Depraved Noble: Forced To Live The Debaucherous Life Of An Evil Noble!

Julie was the first to step forward, her brows furrowed in concern.

"What do you mean 'why', Cassius? Of course we'd stare at you like that!" Her voice rose slightly, incredulous. "You just told an entire crowd one of the most horrible lies imaginable. Do you even realize what you said out loud?"

Skadi quickly nodded, ears flicking back, her tails swishing in agitation.

"Yes, master. We know you'd never do something like that. There's no way you'd torment innocent women like that...So why say it?"

Aisha, arms crossed, scowled at him with a mixture of irritation and curiosity.

"You're definitely a pervert." She said flatly. "You stare at women too much, you ogle, you flirt...but locking them away as slaves? No." She leaned closer, eyes narrowing. "That's not you. So what are you playing at?"

Cassius looked at the three of them for a long moment. Then, suddenly, he chuckled. A low, throaty laugh.

"You're all so confident." He teased, his smile sharp. "So sure I didn't really do it."

"...But maybe I did. Maybe I did kidnap them. Maybe they're already locked beneath my mansion."

But to this, the three of them simply gave him identical flat stares. Dry, unimpressed, unwavering.

Cassius blinked, then leaned back a step, raising his hands in surrender. "...Alright, alright. You caught me. I didn't do it. Not a single one of them is in my mansion."

They didn't even look relieved, only more irritated.

Cassius let the laughter fade into a sigh, his smile dimming just slightly. "But even though you know the truth." He said softly. "I can't tell you the real reason I said it. Not yet. It's...complicated. Too complicated for now."

The three of them exchanged uncertain looks, but before they could press further, Cassius raised his chin and gazed up at the night sky. His voice lowered, almost reverent.

"All you need to know..." He murmured. "...is that I'm fulfilling my duty to the one watching above."

"...Spreading her name. Spreading her faith. The Goddess of Debauchery demands it."

Confusion clouded their faces. Julie frowned. Skadi tilted her head. Aisha's lips parted, but no words came out.

They even glanced upward as he did, at the scattered stars above them, but saw only the cold sky. None of them knew who, or what, he was speaking of.

To them, his words sounded like riddles, half-truths woven with secrets.

Cassius didn't explain further. Instead, he suddenly staggered slightly, putting a hand to his temple, his exhaustion finally showing. He turned back to them, his smile weary.

"Enough of that." He muttered. "I've been running back and forth all day. My body feels like it's been wrung dry. Will someone help me back to the horses? I'm completely spent."

The moment those words left his mouth, both Aisha and Skadi snapped upright. Their ears twitched, tails swished, and before he could even blink, both of them rushed forward and hooked onto him.

Aisha clung to one arm possessively, glaring at Skadi.

"Get lost, you mangy dog." She hissed, pulling his arm closer to her chest. "I'll help him. You don't need to bother yourself. Go chase a squirrel like you usually do."

"Shut up, you damn cat! I'll help Master." Skadi bared her teeth, tugging on his other arm with equal force. "He doesn't need your stinky self dragging him down. Why don't you crawl into a garbage bin and dig for fish bones instead?"

Aisha's eyes blazed. "What did you just say?"

"You heard me!" Skadi snapped, tightening her grip.

Cassius groaned, caught in the middle, his shoulders being tugged in opposite directions.

"Calm down, both of you." He sighed. "I have two arms. You can share."

Both girls froze, then turned their faces away with simultaneous pouts, refusing to release him but no longer clawing at each other. Their grips tightened as if daring the other to let go first.

His gaze then drifted to Julie, who stood a few steps back, her expression unreadable.

"What about you?" Cassius asked, tilting his head. "Care to help me too?"

Julie froze, caught off guard. She puffed her cheeks slightly and turned her head away with a huff.

"Hmph. There's no need. You already have two of them clinging to you like leeches." Her voice had a sharp edge, but her eyes betrayed something else.

She hesitated, then added in a quieter tone.

"Besides...even if I wanted to help, both your arms are already taken. So I can't do anything about it."

Cassius caught the flicker of jealousy in her voice. It was faint, but unmistakable. It made him smile to himself.

And so, with Aisha and Skadi tugging him along proudly on either side, Cassius let himself be guided toward the horses. Julie trailed just a step behind, arms folded, her face turned away as though she didn't care. But her eyes stayed fixed on him the entire time, sharp and watchful.

Because even if she wouldn't admit it, if he stumbled, if he fell, she'd be the first to catch him.

The one who claimed not to care was, in truth, the most worried of all.

And in the near future, when Lucius, ever the composed and adorable butler of the Holyfield estate, finally sat down in his study and opened the envelope his young master had sent, his hand trembled slightly as he unfolded the letter.

His eyes scanned the neat handwriting, and before he was even halfway through, he nearly stumbled backward against his chair.

For a man or boy or girl or whatever he was like Lucius, who had seen betrayals, assassinations, and the filth of the noble courts, nothing usually shook him.

But this, this request from his young master, made his stomach twist.

The letter was simple yet damning. It instructed him, in Cassius's unflinching tone, to ensure the video recording was spread across the continent.

Not just among the Holyfield's circles, but everywhere. Every estate, every marketplace, every tavern where gossip bred like fire.

Lucius clenched the paper in his hand, his lips pressed thin.

'Has the young master lost his mind?'

No sane man would willingly spread such evidence, evidence that painted him as a monster, a captor of women, a tyrant who indulged in depravity.

For years, Cassius's reputation had been shadowed by whispers and rumors, but until now, there had been no proof.

Rumors were just that, rumors. Unstable, shifting, deniable. But this...this was a blade driven into his own chest, and he was the one twisting it.

For a fleeting moment, Lucius even considered disobeying. He thought, 'I could destroy this here and now. Hide it. Protect him from himself.'

But then, as always, his loyalty bound him.

Cassius was no fool. He was reckless, outrageous, and maddening, yes, but never a fool. If he wanted this spread, then there had to be a reason. A deeper design no one but he could see.

Lucius exhaled slowly, folding the letter back with trembling fingers. "...You are more frightening than I imagined, Young Master."

And so he obeyed.

He dispatched messengers, smugglers, mercenaries, every channel of information the Holyfield estate possessed. He pushed the recording into the undercurrents of gossip, into the whispers of merchants, into the songs of bards who thrived on scandal.

He prayed, desperately, that it would burn out quickly. That it would die in the shadows before it caught flame.

But instead, it spread like wildfire.

First to the neighboring estates, where nobles whispered in shock over wine. Then into the cities, where drunkards roared with laughter and horror at the tales of the depraved young master. Then further, faster, carried by travelers and minstrels.

It reached even the demi-human tribes, where wolf-kin and fox-kin sneered with disgust at the human noble who symbolized every cruel rumor they had ever believed of mankind.

It reached the elves, deep in their forest sanctuaries, where their long-lived gazes turned cold and disdainful, branding Cassius Vindictus Holyfield as the very embodiment of corruption among men.

It reached the main church in the capital where the Saintess of Light was furious and wanted to do something to erase this darkness from this world at all costs.

It even reached the mountains where the mighty dragon clans dwelled, their prideful roars echoing disdain.

Among them, some even murmured that if this human boy truly embodied such lust and wickedness, perhaps one day he would rival even the darkest of their kind.

The rumors, once fragile and weightless, now had a body. The video, a vessel born from the Holyfield estate itself, gave them flesh, gave them teeth. What had once been mere whispers in taverns now became fact in the eyes of the world.

Cassius was not just a cruel young noble. He was the symbol of lust, of debauchery, of indulgence without morality. A demon dressed as a man.

Hate followed his name everywhere. Commoners spat when they spoke of him. Bandits and villains, instead of mocking him, muttered in grudging respect.

For who else but a man completely untouchable by law and consequence could commit such horrors and parade them so brazenly?

Even they, men and women steeped in crime, thought him untouchable. Someone operating on a level beyond mere evil.

And still, the whispers spread.

Until, finally, the recording reached two places that made Lucius himself shudder.

The first was the Vindictus family, the mysterious bloodline on Cassius's mother's side. Known for their silence, their ruthlessness, and their cold-blooded precision, they did not react like the masses.

They did not scream nor spit in disgust.

They only watched, quietly. Calculating.

And the second was the royal palace itself.

There, upon a throne carved of silver and ivory, the Empress of mankind sat.

A woman so stunning that even queens from other nations had fallen into silence before her beauty. It was said her smile alone could undo kingdoms, her presence so commanding that entire nations had chosen submission rather than risk her wrath.

The video was brought before her.

And as the light flickered across the crystal screen, showing Cassius standing before the pit, crimson eyes burning, declaring his intentions with a mocking smile, the Empress leaned upon her hand and simply watched.

Amusement curled at the corner of her lips. Her eyes, bright, merciless, glimmered with interest.

When the recording ended, silence blanketed the throne room. Ministers, knights, and courtiers stared at her, awaiting judgment.

The Empress only laughed, soft and dangerous, the sound echoing like velvet steel.

"So…" She murmured, her gaze narrowing, sharp ice. "The young wolf bares his fangs at last."

And in that moment, Cassius Vindictus Holyfield's name was etched not just in rumor, but in history itself...