To His Hell and Back
Chapter 37: The Gem Lying Inside

Chapter 37: The Gem Lying Inside

Bella furrowed her eyebrows. Words were bubbling at the tip of her tongue but she was reminded again by how the previous King of Versailles were the one who had enacted this foolish and violence tradition. Though she despise Cassius’s words, she hated it because of how true it is and she could not deny the human’s part of the mistake as much as she cannot deny the fact that the vampires were wrong for continuing the tradition and causing wounds to the innocents.

Cassius studied her face as he walked backward. He smiled, curling his lips, "Besides, I took care of you, feed you, gave you a place to sleep, and you’re still alive. What is it that makes you so upset?"

She sighed and turned her eyes away but saw how he frowned. Since their first time meeting, Cassius really despise it when her eyes drifted somewhere else.

So obsessive. Was he someone who loves to control others so much?

"How many bird pets have you had?" Arabella redirected his question and was met with the slight surprise that spread his knitted eyebrows.

He chuckled, "I see so you have met with some unnecessary people. To answer your questions, I have had a few."

"And you killed them all the moment you noticed they were going to escape their birdcage?" She didn’t held back with her questions. Though she thought she should, Cassius unlike the other vampires didn’t pay any mind to her behavior. Whether it could be rude to someone of his stature or not, he didn’t care. He simply enjoyed this version of her, unrestrained.

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Is that even a question?" Cassius crossed his arms and walked over a nearby vase. He pushed it gently, placing the vase near the edge of the table that made anyone who saw this perilous position to twinge and worry in anxiousness. Bella, herself, couldn’t help but wince as the vase swayed between falling and not falling, the great anticipation made her nerves at ill ease.

"I don’t like that my pet thinks the outside world is better than under my cage’s protection," his crimson eyes gleamed as he spoke while staring deep into her green eyes. "I consider myself to be such a great owner. I take care of my pet, and I take care of their needs and safety. Imagine having such a fragile soul on your hands. Wouldn’t you fear that the people surrounding you would try to hurt it? The more fragile," he sang while he pushed the vase and with that tiny push, the vase hit the ground and broke to sharp shards, "the easier it is to break."

She gulped, feeling as if the vase was herself and seeing it broken to pieces speaks of her future.

"But killing it? Aren’t you hurting it? Isn’t that a contradiction?" Bella spoke while struggling to keep an eye contact. There was distance between them but she felt her heart racing as if he had cut their distance in a blink.

"Don’t you think their escape as a betrayal? Because I sure do. I took great care of them, love them, and whisper them sweet words. All they had to do was to sing me a tune, to keep me entertained. Yet their eyes, their wings, and their mind still misses the outside world so much. Am I not enough?" Cassius lips then fell into a thin smile that didn’t reach his eyes. "Once I love something, birdie, I’ll make sure it’s safe in my hands for years to come. I will protect them from dangers even if that danger is my bird... herself," he eyed her, the red eyes burning straight to her heart.

Her breaths hitched as she saw him stepped forward and without knowing her back had hit the portrait behind her. Bella could feel the two pair of red eyes, one from the painting, and one so alive right across her burning with desire and a sense of a grim possessiveness.

She could see his smile that had faded and it only made the air tenser and thicker. She couldn’t breathe, her nerves errant as she could feel the double meaning under his words.

Then he smiled again. Cassius spoke with a smile as if nothing had happened, "So don’t worry. As long as you don’t betray me, lie to me, or yes, escape from me, you will be just fine."

Bella didn’t answer but her heart quiver and she feared Cassius could see it. After all those red eyes seemed as if it’s able to look through everything— feelings, emotions, or even the secret desire of escaping this place that she held so dear in her heart.

"Besides, how did you step out of the room despite my warnings? Do you want to die so badly?" He asked while looking at his hands before moving back his gaze at her.

Bella didn’t know whether it’s better to say the truth or lies. But lying would get caught so she took the middle choice.

"I didn’t step out willingly, someone pulled me out of your room."

His eyebrows raised, "Someone?"

"Queen Morgana," she answered. It’s not her fault as the queen had been the one who dragged her out of his room knowing how she had told him that he would be unhappy.

"I see and so that’s where you have found out about my other pet birds. How dare she, even though she knows how I don’t condone people touching what belongs to me," his bleak tone entered her ears, making her sure that Queen Morgana was going to regret her action this afternoon. "Don’t you think I should punish her?"

Bella’s lips were tight shut and he saw it with a wide smile, as if expecting her defiance and loving how it is on her.

"Well, the night is coming to a close. It’s my family dinner time, so you’ll do great coming with me, birdie," Cassius snapped his finger, ordering her to come with him.

Arabella wondered how vampires would ever need to eat but recalled how Princess Marissa said that Cassius never drink blood of a human. It doesn’t make sense... then why would he take her under his wings?

As they walked away she whispered, "I thought I could understand you..."

Cassius chuckled as he eyed her who was walking tamely behind him, "You can, no, you will. Who knows birdie? Maybe by peeling off my outside mask, there’s a gem lying inside."

"Or a rotten core," she snipped and heard him bursting to a laughter so much so that the armed guards who had stood across the wall all was stunned by his laughter.

"Perhaps. It’s for you to choose," he then turned his back to her, making his way toward the dining room with his pet, something all the servants were gawking in confusion. Cassius, however was immune to the stares unlike Bella, he even smiled wide, like a child who was about to open his birthday gifts.

"Can’t wait for the family dinner. It would be very fun birdie. For you and for me."

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