n

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nBy the time they were returning back from the Edmonds' mansion, Belle was somewhat relieved that it was over. Carson Edmond appeared to be better when it came to the understanding that she wasn't going to form an alliance.

nHer heart felt light right now. She looked at Lucas who sat next to her looking outside from his side of the window. Only if she knew what was going on that mind of his. She had heard about the vampire doctor who worked for the council, maybe Lucas needed his brain to be opened up to check why he was this cold but the chances of him letting others touch him were less and he would probably damage the other person, thought Belle to herself.

n

"How did you find the man?

" asked Lucas when he felt her gaze on him. He turned his attention from the passing trees that were outside to look at her. The carriage they were in lightly shook because of the uneven road it was moving on.

n

"Friendly,

" Belle answered his question to see him staring at her, and then she added,

"Brotherly.

"

n

"In time things will change. Everything needs time to change.

"

n

"Will you change too?

" asked Belle.

nShe noticed how the one side of Lucas' lips pulled up in the subtle movement,

"Are you unhappy with my service as your butler, Miss Belle?

"

nShe knew that he knew what she was talking about but it was like he was trying to not get into that subject,

"Is it the status or is it because you don't see me like that?

" Belle asked directly without beating the bush.

n

"You are my mistress,

" he uttered the words, his black eyes looking into her red ones.

n

"You and the others want me to get married but you won't stop looking at me as a child,

" said Belle to him.

nBefore she could speak out her mind again, Lucas' head snapped to look at his side where the wall of the carriage ripped open and suddenly the carriage tumbled over away from the path to move towards the forest. Belle hit her body against the carriage over and over again to stop only when the carriage hit a tree. Belle groaned in pain where she was upside down now. Lucas was the one to open the door of the carriage and he helped her get out of it.

n

"What happened?

" asked Belle looking at the carriage that looked crushed because of all the tumbling and the wheels looked broken. It would be impossible to get it moving on the road in this state.

nLucas had his eyes in the direction they were thrown in, looking at the trees and the path near them,

"Someone toppled the carriage,

" he answered her.

nTurning back to her, he raised his hand to look at the wound on her forehead. Even though her body hurt, she felt warmth seep into her as he pulled his clean kerchief to placed it dab it against her forehead.

nThe two horses that were pulling the carriage appeared to be hurt and when Belle noticed them, she could see the black vapor around them,

"They are going to die,

" she walked forward to place her hand on one of the horses's necks to feel the pulse disappearing. The horses laid on the wet forest ground and stopped breathing.

nBelle looked for the carriage man. He must have fallen near the road and with that thought, Belle walked forward with Lucas who followed her closely. She gasped when she noticed the coachman had fallen against the tree with the branch that was broken for it to pierce through his body.

n

"Is it the black witches?

" asked Belle because they were the only ones who had targeted her and her family.

n

"A white witch transformed into a black witch. The white witches have elemental abilities, unlike black witches. I guess this is where we start from,

" Belle heard Lucas say to her,

"We need to find the witch who did this. Whoever it is might try again and she mustn't be too far. I will inform the magistrate about this. Let's go, Miss Belle,

" he said and she gave him a nod to walk next to him in the muddy path.

n

"I thought the black witches were sidetracked after the massacre that took place,

" Belle asked Lucas while turning around to look at the empty road they had come in to see if anyone was following her.

nLucas had drawn the conclusion to be so which made him wondered why the witch had attacked them with the elemental wind. The other two people hadn't been attacked that put a question of what made Belle special. Her ability of death...it then dawned on him.

n

"Someone must have seen the spirits accumulating in and around the mansion. Usually, there are only one or two spirits near a vessel but you had dozens of them. Your body has the ability to take in that many souls.

"

n

"What do you mean?

" asked Belle.

n

"If the vessel is good. You can contain as many spirits as you can. In the past vessels were used as weapons, weapons to destruct enemies,

" answered Lucas.

nThere were too many death reapers in their world which was why it made it hard to point on which one would have tipped the witches about seeing the spirits. With the spirits being dispersed from the Adams grounds, it was possible that the reaper would inform about the sudden disappearance of the spirits and how there was no special vessel in there calling it to be misinformation.

n

"The witches don't know what is there on the other side of this world. It scares them to think that there might be another creature much powerful than them,

" Lucas continued to speak,

"The black witches have been trying to regain the black magic by performing some of the steps so you can tell that they have been extremely careful in handling anything new. They have got the switchers in doing their biddings for their own means.

"

n

"I don't know where I fit in this,

" answered Belle frankly. She didn't understand what she would do by seeing the death near a person.

n

"You may be the person who will break the rules of the dead and shift the course of time,

" smiled Lucas.

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