To His Hell and Back-Chapter 194: Karma Called Cassius-I

Mrs Bampen’s face twisted in horror and Arabella who saw the apples rotten was also shocked at the scene.

No matter how boorish and lazy Mrs Bampen is, she wasn’t someone who would foolishly sell apples that were so obviously rotten and bruised. But Cassius’s hands were holding proof of the said rotten apples an not only the ones he had touched turned rotten but the rest on the basket that Mrs Bampen had offered earlier.

"H- How could this be?! There is no way! No Way!" Mrs Bampen pulled a fruit knife to her hand, cutting all her apples in horror as she saw each one of them turn greenish black in spots and even some was half rotten or entirely, as if it was brushed with a layer of poison. "I really just brought this from the farm! It’s just cut this morning... they couldn’t be rotten already- I would have noticed if it is!"

That was true, Arabella doubted Mrs Bampen was so blind not to notice this.

"Then what is it that we are looking at right now?" Cassius raised one apple to his hand, the one that had turned fully black and dangled it for everyone in the entire market to look. The ruckus they had made was loud enough and added with how well dressed Cassius and Arabella was, their entire movement that had been stared by everyone in the market immediately turned into a large show.

The people passing by began to mutter after looking at the rotten apple, their eyes narrowing at Mrs Bampen who had sold such rotten apples and had clumsily tried to salvage her reputation by giving excuses but all those excuse had no proof and instead worsen the trust that the people had on her.

"No! Please, I really didn’t lie..."

"How could we know?" Cassius hummed with his hands crossed in front of him as he tossed the apple back at the basket, "You seem like the type to lie or maybe someone who loves to carry lies into gossips without even confirming the truth?"

At once everyone went quiet including Mrs Bampen who had broke into a sweat had turned even more paler than ever as her habit of gossiping whether the rumors were true or false was something everyone knows.

"That’s true..." muttered someone. "Last time wasn’t it her who had spread rumors about the young daughter of Talin’s house for not being a virgin anymore?"

"I heard that young daughter suffered so much after her fiancee ended the engagement due to the rumors."

"True she almost took her life, how horrible."

"But that’s true... I never knew anything about that girl’s rumor until Mrs Bampen spoke about it."

"True, it isn’t a well known rumor."

"Isn’t it her who started the rumors then?"

Mrs Bampen could hear the people who had almost yelled out their words as they spoke, loud enough for Cassius’s lips to curl upward and his red eyes to be filled with sparks. Arabella who caught this knew this look of him, the look that always appeared on his eyes when he had successfully pulled someone into his trick and made them pay for what they had done.

She turned to the apple and then to his hands, noticing that underneath his fingertips were the black liquid that had swirled around his ring finger like a ring. Then the liquid turned toward her, as if noticing where she was, making a small wave before disappearing altogether as if it was becoming one with Cassius’s body once again.

"You..." Arabella muttered but before she could Mrs Bampen’s voice cut between them.

"That’s not true! I wasn’t the one who started the gossip. The one who had told me about it was Mrs Vuros! Mrs Vuros you’re the one who had told me about that girl!" Mrs Bampen pointed at the frail Mrs Vuros with her hair tied into a low ponytail.

"A- Ah.. I don’t remember. But weren’t you the one who had told everyone?"

"What?! No! How could you-"

Cassius who had seen how quick his little provocation worked turned away with his shoulders shrugged. He then placed one hand on her back, pushing her to walk and when they were far enough, he broke into a keen laughter like a child who had just seen an amusing trick.

"You made it turn rotten," she whispered.

"It worked so well didn’t it?" Cassius spoke with a hum, "I think everyone in this village has a bad habit of selling their own friends or families when they are in peril. The type to perish quickly."

He... wasn’t wrong. No. He was so correct that it almost scared her a little.

She rubbed her head, "How do you know that Mrs Bampen likes to gossip?"

"A gut feeling?" Cassius shrugged but he smiled, "I was betting on her liking to gossip but I can tell that she likes to lie and especially spread lies about someone. Haven’t you been one of her targets before?"

That’s true... Back when she was still young and just started to sell things on her own, Mrs Bampen would spread rumors about her using the worse materials and that would ended up in more people distrusting whatever items she had sold. It was to the point that she had to starve for three days with Ariel.

"But how do you know that?" She frowned, "You speak as if you have been in this village before."

For a moment Cassius didn’t answer and she turned at him, wondering why the silence. But when she met his eyes he was already back to smiling again, "I just have a keen instinct. Especially in differentiating liars. Anyway you should look happier. I just defeated one of your past enemies, didn’t I? How mighty of me."

"Yes, yes," she sighed but turned back to see Mrs Bampen. Cassius had turned into karma, paying for the things Mrs Bampen used to do to her and the others. She didn’t know if it was right for her to feel happy about this but somewhere she does. She also hoped that this would end Mrs Bampen’s bad habit.

Though she muttered, "But how would she and her family survive now?"

"What’s that for you to mull about?" Cassius said with a grin, "Don’t worry, though now people won’t believe what she says anymore, she should be able to survive as long as she sells fresh fruits from now on."

"You mean those fruits weren’t fresh?"

"It wasn’t," Cassius rolled his eyes, "How is it that I, the one living in the castle, knows about this more than you, a village girl?"

"Maybe because I don’t live in a forest."

"Hey look at your right, that’s a forest," Cassius retorted and Arabella broke into a smile, slowly forgetting about the past and the once heavy burden she felt on her shoulder had somehow loosened as well as they grew further away from the market.

Mrs Bampen who was left alone with people demanding for truth then turned stunned as if something clicked into her head.

She snapped her eyes at the path Bella and Cassius had taken, muttering, "Wait... isn’t that person- Arabella?! Her father is right... that girl is a harbinger of misfortune!"