Hellbound Heart

Once Elle was ready, she had rushed off to find Snow White. He was brought back to his cage in the garden as per Sebastian's instructions. Rion had then told her that it was better for Snow to stay in his cage while she was gone and Elle thought so too.

Hugging her fluffy white big bundle of joy, Elle murmured to him, "We'll be gone for maybe a couple of days. So you need to be a good boy, okay? I promise I'll bring some yummy treats for you once I return."

She continued hugging the quiet and well-behaved big wolf. It was really hard for her to let go of him. Snow had already grown so close to her heart that it was already hard for her to just leave him behind. She really wished that they could bring Snow with them, but she knew that was impossible. She knew that Sebastian still did not like Snow.

"Izabelle." Sebastian's voice echoed from behind her.

Turning around, she saw him leaning against the wall. She had not, however, noticed the sour expression that he wore because he quickly turned around, started walking away as he said, "The car's leaving."

Elle hugged Snow once again for the last time and then kissed the dog's head before quickly rushing away, only to see Sebastian looking over his shoulder, glaring at Snow as if the wolf was his mortal enemy. But when she reached him and his gaze fell on her, his expression was immediately back to normal.

They walked side by side silently, with her just a step behind him, until Elle heard the voices of a group of people ahead of them. She reached out and caught Sebastian's hand in a slight alarm. She had heard that there were guests coming to visit the castle today.

He glanced at her but Elle's eyes were still focused on the approaching guests ahead of them. Some of them were important people and high ranking officials of the country.

Gripping her hand tighter, Sebastian led her along as they walked on ahead hand in hand. The guests greeted them and Elle returned their greetings with a gentle and friendly smile. With just a few exchanges of words, everyone was beaming as if they were truly delighted at just exchanging greetings with Izabelle.

Sebastian's gaze was fixed on Elle. He could not believe how easily she had changed the atmosphere of the group of people into something incredibly pleasant. If it were just him, these guests would have just bowed their heads and let him pass. None of them would be moving or talking until he was gone from their sights.

And the most amazing thing was the fact that Izabelle was able to smile and talk to them so happily like that. It reminded him about her situation last night, and he was… appalled. With the way she was carrying herself right now, no one would have ever guessed that she was a crying, trembling mess just several hours ago.

She tugged discreetly at his hand and looked up at him, still smiling.

Realizing that the guest had already moved to the side to let them pass, Sebastian nodded at her, and then he also nodded at the guests before they both walked away.

"Y-you're driving…?" Elle asked in shock when Sebastian opened the door of the passenger seat for her. He had told her that the trip was long so she thought that they would be having someone else drive them there. From what she had known, Sebastian had a designated driver to bring him everywhere.

"Yes. Is there a problem?" he responded before asking her, and she shook her head almost frantically before she quickly climbed into the car. She immediately pulled on the seatbelt, and snapped it locked.

Sebastian stared at her before shutting the door wordlessly.

A few moments later, their car was accelerating out of the vicinity of Castle Reigns.

Elle kept glancing back to the castle from the side view mirror, waiting to see if another car would be trailing after them. She was expecting at least a couple or more bodyguards to follow along with them on this trip. Sebastian had said that their trip would take about five hours. That was a pretty long ride to be getting somewhere just to tell her some secrets. It had better be worth the trouble. And with him, this country's crown prince, no matter what, there should be at least a couple bodyguards following them.

But there was none. Not even one.

"It's really just… the two of us taking this trip?" Elle broke the silence. She was curious and a little bit troubled. This was truly dangerous in her opinion, especially when she already knew that someone hated him.

"Yes. Relax, Izabelle… no one will ambush us if that's what you're worried about. Viscarria is different from any other countries in the world." The absolute confidence in his voice had settled her nerves and she relaxed in her seat. "You can go to sleep and take this opportunity to get some rest."

"But I just woke up."

"Then just relax. Music?" he asked, causing Elle to look at him. His gaze was fixed on the road. She was not expecting that. Somehow, she did not know why but she had never imagined Sebastian to be the kind to listen to music while driving. It was just too much like a normal… person. Well, it was also his fault for looking like some superior creature who was not fond of the mundane and boring things normal people enjoyed.

"Of course!" Elle exclaimed. She loved listening to music while traveling, especially if it was on a road trip.

"Go on. Choose whatever music you like."

Elle blinked at him. "Are you sure?"

His brows knitted slightly at her question. "Of course."

As soon as she heard those words, Elle went ahead and turned on the radio. A moment later, the song 'Passenger Seat' started playing.