CHAPTER 23: The Insufferable Lad

Aella's heart pounded wildly in her chest as she stuck her head out from the pillar to check if anyone was heading this way. 

A frown came onto her face as she tried her best to peer through the darkness but she saw nothing.

That was weird. She had thought she saw someone or heard something.

What she wasn't expecting was for it to come from behind.

"You do know I can see you, right?" the familiar cold voice of Bane came through the silence.

"Argh!!" Aella yelped as she turned around with widened eyes.

Her hands were on her mouth as she saw the golden orbs blazing like a candle in the darkness. Her wide eyes blinked frantically.

She could barely make out the tall silhouette which was looking down at her with his arms behind his back.

She couldn't guess but he definitely didn't look happy from what she saw. Which captor would be joyful that their captive tried to escape? 

Was he going to report this to his master? Was she finally going to be devoured by the big and ugly demon?

Was she going to die like this?!!

Aella knew she had to do something. Anything to prolong her lifeline.

Aella clamped her eyes shut and did the first thing that entered her head. Her arms were hovering in front of her as she waddled her body to and fro.

"Oh, what a beautiful horse," she mumbled complete gibberish and began to move forward.

"Nice horsey. Yay! Giddy up, horsey, yayy!" she murmured with closed eyes, about to turn around to leave when she was dragged back by her shirt.

"Do I look like a fledgeling you can trick with your poor skills of acting as a sleepwalking patient?" His sharp words cut through her ears.

Aella pretended not to hear what he said and continued her act. If she doesn't react, he will eventually believe her.

"Yayy!! Horsey, yay!" She galloped a little and opened a thin line in her eyes to see him staring down at her with a bored expression.

He wasn't buying it. Not even a cent.

"You really are a hopeless case," 

Aella craned her eyes open when she heard his statement.

"P-Pardon? What exactly do you mean by that?" She flared up, forgetting that she had just been deluding him that she was sleepwalking.

"I thought you were in deep sleep? How did you hear that?" He tilted his head to the side and she felt like she was being mocked.

"I-I have a really strong sense of hearing," she gritted out.

"And I do not doubt that. Just as you have a very strong sense of instinct that you didn't realise my eyes have been on you since you stepped out of the room," Bane muttered coolly.

Aella's mouth flew open with his words. She was so stunned that she forgot how to think for a while.

"Y-You bluff!!" She accused.

There was no way he had been watching her all the while she had been running around in circles, trying to find the staircase for her escape.

She hadn't seen a single soul here, not even a tiny sound was heard apart from her footsteps.

Where had he been hiding?!

"And you're slow in thinking. Anyone would have known there was no way out of here from the first or second turn but you didn't realise so until the eighth turn," Bane narrated and her cheeks heated up.

If there was enough light, he would have been able to see her rosy cheeks blushing in shame.

"And you just have to call me out like that?! Have you no manners at all, young lad?!" Aella hissed, feeling irritable from his constant sightedness.

"Manners? No, I eradicated that a long time ago, and I doubt it remains. I wouldn't even ask you to lend me some, you barely have enough for yourself," he said such a travesty with a completely straight face.

Aella felt the meter in her head rising as her eyes bulged out with rage.

He just called her a hopeless being, a slow-witted person and a mannerless brute in less than five minutes!

What was he?! 

"H-How dare you?!" She belted out, her hands seconds away from latching on his neck and strangling the life out of him.

"I dare to because it's my opinion, you disagree? I do not care," he shrugged as though he had not a single sin on his body.

An ignoramus creature! 

"Well, since you think you're the epitome of perfection, I'm sorry to break it to you that you were wrong. I never tried to escape, I was merely looking for…" Aella's head went short of lies.

Think!! 

"For…?" He pressed.

She had an inkling he was amused by her tactics and it irritated her the more.

"For...another lavatory!" She blurted out and held her chin high.

She didn't know how she was going to manoeuvre her way around this lie but she was going to do anything to wipe off the smug tone from his voice.

"A lavatory? And what happened to the one in the room?" He raised an eyebrow.

Her eyes had adjusted to the bleakness and she could see a lot better now.

"My derriere doesn't agree with that one so I was looking for a more comfortable seat," Aella clamped her lips shut as soon as she realised what she had just said.

Derriere?! Had she really just uttered such despicable words in front of an unknown male?! Where had gone her modesty?!

This was petrifying!!

"Your derriere?" Bane leaned forward now, putting a tiny gap between their faces.

She knew he knew her words had embarrassed her and it made her even more irked that he was having fun with her slip of tongue.

"I wonder what type of seat your behind needs until it would feel comfortable," he snorted and Aella clenched her fists in anger.

Insufferable nincompoop!!

"You need not know that," she gritted out.

"Is that so? Well, if you insist, but I doubt you would be able to find another privy close by so make fit with what you get, lady," he let out.

Aella realised that this was the first time he was referring to her directly with a term but she didn't appreciate it at all.

She had a name by which she must be called by.

He had told her his name so it was only right she did so to him, even though, he was as irritating as a pimple.

"Aella, my name is Aella," she said.

He blinked at her for a while before he straightened up with a rather thoughtful look on his face.

She furrowed her eyebrows, not knowing what was wrong with him now.

Was he going to tell her her name was as ugly as her face? Because she wouldn't be surprised if he were to say that.

"Be it well, you should head back to the room. It's nightfall already," he muttered, not looking at her anymore.

"You do not order me, " she said the exact words he had told her in the room earlier as she took a few steps back.

"It wasn't an order," he clicked his tongue.

"I will go on my own accord," she lifted her chin and took one more step.

But this time, she didn't step on the cold tiles, rather, it was the soft fabric on the floor and it threw her off balance.

Aella waved her arms in the air as her entire weight was falling backwards only for her to be paused in mid-air.