Arabella grew uneasy as the conversation between Cassius and Ariel shifted. What started as polite curiosity was slowly evolving into sothing more pointed, quizzical tones edging toward confrontation. She glanced nervously at Cassius, her fingers unconsciously tightening around the fabric of her skirt.
Sensing her tension, Cassius gently tapped her hand, a silent reassurance. His touch was calm, wordlessly telling her not to worry. He wasn’t planning to lash out or harm her sister simply for asking questions.
She exhaled faintly and cut in between, "Cassius is right. It is odd that he would want to help without anything in exchange but there are those who defy normalcy, sister."
Ariel’s gaze flicked back to her. "That may be true," she said slowly, "but humans rarely help each other when the risk is too high. So tell , Bella, why would he help you? I don’t an to sound ungrateful, I’m glad he did, but I’m also not blind. One day, he might demand sothing from us."
"If that’s the case I could have demanded sothing right now from your younger sister which I didn’t," he leaned backward and softly let out a faint sigh. "You don’t seem to trust vampires."
"I don’t trust vampires," she said plainly. Ariel chuckled and looked into his red eyes, a striking glare that she couldn’t bother to conceal, "Vampires are the one who had stolen this land, bled it dry, and rules it still. There are plenty of reasons why I don’t trust them and in the first place your people haven’t made any actions that would make us put so faith in you, don’t you agree?"
"It’s not wrong," Cassius answered, "When trust hasn’t been given how can it be earned," he humd, "But under Versailles there are many different kind of vampires. There are one who decided to marry humans and had lived until the old age, they don’t hurt each other and lived in a harmony. There are vampires who have also build an orphanage from the humans who had mistreated children. There are also ministers who are working to etch fairness in Versailles for humans and vampires."
Arabella who heard this was stunned. She had also been living in the castle and yet only knew the bad of the vampires. There were simply too many vampires who are far too cruel for her to know that there is also other vampires who are also hoping for a fair land for humans and them.
"But," Cassius said, "It is indeed hard to change the way vampires have lived throughout all this century. We have held anger against humans for far too long, reasoning that as you have hurt us, there should be no problem in hurting you back. The King himself is particularly unhappy about humans as he had his family mber killed by them."
"Killed?" It was Bella who asked, staring at him in shock. So the king, Cassius’s father held a grudge against humans because his family was once killed by humans? No wonder there was clear discrimination by the way the King had govern humans in Versailles. Because deep down there was a lingering hatred.
"So we are in danger and vampires are untrustworthy when it cos to our safety," Ariel concluded. "After all if your King hate us, then his subject and all his people will eventually hold the sa contempt against us."
"Ti is changing," Cassius closed his eyes and smiled, "There are still those vampires who cannot move from the past but there are many others who wishes to be different. That ripple has spread everywhere and though I can’t speak for all vampires, I can speak for the ones who wanted changes and fairness. They are there and they are real."
""Perhaps. But aren’t their voices too few? And even if they wanted to speak, wouldn’t your King silence them?" Ariel said to him which he acknowledged with a nod.
"The second one is most certainly more correct. To be kind to humans and sees them as equal while being a vampire is unheard of and that would cause them to be shunned," he explained, "But haven’t I proved my point yet? That there are vampires who practice humans’ way of living. There are also humans who instead practice vampires’ cruelty."
Ariel chuckled but she shake her head in response, "And so you are saying that I could now begin to trust vampires because a few of you had changed? Do you really think that the world is that sweet, Sir Crown? One person cannot speak for all vampires."
"No," he replied slowly, "I don’t think the world is sweet. In fact, I’m rather fond of its bitterness. It sharpens the tongue. Like yours."
Arabella felt the sudden shift again, now the two seem to have drop their formality as they realized that the other party wasn’t going to listen to their words.
"You say one person cannot speak for all vampires," Cassius continued, his gaze locked on Ariel now, "but you speak with the confidence of soone who believes they can judge all of us. As if you’ve seen every corner of Versailles, every act of cruelty, and you know the circumstances behind every vampire’s life in this land. Tell , Ariel... how many vampires have you actually known?"
Arabella felt his mocking tone and could see her sister’s kind face grew intolerable to his words.
"Two? Three, perhaps?" Cassius pressed, voice almost gentle, as if coaxing out a confession. "And yet you carry your hate like an heirloom, passed from tragedy to tragedy. Convenient, isn’t it? Hatred is so clear cut and so easy. It doesn’t demand much thinking. But just like how you parade around with your hatred can’t the vampires do the sa? Fact is that we have hurt you but it was all started by humans. Is it really fair to bla us who have always lived through your cruelty to now exact that cruelty you have taught us?"
Arabella tried to stop him, "Cassius—"
"You hate vampires not because we’re cruel," he cut Bella off, continuing as he could see how Ariel’s hands that had clutched to the round table began to shake. Her knuckles had turned white and the wooden edge of the table seed to have begin to crush under her fingers. Cassius smirked at this, "But because cruelty gave you permission to hate. You enjoy it. The certainty. The superiority. That’s what this is really about, isn’t it? You don’t want proof that we can change. You want proof that we can’t."
Ariel let out a scoff and her eyes looking at Cassius turn grim. There was a dark and ill storm taking place in her eyes, one that was far too deadly, one that was simply too heinous to co from a normal village girl who had been desperate in finding her younger sister.
Ariel chuckled, "You might think that you could easily buy with your clever words but I wasn’t born yesterday. I know how vampires had lived throughout this century. You say that now you would change? That sounds horribly delusional. You disgusting creature lived from blood and born out of cruelty now that sa wolf pretending to be lambs to live with other lamb is simply far too unbelievable. Isn’t this another one of your ploy? First make us believe that you are trustworthy before hanging us one by one in front of the castle’s front. Like you always do."
Cassius smile raised, "When have we done that? I don’t think you are speaking about our current vampires. What kind of vampires have you seen? Vampires from four hundred years ago perhaps? Because if you are talking about that I do rember how they hung humans all around the castle’s front to punish the humans who had gone against them. But..." he sang, his eyes stopping on Ariel who seed to have just realized how she had been playing under Cassius’s tune, forced to say the words she hadn’t wanted to say.
"But isn’t it odd?" Cassius inquired, "That happened four hundred years ago. You wouldn’t be alive to know that and humans shouldn’t have those knowledge."
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