noveldrama
Chapter 191: Priceless Treasure
Chapter 191: Priceless Treasure
But as happy as Diana was, the three days she'd been forced to wait for his return had been an agonizing eternity, each hour a battle against her impatience.
She'd yearned to seek him out, to demand his presence, but restraint had won, her trust in his promise holding her back.
And when he arrived on the third day, as pledged, she'd greeted him with a warmth that surprised even herself, her voice brimming with awe as she praised his medical skill, calling his methods miraculous, transformative.
She'd thanked him profusely, her gratitude spilling over like a river breaking its banks, but he'd brushed it aside with a humble deflection, claiming his knowledge was merely gleaned from his family's library, a trifle compared to her own achievements.
His modesty only deepened her admiration, and she'd wasted no time, ushering him to Vivi's bedside with an urgency born of hope, desperate for him to diagnose her daughter further, to uncover a path to a full cure.
That visit marked Vivi's first meeting with Cassius, and Diana had watched, her heart swelling with a quiet joy, as he examined her daughter with a professionalism that rivaled the most seasoned physicians.
His hands moved with precision, his questions gentle yet incisive, his demeanor calming Vivi's usual wariness.
But what struck Diana more profoundly than his skill was Vivi's reaction to him.
Her daughter, wise beyond her years, possessed a keen intuition that saw through the facades of others, particularly nobles whose self-interest cloaked their words.
Vivi often recoiled from such company, her discomfort visible, her silence a shield against their shallow intentions.
Yet, with Cassius, she was transformed—open, animated, speaking to him with a freedom Diana had rarely seen, as if he were a trusted friend, a confidant she could share her deepest secrets with.
The sight had stunned her, evidence to Cassius's genuine heart, for only someone truly kind could earn such trust from Vivi at first meeting.
Vivi's fondness for him was also unmistakable, her eyes lingering on him as he prepared to leave, her subtle attempts to delay his departure—small questions, shy smiles bringing a soft smile to Diana's lips.
She'd seen the spark of a crush in her daughter's gaze, a flicker of the normalcy Vivi so rarely experienced, and it filled her with a bittersweet joy.
Her daughter, confined by illness, was feeling the stirrings of affection, the innocent longing of youth, and though it tugged at Diana's heart to know Vivi's fragility, it also warmed her to see her live, even briefly, like any other girl.
In that moment, Diana had felt a lightness she hadn't known in years, her soul humming with the possibility of a future for Vivi, a future made possible by the most unlikely of saviors—Cassius, the man the entirety of female population of the kingdom feared.
But that happiness had crumbled later, when she and Cassius sat over tea, their conversation drifting from medical insights to casual pleasantries.
The air had shifted when he set his cup down, his expression growing solemn, his crimson eyes locking onto hers with an intensity that made her breath catch.
He'd spoken then, his voice grave, revealing that he wasn't a saint like her, driven by charity.
His actions, his knowledge, his aid—they came at a price, a truth that sobered her but didn't surprise her.
His family, the Holyfields, thrived on commerce, their wealth and power built on calculated transactions, and it stood to reason that their young master would view even his generosity through the lens of profit.
And far from offending her, his straight-forwardness reassured her, grounding his motives in a logic she could understand, dispelling the unease of wondering what he sought in exchange for his miracles.
She'd braced herself for a steep demand—perhaps her entire fortune, her hospital's resources, or even her servitude as his family's exclusive physician.
For Vivi's life, she'd have paid any price, no hesitation, no regret.
Her husband's opinion also held no sway; his absence from their family, his obsession with serving the Holyfield patriarch, had eroded her respect, leaving a quiet resentment that hardened her resolve.
So, whatever Cassius asked, she'd give, her daughter's survival the only currency that mattered.
But his request had stunned her, a bolt from a clear sky that set her heart racing and her cheeks aflame.
She still remembered how he'd leaned closer, his voice low and fervent, confessing that his desire wasn't for wealth or power...but for her.
Before she could even react, he said he'd seen her a while ago at her hospital, tending to patients with a grace that captivated him.
He said that it wasn't merely her beauty—though he'd noted her plump, curvaceous figure with a frankness that made her blush or her elegance that ensnared him.
It was her compassion, her refusal to let others suffer as she had, her relentless drive to find hope in the face of despair, as she'd done for Vivi.
That strength, that heart, had enthralled him, igniting a longing to claim her, to make her his alone, heedless of her status as a married noblewoman, a mother, a figure revered by many.
He wanted her, body and soul, with a raw intensity that left her breathless.
The confession had shocked her, her mind reeling at the audacity of his desire. She'd expected a transaction of coin or service, not this—a claim on her very being.
Yet, to her own bewilderment, she hadn't recoiled in outrage.
Where another man's advances would have earned her fury, a slap to silence his presumption, Cassius's words stirred something else—a quiet resonance in her heart.
Perhaps it was his intellect, the rare joy of conversing with someone who challenged her mind, who learned from her as much as she from him.
Perhaps it was his skill, his ability to save Vivi, the one thing she valued above all.
Or perhaps it was the way he saw her—not as a noble lady, a doctor, or a mother, but as a woman, desired and whole.
His request, framed as a trade—her daughter's life for her surrender felt less like coercion and more like an exchange of mutual need, a twisted logic that somehow made sense in the heat of her gratitude and the loneliness she'd buried for years.
But Cassius didn't stop at offering Vivi's salvation.
His voice pressed further, acknowledging the depth of Diana's devotion to her daughter. He said he recognized that Vivi's well-being, her chance to walk freely, to live as any other girl was the prize Diana cherished above all else, a stake weighty enough to anchor any bargain.
Yet, he insisted on proving his sincerity, his desire for Diana not as a mere transaction but as a consuming need to claim her entirely.
To demonstrate this, he produced a thick notebook, its pages crisp and freshly inked, and placed it before her with a gesture that carried the weight of a sacred offering.
Diana's curiosity stirred as she accepted the notebook, its leather cover cool against her trembling fingers.
But when she opened it, her breath caught, her eyes widening in disbelief.
The pages were a treasure trove of medical knowledge, a archive of discoveries she'd never encountered.
Treatments for illnesses that had baffled scholars, surgical techniques that defied convention, recipes for medicines crafted from herbs unknown to her, designs for equipment that could transform care—all meticulously recorded in a hand that spoke of exhaustive study.
She scanned only a few pages, but their revelations were staggering, each line a potential lifeline for countless souls. As she flipped through the volume, its density overwhelming, she realized she held a treasure beyond measure, a repository of wisdom that could reshape the medical world, save millions, perhaps billions, of lives.
Her hands shook, the notebook feeling like an artifact of divine origin, it's value surpassing any kingdom's treasury several fold.
Fear gripped her as she set it down on the coffee table, her pulse racing, as if touching it too long might burn her with its power, since what he was offering wasn't simply a incentive, but a treasure from the gods itself...