Belle closed her doors, slipping underneath her comfortable duvet and closed her eyes. She was filled with anxiety pricking her skin but talking to Leon and faced with his odd quirks helped her to ease her nerves.
Her eyes were closed slowly as sleepiness beckoned her to the darkness she yearned for. She didn’t know how long she had been asleep as it felt as though she had just closed her eyes when she heard whispers seeping into her dream.
Her eyes that felt heavy opened itself faintly. Belle pushed herself from the bed and looked to her left and right, wondering what she heard as she was certain she had been alone in the room.
“Leon?” Belle asked, knowing the demon who had always kept an eye on her. If there was someone who would sneak inside her room, it would be him. But the eerie silence creeped her ou
Sitting down on the chairs, Belle kept a close eye as Leon swiped the cards to the table, placing five cards on across her and to himself. Before his long confident fingers could take the cards, Belle placed her finger on top of his cards, “I will take this one.”Leon arched his brows, looking the least offended, “So cautious, are we? I don’t cheat.”“Give me a reason why I should trust you when there are something we will wager,” Belle responded. When Leon released his cards, she gathered the cards to her hand, carefully watching her own cards before looking at him.“Touche,” Leon whispered, chuckling, “Did you find a diamond on my cards? I guess everyone envy me so much.”Unexpectedly, the cards were normal… thought Belle to herself. She carefully held her cards, reading the fir
Leon’s red gaze was unwavering. He smiled as though mocking her futile trick that didn’t win against him, “No.”“You’re saying the truth?” Belle asked.“I would be rolling on the ground in pain in case I wasn’t. You are so small yet have so much doubt,” Leon flicked the next card, placing his own card before lifting back his gaze to her. “Go on,” he offered.Belle bite the insides of her cheeks, frustrated but also relieved. Although she was vexed that her guess was wrong, she was relieved that she could trust Leon now with his response.She noticed it was the King of Spade, knowing no run for it, Belle pressed one of her last cards, “I lost,” her eyes raised to meet his gaze. “Why do I feel that whether I lost or win, everything will go on your way?”
When Leon had came back, he noticed Belle’s silence. Likewise, she knew he knew what ran through her mind. She didn’t question if he had the ability to read people and their mind, but somewhere, she knew whatever she was hiding, Leon was there to read through her like an open book.As she left to call their coachman, Leon stared daggers at Agares who had been feeling his gaze. Finally relenting, he shifted his gaze and saw the demon prince, “I didn’t say anything I wasn’t supposed to if that is what you want me to say.”“Keep your mouth shut,” Leon warned. “It’s for yourself. Keeping her in the dark is better.”“But unfair.”“Have you gotten attached to her in a mere three minutes, Agares?” Leon arched his eyebrows, “I never knew you were this compassionate.
Belle entered the room, feeling herself enveloped in a magical air. Her eyes curiously looked at the shadowy figure hidden behind the curtain. She wondered how the fortune teller looked like. Everyone had covered their faces in Varitas, making her wonder if there was a deep reason for them to hide their identity.“Don’t just stand there, well, do I frightened you enough to turn you into stones?” Ripple-like voice entered her ears. The gentleness the voice possess was heartwarming, easily putting her at ease, but also there was a deep charm that could seduce those who listen to the voice to beguiled by the identity of the speaker.“Oh, truthfully I am not here to have my fortune read,” Belle whispered. She quickly hurried to take the seat before the fortune teller, hoping they wouldn’t kick her out for not having her fortune read. The two women at the front seemed very keen on having their rules followed. A
Belle pulled herself together. Whether it was the vanilla scent coming from Leon or was it his entire arms that provided her with warmth and assurance of his strength to protect her, her panic wasn’t as severe as before. Somewhere deep in her mind, she recognize him as her only pillar of strength that would support her.“Breathe in and out, can you see me?” Leon questioned. His inquiries neat as though he knew what to do to help her.Belle nodded her head, “Leon.”He smiled as though to affirm her guess. After helping her to the seat, Leon pulled the chair beside her and stared at the fortune teller hidden on the other side of the curtain. “What did you do?” The four question brought chill to the man.He gulped and the bobbing sound could be heard well even by Be
After processing the informations, Belle went silence. She couldn’t believe it. Rachel marrying a demon? But the vision came after her death which is impossible, unless… “Can a human come back to life?” She whispered her questions aloud, receiving a look from the fortune teller she couldn’t describe as they were covered with a veil.“Of course not, right?” She whispered in disbelief, “A human will live once and die once.”“There is an exception,” the fortune teller spoke up, “But it is impossible. Demons are not real in this world.”Belle’s hand clenched her dress as she stopped looking at the man, “What if they’re real?”“Then it would be possible. Under some exception, it’s been said that demons could bring back a dead human back to life. The process called resurrection.”
When Belle lifted her face, a look of confusion and terror had covered her features, causing Leon to frown seeing her stress. He released her hand which she quickly pulled and held together. “What did that bastard said to you?” Leon interrogated. He knew for a fact that Belle wasn’t weak as others, she had been holding well but a few words of the fortune teller seemed to have cause ripple to shake her off. “I thought you could heard everything he said in the room,” Belle spoke without looking to his eyes. “I did but I didn’t know what he had said that made you like this, quivering like a soaked cat,” Leon pulled her hand to show Belle of her own trembling hands. If Leon had heard what the fortune teller had spoken, shouldn’t there be any explanation coming from his mouth? She needed one and waite
The cold air breezed out to her neck, the chills seeping to her skin caused goosebumps all over her arms. All Belle could do was stare at Leon whose face was crossed.Belle wasn’t sure if she could translate his expression into anger. As something had touched his without his permission, he disliked the thought so much to the point he’d like to kill the person harming her.She shook her head, for the past days, she kept on imagining Leon would have any worries for her, when she knows he doesn’t.His cold eyes were more of a predator, of a person angered that someone had touched his prey.“I grazed my hand on the sharp edge of a table earlier when I rushed outside,” Belle lied, she looked at Leon’s crimson eyes, his face in disbelief and both of them noticed her lies, ho
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