To His Hell and Back-Chapter 272: I’ll Survive!-I

Clenching her fists, Iliza seemed as though she wanted to choke both Donna and Arabella again but decided to keep quiet instead and went mute. Arabella ignored her as well, turning to look at the perimeter outside the cave they had hid. She hadn’t seen any vampires at all and that was a relief but she wondered how long this would go for.

Karnala told her that the hunt would be ended before the sky turn dark but now the sky was still too bright for it to turn dark, meaning they might have to continue surviving for another three to four hours.

The chances of survival was far too low but she decided not to think about it and instead work her way through the situation.

Donna tugged her sleeve when the sound of horse neighing rang closer toward them. Fearing that it would be another vampire, they both grasped their mouth and tried to calm down their loud beating hearts.

Iliza stared at them. Earlier her eyes were filled with only determination to stay alive but now- the gleam of her eyes had turned utterly different.

The words that Arabella said struck her like an arrow and the anger she felt became something deadlier than just anger.

The footsteps became even closer as the two hid. Arabella who had been trying to see the person walking toward them then saw a familiar shoes made for women.

Carefully, she stepped out, looking even closer towards the person’s face to find that it was none other than Princess Isabelle.

On her hand she was holding an odd object in a shape of a tube with something similar to a trigger. The object look beautiful and ornate, as though it was designed as an accessories rather than a weapon.

Her other hand was holding the dagger that gleamed when the lights seeped into the forest.

Unlike usual, her expression was colder, much calculated, but this was the Isabelle that Arabella had always known.

Her heart jumped and flipped upon seeing Isabelle. She could tell that Isabelle was here to hunt. Her outfit was made to allow her move smoothly into the forest, so it wouldn’t get caught while they hunt.

Arabella stepped back, her shoulder brushing against Donna’s. The sight of Isabelle in full hunting attire made something sink deep in her chest. There had always been something unreadable about the princess, a softness wrapped in serenity and glamour, but with a gaze that sometimes looked through you rather than at you.

Now that softness was gone.

The weapon Isabelle held gleamed like jewelry, a gun unlike any Arabella had seen, small, elegant, almost delicate, but unmistakably lethal. It was clear she hadn’t come here as a mere observer or royal emissary. She was a hunter.

Donna whispered, barely a breath, "Is that... a princess?"

Arabella gave the faintest nod.

Isabelle walked slowly, not bothering to hide the noise of her steps. It wasn’t arrogance, it was certainty. She knew she was the predator here. Every step felt like a countdown.

Then her voice, cold and honeyed, broke the silence.

"This is bad," whispered Isabelle without looking back to her loyal retainer, Erthand, "I can’t find Arabella at all. What if someone else had caught her?"

Erthand, being as cold a usual let out a brief hum, "I don’t think she has been caught at all, Your Highness. If she has been caught, the forest wouldn’t be so quiet. As you know, a part of her limbs worth a thousand of point, doing it alone will take time so they must be moving in a group to hunt her."

Isabelle frowned, "The Queen, she has gone far too much."

Erthand could see the coldness laid beneath Princess Isabelle’s words, recognizing that the princess was about to plan for a way to murder the queen now that she had decided to get in between her ways.

"Either way," sighed Princess Isabelle, "Once we found Arabella, you should also place all your protection to her."

"My apologies but the King warned me to only protect you," said Erthand firmly and Isabelle smiled, as if expecting this yet unbothered by it.

"Then I’ll die if she dies," and with that final words, Erthand could do nothing but pursed his lips and gritted his teeth out of anger.

Arabella who had listened to Isabelle’s words had her eyes gleaming with hope. It appeared that even though Isabelle had seen what had happened and heard from her, she was still here to protect her.

This was the kind of friendship that Arabella never thought she would have but felt moved to the moons.

She slowly walked forward but Donna stopped her, "No. What if she had said those words out loud because she wants you to hear it and come out of a hiding to serve as her lamb to slaughter?"

Arabella smiled softly, "Trust me, last night she even came to help me. I think Princess Isabelle is sincere."

"Sincere- hey!" Donna saw as Arabella sneaked out from the stone and called out to Princess Isabelle as she was about to ride the horse.

"Isabelle," she called.

Hearing her name, the princess froze. Then, slowly, she turned.

Her face, usually so composed, lit up with unmistakable joy. A bloom of warmth cracked through the cold mask she had worn moments ago. Her eyes softened, her posture slackened, as if a tension long held had finally loosened.

"Arabella," she breathed. "You’re safe. I was searching for you. Now you don’t have to be scared, I promise I will protect you from everything else."

Arabella had no word to offer to the princess, and she could only touch the princess’s hands, giving it a tight squeeze. She didn’t know that it would reassure her so much to find someone on her side and how relieved it was for Isabelle to come here to find her, not to hunt.

But that relief lasted only seconds.

A whistle cut through the air.

Then came the rustle of leaves, the thunder of boots, and the spine prickling laughter that only one kind of being could produce, vampires.

From the northern ridge of the forest, two figures emerged, pale skinned, with crimson eyes gleaming under the shade. Behind them, more shadows fanned out in all directions, creating a loose half circle around the clearing. They weren’t attacking. Not yet.

They were circling around them, laughing at each other.

Arabella’s instincts screamed, and Donna, who had followed only a few steps behind, stiffened with dread. Even Iliza, still hidden behind the rocks, shrank further into the shadows, too stunned to speak.

"Well, well," one of the vampires purred, stepping forward. A tall man with sharp features and long black hair tied back like a nobleman from a forgotten century. His clothes were neat, dark velvet trimmed with silver. But his hands were stained red.

"She answers your call like a loyal little mutt," he grinned at Isabelle, then glanced at Arabella. "Adorable. Touching, really. But the fun ends here. Princess, hand her over, won’t you?"