Belle, who had walked around the noble city square of Aragonia with Evenly beside her and Rav trailing a few feet behind them, keeping his distance and carrying the bags of things they had gotten on the streets, had just reached the shopping arcade.
They had dropped the carriage away so they could sightsee, and now this was their final destination, to buy the readymade dresses and accessories.
The place was a three-story building with a large brown door and many balconies. Belle had just pushed the door open for herself and the rest, as Evenly held Angel and Rav carried the bags. A soft ring of a bell sounded as the door opened and they stepped inside. It was then Belle froze, as a sharp pain twisted inside her stomach and spread through her entire body.
"Ugh..." She dropped the single bag in her hand and clutched her stomach, slowly moving down toward the floor.
She had been speaking to Evenly when the pain gripped her and cut her off mid-sentence. Everything else blurred away from her senses, and all she could see was black, with a sharp ringing inside her ears.
She moaned at the death-gripping pain that made her unable to take in any breath into her lungs nor think clearly.
Through the darkness in her vision, she saw unclear images of a chaotic room, where wooden planks were flying toward a shadowy figure. The figure itself she could not see clearly, but it was only a tall shadow, the only thing visible from it being the glowing flas growing from his palms.
Every muscle in Belle’s body tensed in alarm at the sight of the flas. The choking smoke seared her lungs with every breath, and fear consud her entire being. All she wanted was to protect herself as the shadowy figure hurled the flas toward her.
She let out a scream and began to fight away the flas. She would kill the person before he killed her, she wouldn’t let him burn her again. She wouldn’t die.
She wouldn’t let anyone kill her! She would protect her life and body!
She fought the flas that struck but did not harm her, and then, when she saw the figure drawing near, she did the only thing she knew she could do to protect herself. She sent a large, sharp shard of glass flying toward him with all the strength she had, catching him off guard and cutting off his throat clean.
The mont she cut him, the tense muscles in her body loosened, and she began to breathe again. Her vision slowly cleared of the darkness as her senses returned to her gradually, and she found herself being hovered over by familiar, worried faces looking down at her where she had crouched at the entrance of the building.
Evenly, Angel, and Rav were staring down at her, asking worriedly if she was all right. She couldn’t hear them at first but read their lips before her senses completely returned and she blinked away the darkness fully.
"...get her so water," Evenly told Rav the mont she noticed Belle had looked up from where she was crouching down.
Rav nodded and rushed away to fetch it, while Evenly, balancing Angel in one arm, helped Belle back to her feet. Inside the building, people were beginning to move toward them in curiosity, wondering what had happened at the entrance that had made the lady scream.
"What happened to her?" ca the crowd’s curiosity as they watched from a distance. "Why would a sane person scream that way?"
"Perhaps she’s not ntally stable..."
"She looks sowhat familiar, though," muttered another from among the many won, trying to figure out where they knew the blonde-haired lady.
"Isn’t she the Dawsons’ daughter?!" gasped another.
"Thank you..." Belle muttered as she rose and took in her surroundings, seeing noblewon standing around, whispering to each other and glancing at her. She felt embarrassed by their stares and by how the unexpected things that always seed to happen to her had decided to happen in public this ti around.
"Are you all right?" Evenly asked, noticing the color finally returning to her friend’s pale face, which had gone white as if she had seen a ghost when they first entered. To Evenly, her friend had been talking when she suddenly crouched down, shielding herself and moaning softly like she was in pain, before she let out a scream, her body trembling.
Evenly had been startled nearly to death, thinking sothing terrible had happened, or worse, that she had been poisoned from the snacks they had tried on the streets that were delicious. Angel had even begun to struggle in her arms, trying to get away to reach his mother. Now, she watched as Belle managed a small smile and assured her gently,
"I am all right. Thank you."
It was strange how the pain had gripped her and the vision had arrested her mind, only to disappear all of a sudden. The feeling of wanting to fight to survive had consud her, but even that too was gone.
Yet she couldn’t understand what that smoky vision she had just witnessed was, or the shadowy figure that had wanted to kill her. She shuddered at the thought of the flas, but she hurriedly assured herself it wasn’t real. It was only part of the unusual things that had been happening to her lately.
Aware of the gossiping won gathering around them, Belle composed herself, knowing these noblewon would find sothing to gossip about at their next tea party if she made anymore spectacle of herself in public.
Rav returned with the water, and she silently took it and gulped it down her dry throat before handing the cup back to him with a smile. He didn’t return the smile like he usually did. Instead, he looked at her with deep concern.
"Should we return to the house and let you rest? We can co again tomorrow—"
"No, I am fine. I think it’s because I am no longer used to the weather in Aragonia, and after walking through the square in this hot atmosphere, the heat must have gotten to . Besides, the day after tomorrow is the Aragonian ball, and we have to get everyone sothing, like the duke offered." She assured with a bright grin.
Then she turned to her son, who was staring at her as if he too were worried. She moved forward, kissed his cheek, and announced brightly,
"Shall we continue our purchases so we can return before evening?"
Rav looked reluctant. He didn’t want the lady to push herself when she clearly wasn’t well, especially not simply because she wanted to show them around. The last thing he needed, was for his master to return and bla him for failing to look after his family properly in his absence.
Even he didn’t like the weather much; it was far too hot and suffocating for his liking, and he could already feel his vampire skin burning uncomfortably beneath the umbrella he carried and the hat shielding him. But realizing that the building’s interior was much cooler than the scorching outdoors, he contemplated letting the lady carry on with what they had co to do. At least inside, she could rest in the cooler air before they had to step back out into the blazing sun again.
He exchanged a look with Evenly, who gave him one in return that silently told him he should allow the lady to do as she wished, as if she had sensed his hesitation. Only then did he finally relax, letting go of the tension he had been holding, and he gave a small nod.
"All right, let us move away from the entrance so the other custors can co in."
The three of them made their way to the Manager’s desk at the front of the entrance. The man was already staring at them just like everyone else as though they were aliens, especially when he noticed the three pairs of red vampire eyes.
Everyone in Aragonia already knew about the guests in their land, since the daily newsletters had written about them extensively a few days ago. They had co from Nightbrook, and though no one was too surprised to see them here, so people looked curious while others grew frightened, moving away from them and leaving the building in haste.
The manager’s face was a mix of terror and fascination as he parted his thin lips, hidden behind his mustache, to speak. "H-h-how may I be of help to you?"
"We need to look through your most expensive readymade dresses and jewelries for both male and female," Belle said.
She wanted to spend as much as she could from her father’s account, not because she wanted or needed the expensive things, but because he had never spent even half of what he had on her the way he had on Eve when they were growing up. Now that she had the opportunity, she would take as much as she pleased without feeling guilty, as this would be the last ti she would ever visit them again.
The manager nodded quickly and assigned two uniford helper girls to guide them to the section they were looking for, while he ordered another set of attendants to fetch refreshnts and have them ready as the guests made their way upstairs.
"Make sure you put them in the private refreshnt room afterward to cool off," the Manager ordered, knowing from what had been written in the newsletter that there was a royal command for everyone to treat the guests like royalty and not to show them scorn or hate.
The girl he had ordered hesitated for a mont before speaking. "Mr. Sutton, Lady Althea and the Baron Marchant are still occupying the room, they are being shown the best dresses for their upcoming wedding attires."
"Lord in heavens, I completely forgot those two were still in there," Mr. Sutton muttered before he said, "Put the guests in the other refreshnt room, then. I wouldn’t want to risk the Marquis’s wrath by putting vampires in the sa room as his daughter."
The assistant nodded and went to follow the vampire guests, who had already gone ahead to be shown where they could rest and look through the designs.
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