Returning to Adonis’s room, she prepared a meal and sat on the bed to eat. The room had no chairs, so the bed was the only piece of furniture to sit on.
Belle had washed the sheets on the bed and swept the dust from the floor. She’d tidied up the desk and dining table and bought a few vases with flowers to decorate the place as she saw fit. She’d also washed the faded curtain—for what good it did—and cleaned the window. There was no wiping away how empty the room felt, but at least it felt lived-in now.
Belle hadn’t been planning on doing it; she’d simply needed a distraction. She had started tidying things up, bit by bit, and before she knew it, she had cleaned the whole place. She might have said it was necessary given the state of the room, but that would’ve been a bit brash.
Belle had also cleaned the bath, which looked like it had never been used. So once she finished eating, she broke a water crystal she’d bought on the way back from her place to fill the bath with hot water. As steam filled the bathroom, Belle suddenly turned around to look back into the main room. It felt like an invisible pair of eyes was watching her, which annoyed her a little.
If he peeks on me, I’ll cut him down no questions asked.
She was serious about it, too.
Belle closed the door to the bathroom and slowly took off her clothes. The wounds inflicted by Kir’s sword were mostly healed and she had countless other older injuries of varying degrees that had already healed. She traced the faint scars and remaining wounds with a finger, but they didn’t ache.
Suddenly, the thought occurred to her that maybe this healing was a sign of change—not just an emotional one but a physical one as well. She was maturing. As a living being or perhaps as a woman. She would grow taller, her bones would become harder, her muscles stronger and more supple. One day, her soft bosom, still childish as it was, would grow bigger.
She would bloom like a flower.
That thought made the idea of that change feel more real, even if ever so slightly. With a twinge of loneliness, feeling like she’d progressed past something important she could never return to, Belle sank into the tub. For a second, she had the urge to cry, but the moment soon passed.
Belle liked plopping a bubble flower into the tub directly. Enveloped by the faint smell of citrus, she stared up to the ceiling, and another irritating thought came to mind.
You’re the one who said you wanted to bed me.
Not that she had any intention of giving him her body, but Adonis made no sign of appearing now, either. The O’crock’s violet hue grew deeper, and it was completely dark out the window. After stepping out of the bath, Belle changed into her pajamas and climbed into bed. Hugging Runding with her right hand, she curled up her jacket into a pillow and pulled the blanket over herself. She reached out to the dial on the fluorescent stone lamp and switched the spell from aur to glacé, and a moment later, the light went out.
Darkness filled the room. As her eyes grew accustomed to it, the gloom faded, and she could make out the contours of the furniture. The silence felt heavy, and the moment she stopped moving, all the sound around her grew unnervingly distant.
All of a sudden, Belle felt like her very being was fading into the dark. It was different from her usual feeling of weightlessness. She gripped Runding tighter and heard the sword howl faintly, making her smile.
Suddenly remembering that this wasn’t her own room, she whispered, “I might just take this place for myself.”
The room, in its silence, told her in Adonis’s place to go ahead and claim it.
“Come on, it’s tomorrow. What are you going to do? Don’t tell me you don’t want to go on the journey anymore…”
This time, not even the silence of the room responded. Only the faint stirring of the wind seemed to answer. There was no rain, and the pale Earthshine filtered in through the windows, wrapping Belle and the darkness enveloping her in its pale-blue glow.
Belle waited, and waited, and eventually closed her eyes, falling fast asleep. One of her strengths was that no matter how anxious she felt, she could always bring herself to eat and sleep when need be. As time passed silently, the faint beams of light coming in through the curtains changed their angle.
How long had she been asleep? Belle didn’t know. She woke up to the sound of a howl from Runding, so faint she wouldn’t have been able to tell if she hadn’t been touching it. She awoke fully but an odd unease kept her eyes closed and her breathing rhythmic and slow, as if she was feigning sleep.
There was someone there, in the dark.
Confusion flooded her thoughts. She didn’t know where she was. When she realized she was in a certain man’s room, she realized she’d lost track of how long she’d been asleep. It felt like only a moment had passed since she’d dozed off.
She could hear fabric shifting, as someone gradually approached. The sound took on a sense of presence, soft footsteps marking its progress. Belle’s heart thumped in her ears, getting louder as the figure drew closer. But she kept her eyes squeezed shut, which made the sounds of her pulse echo through her entire body. Praying the figure wouldn’t hear it, she became acutely aware of her position on the bed.
She was lying face up, her right arm hugging her sword, her chin tilted up as she took in shallow breaths. All of a sudden, Belle got the feeling that what she’d done was incredibly brazen. This wasn’t her room, after all. The thoughts she’d had before going to sleep came swinging back like a pendulum, many times heavier than when they’d first crossed her mind. The shock of it made her lips tremble and her breath catch.
She could hear the footsteps stop in shock, stumbling a step or two. Did it notice her? Something between relief and frustration filled her. No more acting like a sleeping beauty, it seemed. Despair toyed with Belle as she thought the figure might fade away and leave—only for it to come closer than before.
It took her completely by surprise. At first, all she could feel was breath against her skin, and then a pair of soft lips brushed against her forehead, leaving her with a heat that spread through Belle’s body. She felt like she was burning up.