Belle didn"t fall asleep, and instead, she was wide awake. It was hard to sleep after what happened today. She knew she had to get some rest after the chaos they had to go through in this mansion. She breathed in and out through her lips which was parted. When a small drop of tear escaped her eye, Lucas wiped it away from the side of her face. "You did what you had to do," she heard him say it, and Belle turned her eyes to meet his eyes.
"I didn"t see anything wrong with him. He appeared to be just like any other mortal," she whispered.
"Some of the spirits allows the souls to hide who they are unless they want to reveal themselves," he replied to her. His fingers were gently playing with the front of her hair that was short compared to the rest of the length of her hair, "Did George say when he died?"
"Summer."
Belle didn"t have to explain to Lucas about everything. There were things he already knew, or he had figured it out. After he had finished bandaging her, she drank the blood that was brought up by the maid for her.
"He said he was working on a case and he was on his way to the magistrate"s office, but I don"t think he knows who killed him," said Belle, her mind drifting to those sane moments she had with her friend before he was intent in killing her, "I wonder why his parents never told us anything. They never wrote about it. Not to me, not to Simon. Do you think…"
"That his parents are dead too?" confirmed Lucas and she gave him a small nod, "If the a.s.signment he was working on was a high-profile one, then it is possible that his parents were killed to silence the matter. We didn"t send letters to people when your parents died. Maybe George"s relatives didn"t feel the need to send it to everyone," he said bringing out the probability of what might have happened.
Belle felt despair fill her heart. A shuddering sigh leaving her lips. She didn"t know what she was sad about. If it was for the fact that he had wanted to kill her, or if he had been in the land of the dead, wandering like other souls without any direction that was left to tarnish and taint like an iron that was catching rust.
"I feel like I am a bad friend," Belle confessed, "For not writing him enough letters. I should have done that."
"You didn"t know that this would happen. It isn"t your fault that he is dead, Belle," Lucas continued to play with her hair, and he then leaned forward to kiss her forehead again, this time the kiss lingering on her forehead longer before he pulled back, "We want to save everyone we love, keep them safe but you cannot shoulder everyone"s loss."
"Did you know that he loved me?" she asked to hear him hum for an answer. It seemed that she was oblivious, "He wanted me to be with him in the land of the dead. It makes me wonder how lonely he was. I sometimes think about the other girl who is me yet not me in the land of the dead. The pain she must have gone through, the isolation and pain."
"As I said, it is not your fault. Do you think sympathising and empathising with the wandering souls will do you any good?" asked Lucas, "Nothing good ever comes of it. You will be doing nothing but losing yourself in the process. The souls are already corrupted in the land of the dead and will bring you doing along with them."
Belle moved closer to Lucas, her head settling close to Lucas" lap who had been sitting with his back against the headboard of the bed.
"Where is Greed?" she asked him as he didn"t have a marking to bound himself in one place in this mansion. Without a spell to withhold him here, he was free to go any time he wanted, and she didn"t know how many more people would come visiting. Maybe it was time to move. New land, new house, new people, a new life but would it help her in getting away from the fate she was walking on?
"He"s in the room. Barron is with him, to keep an eye," Lucas answered her, and after some time he asked, "What made you release him from the spell?"
Belle pursed her lips.
"George tried to kill me and at the same time Greed offered to help," replied Belle, she moved her hand that was injured to be placed on her stomach which was now wrapped with bandages, "I thought...I was going to die on either side, so why not pick the person who spoke about helping me. I wasn"t sure if he would."
Lucas gave her a nod, "I wouldn"t have been sure about it too," not when Greed had killed Belle previously and then him.
"I should have put him back in the circle."
"That"s alright. If he has helped you, I am sure he has something to offer while wanting something in return," said Lucas, "Let"s get you lots of rest. Don"t worry about anything. Let me handle the next."
"What about the ghoul and Vivian?" she asked him, they were yet to get the test soul to see if it could live without letting the soul getting damaged.
"There"s still time for it."
Lucas stayed with Belle until she fell asleep, pulling the blanket to tuck her in carefully. The action reminded him of the time when little Belle had for the very first time asked him to tuck her in and have him tell her a bedtime story. Things had subtly changed in the last eleven years since he had met her. The story of Romeow and Julisqueak had come a long way.
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