"Cassius… You-"
"You remember me…"
Cassius immediately embraced me, holding my whole body tight in his arms. Gently stroking my hair, he whispered.
"Thank god."
His voice faltered as his breath trembled. Burying his face on my shoulder, I could feel my clothes starting to get wet.
I returned his hug and patted his back, letting him pour out his emotions. Cassius wasn't someone who spoke much to begin with. He mostly expressed his intention through his actions.
Although passerby had been glancing in our direction, I still stood my ground – not letting go of Cassius in my arms.
"It's thanks to you and the others that we managed to win the war."
I gently rubbed his back as I whispered back. I could feel his breath halt and his shoulder tense before he raised his head – finally meeting my eyes.
"But in the end you…"
Cassius trailed off his words, but I knew what he was trying to say. I rubbed his puffed red eyes with my thumb and gave him the gentlest smile I could.
"Let's talk somewhere else, shall we?"
.
.
The first time I met Cassius, my first impression of him was negative.
As someone who bore the Queen's crest, the expectation people held of him was just as high as mine. So I kind of expected him to be able to hold on to that responsibility well.
Unfortunately, that wasn't the case with Cassius.
He had always been someone's lackey, so when being given a place of authority, rather than being in control of the other crest bearers, he was the one being controlled. As a result, the first year of War of Throne was full of mistrust with other members turning against me by using Cassius to instigate conflict.
It wasn't until I stepped up my game and took full control of Cassius that the other members started to follow.
'Thinking back, Cassius and I weren't really close with each other at the start.'
I was practically the one who forced him to get out of his comfort zone and shaped him into the man that he was.
Glancing at the man beside me, I spoke.
"I taught you before, didn't I? Unless your safety is guaranteed, don't selflessly save others first."
I lit up a cigarette, tasting its bitterness in my mouth before I continued, "But my death was a different case, it was my own mistake that I miscalculated Keith's speed and injured myself to death."
Once again, turning my head toward Cassius, I patted his head, "So you don't have to feel sorry. In the end, we are all back in time, don't we?"
Cassius dejectedly looked at the ground as he quietly received my touch.
We were sitting on a bench in a nearby park. The sky was cloudy and a soft breeze were blowing, making the atmosphere between us solemn.
I waited patiently until Cassius had fully gathered his courage to speak again. It didn't take long before he opened his mouth.
"The moment you breathe your last, my consciousness is immediately sent back to the past."
He continued, "There were no warnings or any chimes of celebratory resounding in the sky. It was just pure black and when I opened my eyes, I was back in time."
"But now, new questions popped up inside my mind. Is this the same world we lived in before? Do our past lives exist as a parallel with our current world? If that's the case, then what happened after that? And…"
He clasped his hands together, resting his arms on his knees as his gaze shifted to me.
"Will we get chosen again as one of the pawns in God's game of chess?"
I glanced at him as I stubbed my cigarette out in my portable ashtray. He asked the same questions I had been wondering about inside my mind.
A God's power was something we didn't know the extent of. No matter how much we wonder and made hypothesis about it, we could never fully guess the law of causality these Gods had upon this world.
So rather than thinking about the uncertainties, I would rather focus on the present moment.
"What did Uola take from you?"
"Huh? What do you mean?"
I tapped my nose as I explained, "When I woke up, my sense of smell was already partially taken from me. Now I can't smell alphas' pheromone, only omegas. And for some reason, I turned into a dominant."
"What? There's something like that?" Cassius widened his eyes before he rubbed his chin and fell into a thought.
"If we're talking about changes, there's one thing."
Cassius rolled up his pants, revealing his left leg. Hidden beneath it was a long red scar stretching across his skin.
"When I woke up, this scar was already here. Whenever I put even a tiny amount of pressure on my leg, it will hurt."
Rolling his pants back down, he continued, "I've done check-ups in different hospitals, but the result was always the same. The doctor said there's nothing wrong with my bones and muscles, it's just a plain scar. Even medical technology can't find what the problem is."
He paused, scrunching his nose, "But if it's God Uola's way of taking payment from us, I guess it makes sense."
Listening to his words, I raised my hand and brushed his hair as I was lost in thought.
So Cassius limping wasn't because he was injured when he was on the run, but it was the retribution that fell upon him.
That made me wonder what kind of things Uola took from the others.
'It must be hard if your mobility is taken away from you.'
I could only give Cassius comfort by patting his head. This was the path we all chose after all, so even if he regretted it now, he couldn't go back.
Those who were chosen as one of the pawns in the War of Throne could only proceed through it until their death. No matter how many times you killed someone, there would always be someone else bearing the crest that would precede it for you until the war was truly over.
'Hm?'
Sensing a gaze from beside me, I turned my head. Cassius had been staring at me seriously.
"What's wrong?" I asked, but was met by a low laugh by Cassius. His eyes narrowed as his brows furrowed.
"You always treat me like a little brother huh?"
His tone was accusing as a slight tremble was detected at the end of his words.
I froze at his words. Memories of our last moments together flashed in my mind. Even in my previous life, I didn't know when or why Cassius fell for some omega that had been marked like me.
One thing I know for sure was…
"Sorry, I can't reciprocate your feelings."
I could never feel the same type of love for him as he did for me.
Avoiding my gaze, I pulled back my hand that was brushing his hair as things started to turn awkward. Silence fell upon us as we quietly gazed at the sky.
Until Cassius slowly opened his mouth again.
"No, it's fine. Besides, you have found someone else don't you?"
I glanced at him, his expression was one of pained, but signs of relief were there in his voice.
"Considering how much of his pheromone I could smell on you, he must be really in love with you. His pheromone gives off a unique smell, so it's easy to recognize." A small chuckle slipped out of his mouth, "He is practically announcing you his."
'We did have sex after all.'
I shut my mouth when that thought crossed my mind. I didn't know how much of Haide's pheromone rubbed off on me, but if the conservative Cassius said it, the scent might be as huge as a nuclear explosion.
'I must have reek of Haide.'
And here I was waltzing the street without a pheromone blocker, announcing to any alphas and omegas out there that I was taken.
I sighed as I rubbed my temple. I had never had sex with the intention of making love in either of my lives, so I didn't know the scent would cling to my body like this.
And that shameless bastard Haide didn't tell me and proudly showed me – who's covered by his scent from head to toe – off to the world.
'Guess this is one of the disadvantages of being unable to smell alphas' pheromone.'
But a smile still appeared on my face.
'Fine then, I'm all his after all.'
I crossed my legs as I said to Cassius, "Since you're already here, how about helping me prepare?"
Cassius gaze turned serious, "How far have you set the groundwork?"
At his words, a smirk formed on my face. This was why Cassius was the best Queen I could hope for. Even though he was quite emotional, once I set my heart on something, he would clear everything in my path to help me reach my goal.
The perfect one I could use.
"Let's do this the way we did it before shall we?"