To His Hell and Back-Chapter 19: Unending Bickers

'Well, why don't you try being in my position walking barefooted on these cold floors?' Arabella endured her loose lips as she looked at Cassius with the fakest and most forced smile which seemed to have instead caused him to laugh as his eyes crinkled as though she had brought him so much mirth and joy.

"Well come in," he tipped his chin, allowing her to enter. She noticed when she walked in how everyone was staring at her, even the servants who were trained to keep their nosy noses away from the castle's business couldn't help but steal glances at her face many times and then murmur when they were done looking.

Arabella who was about to sit on the chair then heard Cassius's cold question, "My pet acting human?"

She squeezed her eyes and fists and took a moment to regain her composure and refrain from the real urge to retort to his words before taking a sit down on the floor of the carriage. She refused to look at him, refused to speak, and refused to add another mirth and joy to this man's life after everything. But she couldn't handle the cough tickling her throat and realized that she must have caught a small cold from sleeping on the floor last night.

"So you still have your voice," he remarked, his smile a brew of a man who was happy that he gets to stir the pot first thing in the morning. "Yet you don't want to look at me?"

That's because you're going to use my words against me again!'  she had learned painfully well that he wasn't someone she could easily retort. It seems her sister's prayers of her finding her real match had come alive.

He circled her like a predator eyeing its prey "What's wrong, birdie? Lost your tune? Or are you merely sulking in silence to spite me?" He sang. He pointed his index finger toward her and poked her cheeks which looked snowy white powdered with a crushed pink rose petals.

She glared at him and said nothing.

"Ah," he snapped his finger, "Nervous that you're going to face your punishments today?" Leaning closer, his tone then dripped with mockery "You know, birdie, your only purpose here is to entertain me. Speak, sing, scream—anything. But this sulking silence? It's dreadfully dull."

She finally looked at him properly, letting her gaze trail over his entire figure. His towering height and the sharp, almost otherworldly perfection of his features could have made him the epitome of a charming crown prince. The long, dark lashes framing his piercing crimson eyes seemed designed to command attention, adding an air of effortless allure. Paired with that black tunic with the golden tapestry woven alongside his collar and the hint of redness on the flower around the thorny golden embroidery was extremely luxurious, perhaps something that only someone his high rank could ever wear once in their life. But that wasn't what had made him call everyone's attention when he moved. It was his sheer presence— intense and undeniable — that left a mark.

He was a figure who could inspire admiration or fear with equal ease, drawing people to him like moths to a dangerous flame. Men or women, no one would deny of his beauty.

'Shame that he's insane, evil, sadistic, and loves to torture her for his entertainment that is.'

"I have nothing to say, Your Highness." She finally responded before he actually killed her as he did to Lady Blair yesterday.

Cassius laughs softly, the sound both amused and cruel "Oh, my birdie does speak! A miracle. And yet, it's always the same boring song: defiant and stubbornness wrapped in politeness. Don't you know that your crown prince over here hates anything that's simply too easy to guess?"

"Perhaps I'm silent because you're boring yourself, your Highness."

Feigning a wince, Cassius's eyebrows furrowed but she could see how his smile was curling higher at her words. He was right. One thing this man hadn't lied to her was the fact that he really would never feel offended no matter what she had uttered, as if every word she said in response to his banter was the light to his boring days.

"Such venom, little birdie. You're a bird, not a snake."

"Perhaps I'm a human, not a bird," she replied before muttering under her lips, "Besides, what crazy people would take humans as their pets?"

"Vampires?" He shrugged his shoulders. "Pets are meant to be protected. Weak beings are also meant to be protected. You fit both."

She stared at him, speechless that his words almost convinced her.

He then lined his finger on her cheeks and down to her chin. She denied looking into his eyes, but when he tipped her chin upward with his fingertips, she had to look into his crimson eyes, which were glimmering in eagerness. "But be careful. It's never advisable to sting your owner, who holds the cage. Keep going silent, and that makes me wonder if I should clip your pretty wings so you can finally sing a song for me."

Meeting his gaze, her voice sharp and clear "You might find that this bird bites."

Dry dark chuckles bubbled from his throat, "Oh, birdie, I do hope you try. But remember- every time you open your beak, it's only because I allow it. And I'll decide when the performance ends."

She pouted, sulking, but it got her nowhere and she wondered if she should focus on entertaining Cassius. After all, it is true that she could only come this far thanks to him. After attacking Minister Rueben she was almost killed for her actions but thankfully he stepped aside. Sure he's crazy and he killed people but for now he's someone who hasn't harmed her except for trying to put her in a perilous situation.

But what about the punishment?

She gulped thinking what punishment he was wagering.

"A- are you bringing me to where you will punish me?" The sudden realization makes her shudder in fright.

"Oh, where's your bravery now? Finally, it sink into your head that you should have been nicer to me?" Cassius teased. He leaned backward as he enjoyed seeing the panic that seemed to have entered those large round eyes of Arabella's. She seemed peeved that he didn't answer her directly and this side of her made him more intrigued. This defiance. How could she be so unrestrained even to him?

Starting from ignoring him, retorting him, though she pretended to be polite in her words, her eyes that were always ablaze with annoyance seemed as if she had seven lives on her back and didn't mind dying. Yet when he teased her about dying he could see her panic for her life. She was someone who made him intrigued. It was his very first time to get so interested in what other head in mind other than his own late mother.

"How did you become a pet?" Cassius inquired, his trained eyes were studying her oval face, her soft jawline, and her sweet smooth skin. Her blood must taste as sweet as her brave personality.

Side-eyeing him, Arabella decided to answer him, "Like everyone else, taken by the slave traders."

"I know but slave traders aren't allowed to simply kidnap a girl at night anymore. It's the law that had been made and if it was to be crossed, their head would roll," he said while dancing his fingers in a circle, mimicking what he would see if he would cut another head.

The gulp that ran from her throat had sounded so loud that it echoed in the carriage.

She couldn't see how far they had gotten as she was on the floor but seeing the trees that moving fast from the window, she realized that she was near a forest. If he would punish her by kicking her to the forest for the wild beast to enjoy her as a feast, she would surely meet a gruesome demise.

'Answering him is a better decision to do.' 

"There is such a law?"

"I made it," he tutted and brushed it aside, "So how did you get taken? I remember what usually happens for the slave traders to take you. Either someone sold you, which as I have said isn't allowed anymore, or perhaps you're such a feisty gambler? Didn't know you had that in you birdie."

Scrunching her lower lips she denied aloud, "No. I didn't do such a thing! My father-" the words had come out from her mouth therefore she resigned to spilling everything, "He was drunk all the time and started befriending the wrong people. Eventually, he was led by the nose to gamble in all the gambling houses and if he did win money he didn't pay back the loan shark and had instead used it to buy more drink in the tavern."

"What a bastard of a father," Cassius chuckled as he spoke. He sounded sympathetic but made it no more as he was laughing. "Don't worry you're not the only one who ever had a father like that. I'm certain many others had it worse than you."

Was that supposed to make her feel less upset about her tragic life?

"How comforting, your highness. I'll keep that in my head so I can rest and sleep well at night," she answered, forcing a smile and he seemed delighted at her cynical smile. After a pause, she decided to ask, "Why do you take me as a pet?"

The mirth in Cassius's red eyes seemed to brighten a little at her question, "I usually ask the question, not asked."

So that meant he wasn't going to answer her. She pursed her lips and looked at the window that was far from her sight and realized that they were going into another mansion. She could see the mansion from afar and felt the shaky road turning smoother as they reached a small stop at the gate before entering the place again.

This time, Arabella who poked her head up could see a luxurious white mansion. It wasn't anything too over the top when compared to the castle but it was good enough to scream wealth.

Cassius opened the door and walked out first. He then turned at her and tilted his chin, "Come out."

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"Yes, Your Highness," she answered as she walked down. She furrowed her eyebrows seeing her feet and slowly turned at him, giving a smile, "Would you mind giving me a shoe, your Highness?"

Cassius smiled back, his sharp fangs peeking out from the corner of his lips while his almond eyes curved into a crescent shape, this appeared positive to her eyes that she began to think he was a nice owner.

"No."

"..."

Burn in hell!