I Reincarnated Just to be Unemployed

[Cassian’s POV — The Hot Pool — Continuation]

SHIIIIIINEEEE...

The faint golden light beneath the water reflected across the surface as I reached deeper into the spring. The water was hot enough to numb my fingers almost instantly as my hand closed around something solid beneath the stones.

I tightened my grip.

Then—

SPLASH!

I pulled it free.

A heavy chunk of rock landed in my palm. Lucielle immediately leaned closer. "That’s it?"

I looked down at the object. It was an ordinary stone, dark, rough, and completely unremarkable. No glow, no markings, and no crystal-like structure.

Nothing that suggested it was valuable.

Lucielle frowned. "Do you think that’s a heat mana stone?"

I turned the rock over in my hand. "The Heat Mana Stones I have seen before are blue."

Her eyes widened as she tilted her head, muttering, "Blue? Then shouldn’t they be red? The fire is red after all."

I stared at her for several seconds; she stared back, and the fox cub beside her gave a tiny yip. "I understand your reasoning."

Despite myself, the corner of my mouth lifted. I turned back toward the spring; the stone was ordinary, and there was nothing magical about its appearance, and yet an ordinary stone could not maintain this level of heat, not in the middle of a northern winter and not beneath several layers of frozen earth.

I crouched again, rolling my sleeves higher, and placed my hand back into the water. Heat immediately enveloped my skin. I examined the stones beneath the surface more carefully.

"These aren’t generating the heat."

Lucielle crouched beside me, far too close, and her bare knees pressed directly against the snow. I immediately frowned.

"Lucielle."

"Hm?"

"It’s cold."

She looked down; only then did she seem to realize her knees were resting directly against the snow.

"Oh."

I reached for her hands and gently pulled her upright. "Come, let’s go before you catch cold."

She didn’t resist. Instead, she simply placed her hands into mine, warm, trusting, and without hesitation. I looked down at her fingers wrapped around mine. For years...she would have pulled away; now she followed me without even questioning why.

We began walking back toward the manor, then she glanced at the stone still resting in my palm. "If that’s not a Heat Mana Stone...then what is making the water boil?"

"I don’t know yet." I examined the stone once more. "But I intend to find out."

"How?"

"I will summon the Archmage Aurelius Vaelmont."

He was the foremost authority on elemental mana within Aerath. If anyone could determine what lay beneath this spring... It would be him.

Lucielle immediately brightened. "And he’ll know whether this is a heat mana stone."

"Most likely."

She held my hand tighter; her eyes began sparkling again.

"If it really is...we might become even richer and the territory could stay warm and we wouldn’t have to sell half our assets and Baron Baldy would lose his advantage."

I smirked as she smiled triumphantly; perhaps she was right. For the first time since receiving the winter reports... I could see a path forward. The Heat Mana Stone was the only reliable source of large-scale warmth in the Empire.

House Eisenhart had built its influence upon that resource, and the Imperial Palace had backed their monopoly, and now...there was a possibility that Ashcroft possessed its own source.

If that were true, then the Palace’s leverage would disappear and Baron Eisenhart’s bargaining power would collapse with it, but the thought brought another concern.

The fox beasts.

Lucielle’s connection with the Nine-Tailed Fox and the fact that the White Fox Beasts now followed her willingly and now...a potential Heat Mana Stone beneath Ashcroft—too many unusual events had begun gathering around one woman.

I looked at Lucielle; she was smiling at the snow, completely unaware of the political storm gathering around her. The Imperial Palace always had their eyes on House Ashcroft.

If they discovered the Nine-Tailed Fox had acknowledged her...there would be fear and a shift in politics, and if they learned that Ashcroft possessed her own source of heat mana...there would be no way to predict their response.

It could change the balance of power across the entire empire, and that meant only one thing: trouble was coming.

I looked at Lucielle.

She was currently trying to convince the fox that it should become our "official treasure-hunting assistant."

I tightened my hold on her hand as she leaned slightly closer as we walked, and somehow...the simple warmth of her hand in mine felt more valuable than whatever treasure might be buried beneath our feet.

The stone remained in my palm, ordinary in appearance, yet capable of changing the fate of Ashcroft.

I closed my eyes.

. . .

. . .

I truly hoped she wouldn’t attract any more unnecessary attention; that was all I wished for.

What I didn’t know was... This was only the beginning.

***

[Luceille’s POV—The Chamber—Later]

Mia dried my hair with warm-air magic while I sat in front of the mirror, staring at my own reflection like a woman who had just received terrible financial news.

Except this was worse; this involved men.

. . .

. . .

Why do I keep forgetting? I am a man too.

. . .

. . .

Mia’s cheeks were suspiciously pink, and the other maids were doing a terrible job of hiding their giggles.

Mia cleared her throat. "Your Grace... should we tie your hair up?"

"No."

"Braid it?"

"No, just leave my hair alone."

She nodded, and I sighed and let my damp hair fall over my shoulders. My mind, however, was nowhere near the chamber. It was somewhere far, far away.

Specifically—

Archmage Aurelius Vaelmont.

The fourth fish...ahem...I mean... The fourth male lead of the novel.

According to the original story, Aurelius didn’t appear often, but apparently, the author had decided that appearing five times and causing readers to develop an unhealthy obsession was perfectly reasonable.

He was the mysterious archmage, powerful, cold, elegant, and brilliant. The kind of man who could probably destroy an entire army before breakfast and still complain that his tea was too cold.

And, most importantly... He had fourth male lead syndrome.

Yes, I have seen Reina giggle like an idiot. According to her, the readers had completely forgotten about second male lead syndrome. Why suffer over the second lead when the fourth one was standing in the corner looking tragic, mysterious, and conveniently underused?

Aurelius only appeared every single time whenever Lily Eisenhart was in danger.

Lily gets kidnapped? Aurelius.

Lily gets attacked? Aurelius.

Lily wanders into dangerous streets because apparently common sense was not included in her character development.

Aurelius.

Even when Cassian kidnapped Lily, it was Aurelius who tracked her down; he first came to save her, he found her, and he fought Cassian.

And then...he died with a smile, saying, ’I wish a lifetime hapiness for you, Lily.’

. . .

. . .

I stared at the mirror. "Poor idiot."

Mia blinked. "Your Grace?"

I realized I had spoken aloud. "Nothing."

There was one very important detail about Aurelius that had bothered me ever since I remembered the novel.

Lily barely remembered he existed.

After everything he did for her, she mentioned his name exactly once before happily marrying the Crown Prince.

Once.

ONE TIME.

With Reina, even I wanted to personally sue the author. A man literally died trying to save her, and she basically went—

Oh, yes. Aurelius. Anyway, where’s my wedding dress?

I rubbed my forehead. This was unbelievable But that wasn’t even the worst part. The worst part was I was about to meet the fourth male lead.

And suddenly, a tiny detail from the novel came crashing back into my mind, a detail so insignificant that anyone could ignore it, but novel-obsessed Reina would never.

And now it felt like someone had taken that tiny detail, dipped it in poison, and shoved it directly into my throat because...

Cassian hated Aurelius Vaelmont with every cell in his body. When Cassian finally killed Aurelius in the novel, the two of them fought after Aurelius came to rescue Lily, and there was one line, one sentence Cassian said before killing him.

Cassian had looked at Aurelius and said—

"Seeing you dead was my only wish. After killing her, you never deserved to live."

My fingers slowly curled against my dress.

After killing her?

I stared blankly at the mirror; the room suddenly felt much quieter as the maids were still moving behind me, but their voices seemed distant because there was something I hadn’t considered.

Something painfully obvious and something I should have noticed much earlier.

Lucielle had been poisoned, and according to the original story... Lucielle was supposed to die by poison. I had always assumed it was simply one of those unnecessary tragedies the author threw into the plot to make Cassian’s character darker.

But now...

What if it wasn’t that simple? During this past month, I’d seen Cassian’s behavior toward Luceille...aka...me.

The way he watched me, the way his expression changed whenever I was hurt, and the way he is strangely protective—anyone could tell he had cared about Lucielle.

Perhaps more than the original story had ever shown, and if Lucielle died... Cassian must have mourned hard for her.

And what if Cassian’s hatred toward Aurelius wasn’t because Aurelius had simply interfered with Lily?

What if Cassian believed... Aurelius killed Lucielle.

I suddenly felt cold. If Aurelius had something to do with Lucielle’s death, then his appearance in the story wasn’t random, and neither was Cassian’s hatred.

Archmage Aurelius Vaelmont.

The fourth male lead was the mysterious man who only appeared whenever Lily was in danger and the man who eventually died at Cassian’s hands.

And now...he was coming here.

If Aurelius was responsible for Lucielle’s death...then I wasn’t meeting the fourth male lead. I was meeting my potential murderer.

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