Chapter 3 Blood Remembers
Marionette stared at him.
“How do you know that?”
Cassius only watched her.
Instinctively, her hand moved to her waist, feeling the small pouch hidden beneath her dress.
The Heartguard pill was still there.
A knock at the door broke the silence, making Marionette flinch slightly.
Cassius didn’t even turn his head.
“Come in,” he said.
The door opened and Adrian stepped inside holding a file.
“Everything has been finalized," Adrian said.
Cassius gave a single nod before reaching for a small silver bell beneath the table and ringing it once.
Almost immediately, another knock followed.
“Come in."
The door opened again, and this time a woman in her sixties entered the room. She wore a dark grey uniform, neatly pressed, with her silver-streaked hair pulled into a smooth bun.
She carried herself with quiet grace.
Stopping a few steps away from Cassius, she bowed slightly.
Cassius inclined his head in acknowledgment.
“Nanny Irina.”
Then he gestured toward Marionette.
“She will show you to your room. You’ve had a long day and need rest.”
After a brief pause, he added more quietly,
“We shall speak tomorrow.”
Marionette’s fingers curled faintly at her side.
Nanny Irina turned toward her, and her expression softened instantly.
“Welcome home, Mrs. Volkov,” she said warmly.
The name still felt unfamiliar, almost unreal, yet something about Irina’s tone made it easier to bear.
For the first time that day, Marionette felt a trace of comfort.
She returned the smile before realizing she had done so.
“Thank you,” she said softly.
Irina’s eyes warmed further.
“You must be exhausted. Come, I’ll take you to your room.”
Marionette nodded and rose to her feet, though before leaving, she glanced at Cassius one final time.
He was watching her with a quiet, unreadable intensity that made her pulse stumble.
Cassius noticed the smile she gave Irina.
Something dark flickered briefly in his eyes.
Marionette looked away first and followed Irina toward the door.
The corridor outside was silent.
A second later, the door closed softly behind them.
Cassius Volkov did not look away from the doorway even after Marionette had gone.
From the shadows, Adrian stepped forward and placed the file into his hands.
“Everything has been settled with the Vale Group,” he said.
Cassius opened the file calmly, his eyes moving over the contents without visible reaction.
Medical scans.
Neurological assessments.
Surgical failure reports.
Experimental treatment outcomes.
Nothing he hadn’t already memorized.
After a moment, Adrian finally asked,
“Is the risk acceptable?”
Cassius closed the file.
His gaze shifted toward the dim lamp resting near the corner of the room.
The light flickered softly.
And with it came the image of her.
Marionette Vale.
Her head slightly tilted, dark eyes studying him with unsettling sharpness, as though she could already see through every lie he intended to tell.
Cassius exhaled slowly.
“Yes,” he said quietly. “It is.”
He tapped the closed file once with his finger.
“Any news?”
Adrian’s jaw tightened.
“Nothing new on Alaric Thorne Vale,” he replied.
A brief pause followed before he continued,
“We’ve searched for years, yet there is still no confirmed trace of him. Alive or dead, no one knows.”
His expression darkened slightly.
“Every promising lead collapsed into nothing. The only remaining trail connected to his name ended with a company ruined by his grandson, Richard Vale.”
A trace of disdain entered his voice.
“A disgrace to Mad Vale’s legacy.”
Cassius’s gaze remained fixed on the lamp.
“Legacies don’t vanish because of weak heirs,” he said calmly.
“They disappear when their creators choose to hide them.”
Adrian studied him carefully.
“You still believe Alaric Vale disappeared intentionally?” he asked carefully.
Cassius leaned back slightly in his chair, his expression unreadable.
“Men like Alaric Thorne Vale don’t simply die without leaving traces,” he replied.
His fingers moved along the edge of the file.
“They either evolve... or erase themselves from the world.”
Adrian adjusted his stance.
“We investigated every medical institute connected to him, every abandoned laboratory, every shell company tied to his research.”
He paused briefly.
“Nothing survived. It’s as if he erased his own existence.”
Adrian exhaled slowly.
“And you believe Marionette Vale is the key to uncovering what he buried?”
Cassius didn’t answer immediately.
Instead, his gaze drifted toward the door Marionette had just walked through.
“She carries his blood,” he said at last.
“Blood remembers… even when people don’t.”
Adrian frowned slightly.
“She may know nothing about him.”
“She doesn’t need to,” Cassius replied calmly.
His fingers tapped once against the file.
“If Alaric Vale entrusted anything to his lineage it will surface eventually.”
Adrian hesitated.
“And if she isn’t what you hope?”
A shadow of amusement brushed across Cassius’s mouth.
“Then she will become it."
A quiet pause followed
“Expand the background reconstruction on Marionette Vale. I want everything that isn’t publicly recorded.”
Adrian nodded.
“And the family?”
Cassius’s gaze hardened.
“Monitor them,” he said coldly.
“People who sell their own blood rarely stop at one betrayal.”
Adrian inclined his head.
"I’ll take care of it.”
Cassius turned his wheelchair slightly toward the window.
Without looking back, he spoke.
“Place discreet surveillance around her quarters.”
“Protection?” Adrian asked.
Cassius’s gaze remained fixed on the city.
“Observation,” he replied quietly.
A moment passed.
“Protection if necessary.”
Adrian studied him briefly before nodding once more and leaving the room.
Silence returned.
Cassius remained motionless for several seconds before opening the lower drawer of his desk.
Inside rested a single photograph.
The edges were worn and wrinkled.
He lifted it carefully.
The image showed two children.
A pale young boy lying weakly in the dirt.
And beside him, a little girl kneeling calmly at his side.
Her tiny hand holding something to his lips.
A pill.
Cassius studied the girl’s face carefully.
Those dark eyes, calm and focused.
Even then she looked like she was solving a puzzle.
His thumb brushed lightly across the corner o
f the photograph.
“You don’t remember me,” he murmured.
A faint smile touched his lips.
“But you saved my life once, Marionette Vale.”
He leaned back slowly into his chair.
“And now…”
His voice lowered.
“You’re going to save it again.”
