To His Hell and Back-Chapter 209: The Cat Named Lala-II

Confused by his words, Malcom turned his head around, tilting it slightly in an obvious confusion, wondering how a cat could ever kill a creature into nothing but liquid?

"Yes sire!" A loud yell came from a soldier who had just saluted to his superior and when the man’s brown eyes turned to meet Cassius, startle seeped into the man’s face, clearly showing his shock and his hesitation to approach.

Regardless the soldier bowed to the Crown Prince until someone had called him by his name, "Hans! Your responsibility today would be to guard this coffin..."

"That’s him?" Beside Malcom was Arabella who had slipped from the chapel as she felt somewhat uncomfortable being around so many people she doesn’t know. The only person she could be familiar with was Cassius and though she had managed to find someone nice today, she knew that not everyone would be as polite as the two earlier.

Cassius turned to her, clearly not surprised as if he had known her presence from earlier on, "That is him," he confirmed and she stared at Hans, the man who is also Princess Marissa’s lover. He is the human lover who had also planned to leave the castle for good, to run away with Marissa and elope.

Hans was like any other human young man. He seemed to be someone with a gentle personality but that doesn’t make him any less steadfast than his peers. He also look like a good fighter and seeing how responsible he appeared, she could tell he wouldn’t make Princess Marissa leave through a hard life even as she left the castle for good.

"Do you think you can trust him?" Arabella asked as she turned to see his face. She tried studying his expression, seeing his lips that had curled into a smile as he turned away to look at Hans again.

"Why are you asking me as if I could see through someone’s soul?" Cassius raised his left eyebrow and she chuckled.

"You always have the right view about someone, yes, almost as if you could see through someone’s soul. Wait," she frowned, "Can you?"

He rolled his eyes, shaking his head, "Of course not silly," he raised his hand, flicking her forehead slightly. "I warned you not to come here didn’t I?"

Rubbing her forehead from the flick she frowned, "You’re trying to veer my attention from the question." freeωebnovēl.c૦m

He looked at her for a long moment. Though a flicker of annoyance crossed his face, it never fully settled, like a passing shadow rather than true irritation. She could tell he wasn’t going to brush the question aside. Not with her. As if, somehow, she was the only one he’d ever allow to peer into the workings of his guarded mind.

"He looks good doesn’t he? Not as handsome as me but he does have good features," he pointed out, "I haven’t talked to him but there was a case about him that I read."

"A case?" She asked, "A murder case?"

She heard Cassius chuckle softly, the sound low and almost amused. His words that followed carried a teasing lilt, "Not every case is a murder mystery, Birdie. This one was about a servant who overstepped by pocketing a few stale loaves of bread. Hardly a dent in the royal stores, but according to the law, theft is theft even if it’s just spoiled bread. Technically, he was supposed to be thrown in the dungeons."

"Oh no," Arabella frowned, "But why did he stole those bread? Was he hungry?"

"I suppose not, since he gave it away," Cassius answered her, "Sounds foolish isn’t it? He stole it knowing well he could be punished heavily and spend the rest of his time behind bars. Being someone who had worked in the castle for years, he should have known about this better than anyone and yet he still chose to steal those breads."

"Gave away to... the orphanage?" Arabella guessed and Cassius nodded. "That sounds kind of that servant."

"Of course but he was a human and how do you think Rueben would react to this with the hatred he has against all humans?" Cassius asked her to guess and she frowned.

"It was Rueben who had to take care of the problem?" and when he nodded she pursed her lips, "He would do his best to punish the servant in the most torturous way, am I wrong?"

"Right. Very right," Cassius said, his tone shifting just slightly, the amusement dimming. "Rueben’s temper triples when it involves humans. When he found out, Marissa’s human lover stepped in, offered to take the servant’s punishment himself. Ended up with three years’ salary docked, nearly thrown in jail, and stripped of his knighthood. All over a few moldy loaves."

He paused briefly and his smile became wider when he thought about the past, "I was curious of him back then so I sent one of my men to question if he had regretted what he had done and that if he brought the servant who had stole the food to us we should release him and do you know what he said?"

"That he doesn’t want to bring the servant?"

Cassius shake his head, "That there was never any servants who stole the bread only him."

"He does sound like a good person," Arabella murmured, though her voice carried a hint of caution. She had seen Hans only briefly and didn’t truly know him. In truth, she remained slightly wary, there was always the chance he was just another wolf dressed as a sheep. But someone who could lay down their life just for a few moldy breads, they don’t ring to her as someone dangerous to Princess Marissa.

She saw his expression and didn’t know what to make out of it. Was Cassius feeling lonely? Envious that his sister was going to leave the castle?

What was he thinking?

Sometimes she wished she could have a book that would write out all Cassius’s thoughts into a paper. She was sure that those thoughts won’t be so pleasing to look at, perhaps even dark, murky, and at times vile.

But she was curious of what those red eyes could see, what the world look like to him through his gaze. Was the world ugly to him? Pretty? Hopeful? Or miserable?

With hands behind her back, she thought about Princess Marissa, "You know? Hans told Marissa to stay behind the castle. She suspect he got a cold feet upon the thought of eloping but just maybe... just maybe he’s worried that he would be stealing her from the only family member she has left. When I thought about it, I wonder just maybe if Hans doesn’t only care about Princess Marissa, maybe somewhere he cares about her family, about you. That makes him a rather good person in my head."

For a moment she could see Cassius’s red eyes narrowed and then it spread into an amused look.

"Really? Caring about the crown prince now, that’s funny."

"Regardless of your position, you are still a person after all," she said, "To know that someone else see you as a person somehow puts me at ease."

"You like that someone pity me?" Cassius inquired as the leaves fall beside Arabella’s brownish red eyes, and her green eyes that glimmer underneath the shine of the morning sun that almost felt blinding.

"No," she said with a faint frown, "I’m saying that I’m happy someone sees you more than just the Crown Prince. I hope there would be more people like Hans."