They were still drenched. Not just in water, but in the weight of the emotions they had been forced to confront, whether they wished to or not.
For Arabella, it was the raw, paralyzing fear of death. For Cassius, it was the chilling realization that her death would break him.
Arabella wasn’t foolish. She was a commoner, an outsider to the world of those born and raised within these bloodstained castle walls. She lacked their cunning, their silent, ruthless gas of power. But she wasn’t blind. She had seen it through Marissa, and through every whispered sche in the court of how being a royalty ca with a burdenso responsibility that had beco their leash.
She understood the cost of royalty.
And that price was survival.
For the throne, for wealth, and for the absolute authority, they fought with tooth and claw, with steel and shadows. And Cassius. Cassius was the Crown Prince. His father, the king, was a man who would carve obedience into his son’s skin without hesitation, a ruler who saw blood as a lesson and pain as a necessity. Cassius had never been given the luxury of weakness. His survival was not just expected, it was demanded.
Weakness had no place in his life. He couldn’t afford it—just as much as she couldn’t. And yet, there were things in this world that, even knowing they could destroy you, you still found yourself reaching for, needing with a desperation that defied reason.
This was no different.
Cassius refused to acknowledge her as sothing vital. He didn’t want to give her that power over him, because if she beca his weakness, she wouldn’t just destroy him. She would destroy herself along with him.
But Arabella was done standing on the precipice of hope, waiting. She would not linger in this cruel in-between, caught between what he refused to admit and what she could no longer ignore.
But for the first ti, Cassius though clothed had lowered himself. He had shown his heart, his desperation. His hand that held her fingers, his eyes that scread for her to stay. If she pushed perhaps he would let her go, perhaps even though that might destroy him. This is why he had tried to negotiate with her, to offer her sothing from his own in exchange for her presence beside him.
"How can I trust you?" She asked him. "Aren’t you going to treat coldly again tomorrow? You’re going to open your heart to , show that you could beco soone I could trust and then you would simply- betray my expectation."
Cassius bent his knees, startling her as instead of anger, he seed to be trying to coax her.
His red eyes studied her and he sighed, "I won’t do that again," he promised. "So stay. Please. Arabella, please don’t leave," He added, thoroughly lowering his pride. It was as if... as if she could ask him for his throne or heart now and he would gladly rip out his heart and place it to her palms.
She clenched her jaw, cursing herself for being too kind. Seeing him desperate had moved her heart, seeing his crimson eyes that for the very first ti looked fearful- simply felt so extrely difficult for her to refuse.
She bites down her lips, sighing, "One chance."
Cassius’s crimson’s eyes slowly narrowed, "Once chance?" He echoed.
"I’ll give you one more chance," she answered.
Perhaps Cassius wanted a company. She could tell he never had people around him who he treated like a friend. Although Renard and that black haired vampiric maid Karnala were always around him, he must have put a boundary between them, knowing well that though they swore they would always be by his side, words weren’t enough to guarantee anything, especially the future.
But after being with her company, he had learned the joy of having another person beside him, soone who he could trust and slowly open up to, soone who would answer him truthfully, call him for his behaviors, and argue with him, instead of nodding or prying his weakness.
It wasn’t as if Arabella didn’t know that.
She was also ostracized by the people in the village, having no friends and at tis not even having soone who she could share her burden with. She has her sister, Ariel, and she has always been the closest person to her. But being her sister, she always had worries that if she leaned too much on Ariel, her problems were going to break her sister.
Sowhere, Cassius and his presence had saved her a lot, though he was also the cause.
She couldn’t deny that she had grown a small bond with him and that was the reason why she had also felt difficult to refuse him right now. But wasn’t this foolish? He didn’t have to listen to her. He could continue being... rciless. But the fact that he asked her to stay, negotiate? He wasn’t... He wasn’t as heartless, at least not to her. Perhaps in his own way, Cassius was changing. He wanted to even though he knew this could cost him a big ti.
Seeing his eyes that were looking at her made her understand that he was also trying to stop himself from losing his guard but rather than her disappearance, he would rather bear a weakness that could cost him the only thing he had lived for.
"What do you an by one chance?" Cassius asked, he was apprehensive with his tone. His knuckles were still white as he held her chair. He wasn’t trying to force her, he was trying to coax her while fighting the fright of seeing her lifeless body that had reappeared in his head.
She thought about it as she had talked without thinking and giving it so thought she finally ca out with an answer while lifting her pinky finger, "Don’t betray . Don’t lie to . Don’t hurt . Don’t push away and suddenly give the cold treatnt again."
Cassius thought about it for less than a second before nodding. He almost pulled a smile when he heard the terms which was easily agreed by him. After all, this was simply too easy to have her suddenly leave his side.
"One more," she added, her lips pursing.
He looked at her, waiting for her words.
"Change Cassius," she told him, "I an perhaps not now when you can’t afford to do so, not instantly either was what had been taught to you had taken a root too deep to your soul but... you don’t like humans or vampires as equally as I am. I want you to beco soone wiser."
Cassius’s long black lashes lower. He had been taught to use violence whether he liked it or not but Arabella wanted the opposite. It wasn’t sothing easy, especially while humans could be controlled by fears, vampires were different. Power is their rule.
What she had asked sounded innocent and she wasn’t aware of how tasking it was but he closed his eyes and nodded his head, agreeing to it.
Even this term that sounded impossible sounded like a heaven’s lody compared to the stillness of her heartbeat that had scared him in the afternoon.
"Alright," he said, "I promise," looking into her eyes and finally broke into a smile. His expression didn’t look the usual Cassius.
Tender, almost warm like the sunshine. Perhaps... Arabella thought. Perhaps this was the real Cassius. The one who was killed since his birth so he could beco the perfect vampiric crown prince who wouldn’t bend and couldn’t break.
The half moon birthmark on his neck glowed as if it had scread to him, warning him of how dangerous his behavior was but he didn’t care about it, still smiling, thinking this was better than losing her.
He reached out his hands, linking his pinky finger to hers, "I promise," he repeated.
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