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nThe next morning when Belle opened her eyes, she found herself to be in Lucas' arms with her back facing him as he snuggly held her close. His face was buried in her hair. Her hand was about to reach out for the cover when she felt Lucas pull her closer to him and she smiled.

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"You are awake,

" she said, feeling him snuggle his head into the crook of her neck.

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"I don't sleep much,

" Lucas reminded her and she slowly turned around so that she could face him,

"Good morning, little rabbit.

"

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"Good morning, Mr. Butler,

" a small giggle escaped her lips, a nickname she had given him when she was young. Back in the past, her mother scolded her to stop addressing Lucas informally and this had led to the little girl to address him as 'Mr. Butler' which didn't stick too long as she was back to calling him by his name,

"Thank you for staying with me,

" she whispered to him.

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"I didn't want to leave the bed cold when there is a beautiful girl here in my arms. Not every Grim is destined with such luck,

" Lucas leaned forward to kiss on her lips,

"Sleep some more if you need.

"

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"And leave you awake?

" asked Belle to see him smile,

"You should smile more.

"

nLucas looked at Belle who had a smile of bliss on her face and he was happy to see she was doing much better today. He had seen the vampiress grow up in front of his eyes, he knew that she craved for a life where there were people. People whom she could trust. That she needed a family.

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"How are you feeling?

" he asked to see Belle stretch her body like a cat would before she snuggled closer to him.

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"More than wonderful. How about you?

" Belle didn't know if Grims were allowed to have pleasures or if they had the ability to feel. But then Lucas was different. He had fallen in love with her in their past life and he had fallen in love again, caring for her.

nSeeing the way she looked at him, the smile on Lucas' face broadened further,

"There are some things that we feel and some we don't. What we did yesterday comes in the list to feel,

" he chuckled and Belle's cheeks turned warm.

nBy the time Belle and Lucas had made their way down the stairs, dressed, there were presents placed in front of the Christmas tree. She had not expected to have more than one present there. Which was obviously from Lucas but seeing two more, she turned to look at Lucas who only smiled.

nLike an excited child, Belle quickly stepped down and walked towards the tree and at the same time, Barron appeared from above, his footsteps louder than any person as he hopped down the stairs.

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"IT IS THE TIME OF THE GRIMS!

" shouted Barron loudly.

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"Sometimes it makes me question if Barron is a Grim,

" said Lucas under his breath and the rabbit quickly join Belle in pulling out the presents.

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"You got me a gift,

" murmured Belle, picking up the gift in her hand and saw Barron's ears moving up and down. Not because of his present but because of what Belle would think about his gift.

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"Open it!

" said Barron. His voice was loud that made Greed appear from the room that they were sharing, his face looking annoyed,

"Wait! Wait! Keep it for the last! Open others presents first!

" said Barron.

nBelle laughed at his excitement. It reminded her of the time when she gave handmade presents to her parents. The first one she opened was from Lucas. Opening the box, she found it to be empty and she turned around to see him smiling.

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"When did empty boxes turn out to be presents? Are you out of money?

" questioned Barron.

nBelle didn't know if the empty box had a significance and she turned to Lucas. He made his way down from the rest of the stairs and finally stood behind her, bending down he said,

"I have the present with me. You will be receiving it during the time of the soiree. It is a surprise,

" leaning forward he kissed on her lips.

nBelle was excited and she gave him a nod.

nBarron then waved his hand for Lucas to go away so that Belle could open the next present and surprisingly, it was from Greed. She opened the gift of his to find cactus in there. Somewhere this was expected and it felt like a jealous jilted girlfriend. Raising her head up, she heard him say,

"They are of less maintenance. A plant that is used both in the land of the dead and the living.

"

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"Thank you,

" said Belle to see him tip his head and she smiled. Maybe Greed was coming around, thought Belle to herself. Finally, it was Barron's box.

nBelle opened the gift to find a small rusted bone. She picked it up in her hand, not knowing what it was and brought it up in front of her face,

"Is this a bone Barron?

" asked Belle. Lucas and Greed were walking away from the scene when they heard Belle speak. They turned around to see what was in her hand and Lucas' eyes widened before zeroing on the bone.

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"Where did you get that from?

" asked Lucas.

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"I have had it with me for years. I thought I must give something special to Belle as it's Christmas. All mortals do that,

" said the rabbit, its ears still moving back and forth, playing as he spoke.

nLucas face-palmed himself, as if trying to wrap his head around,

"You were not supposed to have it with you. Where did you get it from?

" he asked.

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"What's going on?

" asked Belle.

nBarron tried to recollect and then said,

"It was during one of the meetings that was taking place with the Hawverts and the Grims. I found it on the ground, must be around the time when you went missing. Why?

"

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"That bone belongs to Winston,

" came the hard voice of Lucas.

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"Like his dog? Wait, the hellhound?

" asked Barron.

nLucas took hold of the bone for it to start turning black and he gave it back to Belle,

"No. Not his hellhound but Winston himself. A bone from his own skeleton.

"

nEveryone's eyes widened after hearing this. Barron took himself to sit down on the ground. Lucas then said,

"You were the last Grim reaper to be created, the youngest. So the chances of the bone being with you are higher. Winston possibly knows it and wants his bone back.

"

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"He should have taken it before instead of waiting for me to turn to a fallen Grim!

" yelled Barron, his body falling back on the ground,

"What was he waiting for?

"

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"He probably didn't notice it until Wrath went missing,

" answered Lucas,

"Long time ago, when the first four Grims were created by Crane. The next Hawvert, Winston decided that he would bring in a new set of Grim reapers to add into the cards of the Grim. Winston didn't have the power to create new Grims from the scratch, so he took a bone from his body, modified and changed it so that it could be used to create the next set of Grims. At that time, Winston had the ability to use the forbidden magic, but it was that particular bone that contained the ability. He thought he could put the bone back but it didn't work.

"

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"Winston is my papa?

" asked Barron with a ridiculous look on his face.

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"I don't accept it,

" commented Greed who now shared the master-servant bond was loyal to Lucas and didn't want to part ways with the thirteenth Grim.

nBelle then asked,

"What is the use of the bone now? If it belongs to Winston, then he should be the only person who is able to make use of it. Isn't it?

" When Lucas had picked up the bone, it had turned to a darker shade and when he gave it back to Belle, the bone had turned to appear less decayed.

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"The person who has the bone acquires some abilities. I am not fully aware, but I would be guessing somewhere along the lines of being able to either create Grims or turn to a Grim reaper,

" came the reply of Lucas.

nOnce the words reached Barron's long floppy ears, the rabbit was quick to jump up and take the bone back into its hand,

"Alright, Belle. You shall be getting a new gift, once I am done building my reapers army and having them do all my work,

" but when Barron held it, the bone started to change colour again,

"W-wait! What is happening?!

"

nLucas closed his eyes, sighing loudly and not happy with how their morning had started,

"There are some rules Barron. The four original Grims do not obey any of the Hawverts, at least not the way the other Grims do. Similarly, a gift when handed to the next person, that thing belongs to the next person.

"

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"NOOOOO!!!

" cried Barron,

"My army of reapers!

"

nBefore Barron could cry more, Lucas raised his hand and snapped his fingers for the rabbit to keep quiet before anyone outside the mansion would hear them.

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"In the land of the dead, giving gifts is rare and is more or less like a transaction,

" informed Lucas,

"Barron was in the possession of the bone and now that he handed it to Belle, the bone has turned to be of her own.

"

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nScroll to read the next chapter...

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