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

Aisha’s head practically exploded.

"Why are we looking at you?!" She shouted, waving her arms. "Of course we’re going to look at you, Cassius! You’re the one who scared that damned Leviathan away!"

She jabbed a finger at him, looking as if she was about to throw her wand at his face.

"I get it, alright? You’re this big, scary, all-powerful, everyone-fears-you kind of guy—but did you really have to scare off our one opportunity like that?"

Julie sighed, sheathing her sword but staring just as much as Aisha.

"I have to agree with her." She said tiredly. "Cassius, that was our only chance. Even if we try to lure it back now, I doubt it’ll come again. The Leviathan isn’t like normal beasts, it’s intelligent, cautious. Once it’s seen something that scares it, it won’t make the same mistake twice."

Skadi nervously rubbed the back of her neck, her ears twitching.

"A-And Master..." She said timidly. "...even if we do want to lure it back, we don’t...uh...have another bucket of, um...whatever that stuff was." She blushed furiously at her own words, then looked up at him with pleading eyes. "So...why did you scare it away, Master? We could’ve totally got it this time!"

But Cassius looked genuinely offended.

"Excuse me?" He crossed his arms. "Who in the world said I scared it away?" He gestured toward himself dramatically. "Did you see me emit bloodlust? Did I draw a weapon? Did I even frown?"

Aisha blinked. "...You didn’t frown, no."

"Exactly!" Cassius continued, waving his arms. "Unlike you three, who had swords drawn, spells crackling, and murder written all over your faces—I was just standing here with a big smile, welcoming our guest! I didn’t even try to scare it off!"

Julie squinted at him. "Then maybe it wasn’t what you did this time." She said slowly. "Maybe it remembers you from last time."

Cassius blinked. "Last time?"

"Yes." Julie said, crossing her arms. "When you confronted it with Nala. Maybe it remembers that encounter, and whatever you did to it back then terrified it so badly it refuses to even look at you now."

Cassius blinked again. "...I didn’t do anything!"

Aisha, Skadi, and Julie all gave him the same skeptical look, before Julie tilted her head slightly, her expression hardening.

"Then that just means your very presence scared it off...But that bring the question of just how scary you are, Cassius, that you can make a Leviathan, a creature that eats entire ships for breakfast, run away just by looking at you?"

Skadi and Aisha both went silent, staring at him with uneasy awe. Even Nala, still slumped behind them with her tail coiled for safety, peeked out from behind her hands, her eyes wide.

But Cassius simply groaned and waved them off. "Oh, come on. It’s not the time to be worrying about me! We need to figure out how to deal with it!"

"And how do you suggest we do that?" Julie sighed.

Cassius shrugged. "If I could jump into the lake and chase it down, I would. But it dove too fast. Probably halfway to the other side by now."

Aisha frowned. "Not to mention, the lake’s probably poisoned now. Leviathan venom seeps into the water wherever it goes. If anyone jumps in, they’ll melt faster than ice in a forge."

Skadi shivered. "So...what are we gonna do?" She asked pitifully. "We can’t lure it out again. We don’t have any more, um..." She coughed awkwardly, glancing at Nala. "Any more, you know...bait."

Everyone went quiet at that, exchanging awkward glances.

Until Aisha, after a long moment, suddenly said in a hesitant voice, her cheeks warming up.

"Then...do we all have to...make some new bait?"

All three of them froze.

Their faces all turned the exact same shade of red as realization struck.

Julie looked at Aisha, Aisha looked at Skadi, and Skadi looked at the ground. But before they could react, Cassius blinked at them all, then laughed, shaking his head.

"Hold up, hold up, ladies, no need to be hasty!" He waved his hands. "I admire your enthusiasm, really, but we’re not doing that right now. You can...ahem...work on your individual training later tonight if you want."

Aisha blinked. "Individual, what—"

"But..." Cassius continued smoothly. "I already have some extra bait on hand. So we don’t need to make more."

"Wait, what do you mean?" Julie frowned in confusion. "Didn’t we just throw the last of it into the lake?"

"Sorry to disappoint you, but you’re wrong. I actually filled two buckets this morning." Cassius grinned.

All three women stiffened, their eyes slowly widening.

"You...what?" Julie asked faintly.

Cassius nodded proudly. "Two full buckets. We were supposed to bring both, but Nala was too embarrassed for everyone to see how much she...uh, produced. So we left the second one near the trees by the shore. It should still be there."

Everyone’s heads snapped toward Nala who was approaching.

The lamia’s eyes went wide, her tail shooting up in panic. "W-Wait! No! You can’t possibly—!"

But Cassius was already calling out. "Nala! Be a dear and bring the second bucket over, will you? We need it now."

Nala froze like a statue. "You can’t be serious!" She squeaked, horrified.

But when she saw all the serious looks being aimed at her—Aisha’s sharp gaze, Julie’s expectant stare, Skadi’s wide puppy eyes, she knew she had no choice.

Groaning miserably, she slithered off, muttering. "I can’t believe this...why me...why always me..."

A few moments later, she returned, dragging the second bucket with her. It wasn’t as full as the first, but still more than enough. Her entire face was flushed scarlet as she held it out with trembling hands.

Skadi peeked inside and grinned mischievously.

"Whoa! It’s the real deal again! You’re a life-saver, Nala!" She said, giving a dramatic thumbs-up. "You worked really hard for this, huh?"

"D-Don’t say it like that!" Nala made a choking sound.

"No, really!" Skadi giggled. "I mean, I don’t think I could ever fill two buckets like this! You’ve got talent!"

"S-SKADI!!" Nala’s eyes widened in horror, her tail twitching so hard she almost dropped the bucket.

Julie quickly reached forward and snatched the bucket before Nala could throw it away out of sheer embarrassment.

"Alright, that’s enough teasing." She said firmly. "Let’s not waste this, or she will throw it, and then we’re really doomed."

She then inspected the bucket cautiously, holding it as if it might explode.

"This time, we’ll do it right." She said. "We’ll spread it over a wider area instead of dumping it all in one spot. Smaller splashes should work just as well."

"Exactly." Cassius nodded approvingly. "You three can move around the lake and scatter it bit by bit. I’ll stay nearby and wait for your signal when the Leviathan comes."

Then he turned toward Nala, gently taking her hand. "Come on, Nala. You’ve done enough for now. Let’s let the girls handle the rest."

Nala peeked at him shyly, still flustered. "You’re not...making me help again, right?"

Cassius chuckled. "Not unless we run out of buckets."

"CASSIUS!!"

As Cassius walked away, laughing, hand in hand with the mortified lamia, the trio stood there staring at the bucket in silent disbelief.

Finally, Aisha sighed and muttered. "I can’t believe this. Of all the things I imagined myself doing one day, this was never on the list."

Julie nodded grimly. "Let’s just...get it over with."

Skadi, still red-faced but grinning, grabbed a ladle that came with the bucket. "Well, here goes nothing! Time to, uh...splash the lake."

And as the three of them began their awkward, humiliating mission of ’strategically sprinkling’ the second bucket of bait around the lake, Cassius’ distant voice could be heard faintly laughing from the trees, leaving behind three flustered women and a bucketful of questionable ’bait.’

—

Two hours had passed since they had gone off around the lake with the precious bait. The forest around the shore had since gone quiet, save for the occasional rustle of leaves and the distant calls of birds.

In one of the forest clearings, however, things were far from peaceful.

Cassius stood there, hands clasped behind his back, watching with a teacher’s patience while Nala’s long, snow-white tail snapped against a fallen tree trunk.

The impact made a deep—CRACK—echo through the woods, and splinters of bark flew into the air.

"That’s not bad." Cassius said with a grin. "You’ve got precision, I’ll give you that. But you’re not using your full potential."

Nala turned to him, puffing out her cheeks slightly.

"Hey! I already know how to use my tail." She said, slithering in a circle around the tree. "I’ve practiced with it for years! I know its strength, its weight, its limits. I know how it feels when it hits something, there’s nothing you can teach me about my tail."

Cassius chuckled. "Oh, really? Then just listen to me for a second and see the results for yourself."

He walked up beside her, gesturing toward her tail.

"Right now, you’re whipping from the tip alone, right? That gives you a snap, but not the transfer of energy you could get if you used the whole length properly."

Nala blinked. "Transfer of...what?"

"Think of it like this." Cassius smiled. "You start the motion higher, right around here." He traced the air above the thicker part of her tail, about halfway down. "Then you let the force travel through your tail, letting it flow all the way to the tip. Like cracking a whip, but with more rhythm and momentum."

Nala tilted her head. "So...I swing from here instead of there?"

"Exactly."

He stepped back, crossing his arms. "If you do it right, the energy will build up through your tail and explode at the tip. You could literally break the sound barrier if you perfected it."

Nala blinked again, her eyes wide. "The...sound barrier? What’s that?"

Cassius paused, then rubbed the back of his neck.

"Er...never mind that. Just think of it as ’really, really fast.’"

"Ooookay." She said skeptically, coiling her tail back in preparation.

"Now, go on." Cassius said with a grin. "Try it. From the top, flow through, and let it snap."

Nala focused. Her tail drew back, arching high like a serpent ready to strike. Then—

CRACK!

The sound was deafening. A chunk of bark and splinters exploded off the dead tree, scattering across the ground.

Nala stared, eyes wide. "I-I actually broke it!" She gasped. "I thought you were just joking!"

"Of course not." Cassius folded his arms with a smug grin. "I never joke about my methods. Every word from me is absolute gold."

"Gold, huh?" Nala said teasingly, looking at him with a smirk. "So, I guess there are kings and queens out there paying you for advice now?"

"Oh, you’d be surprised." He chuckled. "There are rulers who would hand over their entire treasuries just to hear my words of wisdom. I usually charge quite the fee for lessons like this."

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Nala grinned slyly. "Well, that’s unfortunate for you, then. I’m just a poor fisher girl. I don’t have any royal treasures to pay you with."

Cassius tilted his head, feigning thoughtfulness. "Hmm, that’s alright. I know another way you can pay me back."

She blinked. "Oh? And what would that be?"

Nala that he would say a kiss or something intimate like the pervert he was, which she honestly didn’t mind.

But what he actually asked was far from it.

"Simple." He smiled. "Just whip me lightly across the back. That’s all I need for my reward."