n

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nBarron, who saw Lucas start to walk quickly, asked,

"Why?

"

nThe butler paused his steps and turned around to look at the stuffed toy who was standing on its two feet,

"In the near days, many more reapers are going to show up. This might be one of the safest places for you and I am hoping you can keep an eye on Belle. As you have noticed, she has a mind of her own.

"

nThe fourth Grim gave a hard look at Lucas and asked,

"What are you exactly doing here?

" for a lowly reaper who had crossed paths with the alignment of stars, he doubted it was his initial plan to stay in here. Or was it that he was enjoying human life?

nAt the same time, a bird cried up in the sky and it flew down to settle on Lucas' hand which he extended. It was the same raven that had earlier attacked the death reaper in the cemetery. The raven was indeed not a bird from the land of the living but what was it doing with this butler?

n

"The fourth card of the Grims,

" Lucas addressed Barron and his face suddenly turned to his reaper form that was enough for Barron to have his mouth part out of surprise,

"It is nice to meet you,

" the skeleton covered itself up with flesh and skin again.

n

"You...

" Barron was speechless,

"Thirteenth card of the Grims. What the **,

" he whispered when Lucas turned back with the bird who barely stayed on his hand before it flew away. All this while Barron had thought he was a lowly reaper who was beneath him but this one was nowhere even near him.

nIn the total set of thirteen cards of the Grim that represented each reaper, all of them had their own cause to what they were and the numbering was only a count that had nothing to do with who was the strongest but with what Barron knew, the thirteenth card was the reaper who would never appear for the courts, unlike some others who enjoyed showcasing their superiority to the underlings of the land of the dead.

nEven though Barron was part of the Grims, he had whispers of words of how the thirteenth number was as powerful as the Hawverts, the trio who were the oldest reapers of time. He was considered to be the worst reaper who picked more souls than anyone in a day. A decade ago something happened and he had gone missing. To think he had been spending with the worst of the worst death reaper ever, Barron didn't know if he had to be happy he had not been placed in a lid of the box instead of the rabbit.

nThe rabbit quickly hopped down the hay of dried grass and made its way inside the mansion. Every time someone saw Barron, he had to act dead without any movement before he finally made his way to Belle's room.

nThere was nothing much known about the thirteenth Grim and it was a mystery to almost everyone but he was very famous for bringing people's souls. Souls that were mostly corrupt and could be swindled for own use.

nReaching Belle's room, he walked in quietly and got into the bucket of water to remove the dirt that covered the rabbit's coat.

nDuring the time of night, Belle sat in the dining room. Her back straight and her eyes looking only at the maids and not at Lucas who was in front of her. Before Lucas could come to her, she had spread the napkin over her lap and had made sure the knife and the fork was positioned right next to either side of her plate.

nSince last night, they had had a very eventful conversation and with the way things had proceeded after coming from the Edmonds' mansion, her face lit up every time she thought what happened. Her mind kept reeling and replaying his words and his hands on her that was enough to send her to clouds.

n

"You can leave, Janet,

" said Lucas to the maid who had come to the dining room with food. She bowed her head without looking at the butler or the mistress of the house and she left the room that opened and closed the double doors behind her.

nBelle quietly ate her food, cutting the meat on the plate, and drinking the blood in her glass regularly to keep herself busy.

n

"I would prefer that you don't step out of the mansion without letting me know where you are going, Miss Belle. It would avoid too many troubles.

"

n

"Forgive me this evening. I didn't mean to cause any trouble. Next time I will let you know,

" Belle said to Lucas who only stared at her,

"Do you know what I met today in the cemetery?

" she asked him.

n

"What do you think it was?

" Lucas asked her. It seemed like she knew it but she was finding it hard to believe. The dining room was decently big, candles lit up in the chandelier and at the table along with the fireplace that kept the room lit right now.

n

"Reaper?

"

n

"Hm,

" Lucas affirmed her words with a nod,

"It is called a reaper. Cloaked creatures that take your soul after death. Your soul is weak therefore which if you make any death reaper know that you can see them, they will automatically come to believe it is your time to depart.

"

nIt was Lucas' bird that had given him the report of what had happened, the bird that he placed to keep an eye on Belle. The reaper was unsuccessful in chasing her as his bird had intervened but he couldn't tell she would be lucky the next time.

n

"What was it doing there?

" she asked,

"It was like it wanted Mr. Fluffs.

"

nLucas after a second replied,

"Sometimes death reapers turn very lonely and like to steal things.

"

n

"Really?

" she frowned not buying what he said.

n

"You don't believe me? Place Mr. Fluffs in the cemetery and you will find the death reapers swarming around him,

" and it wasn't because they were lonely but because they would want to take him back to the land of the dead.

nThings were going to get interesting from here on, thought Lucas to himself.

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