To His Hell and Back-Chapter 192: Village’s Stares-I

A tinge of sadness filled Arabella’s heart. Even though the pair of siblings seemed so estranged, deep down, they do care about each other, perhaps much more than even most siblings in Versailles. After all, Arabella knew that the reason why Cassius had tried his best to become the Crown Prince despite having to sacrifice his own future and past was so that Marissa wouldn’t be in harm’s way.

He knew that weakness could be fatal, and he needed to be stronger, even stronger than everyone else, so that nothing near him would ever be hurt.

Worries then came to Arabella’s heart, as Marissa’s plan to run away would mean that Cassius himself wouldn’t find out about this until she had completely left.

But what happens if instead she gets into danger?

She was also curious about this man named "Hans", wanting to see what he looks like so she could tell what kind of person he is.

But before she could try to catch a glimpse, she could hear footsteps, light but sharp, coming from a high heel.

She hurriedly ran away from the place, making as little noise as possible as she hid behind the staircase as she sneaked a peek and found Princess Marissa, who had gently wiped the tears under her red eyes.

She hadn’t noticed Arabella’s presence, which she would have usually noticed if it wasn’t due to the sadness that had swept her as she had firmly made her mind to run away and elope.

Arabella remained in her place, waiting for a little more to see the man named Hans, but to her surprise, the man didn’t come down the staircase, seemingly going upstairs instead, or perhaps he had went the other way so he wouldn’t bump to anyone else and be seen with the princess.

Worried, Arabella hopped out of her hiding place.

Her curious eyes looked back at the upper part of the staircase when someone tapped her shoulders lightly, causing her heart to leap and flip.

She snapped her head behind and felt the finger that poked her cheeks, which belonged to Cassius.

With a look of curiosity, he raised one of his eyebrows, smiling as he did so, "What were you sneaking around for, Birdie? No way... did you see someone having a moment of passion here and you were trying to watch for more?"

"Moment of passion?" She asked him with a blink, unable to understand what he was trying to imply, which made him laugh.

"Sex."

Cassius watched as her eyes widened, but her entire body had refused to move if it had turned into a stone. He furrowed his eyebrows as he recalled how people used to say their hamsters were dying from a heart attack, frozen in place just like how Arabella was now.

It took a moment for her cheeks to turn red from her neck to her forehead, and at once, her lips trembled, "W- W- WH- WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" She snapped at him and pushed him behind to no avail, and turned away to the staircase, jumping down in fear of the word "sex" that felt like a taboo.

Seeing how she had hopped, running away in fear with the back of her neck red to her fingertips made Cassius to smile. His feet that had always felt heavy now felt so much lighter whenever he was somewhere near her.

"Hey, come on. What’s the harm in such word?" He teased her, following behind her slowly. "My pervy birdie, what did you imagine when I said such words? Did you really see someone having a tryst here?"

"No!" She turned when he got closer and recalling Marissa, she lowered her tone into a whisper and had him bend his upper body closer so she could whisper to his ears, "You said to me before that Marissa is in a relationship?"

"Yeah, with a human," Cassius callously replied, "You’re interested?"

"Well... I saw them together," she said with a nervous frown.

Cassius smiled, "You saw them smooching that’s why you’re this nervous?"

"No! Ugh! I heard them," Arabella hesitated as she didn’t know whether she should say this or not. But she didn’t want Cassius to be in the dark until Marissa had left the castle for good. One day he was going to regret not spending more time with his sister and she didn’t want him to feel so.

"They are about to elope," Cassius who had read her expression stopped his teasing smile into a knowing one while she turned at him, her expression cleared from hesitation to confusion.

"You knew?" She asked and he shrugged his shoulders together.

"It wasn’t hard to guess. There are signs," Cassius answered as he looked away, "Hans, that human man isn’t such a bad one."

She stayed silent as Cassius continued his words, "His position isn’t much to note about. He’s a son out of wedlock because his mother, a servant was raped by his father and kept as a hostage in the house until the time of her death. I expected that he would turn out twisted considering the history of his birth but much to my surprise he had long made peace with the past and truly admire Marissa."

"Wow," she muttered as she studied his expression, "You speak as if you admire him."

Cassius turned and laughed, "I can praise someone you know. Especially when they do deserve to be praised. Either way, I have kept a close eye to him and he had shown nothing but good history throughout his time in the castle and back in the mansion. Marissa herself had appeared bright after his presence. She has got someone with her now and I’m sure this person will never betray her."

Arabella chuckled a little at his words and his gaze landed on her, questioning her laughter.

She cleared her throat and crossed her arms on her back, "You know, I heard her say the same thing. The same exact sentence as you earlier. Despite what you two look like to others, I can tell that you really care about each other."

"Care.." he echoed and smiled but those didn’t reach his eyes, "I wonder if I do care about her."

"Well you do, I can see that," she hummed, "So what are you going to do about her leaving?"

Cassius went quiet as they both exited the castle and staring at the sky he muttered, "Give her the freedom she has been wanting of course. If she could leave this castle, she should. But the castle’s gate won’t be closed for her, ever, even as she decided to leave this place."