To His Hell and Back-Chapter 120: Inside The Basement

With Cassius’s help they could locate Courtez but fear caught Arabella’s heart when she thought about Courtez who was harmed and somewhere inside the brothel. She furrowed her eyebrows, wondering if there was a way to bring Courtez out of the basement as she doubted telling madam Ursula to release Courtez would actually cause the woman to willingly let Courtez go.

"We need to check the basement," Arabella said to him, looking over his shoulders to see whether madam Ursula had gotten back, "I’ll see Ariel and once we have confirmed she’s alright, let’s bring Courtez away. Madam Ursula doesn’t seem to care about the girls who live here and I worry that she would demand us to leave if we rashly ask her to release Courtez."

"Well," Cassius lazily cracked his shoulders. "If you were alone perhaps that would happen but have you forgotten about me, birdie?" He grinned when their eyes met, "If she refuses we could simply squeeze her neck, four seconds is all it takes before she would be more than willing to do whatever I ask her to."

Arabella squeezed her eyebrows, sighing. Maybe that’s a good idea. It’s not all too bad as it’s not as if he was going to kill madam Ursula for not doing what he had asked. Wait! Was she starting to think like he did? The same way—the cruelty she had rejected?

But no matter how much she reasoned it, madam Ursula who had kept Courtez down in the basement wasn’t someone deserving of a pardon. Before she could make a choice, heels click down the wooden floor and madam Ursula in her purple gown called melodiously, "Dearest guests, Ariel is ready."

She sighed and looked back at him, "Let’s talk to Ariel and then let madam Ursula to tell the truth."

"As you wish birdie," Cassius chuckled as he walked and then leaned beside her ears, whispering as his warm breaths brushed against the shell of her ears, turning it warm. He hummed while telling her, "This is kind of exciting no? To sneak around, save the princess I’m actually quite fond of those damsel in distress children book where the bad bad dragon kidnaps the princess along with a prince who saved her from the plight and horror."

She didn’t know a child like Cassius. She even wondered if he had came out the way he was, maybe as the adult him? It’s hard to imagine Cassius as a child, as if her brain refuses to imagine it. She chuckled, wanting to pay back for all his annoyance and teasing, asking with a grin, "Oh I didn’t expect our crown prince would imagine saving a princess when he was young."

"Who said I wanted to save the princess?"

She turned and raised her eyebrows while his red eyes turned crescent in a beaming smile, "The dragon— that’s who I want to be. A scary big villainous dragon who would kidnap the princess for looking interesting to him. Though unlike all the children books I won’t fail in killing the prince."

Staring at him, she was speechless, mouth gaped by his shocking words, "I suggest your highness, that you should never tell any children tales to children. You’re going to ruin their innocence!"

"I haven’t ruined yours right?" He giggled while she was turned into a shocked bird, ready to peck him again when Cassius just laughed as he felt her small hits were nothing but feathery brushes.

They ascended to the second floor where there were rooms in all the hallways each having their own number carved in a gold plate. This one was written "666" an odd number to be as most people in Versailles believe ’666’ was a number that would bring misfortune. But seeing madam Ursula she guessed that she doesn’t believe in things like superstitions which made sense as she even named the brothel Goddess’ Mercy when one wouldn’t ever name such a place and a Goddess in the same breath.

Madam Ursula knocked on the door while Arabella’s heart was filled with excitement.

"Ariel, your guest is here," and as the door creaked open, Arabella awaited the other person in the room with excitement.

Meanwhile, underneath the building was the basement.

The place was damp and mostly filled with old clothes and items unused but also usually a place for those girls who had caught illness or have failed to catch any patrons and eventually succumb to their fading fame and hunger. This was the place which Ariel had always stayed at for a long time, and it was unimaginable for someone like Courtez who had captured many hearts of the men who had became her loyal patron to be kept in such a place, left for no one to visit.

This wasn’t because Courtez had caught an illness, no.

But because she had made a terrible, terrible choice.

The water had dropped to her nose, waking her up. She stared at the ceiling where there was the drop of water still hanging to the ceiling coming from the leakage from the pipe above the room. It took her moments to gather herself and to finally puzzle what had happened before she had lost consciousness and when she did pull herself from her daze, anger filled her heart.

She cracked her fingers that were touching the cold floor underneath her body and slowly began to push herself to sit up. She winced when a sudden pang of pain hit her, coming from her left arm that had been broken, brushing so badly that she felt pain in her soul just by seeing the way her arm had been bent to the side it shouldn’t have.

She gritted her teeth, placing her head to the wall as she sucked her breaths and forcefully twist her hand. Pain shot to her brain, her body numbing, but the pain was enough to bring her to the reality.

She immediately turned to door, slowly trying to stand up even though her body was swaying from pain and the fever. As light came closer to her body, the five finger mark around her neck became more visible, but that wasn’t the worse wound she suffered. There were more bruises on her back, her ribs were fractured, and her left arm couldn’t even move its fingers.

She was in a horrible state but the only thing she could worry wasn’t her own safety— no.

It was Ariel.

She should prevent anyone from seeing Ariel now— anyone!

Ariel wasn’t normal anymore.

After all she was the one who had caused her body all bruised and broken. All because she had let Ariel met that silver haired man— MORPHEUS!