CHAPTER 336: LET’S BECOME A FAMILY-I

Cassius’s eyes seemed to fill itself with delight as it stared at her.

Of course, his father is now free.

But so what? Was that man supposed to ever be free?

He reached out his hand and gently brought it around her hair. Pulling the towel over her head, he then rubbed it gently, placing her to sit between his thighs. It was great to put Arabella to sit in front of him. This way, she wouldn’t be able to see his face, wouldn’t know or notice the kind of ugly expression he would be making.

She had been too busy, too exhausted the past few days, so how could he let her worry about him even more after everything?

His sweet girl didn’t seem to notice so he gently pressed her hair with the crisp towel, dabbing it, "He is not."

Arabella’s eyes brightly tried to look at his face but with her hair that was still wet as his hostage, she could only pull her knees together, "So even after Alice is gone, he’s still under the magic’s control?"

"Yes," Cassius answered as he closed his eyes and when he had opened it again, blood lust and delight that was dark colored his face, "He will never be back again."

But Arabella couldn’t tell that those words he said wasn’t uttered from facts, rather it was from him promising that his father was never going to be back on his right mind.

She innocently asked him, "So you had Lastor check on him?"

"Mhm," Cassius said to her, "A lot of the ministers had seen his condition as well. They have realized that it is unfit for a mindless king to control the kingdom and was afraid that it would affect his choice."

She wondered how does the King looks like now that Queen Morgana had escaped the castle.

"Soon," Cassius whispered, his fingers tracing under her warm skin which made her shiver, "You’re going to be the Queen."

For a brief moment, it was as if the entire world had stopped moving from the shock. Her entire body couldn’t help but turn towards him and when she did, she could see how wide Cassius’s had smiled, how triumphant he appeared and how free he seemed.

He gently hugged her, his sigh escaping from his mouth, "You’re going to be the Queen, finally no one is going to stop us anymore."

It was funny, she thought and whispered to him, "Shouldn’t you be happier that you are about to be the King?"

"This title, I had never been quite fond of it," he confessed to her ears, gently moving her legs so it settled on top of him, "I told you, it was the dream of my mother to make me the King. As her child who was born from her, she thought that it was only right for me to fulfill the dream that she cannot achieve because she’s a woman."

"So you don’t want to become the King?" He eyes traced his face that seemed so gentle and free whenever they were alone- a sight of Cassius no one else would have the pleasure of seeing.

"Well, I can’t say it doesn’t make me delighted that all my effort had been paid," Cassius gently touched her nose, "It was just never my goal. But now it’s different, I get to see you becoming the Queen, isn’t it lovely?"

Arabella wanted to tell him that it had never been her dream to be Queen.

But how could she? How could she rain on Cassius’s parade when he looked so utterly delighted, his dark eyes lit with a joy she so rarely saw, his lips curved in a smile that felt like sunlight breaking through storm clouds?

If this was something he wished for her, something he wanted to see her become... then she would wear the crown without complaint. Not for the kingdom, not for the title, but for him.

The path ahead would be difficult, becoming Queen was no easy feat, but if it meant she could stay by his side, then she would try. With everything she had.

She stepped closer, closing the space between them, and gently pressed her forehead to his. Her voice softened to a whisper, warm against his skin.

"We aren’t even married yet... how will I be the Queen?"

Cassius’s jet black brows grew damp where her hair brushed them, but he only chuckled, a boyish, unguarded sound that sent a flutter through her chest. She felt it in her bones, that sound. It made her love him in a way that almost hurt.

How could one person be so unbearably dear?

The feeling swelled in her until she wished she could draw him into her very heart, hide him away inside her, keep him safe from every cruel thing in this world.

"Good," he murmured, his fingers curling around hers. "That you’ve decided to touch on that topic."

Then, with a smile that was almost shy, he said it.

"Let’s get married."

It wasn’t a question. It was a promise. A future laid at her feet.

Her green eyes stung with the weight of his words. Her heart seemed to leap, racing ahead of her breath as he lifted her hand to his lips and pressed a kiss to her knuckles.

"Arabella," he said, his voice low but steady, "let’s become a family."

Her green eyes turned glassy almost instantly and although she couldn’t see herself in his sight, she could feel just from his gaze how lovely she must have looked, how lovely Cassius had always looked at her as though she was the most beloved person in the world.

Cassius watched as Arabella closed her eyes, the corners of her eyes wet with tears of joy while her lips spread wide with the best smile on her life, the kind that made him swoon, the kind that made him feel grateful he had survived all this time.

"Let’s be a family," she agreed as she looked into his red eyes, "Let’s not leave each other’s side forever."

Cassius beamed, "Thank you," he whispered to her ears, leaning forward by catching her shoulder before planting kisses to her lips.