To His Hell and Back
Chapter 81: Ill Interest

Chapter 81: Ill Interest

Leaving the Queen’s chamber granted Arabella a rare moment of freedom to wander the castle, though she knew it was a fragile illusion. Her goal was clear: to find a way out. But reaching the entrance was impossible under the weight of so many hungry, crimson gazes. The vampires lurking in the halls watched her like a free pet, theirs for the taking. If not for the ever present guards, she might have already been drained dry. Yet, while the guards kept the predators at bay, they also made one thing painfully clear: that she was a prisoner. Any attempt to move toward the entrance was met with silent, immovable resistance.

With a sigh, Arabella retraced her steps, taking mental note of the overwhelming number of guards stationed throughout the castle. Their vigilance was unwavering, their gazes sharp. The idea of slipping past them, let alone vanishing without a trace, seemed impossible.

The gardens were no better. Though they stretched beautifully behind the castle, their placement ensured there was no easy route to escape. Every exit was accounted for, every pathway a dead end.

But then, she spotted it.

A single opening.

From the second-floor window, she glimpsed a narrow path leading from the stables into the thick forest beyond. The dense treeline would make forging a path difficult, but she could see where it led to open land beyond the castle’s reach. If she could make it there, she might have a chance. A real chance.

Arabella kept the idea in her head, not saying it to anyone even though she promised that before she got out she would bring Donna and Iliza with her to escape. For now, it should be kept a secret until she could make sure that the path would really allow her to leave.

Happy with her new discovery, Arabella didn’t think much before making her way back to Cassius’s room. There weren’t many things to do there and it was dangerous with all the vampires. She didn’t want to see Minister Rueben either...

Arabella came to a sudden stop when she met face to face with Iliza.

Iliza had also been walking around to find Malvo. She was walking back into Cassius’s bedroom, meeting each other on the way. They were both stunned and while Arabella still felt hurt and guilty from their last conversation, Iliza looked at her with a frown, a disapproving gaze as though she had been unfair.

Arabella understood how bitter Iliza was, and though she also felt guilty, she acknowledged that Cassius’s interest in her wasn’t something that Iliza should be jealous of or blame her for.

However, she still spoke with tenderness back to Iliza, "How have you been?"

Looking at Arabella, Iliza furrowed his eyebrows. "Not any better than you."

Arabella smiled, looking at Iliza, whose body wasn’t bandaged and her entire legs were covered in bruises and cuts. She didn’t want to continue thinking about their situation or judge whose life was better than the other now as it didn’t matter; all of them were equally suffering inside this heavenly castle.

"How are you able to walk all around?" Arabella asked, her eyes studying that there weren’t any other slaves here other than Iliza herself.

Iliza’s face was stunned for a moment before she responded while rubbing her elbows, "I was just allowed. What? Are you going to tattle me to that Crown Prince of yours?"

"That wasn’t what I plan-" "Whatever. I should’ve known someone like you wouldn’t be loyal," Iliza snapped, her words sharp with accusation. Though her frown deepened, she pressed on, her voice laced with something between disappointment and disdain. "Donna thinks the same about you. She told me you’re dangerous, that you’d do anything if it meant surviving."

For a fleeting moment, Arabella’s heart stilled. Donna... she said that?

The very same Donna who had once whispered to her that she didn’t trust Iliza either?

It didn’t make sense. Donna had never struck her as someone who would twist words, someone who would play both sides.

A bitter thought gnawed at her; was it true? Or had Iliza simply twisted the truth to wound her?

She closed her green eyes, willing herself to stay calm. When she spoke, her voice was steady, measured. "I am no different from anyone else rotting in that dungeon. The only distinction is that I’m not inside a cell. But my life? It’s just as fragile, dangling by the thread of someone’s fickle emotions."

Iliza scoffed. "So what? You’re telling me I should just shut up and swallow everything?"

"Yes." came Bella’s sharp response. She was always someone who was willing to say the truth, no matter how biting and cold it was. Looking into Iliza’s brown eyes, she added, "Because I did the same. Stay strong, Iliza and know that I wouldn’t abandon you even if you feel that I am. This castle makes us bitter, but don’t make that bitterness all there is in you."

Iliza was stunned looking at her; her squeezed fists were trembling, and as much as she wanted to hit Arabella, she couldn’t, knowing well that Bella’s owner was Cassius, the Crown Prince. She could see the in fury as she watched Arabella, who had left when suddenly a chuckle came from behind her.

She turned behind, finding the man who had laughed to turn out to be Minister Rueben.

Rueben’s chuckle was slow and deliberate as if he had been thoroughly entertained by the exchange. His red eyes gleamed with amusement, but there was something more beneath the surface, a quiet, calculating hunger.

Iliza was stunned seeing him and fearful as on their last meeting, she had ended up being slapped across the cheeks by Minister Rueben, who clearly despised and looked down upon all humans. Yet now he was smiling, even appearing brimming with energy of joy.

"My, my," he mused, stepping closer, his voice a purr against the dimly lit corridor. "That was quite the performance, Iliza. Such fire, such righteous anger. Seems that I am not the only one bothered by her existence." His fingers traced the edge of her bruised arm, not with kindness, but with the mockery of a man who delighted in watching others squirm. "It’s quite funny to know that even the humans don’t take kindly to her presence. Do you hate that girl? Do you want to ruin her too?"

Iliza was stunned, but the swirl in her emotions made the corners of her lips to curl.