Chapter 14: The Heir’s Burden

  Cassian sat on the couch, his elbows resting on his knees, hands clasped together as he stared blankly ahead. His mind was a whirlpool of confusion, and an unsettling sense of urgency. He had made a choice, a dangerous one, to pretend to be someone else—not just anyone, but the dead heir of the Starfall family. In his mind, he could almost hear the walls closing in, the weight of the lie bearing down on him with every passing second.

  Sky’s voice broke through his spiral of thoughts, soft but urgent.

  “One more thing, brother,” the boy said, his tone thoughtful as he tapped his finger against his chin, the gesture so innocent, so childlike. “We can’t live here. I’ll tell you this—this is a run-down property my family purchased before. Now, if you’re going to pretend to be my brother in front of the world… that means you’ll be Cassian Starfall, the heir of the Starfall family. And if you’re going to be him… we can’t stay here. We have to go back to the Starfall villa.”

  Cassian blinked, his mind struggling to keep up with the sudden shift in conversation. He looked at Sky, trying to gauge whether the boy truly understood what he was suggesting.

  "Back to Starfall villa?" Cassian echoed, his voice low, as if testing the words. He hadn't fully processed the weight of the family name Sky had just dropped on him. He had no idea what he had been getting into by agreeing to this charade, but he knew now that the stakes had escalated—drastically.

  Sky nodded, his small face serious. “The villa is big. It's where we’ve always lived. The servants, the guards, they all work there. It’s safe... but dangerous, too. We can’t be found here. People are looking for me, brother. After what happened... there’s no telling what people might do to get to me.”

  Cassian stood up, his hands trembling slightly as he looked around the small, modest house that had, up until now, served as a fragile refuge for the two of them. The thought of returning to the grand, imposing villa where the Starfall family had once thrived—where people likely still lived and worked—felt suffocating. It wasn’t just a change of location. It was a shift into a different world, one that demanded the performance of a lifetime.

  “The villa?” Cassian muttered to himself, lost in the thoughts swirling in his mind. "What’s waiting for us there, Sky? What happens if they recognize that I’m not your brother? What if they figure out that I’m not Cassian?”

  Sky's gaze dropped for a moment, his fingers still tapping rhythmically on his chin. “They won't know, right?” he asked cautiously, a hint of uncertainty creeping into his voice. “They’ll think you’re him. You look like him. And your name... it's so close. It’s enough. I think it’ll be enough.”

  Cassian's throat tightened as he tried to suppress a bitter laugh. Enough? What was enough? His mind screamed that this entire situation was a disaster waiting to unfold. The deception, the lie he was living—it wasn’t sustainable. No matter how much he looked like this Cassian Starfall, no matter how many times Sky told him they were the same, he knew the truth. He wasn’t Cassian Starfall.

  He was just Cassian, a boy with a haunted past, running from everything he had ever done.

  But Sky—innocent, hopeful Sky—didn’t understand the danger of what he was asking. The little boy only wanted security, safety, and the love of a brother who had been torn away from him. Cassian could give him those things, couldn’t he? Even if it meant wearing the mask of someone he wasn’t.

  "I need to think about this," Cassian said finally, the weight of the decision pressing down on him. He ran a hand through his hair and let out a long, steadying breath. “Going back there... it changes everything, Sky. The people there, the staff... they’ll remember you. They’ll remember your family. And they’ll remember Cassian.”

  "But they're not here now, right?" Sky asked, his eyes widening with a hint of confusion and fear. “missing aren't they? No one will know that you’re not my brother. You just have to be him. That’s all.”

  Cassian couldn't shake the chill that ran through him at the mention of death. The Starfall family—was it really true? Were they really all gone? He had heard whispers in the streets, rumors and news of the massacre, of the family’s fall from grace, but to be standing here in Sky’s presence, speaking of it so casually, made the gravity of it feel so much heavier.

  “But what if there’s someone there who knows?” Cassian countered, his mind racing. "What if there’s someone who’s still looking for you? What if they find me out?”

  Sky shook his head, looking more certain than ever. “I don’t know, but we can’t stay here. Not forever. We have to move, brother. We have to go to the villa before anyone else finds us, this place is not safe, the villa is safer”

  The boy's words were simple, but they struck something deep in Cassian. What’s the cost of this lie? How long can we live in this mask? His thought ‘He is right the villa is more save place then this run-down house’

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  “I’ll go,” Cassian said after a long pause, his voice steady despite the storm of thoughts threatening to overwhelm him. “We’ll go. But we need to be careful. We need a plan. If I’m going to walk into the Starfall villa pretending to be your brother, we need to make sure no one has seen through this lie. If they catch on…”

  Sky stepped forward, his tiny hand reaching out for Cassian’s arm, his face full of determination. “You’ll do great, brother. You’ll make it work. I believe in you.”

  Cassian’s heart twisted in his chest. He could feel the weight of Sky’s trust, and he wasn’t sure whether he was worthy of it. He wanted to protect this boy more than anything, but the road ahead was one paved with deception and fear.

  But for Sky, he would walk that path.

  For now, Cassian thought, it’s the only path left.

  He didn’t know what lay ahead at the Starfall villa. But one thing was certain: the price of deception had just gotten much steeper.

  Cassian leaned against the counter, arms crossed tightly over his chest as his thoughts churned. The events of the past few days felt like a surreal blur, one revelation bleeding into the next. He couldn’t shake the weight of the pearl—the strange, otherworldly energy coursing through him ever since that night. It had transformed him, given him strength and clarity, but at what cost? The meditation had been an accident, a desperate attempt to quiet his mind. Yet, it had unleashed something beyond his comprehension.

  Everything is changing so fast and that pearl…..One time, he thought grimly, running his thumb along his jaw. I meditated one time, and everything changed. The pearl, that man in my dream-like reality… none of this is normal. And now I’ve lost a year of my life? What else is this pearl hiding?

  Sky’s voice pulled him back to the present, small and hesitant. “Have you made up your mind…? Brother, should we… should we go to the Starfall villa now? Are you ready to be the heir of the Starfall family?”

  Cassian blinked, focusing on the boy standing in front of him, his wide eyes full of hope and trust. That trust made something twist deep inside him, a pang of guilt mingled with a strange sense of responsibility. Sky had no one else, no one to guide him or shield him. And now, in a cruel twist of fate, Cassian had become the boy’s anchor.

  “Am I ready?” Cassian repeated, more to himself than to Sky. He let out a soft, bitter laugh. “I don’t think anyone could ever be ready for something like this, Sky. Pretending to be someone I’m not, walking into a life that’s not mine… it’s not going to be easy.”

  Sky tilted his head, his tiny brows furrowing. “But you’ll do it, right? You’ll be my brother. You’ll protect me.”

  Cassian felt a lump form in his throat. The way Sky said it—as if it were the simplest, most obvious thing in the world—made it almost impossible to say no.

  He nodded slowly. “Yeah, I’ll do it. But listen to me, Sky,” he said, his voice firm as he crouched down to meet the boy’s gaze. “This isn’t going to be safe. If we go to the villa, there might be people there who’ll ask questions, people who might recognize I’m not really your brother. You need to be ready to lie, to protect the truth. Can you do that?”

  Sky nodded earnestly, though his lower lip trembled slightly. “I can do it, brother. I’ll do whatever it takes.”

  Cassian sighed, running a hand through his hair. “Alright, then. But we don’t just walk in there without a plan. I need to know everything you remember about the villa, about your family, about your brother. If anyone there asks me something I can’t answer…” He trailed off, not needing to finish the sentence. They both knew the stakes.

  Sky brightened a little, a small smile creeping onto his face. “I can tell you! I remember lots of things about the villa! My brother always said I had a good memory.”

  Cassian gave a faint smile of his own. “Good. We’ll need it.”

  Sky clapped his hands together, his enthusiasm bubbling over. “The villa is really big! There’s a fountain in the front, and Mama said it was made of white marble, but I think it’s gray. And there’s a library! It’s my favorite place. My brother always read to me there. And the kitchen is huge! Bigger than this one!” He gestured around their small, modest kitchen as if it were the tiniest room in the world.

  Cassian listened intently, filing away every detail Sky shared. The boy’s excitement was infectious, and for a moment, Cassian almost forgot the danger that lay ahead. Almost.

  When Sky paused for a breath, Cassian said, “Alright. That’s a good start. But I need to know about the people, too. The staff, the guards—anyone who might still be there.”

  Sky’s smile faltered slightly. “Um… there were a lot of people, but I don’t know if they’re still there. The head maid’s name was Miss Vera. She was really nice to me. And Mr. Malcolm was in charge of the guards. He was scary, but my brother said he was very loyal. And…” Sky hesitated, his gaze dropping. “And there was Mr. Aldric. He worked for my papa. He was always around, but I didn’t like him. He… he made me feel weird.”

  Cassian’s brows furrowed at the mention of Mr. Aldric. “Weird how?”

  Sky shrugged, his small shoulders hunching. “I don’t know. He just… he looked at me funny. Like he was mad at me, even though I didn’t do anything.”

  Cassian filed the name away in his mind, a flicker of unease passing through him. He would need to keep an eye out for this Aldric if the man was still at the villa.

  “Alright,” he said finally, standing up and ruffling Sky’s hair. “You’ve given me a lot to think about. We’ll leave for the villa tomorrow. For now, let’s get some rest.”

  Sky beamed up at him, his earlier nervousness melting away. “Okay, brother!”

  As the boy scampered off to the couch, Cassian remained in the kitchen, his thoughts once again consumed by the enormity of what lay ahead. The Starfall villa. The name alone carried weight, a legacy steeped in power, mystery, and now tragedy. To step into that world, to claim that identity, would mean stepping into the unknown—and into danger.

  I’m not Cassian Starfall, he thought, his jaw tightening. But to protect myself, I’ll be whoever I need to be.

  For better or worse, the path was set. Tomorrow, the deception would begin.