Clio was Colin's daughter and it wasn't just the Black Book that had confirmed that. Collin had done it too, unintentionally of course. He had confirmed it when he came to her to return all the coins her business had saved with him. His desperate denial when she had asked him about it was obvious, he didn't look as put together as he used to, but he kept calm and collected as much as he could.
Why had he lied about their daughter? They told her two different versions of their daughter's story and for each, she had been deeply emotionally attached and affected.
It just didn't make sense for them to have lied.
Did they think she would be jealous?
It made no sense!
Belladonna tried to find out more about Clio but Collin insisted that she died on a ship during the storm. When she asked about the letter she had sent to him, he claimed his daughter wasn't Clio and that letter had contained gibberish.
It was a lie.
She could tell and that was all she needed, so she didn't stop him when he excused himself to a nameless duty call.
The next thing she did was to go and see Anok.
After her many pleas, Eli had finally set Anok free but that freedom had come at a price, one Belladonna had found endurable.
Anok was no longer her bodyguard, instead, he had thrown him back into the army, although he had now fallen in the ranks and wasn't the General he used to be.
Anok had been grateful that he was alive and he didn't mind the punishment he had to suffer.
He had come to thank her but he had not come alone, the man she had seen in Eli's study was here with him.
"I am so sorry about what happened," she said.
"It is all my fault." Anok shook his head. "If the occasion calls for it, I will do it again."
Belladonna's eyes flew wide open.
"Kenji." The man introduced himself. "I'm the big boy's brother."
So the kitchen man was Anok's brother.
That was surprising. She hadn't imagined that he had a sibling. He looked like a lone man, even from birth.
"Thank you for saving my brother's life."
Belladonna smiled. "It was the least I could do."
"It seems you are in the habit of saving." Kenji continued, a wide smile on his face as he rubbed his hand along the back of his neck. "I heard you saved your ex's life too even after he assaulted you."
"Kenji. Keep those lips sealed if you don't want to lose them."
Kenji chuckled, moving away from Anok due to the threat, as he raised his hand in surrender.
"You are a good person, that is all I'm saying, My Lady."
Belladonna hummed.
She didn't like this man.
He would not have his book back. Even though that was what she had decided on before, now she was really determined to deprive him of it.
"Someone like you doesn't deserve to perish like the rest. It's surprising how increasingly stupid you have been for the past---"
His words trailed off as Anok's hand connected to the base of his neck. His eyelids slid shut and he stumbled backwards into Anok's ready arms.
He threw him over his shoulder easily an apology slipping past his lips as he did.
It had happened so fast, all Belladonna could do was blink and yes, try to close her mouth that had fallen open in shock.
"What did you do to him?"
"I put him to sleep. He has a rather loose mouth and I have warned him beforehand to be polite to you. If he does this again, I will kill him."
Silence.
Deafening silence.
An intense eye contact that contained many questions.
"It was a joke, Lady Bell. Please, laugh."
"Ha...ha...ha?" She arched him an eyebrow, as if asking if that laughter was satisfactory.
He nodded subtly, one corner of his lips rising in a smile.
They must hit his head too hard in the dungeon.
That was definitely it.
"General," Seb said, coming from the end of the hallway, a book in his hand. "I found a black nook. It might be the one your brother is--- My Lady." He bowed when he saw her and Belladonna acknowledged him.
They were searching for his book? They must not have known how he lost it.
"What happened to him?"
"I am no longer, General," Anok stated point blank.
"What happened to Kenji, General?" Seb asked again, totally ignoring what he just said, his eyes fixed on sleeping Kenji.
"I put him to sleep, and I am no longer General."
"I found a book!" Someone else was running from the hallway.
Nadia.
Belladonna smiled and waved to her but she got no response.
Instead, Nadia froze immediately her gaze move to Anok, the book in her hand slipping out of her grip, before she spun around and started walking away. The sound of her departing shoes against the ground, filling the silence before she finally gave into a run.
Belladonna frowned.
What was that?
Wait?
Was there something going on between her and Anok?
Waittttt?
Was Anok the umbrella man?
He seemed to be one, he looked completely puzzled by Nadia's action yet totally unaffected by it.
Definitely him.
Seb went off to pick up the book and gave the two books to Anok. "Please have him check these books when he wakes up, General." Then he bowed in farewell to Belladonna.
"You still owe me a shirt, My Lady, not that I'm asking."
Belladonna burst into laughter.
At this rate, she would forever owe him a shirt.
How many times would he collect his shirt? He was like a child that lend a person money, one would forever owe them and consistently repay.
"If you weren't on a duty, I would have put you to sleep too." Anok chipped in.
"For calling you 'General'?" Seb was retracting his steps, mischief in his eyes as he chuckled. "See you later, General."
"I think he is trying to punish me for all the punishments I have melted on him."
"You poor thing, I feel sorry for you."
He didn't find that funny but she did.
The possibility of a relationship between Anok and Nadia would be an interesting thing to watch unfold, if she wasn't so busy with life-threatening things at the moment.
"Goodbye once again."
Anok was moving out of the Castle tomorrow and this might be the last time she would be seeing him.
She felt a little sad that he was leaving and found herself to have grown attached to him, like a brother she never had.
"I think I should give you back your dagger."
"Keep it, Lady Bell. Consider it as an early wedding gift. Just in case I won't be able to make it." He said, departing from her.
Well, that wasn't surprising.
With how Eli had been busy trying to get the best people to organize their big wedding ceremony, which he said would take place after the one on the Red Moon, it was only a matter of time before the news would spread to the seven villages and they would be glad that the Choosing Ritual was at its end for good.