fingers and kissed her. That action shocked her just as much as the Fifth Prince. She couldn’t react, her whole body froze. Opheus’ kiss was deep, using his tongue, and aggressively playing with her mouth. Watching the scene unfold, Lephys’s eyes were wide open and his jaw on the floor. Cassandra realized half-way through that this wasn’t just a little kiss and, coming back to her senses, she pushed the Prince away, blushing. She had never been kissed by another man before!

But this wasn’t her main concern. She was completely flustered by the kiss, barely realizing Opheus had grabbed her hand during the moment and put something between her fingers. Everything had happened so fast that she had to focus to hide it quickly.

“You’re disgusting,” said Lephys, still in shock.

“Oh, dear, you’re not going to tell us you’re a virgin, are you?” retorted Opheus with a smirk.

Lephys was not amused. He suddenly raised his whip and cracked it through the air. Though it may have seemed like a mere outburst of anger, the whipping actually left a large dent in the nearest wall. Cassandra couldn’t help but shudder. If he could cut that deep into wood with just a little whip, she didn’t want to imagine what damage he could inflict if he used that on a human body.

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