To His Hell and Back-Chapter 188: Three Way Mirror-II

Princess Isabelle quickly curtsied, placing one hand over her chest and another tugging the side of her gown in an elegant bow. She then straightened her body, her smile filled with such friendliness that no one would turn away.

Cassius didn’t return the curtsy. He stood tall, hands folded behind his back, the very image of unshaken authority. His expression, as always, was carved from ice not cruel, but detached, untouched. A crown prince who had seen too much to be moved by charm or beauty. freēnovelkiss.com

Arabella, just a step behind him, said nothing. She watched. Her breath caught as Princess Isabelle stepped closer, eyes radiant with admiration.

"Princess Isabelle Maralovan," the girl said brightly, offering her name like a gift. Her curtsy had been flawless, every movement graceful, every smile practiced yet sincere but it was the hope behind her eyes that made it almost painful to watch.

Cassius tilted his head slightly. "Ah. Your brother did mention you," he replied. The words were flat, functional nothing more than a mental note retrieved from the cluttered shelves of political memory.

Isabelle lit up, as if those indifferent words had been praise. "Did he?" she asked, with a hopeful little laugh. "I hope he spoke well of me."

Cassius’s gaze shifted, crimson eyes narrowing faintly, "He mentioned you in the context of the treaty. Said you were eager to be of use to Caparscule."

Isabelle blinked. "Ah— of course. I meant... outside of politics, perhaps?" she tried again, voice softening, "I’ve always admired the strength of your country. And, well, you." Her cheeks flushed. "I’ve heard many stories. Of your victory at Hanalath. Of how you turned the tide with only a battalion of—"

"I’m sure most of it is exaggerated," Cassius cut in, his smile was traced on his lips but it hadn’t been pulled high enough to look as friendly as the princess would have wanted to see. "Stories are useful. They serve morale and sometimes lessons to those foolish enough to repeat it again and again."

He wasn’t cruel. He didn’t roll his eyes or mock her. He wasn’t overly nice but he wasn’t as exactly cruel as he would have been to others.

Though it was subtle, there’s a different way that Cassius use to treat Isabelle whether he noticed this or not but she did. Arabella’s green eyes had always been sharper than her peers but now it has been even sharper than ever.

She could see it clearly; the way Isabelle tried to close the distance, again and again, like a wave that refused to retreat. And the way Cassius, unknowingly or uncaringly, stood like a cliff before her.

It shouldn’t have hurt.

He’s never smiled at anyone, Arabella told herself.

But as she watched Isabelle glow just from standing near him, as she laughed and leaned in and tried with all her sweetness to be seen, Arabella felt it a slow, invisible ache blooming beneath her ribs.

Because somewhere in her, despite herself, she had thought she might have been the only one to reach him.

And though he didn’t smile at Isabelle now... Arabella feared a day he might.

"I shall find the owner of the cat," Arabella suggested and Princess Isabelle turned to her with the gentle smile that only fueled more uncomfortableness in to her heart.

"Bella, do you need my help?"

"No, I couldn’t possibly waste your time for such a small thing," answered Arabella with a stiff smile.

Seeing her upset expression which was so subtle but too obvious to him, Cassius stopped her, "You don’t have to find the owner."

"But wouldn’t this cat be sad if it’s separated from its owner?" Arabella muttered while patting the cat’s head. "I wouldn’t want to be... alone either," and at that sorrowful tone of hers, Cassius who was going to chase the weird cat away suddenly spoke before he himself had made up his thoughts.

"It’s alright. It’s going to be ours now."

"But the owner?"

"It’s mine," he chuckled, "Who in this land would ever dare to take the cat away from me if I will it?"

"..." Arabella stared at him without a single word from her mouth but her frown and her narrowed green eyes showed her disapproval to his so called "solution"

"I’m joking," Cassius rolled his eyes, "If that cat has an owner someone would have come up here and claim it as theirs. The only possible owner other than the me and the rest of my family members are the new envoys and guests. But they all have been summoned here with none excusing themselves from coming."

"So there is no owner of this cat," Arabella hummed as she run her fingers through the fur. "Maybe it came from the forest near her? It could be lost and somehow made its way here."

"It could be," Cassius decided to simply dismiss the cat’s sudden appearance in his garden. Instead he pointed, "Regardless of the case it’s yours now."

"Huh but why?"

"Don’t you like the cat?" Cassius stated with a smile. His hands raised and then plop on her head. "So you can take care of it. Marissa will just have to bear with it."

Unexpectedly her chuckle slipped from her mouth but it stopped as she felt the intense gaze that had appeared from her left, coming from Princess Isabelle who had gone quiet while watching their exchange as others did.

"You two seem closer than I had thought," Princess Isabelle then commented, her smile still as sweet and gentle as always as she pointed their relationship out loud. "Have you two known each other for a long time?"

"No."

"Yes."

Arabella turned to Cassius who had said yes and frowned. She cleared her throat and spoke to the Princess, "I mean to say that we aren’t as close as you might expect. His Highness is just the type of person who looks cold in the outside but rather a jokester in the inside."

Cassius with a roll of his eyes muttered in a scoff, "I enjoy blood rather than jokes."

Princess Isabelle giggled, perhaps thinking Cassius’s words were another dry jest, the sort that masked wit beneath a grim veneer. "Then maybe you haven’t met the right audience for your humor yet, Your Highness."

Cassius didn’t laugh.

Arabella didn’t either.

The silence that followed was short, but it hung in the air like mist, subtle and clinging.

Cassius’s gaze drifted from the cat to Arabella. "Take it to your rooms later," he said flatly. "It’ll need food. I’ll have the kitchens prepare something."

Arabella nodded, her voice softer than usual. "Thank you."