To His Hell and Back
Chapter 93: She’s Dead

Chapter 93: She’s Dead

Cassius inwardly chuckled at how easily his Aunt’s words had provoked Queen Morgana. Unlike the rest of the vampires, Queen Morgana still held her human habit of letting her heartbeat run free, telling of her emotions louder than necessary. She pulled her smile though her irk was clear on her face.

"I suppose that’s true. People who live in comfort would never expect that the position they have on their hands right now could easily disappear the next second."

It was a meaningful threat she had uttered to Lady Genevieve but unlike Queen Morgana, she didn’t bite down the provocation and only smiled. She returned back to Cassius who was still smiling at how funny their fights were, something he had always enjoyed.

"Cas, would you come with me? I would like to stroll and look at your mother’s portraits," Aunt Eve raised her hand and gently, Cassius who had stood up first held her hand and helped her to leave the room, watched by the rest of the guests who decided to stay behind and let the aunt and nephew have their own time.

As they walked, Cassius could already feel the intense glare coming from his aunt. He chuckled and looked at her, "And to what is it this time that I owe your intense stare, Aunt?"

Aunt Eve cut to the chase with a sigh, "Are you really certain that you wouldn’t regret being married to someone you don’t know, Cassius?"

He blinked slowly, his gaze flickering briefly to hers before narrowing slightly, a wry smile curling at the corner of his lips. "Are you listening to yourself, Aunt Eve?" His voice dripped with a mix of amusement and challenge. "It doesn’t really matter who I marry, does it? Not when the only thing that matters is whether my bride-to-be can serve the kingdom’s progress." His tone sharpened, underlined with a subtle bite, as if testing her, daring her to confront the cold pragmatism behind his words. "Surely, that’s the only criteria worth considering, isn’t it?"

"You won’t regret it?"

Cassius narrowed his eyes, studying his aunt carefully, his mind turning over the weight of her words. What was she getting at? His lips parted, but before he could speak, Aunt Eve turned away, her gaze drifting toward the window. The golden hues of the setting sun reflected in her eyes, making them look almost distant like she was staring into something far beyond the horizon.

"I am worried, Cassius," she murmured at last, her voice carrying the kind of weariness that came from knowing too much.

Cassius, who had just released her hands, remained still, the sunset casting a warm, almost ethereal glow over him like a gilded mantle. He exhaled slowly, a quiet scoff escaping his lips as he rolled his shoulders in a careless shrug.

"What is it that worries you, Aunt Eve?" His voice was calm, almost lazy, but there was an edge beneath it. "That I will fall just as my mother did? That marriage will reveal some hidden weakness in me?"

Aunt Eve turned her head slightly, not quite looking at him, but he could see the flicker of something unreadable in her expression.

"No," she said softly, then hesitated. "But there is some truth in that."

She turned fully then, her gaze locking onto his, searching. "Do you know, Cas," she continued, "that the stronger someone is, the bigger their weakness becomes?"

"That won’t happen," Cassius assured. He then tapped his chest, a small chuckle leaving his lips, "I don’t even have the heart to have the same weakness as mother. You know to prevent that weakness from appearing she had ripped this heart apart. It’s simply impossible for me to have any feelings for someone, enough to prioritize them over my own safety."

"I hope that is truly the case," Aunt Eve sighed as she placed her hand on her forehead, sighing again. If Cassius had said so, why should she be concerned? Yet for some reason after seeing Arabella today, Aunt Eve could feel that the human girl was someone who could destroy Cassius’s walls.

There was something about Arabella- far beyond her appearance- that would capture all the hearts of people who see her.

It was as if she had been enchanted.

"Then I shall choose you a good bride," Aunt Eve turned to him, firmly studying Cassius’s face, and was relieved to see Cassius who didn’t seem to turn away from the idea of marriage because of the human pet. "The king had told me it would be better to find you a bride as soon as possible to which I agree but be at ease, I shall choose you a fine lady."

"I know you will," Cassius smiled back at his aunt, "Then I shall wait for the day to arrive."

"Mama!" Adele rushed toward Lady Genevieve upon seeing her and Cassius together. "Hehe."

"What got you so excited, Adele?" Genevieve held her cheeks, wiping away the traces of water that dripped from her face, "And why are you so wet? Utterly-"

Before her words had reached their end, Cassius had snatched Adele’s hands, his grip tight on her wrist that immediately caused Adele to yell out in pain.

"Ouch! Ouch!" Tears welled in her eyes as his fingers pressed into her flesh, unrelenting, as though he meant to snap the delicate bones beneath. "What are— Brother Cassius, it hurts! Let me go—!"

Cassius ignored her protests, his expression carved from ice. "What have you done?" His voice was low, and controlled, yet it carried a dangerous undercurrent. With a sharp tug, he forced her fingers open, prying apart her balled fist to reveal the strands of reddish brown hair tangled in her grasp.

Adele’s eyes widened for the briefest moment, but then fury overtook her shock, twisting her face into a scowl. "That pet of yours tried to push me into the lake!" she spat, voice shaking with indignation.

Cassius’s crimson eyes flickered dangerously as he regarded her, unreadable. Then, with an exasperated scoff, he murmured, "She? Pushed you?" He tilted his head, his smirk grimly sharp. "You’re a vampire, Adele. She’s a human. Surely, even you can hear how ridiculous that sounds."

He didn’t wait for her response.

A sudden glow ignited at the base of his throat, the faint, eerie shimmer of the half moon mark. And then, before Adele could so much as blink, Cassius was gone. The air crackled where he had stood, a ghostly echo of his presence lingering as the space around him snapped shut.

Both Adele and Aunt Eve were startled by what had happened and the fact that suddenly Cassius had disappeared and the black liquid that had left from the window had turned into a bat and rushed into the sky, soaring until it had disappeared completely from their sight.

Seeing this, Aunt Eve clicked her tongue while Adele cried to her, "Mama, my hands- I think they aren’t working anymore-"

"What have you done?!" Aunt Eve schooled her daughter, "Did you harm that human?"

Annoyed, Adele stared back at her mother in a mix of fury and pain, "If I do so then what? She deserves it you know. Besides Cassius should have prioritized me over a mere pet!"

"No vampire would like their toy to be taken away from them," Aunt Eve reasoned before she sighed. "Don’t tell anyone what has happened and leave for your room. Perhaps it’s better to call a human doctor."

"You don’t have to," smiling, Adele looked at her mother, a grin wicked on her pink adorable lips. Her face which was always childishly beautiful seemed to turn into a demon as she cackled, "I heard her pulse stop. She couldn’t swim."

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