Barron could feel the tension around them and he did what he was best at right now, falling slack on the staircase as if Belle had been keeping him around for company. 

"Did you rest?" asked Belle, her cold hand turning clammy in worry. 

Her mother smiled, walking to where Belle was, "I tried to rest but then I heard the door knock. Did someone visit?" asked her mother. 

Hearing this, Belle shook her head, "No one did since you arrived here, mama," she responded back while keeping a keen ear towards the study room so that she would know when the door would open. 

When they stepped down, Barron quietly rolled down to the side to fall on the ground and he quickly ran towards the study room and tried to get the k.n.o.b so that he could lock it. He jumped, his soft cotton legs touching the ground before lifting up in the air to finally turned the k.n.o.b.

The click was a sound that was enough for the councilman to turn his head to look towards the door. 

Belle, on the other hand, didn"t know what to do with her mother who was accompanying her. Lucas was not back and she could feel the pressure of tension pus.h.i.+ng on her nerve right now. What was she going to do? She hadn"t expected Barron"s words to come to be true where her mother would be meeting the councilman who had seen her dead body with a crushed face. 

And at that thought, Belle turned her eyes to look and observe her mother. There should be a way where she could find out just by looking at her mother.

"It feels like it has been so long since I was last here. Good to see that the maids and the butler have been working in the mansion to keep it clean," commented her mother. In the meantime, Belle"s eyes trailed down to look at her mother"s neck to notice there was indeed a very faint marking, and the colour of her face was different as if the face had been created to make her a whole, "But I barely saw any of the maids around except for Lucas. Don"t tell me you chased away all the maids," her mother turned her gaze to look at Belle as if she was suspicious about something. 

It seemed like everyone was getting suspicious today and Belle was trying her best to deviate it.

"Of course not, mama. I don"t think Lucas would be able to handle and manage the mansion alone. It would also be lonely without the other people," answered Belle. 

Her mother continued to look at the mansion from where she stood before making her way towards the kitchen and Belle was quick to follow. She turned around to see Barron who stood as a guard in front of the study room. 

"It has been really long since I last drank blood tea, wonder why I feel that," stated her mother, sauntering inside the kitchen that was deserted and she went to look for blood. 

"Let me help you with that," Belle offered to go get a gla.s.s of blood from the pot where it was stored around the water to keep it cold. The fire was already running and she placed the vessel before starting to heat the blood in it. Her hands shook slightly out of nervous and Belle prayed internally, hoping the councilman would leave and so would her parents. 

Maybe this is what people meant when they said "Be careful with what you wish". Her heart had ached at the thought of her parent"s absence and she wished things could be different but this was definitely not what she had wished for! This was a bad nightmare and her mother, she seemed even odder than she had first appeared in front of the door. 

Something was quite not right here. 

She could feel her mother"s eyes and they weren"t the gentle one"s she had grown up to. The problem was that when she turned to look at her mother, she smiled, but it was when her eyes turned away did she feel the glaring ones that were hard to ignore. 

"Where did you go before the Isle Valley?" asked Belle with a nonchalant voice, keeping her words casual as she poured the milk into the blood, mixing it well, "Sugar?" she asked her mother. 

"Four cubes. Did you forget how much sugar I take, Belle dear?" asked her mother with a smile and Belle smiled back. 

"I didn"t know if you would want more than four to make it sweet," answered Belle and when she turned to put away the vessels in the sink so that it could be cleaned later, the smile on her lips fell down. Though it was hard to tell, Belle knew that her mother never added sugar into her tea but right now, she had asked for four cubes of sugar. 

She doubted her mother had changed her taste in blood tea after dying. 

"This really tastes good," commented her mother who took a sip or two and relished at the taste of blood on her tongue. 

She tasted it as if it was the first time she had taste blood tea. 

Barron who was guarding the room heard the sound of the doork.n.o.b turning felt like the trouble had fallen on the Adams" mansion. 

"Miss Adams?" called the man and Barron wished he could tape the councilman"s mouth. Barron looked left and right, trying to figure out what to do as the door shook, the councilman trying to open the door. 

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