CHAPTER 33: The Exit

"Stay close to me," Bane muttered as they stepped out of the room.

"Oh, don't be so protective. I can handle myself," Aella snickered, barely able to contain her excitement.

"Protective is not the word, more like cautious," he huffed as he walked.

She couldn't believe Bane actually agreed for her to step out. She was finally going to go out of this Castle!

She didn't know how long it has been that she had been trapped in here. Her head had been too foggy to even count the days as they went.

Even if her plan didn't work out in the end, Aella was happy that she would get some fresh air at least.

She bunched her dress in her hands as she skipped down the hallway behind Bane like a little girl.

Bane turned around abruptly and regarded her from head to toe as if he was just realising she was behind him.

"What?" She furrowed her eyebrows.

"I don't see why so much enthusiasm for just going out," he let out with a frown.

"Why not? It certainly hasn't been easy to tolerate a lad like you, anyone would be happy," Aella huffed and her blonde strands blew in the air.

Bane said nothing but glared down at her.

"Lead the way," she gestured and he turned around with a smouldering look.

They walked down the hallway before Bane suddenly stopped by the rail which made Aella halt as well.

She stood next to him to see him closing his eyes as his arms hovered in the air. Aella frowned, not understanding what he was doing.

"W-What are you doing?" She decided to ask.

The lines on his forehead deepened and she realised asking wasn't such a good idea. She didn't want to upset him because he might change his mind anytime.

"How you manage not to keep shut amazes me all the time," he gritted out and she glared at him.

"Insolent Bunker," she rolled her eyes and muttered under her breath.

Suddenly, Aella began to feel a shift in the air which made her look up. It was subtle but she could feel it rising with each passing second.

She turned her head to see a dim light emitting from Bane's palm and hitting the wall in front of them.

Her pacific orbs widened when she saw a long staircase forming as the wall slowly dissipated.

This was plain magic right in front of her eyes and she was stunned to witness the strange occurrence.

She had heard of Mages being able to perform the impossible in the blink of an eye but never once had she seen something like this!

"Heavens! You had hidden it all along!" Aella tentatively looked down at the steps which reached beyond her gaze.

"Some measures are required with dishonest individuals," Bane muttered before he moved down the stairs.

Aella's mouth was left hanging open at his statement. She stood like a bewildered duck and before she recovered from the shock, he was already out of sight.

"Hey! How dare you say that?! Hey!" 

She bounded down the stairs to catch up with him but her feet got up in her dress which made her tumble down the stairway.

"Ahhh!" Aella raised her hand to shield her face, bracing herself for the impact.

Instead of feeling pain from bruising herself, she landed on a flat surface and she hit her behind gently.

She glanced up at Bane, who was at the end of the steps, with a sheepish look.

"Did your feet grow soft from being devoid of steps or were you just displaying your clumsiness once more?" He raised a bored eyebrow as her cheeks flushed red.

Aella picked herself up as the platform she landed on disappeared underneath her weight.

She brushed her hair away from her face as she cleared her throat awkwardly.

"N-None," she muttered and glided down cautiously.

She had no idea why she never failed to embarrass herself in front of the disparaging male!

The amount of humiliation she had suffered in this Castle was triple of what she had gone through her entire life.

As she got to the end of the staircase, Aella stopped for a while to look around the interior of the hall.

She was captivated by the antique but extremely beautiful designs of the Castle's main hall.

It looked to be about hundreds of years old but it still stood firmly. There were a few pieces of furniture in the corridor like a table with an empty vase, a cushion by the wall and candle holders which were dimmed.

The place was much larger than her home in Northern Grenol and she was amazed by the architecture.

She heard Bane walking down the path to the entrance which made her move after him quickly.

She got to the marbled double doors and glanced up at the majestic diagrams which were carved out on the surface, making it look almost unrealistic.

"I hope your Master wouldn't be upset about this," Aella let out with bated breath.

"He won't because I have none," Bane spat and she rolled her eyes as always.

"Come on. Open it up," she urged, unable to wait to see what was beyond the large doors.

Bane stepped forward and twisted the knobs of both doors before he pushed them back with a slight nudge.

"Thought you were going to do the weird hovering thing again," she snorted which made him scowl.

A gush of wind slipped in as the doors peered open to reveal a cemented path which led one to the courtyard of the Castle.

Aella had a huge smile on her face as the clear sky came into view. The weather wasn't too warm but Aella didn't mind at all.

She only wanted to venture out of this Castle.

Just as she was about to take a step out, the doors started to close in again.

"You have embraced the air and seen it all. That is enough," Bane muttered from behind her.

"No!!" Aella made a leap for it.