CHAPTER 469: WHERE YOU ARE-II

Cassius couldn’t tell what expression Arabella wore now while looking at him. Once, her gaze had been full of warmth, the kind of love that could quiet storms and soften even his most monstrous moods. But now? Now, he wasn’t sure if he could bear to see those same green eyes stripped of that affection, gazing at him as though he were a stranger trespassing in her life.

He didn’t think he was ready for that yet.

Even if she did look at him, he knew those lost memories wouldn’t suddenly return. The thought made something deep inside him twist painfully.

For now, all he could do was bring them back, those memories, those fragments of her heart that belonged to him. Only then could he have her back, the Arabella he knew.

"You have acquired the forbidden book," Cassius said quietly.

Arabella nodded, her expression thoughtful beneath the shadows cast by the dim candlelight. She didn’t push him further, didn’t demand explanations or reasons. Somehow, she felt that she shouldn’t. That kind of instinctive consideration, the kind one gives to someone they trust without question, stirred faintly inside her chest. It was strange... and yet familiar.

That alone was enough for her to know that this man, this stranger cloaked in darkness, wasn’t truly a stranger to her at all.

No matter how many spells Morpheus wove, no matter how he tried to reshape her heart to his liking, it hadn’t fully worked. And the realization brought her more relief than she could have ever imagined.

She could feel the warmth of the man’s hands through the thin veil of her sleeves — a warmth that seemed to reach deeper than skin. A comfort that her soul recognized even if her mind did not.

So she didn’t flinch when he reached out and gently covered her eyes. Even though she stood there in a defenseless position, one that would have made it easy for him to end her life if he wished, Arabella didn’t move away. Some quiet, unspoken certainty told her she didn’t need to.

"The forbidden book didn’t say much about undoing the said magic," she murmured.

Cassius nodded. His expression was calm, but beneath that composure, a current of frustration lingered.

"Forbidden magic is straightforward," he said. "Once it has received its payment, it rarely allows itself to return to its original course."

"You mean because forbidden magic takes a sacrifice in exchange, it can’t be broken like other spells or curses?" Arabella asked, her tone thoughtful as she rolled her eyes beneath his palm.

"So that leaves only one option." and her eyes though covered he knew had looked at him with curiosity.

Cassius inclined his head. "To alter your memories on your own."

Her brows knitted. "But how?" she pressed, her voice small yet steady. "I can’t remember the said memories, so how can I alter them for them to return?"

"You can simply untie the knots that Morpheus made," Cassius said softly. His voice carried the weight of old pain, each word deliberate. "First, undo the memories where you loved him."

Arabella frowned. "I have never loved him?"

"Don’t say that even as a joke," Cassius whispered sharply, though his tone remained gentle, almost pleading. The idea alone, that she could speak of loving Morpheus, made something cold and furious stir inside him. It was horror, not jealousy, horror at the thought of her heart being twisted by someone who didn’t deserve it.

"Then you tell me," Arabella said suddenly, her fingers curling tightly around his wrist. Her voice trembled slightly, but not from fear. "Tell me what I have forgotten. Help me remember. Perhaps then I could also recall who you are."

Cassius’s lashes quivered. He stared at her face, that face that once looked at him with defiance and affection all at once, and his chest felt unbearably tight. He knew exactly the kind of smile that would return to her once her memories resurfaced. The thought nearly broke him. All he had to do was remain strong long enough to make it happen.

"Who was Morpheus to me?" she asked then, her voice quieter, her brows furrowing as though reaching for something hidden just out of her mind’s reach. "I don’t remember clearly who he was, and yet my heart... it thumps when I’m close to him. It’s a strange emotion, a sort of comfort when I see his face, but I don’t feel the pull toward him that I think should be love. More than love..." she hesitated, searching for the right word, "I feel a certain aversion."

Her voice trailed off into the hush of the room.

Cassius watched her, the way her lips trembled slightly as though she feared what truth might lie beneath her confusion. His heart clenched. It wasn’t just memory she was fighting against; it was the invisible hand of a god who had rewritten her heart to belong elsewhere.

And yet even so, even now, the bond between them was fighting back.

"You are right. He was our enemy," Cassius explained to her. "He isn’t who he looks and half of him is a demon. Perhaps due to that it’s easy for him to alter memories and to keep using forbidden magics as he wished. You know that the closer someone touch forbidden magic, the more they had to sacrifice a part of themselves but Morpheus never have to pay such large debt of magic due to the fact that half of him is a demon."

"So we are against a creature of hell," she gasped, her words failing to sound loud and instead turn into a hushed hushed whisper.

Frowning Arabella wondered, "But he seems to hide it well."

"He can’t for long," Cassius replied, "Remember this, Arabella. Despite having been able to bring you back to the castle, don’t you wonder why Morpheus hadn’t lift the curse that captive all the sorcerers inside this castle?"

Arabella had asked this and answered, "He said it wasn’t enough yet."

"Enough of your magical power?" Cassius’s sarcasm dripped as he answered, "Or was he scared that once these walls have been lifted the forbidden magic he had been abusing finally return to him triple the force? Maybe he is scared that finally when the castle is lifted and the curse that had halted the time inside this castle would render him completely into a demon."