"This is the world we live in, Belle. We are on a much more peaceful side, so let's not step into things which don't concern us and live the way we have been living all this while," hearing this from her mother, Belle lifted her head up and her body which had been lying in her mother's lap with questions in her eyes.
"You are asking me to ignore things I see," Belle stated that made her mother sigh.
"You cannot fix the world entirely, Belle. People like us, our family, the people who come in between, we live our lives without needing ourselves to get involved in matters which aren't necessary to us. This is how your father and I have been living and it is how your grandparents lived too."
Belle didn't reply but only heard what her mother was saying. One part of her mind agreed with her mother. There were too many things going on in the world but her other part, it didn't sit well with her that she was supposed to close her eyes as if she saw nothing.
She didn't go to speak on it knowing well how her mother would try to convince and in the end to keep Belle out of trouble, she would be asked to stay home and never to step alone by herself which was not something she was aiming at.
She offered her mother a small smile and received a pat on her head.
"Don't go looking for trouble, Belle. Your father and I will be very disappointed if you caught yourself in something because some parts of the world we live in are like a spider's web. Once you get stuck in it, it is very hard to get out," her mother leaned forward to kiss her forehead and got up from the bed, "Come knit with me," and Belle gave her a nod.
"I will be there in a few minutes," seeing her mother leave her room, Belle took a deep breath before releasing it in the air, "Mama, spider's web needs to be cleaned with fire," ignoring things around them was equal to being the kind of people who made the others think that they were okay with it.
Two days pa.s.sed and Belle didn't exchange a word with the butler of the house.
She was still upset with what she saw and how he had coldly brushed away what was taking place in front of them. She was upset not because of killing the black witches but it was about saving people who needed to be saved, who wanted to be saved. Somewhere deep down Belle had even questioned herself if it was childish for her to be behaving ignorant about the black witches and she sighed while sitting with her friend Pauline in the room. Calling the girl was far fetched but she was someone Belle spent her time with. She was someone sane she could get along with.
"You have been sighing a lot today," her friend commented as she sewed, holding the two needles in her hand.
Belle herself was seated on the couch with both her legs on the top with a ball of wool that rested in her lap as she accompanied her friend in sewing, "There are days sometimes I like to just sigh," answered Belle trying to get both the needles working quickly in her hand.
"I get that," said Pauline. The girl was as old as Belle, a vampiress herself with blonde hair and a small face with b.u.t.toned nose, "There are days you just want to do nothing yet we have to do something before being scolded by our mothers."
"How is the groom hunting going?" Belle asked Pauline who shook her head.
"The number of times I have attended the tea parties for the last three weeks I would tell the taste of tea makes my stomach churn," the girl then leaned forward to tell, "They have been making me meet one man after another while I am trying to coax the other to speak to my parents."
The story of Pauline was that she was in love with a human and it wasn't a human who belonged to the high society which her parents maybe would have agreed to if the man belonged to the high social cla.s.s but instead, it was a woodcutter who the girl had fallen in love with.
Belle looked around to make sure there were no maids walking by and asked, "Do you think your parents would agree to it?" it was because she knew how vampires, humans, or pureblooded vampires preferred to get their children married with the same creatures.
Pauline shook her head, "I don't know but it is worth the try to get him to meet my parents so that they know he is a wonderful man. I don't know what I would do if I end up marrying someone else," she said to Belle.
Belle looked at the girl who was beautiful to look at. She hoped things would work well for Pauline and the man she was in love with. They were still sewing the cloth with the wool when the house butler arrived at the room, "Good evening, Lucas," Pauline greeted the butler who bowed at her politely.
"Good evening, Miss Pauline. Is there something you would like to drink or eat?" he asked her.
"No, thank you. I am already full of what I ate during the time of noon. Have you been doing well?" Pauline asked Lucas who gave her a nod.
"Yes, thank you for inquiring," came out the polite words. Belle's eyebrows furrowed and narrowed looking at Lucas who didn't look at her. Was he ignoring her? She was the one ignoring him, what was he ignoring her for?!
"We have been asked to sew and hence we are sewing sweaters and m.u.f.flers," Pauline showed what she had sewed so far.
"That is good," Lucas replied to Pauline and said, "The art of sewing itself is very attractive on a woman, it shows the delicate fingers at work. A long time ago, there were Lords and Dukes in the past when they picked a woman to marry depending on who knew how to knit the wool well."
Belle, who was unable to hold back said, "Looks like the Lords and Dukes had a lack of tailors."
This brought a chuckle from Pauline and the butler finally s.h.i.+fted his gaze to look at her, "Always having something to say."
"But that's the truth," Belle responded back.
"I never told it is a lie," Lucas replied to her.
Pauline, who was sitting next to Belle smiled and then asked the butler, "Would you like me to knit a sweater for you, Lucas?"
But before Lucas or Pauline could speak, Belle turned to Pauline with a frown on her face, "When was the last time you knit a sweater for your butler? Go give it to him as an early Christmas present."
The girl laughed, "I think I did give him once but I think everyone will agree when I say that everyone feels like gifting Lucas. He is perfect butler and handsome."
Lucas bowed his head again to say, "Thank you, Miss Pauline, for thinking so highly of me."
"Even my mother keeps praising you along with the others of how efficient you are."
"Your mother is too kind with her words," the butler replied to the compliment.
Belle's eyes darted back and forth between the two of them and if Belle didn't know that Pauline was in love with a man she would have chased the girl from the mansion. It was just that she didn't like people trying to please him. He already behaved like the mighty 'I know it all' person, any more and she didn't know what would happen.
"As Belle said, if I finish the sweater for my butler, I will make one for you," Pauline continued and the butler bowed.
"That's alright," said Belle waving her hand, "I will make one for Lucas. You can make it for your other favorite person," she said not liking why Pauline would make one when Lucas was her butler.
Lucas bowed his head and then left the two girls in the room.
Belle glared at Pauline, hoping the girl would get married quickly so that she wouldn't keep visiting and try giving out presents to him but it wasn't just Pauline. The number of people who came and went to the mansion, they were impressed to have the man as the butler.
She looked down at her lap and the piece she had knit wondering what to knit for Lucas. Maybe a m.u.f.fler would be good.
