Holding her head, Belle felt confused. When Leon had asked her the question, the answer spilled from her lips without her own realization but she soon realized the oddness. Although it appears as if somewhere in the back of her mind she knew something very eventful happened in her childhood, she couldn’t remember well what it was.
Going back to her childhood memories slowly felt as though she had drowned in a sea. Walls of water covering her head, making her unable to see back in her pasts.
“Something is strange,” Belle whispered. Leon saw her eyes moving back and forward. She wasn’t lying. He could tell that as she looked confused, like a child pushed to the abyss by someone she trusted the most.
“Slow down,” he said to her, his eyebrows furrowed when he saw Belle starting to wince. “What happened?”
Hearing this, Belle was surprised. It was strange to Leon how much she didn’t remember her childhood even though it was her own past. “You were ill, I heard,” Leon said to which Belle nodded her head at. “I fell sick to a plague that was going around at the time when we first moved here. I spend the rest of my days in bed but that was it, nothing special was going on,” Belle answered, trying to remember if she had anything missing and she felt there was a chunk of her past that was missing. “During that childhood, do you remember each year’s occasions?” Leon asked and when she winced he took hold of her hands, “Forcing will only put more pain on you.” “But if I can’t remember, how will I get the answer?” She asked, a little impatient as she grew to feel unsettled to the fact there was memory missing from her head.
Belle stared at the window, waving her hand to Yulene who excitedly hopped to the carriage after bidding a warm goodbye consisting of tight hugs.Her dearest friend looked clueless of how she had dazed on their conversation, rethinking of what had occurred today.She questioned herself, questioning why her memory have gone. If her family knew of this, why do they hide it?No, there would only be one answer, told Belle to herself. Her family had always there to protect her. The only reason they had not tell her of the missing memories must be related to it.But since Leon had asked her about it, she wondered if her past was related to Rachel. Else, he wouldn’t ask about her missing memories, would he?Three crispy kn
Belle covered her body with a thicker clothes as Leon had told her but she was in a hurry she had walked out with a coat. Brushed by the wind she didn’t shiver but it was indeed much colder than she had expected.“Not warm enough,” Leon commented, draping the coat over her. As he walked toward the edge, he jumped nimbly at the thin railing of the balcony and smiled. “I prepared you something good tonight.”Belle was confused at his smile and was nervous seeing how he had stood at the edge of the railing which can barely fit his black shoes. It was as if one more push and he would fall. The sight made her more anxious when Leon pushed his feet, jumping backward.In instance, Belle reached out her hand, gasping in fear as the demon prince had fallen
She couldn’t see it clearly but the short black hair and the thin figure told Belle instantly who it was. They had been together since the longest Belle could remember. But now, Orpha had submerged her hands inside a man’s stomach, pulling out the bright organs and ate it as though it was her most delicious food. Belle felt her stomach churning. The sight caused her head to panic and her sight to flickered between black and white. She realized her knees had fallen weak when she collapsed to Leon’s chest.Slowly staring at his face, she found his smile that caused her to shiver. His gentle action for the past few days had made her almost forget that he was a demon.Belle gulped, feeling her blood running cold as tears pushed itself from the rim of her eyes, “Orpha… no way. She is a human. She has always been a human.” Leon watched how weakly she appeared and the thought of controlling her somewhere grew in his mind which was dangerous. He pulled her chin slightly as she was unable t
Belle watched as the creature was beat up one-sidedly by Leon. It was such a grotesque sight and the violence never felt right for her but she watched through it all, steeling her heart and turn herself cold as she knew the non-violent path wasn’t available for her journey.The creature still didn’t speak until Leon stopped and cracked his finger, “You are very resilient, aren’t you.”The creature smiled despite its injury, his hoarse voice spoke, “I rather die…”“Rather die? Surely you’re joking. I never planned for you to go to Hell. That would simply be a fast ticket to heaven for you.” Belle watched as Leon cracked his finger. His entire air screamed out of a magnetic danger.“I know a way of a better torture for you. I know of my pets,” Leon uttered his words for a quick change of look on the creature’s face. “My pets are very obedient you see but they are also very painful for living beings like you. I’m sure the witches must have convinced you to help them in exchange for some
The revelation caused Belle to turn still. She stared hard at the creature’s bloodied face, remembering what the fortune teller had told her when he warned her of a demon’s marriage. But before she could say anything, the creature suddenly shriek. Leon raised both his hands upward, showing that he wasn’t doing anything and neither was his pet.Leon took a step closer, pulling the collar of the creature, “Speak, what happen?”“I don’t know! Help! Hell—” the creature couldn’t ask for more help as its body began to ashen in color and harden. It was as though he had been frozen in the winter but the different was he didn’t turn to ice, instead stone.A single touch from Leon’s finger when he released the creature’s body caused it to disintegrate to a pile of ash.“What was that?” Belle whispered, confused and shocked.“A time-ticking magic. Someone must have casted in on him, preventing from spilling anything that he had seen so far,” Leon wiped his hands over each other, dusting away th
The men stared at him, confused and perplexed by a butler who would offer a drink in such situation. There were a body of a dead man settling on the hole that had been dug yet here he was offering tea as though it was nothing.“N-No, thank you,” responded the elder man who had his left cheek covered by a deep scratch wound that reached down to his neck.“Mr. Anderson,” Mr. Carperly spoke as the head of the house. “I know that you wish to interrogate everyone in the mansion and I respect that as it is you job but can you give my daughter a little space? After her elder sister’s death, she has been in distraught.”“Of course I understand that but what is have to be done should be done,” the man named Mr. Anderson responded sternly. “I will, however, allow Miss Belle to take her time for now. Also, I promise I wouldn’t pressure her like what I heard my subordinate had done previously.”Leon stood beside them, keeping his ears sharp at their conversation, watching how nervous Belle’s fath
While Belle walked outside the house, she was stopped by Arnold who seemed to be fidgeting around while leaning his back on the wall. He appeared to be waiting for something but Belle didn’t pay attention and kept on walking until he called up for her name.“Miss Belle! Miss Belle!” Belle hold her hands together, wondering if the man knew she was hiding something.She turned her face offering him a smile, “Mr. Arnold. Is there still questions you want to ask me?”“No, no,” He quickly denied. “If there is one thing I wish to talk with you it is something different.”“Something different?” Belle tilted her head, unaware of the man’s attraction to her which cannot be blamed. Since she had just turned to her blooming age, she was unaware of anything about attraction, only ever reading them from books. But alas, reading books and experience it for herself was different. She couldn’t tell at all how Mr. Arnold had been staring at her features and how he had been smiling more than necessa
As she settled her hand on Gorgolta’s hands, the man instructed, “Imagine the face of the person. You’re doing great.” Belle’s closed eyes moved slowly as she avoided the bad memory and sight of her bloody sister, only focusing on the man’s face that stood behind Damian. She tried to make it clear but alas, his eyes were blackened in her memory. But even though she couldn’t see the man’s eyes, she was certain she had seen every part of the man’s face, starting from his hair down to his neck. Leon looked at the drawing that Gorgolta had sketched instantly. The charcoal shades left dusts over the parchment but the drawing that started from a line slowly formed a face of a person. Meanwhile, back at her home in that afternoon, Damian who woke up felt a sudden itch from his wound that was given by the strange old woman he had seen two days ago. He felt his throat parched and pushed himself from his coach only to feel dizziness hitting his head and his bod losing balance to the poi
Belle followed right behind Leon, finding the two elderly men had quickly jump on their feet and looked behind as if trying to find another way to escape. Leon sighed, bringing the boy in front of him that stopped the two men at once.“Wait! Wait! Don’t harm him!” Shouted the first man whose hair had turned all gray. While the man beside him who looked less older also stopped and raised his hand to show he won’t escape again.“We can talk about this. Release that child,” said the second man.“When did I say I would harm this little one?” Leon scoffed. “Which one of you is Gorgolta?”A faint sigh could be heard from the second man’s mouth as he stepped forward, raising his hand, “That would be me. If you’re business if with me—”“He won’t harm this boy,” Belle cut in. Gathering the two’s attention that looked surprised seeing her face, more startled when he saw her eyes were blue instead of red. She noticed this and offered them a smile to break the tension in the room. “We only wish
“We should go now,” said Leon, offering his hand for her to touch.“I do know his face but I can’t describe it for you well enough,” Belle started, looking at him who was smiling, “Do you have an idea?”“Of course I do,” Leon closed his eyes which she followed before feeling a pull that shake her body that happened in a second. As she opened her eyes again the next second, she found herself in a different space. They were standing in front of a pub where men and women gathered but with most of them ignoring their presence, as though Leon’s presence matter so less to their eyes.“Where are we?” She asked, looking around again at the place they had stood at.“The slum of Hell, where only those who are born from the lowest type of demons come,” he pulled her hand, holding her tight. “In here they would sell anything, even the people they just met in exchange for their livelihood. Don’t stray away from me.”Belle noticed the eyes that watched her after a while. It wasn’t that they hadn’t
Helios frowned, trying to remember Belle’s face but couldn’t as he didn’t put much thought in remembering the person whom he was set to kill. As there would be no use in remembering the person’s face and name when they would die in the next second. “I don’t remember,” brushed Helios aside, thinking that there was no use in remembering the woman's face again. “I thought Leon would become more obedient now, seeing how he had kept quiet for the few decades. But I could see now how he’s slowly rebelling like what he did in the past. He never learned from his mistakes.”Rachel crooked her eyebrows, folding her hand underneath her bust, “So you’re saying that he brought a witch, is that correct? Can it be the soul of the witch whom you asked for him to bring?”Helios scoffed, as if refusing her words, “He should be done with it by now. I asked him and he told me the soul is already in his possession. If that’s true, the witch must’ve been long dead by now. If everything went to the plan th
Belle stayed beside Leon until morning, carefully watching his wound and making sure he was at the most comfort. She found out that truly there was no medicine from the side effect he suffered due to breaking the contract.By morning, the blackness that appeared on his arm had disappeared which took around eight to ten hours.“It’s better now, you don’t have to look at it that way,” Leon chuckled seeing how her blue eyes carefully studying his arm.“Is this really the only side effect?” Belle asked him only to see him smile.“My brother could have killed me but I guess he thought it would be a shame since I haven’t finished what he told me to do,” Leon moved his finger, frowning a little that made her worried.Deep down she had the urge to question what Helios had ordered him to do but couldn’t knowing how it would only trigger the same wound to appear again on him. She didn’t want him to suffer from the pain or to have being at unease as he didn’t want to lie to her.“Don’t worry ho
Leon looked at her face, noticing the pain that hurt his heart. He quickly shook his head, holding both her hand gently as a way to reassure her.“No. I do not have a lover,” he responded firmly. “In the past there was indeed someone who I fall in love for. But it was only an attraction.”“But the masked man told me,” she whispered. “It’s a doll,” Leon answered to her. “They don’t know feelings or emotions but perhaps to their mind they associate friendship as lover.”Belle trusted him and nodded but she wondered how the doll didn’t have feelings or emotions as she saw it by her eyes how the doll would risk itself to protect her.“And who is that person?” She carefully questioned, “The one who you fell for.”Feeling Leon’s red eyes studying her, she quickly waved her hand, “It’s not what you’re thinking. I know that it’s been a long time and I’m not asking because I want to put you to the corner. I was just curious.”“I know,” Leon chuckled. He rested his head on the head rest which
Belle was shocked seeing how Helios pulled out his sword, ready to cut down the servant who had used his life as a shield to protect her. Not wanting him to get attacked, she closed her eyes, wrecking her mind to remember the magic spells she had seen from the books she read. She then remembered one magic and squeezed out a whisper that was difficult for her to say, “A Le’el.”Helios was unprepared for the bright light that suddenly appeared from the woman whom he thought was a human. He didn’t have enough time to close his eyes and grunt as he suffered from a bright light that stab his red eyes sharply. Although he couldn’t see, Helios turn angered. The woman whose face he didn’t see well had harmed him. “You’re a witch,” he said, and Belle could hear bell tolling in the back of her mind. She could feel more rage radiating off his words after finding out she’s a witch.Just before Helios would attack Belle, Leon appeared in front of him. His hand quickly placed itself on his elde
The stuffiness that she felt made her tongue tied. Belle fiddled with her hands while the masked man’s gestures turn flustered as he couldn’t comfort nor take back the words he had wrote. He knew the only reason why Leon had brought Belle here was because they had fallen in love for each other. To Leon his castle was similar to his heart. Only a few people could be let to enter his castle and not even his brothers were let invited.And that explain everything of Belle’s presence in the castle.Worried, the masked man wrote quickly, “But lady, that is what happened in the past. By past I mean, hundred of years ago. Lord Leon now looks back at it as simply a past memory.”Maybe, thought Belle silently. But it could be true that Leon’s love stays for centuries that he couldn’t forget his past lover. Belle quickly shook her head, reminding herself that this was only her thoughts and nothing has been confirmed. She needed to talk with Leon and made sure the fact before falling into the r
Looking inside the room it was indeed snow that had turned the room icy and white. Belle reached out her hand as she was hesitant to step in. Feelings the snowdrops on her fingers which disappeared on her touch, she made certain that it was a real snow.“How could there be snow?” Belle whispered her question aloud, finding the masked man quickly pulling the glass quill and the pile of parchment. This time instead of talking he had drawn an easier figure of a book and a human. On the human’s hand was a magic wand.“Magic?” She questioned. “So… Leon could do things like these as well…”The masked man shook his head and wrote, “Not the lord, but a close friend of his.”Belle stepped into the room that was small in size, as though it was built simply to showcase the snowflakes that drops from the ceiling of the room. There she found the crown that was hidden inside a glass case.“But why the snow?” Belle questioned, seeing the masked man’s parchment paper turn slightly wet as the snowdrop