Lucian’s gaze stayed on Harold Belmont. As the human spoke to his wife, every mannerism and word that left his lips was the same. Yet the wounds inflicted upon him a few nights ago were gone. The longer the pureblooded vampire watched him, the less he understood.

Because dead people didn’t come back.

"Contrary to what I came to hear, you seem to be in good health, Mr. Belmont," Minister Carnifex remarked after giving a quick sweep at the human. There had been information on how Lucian Slater had something to do with Harold Belmont’s broken hands, but it didn’t seem to be the case. It seemed that people were trying to actively null the treaty, thought the elder minister to himself.

"H—Harold has very good health," Mrs. Belmont uttered before her husband. "Why wouldn’t he be in good health?" she laughed in the end.

"That’s good to hear. It would have been a headache if it weren’t so," Minister Carnifex murmured the last words under his breath.

Mrs. Belmont smiled, trying to keep a sound mind as she was in the presence of too many pureblooded vampires. She replied, "It is very kind of you to worry about it."

"It is strange, though. I thought the Belmont had only one daughter," one of the ministers commented with a thoughtful expression.

"Mrs. Belmont," Lucian interrupted when Mrs. Belmont’s eyes widened. "We will inform you if we hear anything about Mrs. Henley."

Mrs. Belmont nodded. "Thank you. I pray all of this is resolved quickly."

"Then we will take our leave," Mr. Belmont murmured as if he had somewhere else to be than in the courthouse.

But Minister Sylvan had other ideas as he stopped the human by saying, "I believe Mr. Slater would like to interrogate you before you leave, is that not right?"

Mr. Belmont’s eyebrows furrowed and he asked, "What for?"

Minister Sylvan turned amused at the question. Lucian then spoke, "Mr. Belmont, we need to discuss the murder case your daughter has been accused of. Your wife has already given her statement and we would like to hear from you."

"Okay. Anything that will help Caroline," Mr. Belmont nodded.

"Issac, lead Mr. Belmont to the assigned room," Lucian ordered and the officer behind him gave a firm nod.

Mrs. Belmont was right on her heel, following her husband and disappeared at the end of the corridor.

"Has there been any progress on yesterday’s mishap?" Minister Carnifex asked the people around him.

"We are still looking for answers, Sire," one of the men informed.

Minister Carnifex’s tongue clicked in faint annoyance. "One would think the courthouse capable of guarding its own prisoners."

"Word has already been sent to the fortress to send men who will be replacing the current guards to enforce security," Sawyer informed what his father had told him.

Minister Carnifex gave a short nod, while his expression continued to remain grim.

Lucian didn’t stay behind as he walked away from there.

Away from the ministers and in Lucian’s officer room, Ruelle had finally woken. The pounding behind her eyes had dulled into a faint ache and the heaviness in her limbs had lessened after sleeping for what felt like hours.

The office was quiet except for the occasional turn of a page that came from Dane, who was reading a book across from her.

When a soft click came from the door, Ruelle looked up and saw Lucian step inside. A soft smile found its way onto her lips before she could stop it and she murmured,

"You are back."

Without a word, he crossed the room and sat beside her.

She then felt his cool palm press against her forehead.

And just as Lucian began to pull away, Ruelle found herself leaning after the touch. Only when his hand slid from her forehead to her cheek did she realise what she was doing.

Heat rushed to her face and her eyes flew open. She immediately straightened before her eyes fell on Dane.

"Don’t mind me. Please carry on. I am too engrossed in the book," Dane remarked without looking up from the page.

"By the way, your parents are here," Lucian informed.

The warmth in Ruelle’s face faded.

"They must be panicking," Ruelle said, her eyes lowered. Things were happening to Caroline continuously, and it wasn’t something her parents were used to.

Dane, who had returned to his book, paused after five seconds of what Lucian said. His eyes raised and looked at his brother.

"Do you think you will be fine in their company?" Lucian asked Ruelle. "It is going to be a short investigation. But you don’t have to if you aren’t up for it."

Ruelle looked mildly surprised. She wasn’t scared of them, but they did make her uncomfortable. Her lips pursed before she nodded,

"I will be fine. Did you find anything about Caroline?" Pushing the blanket away from her lap, she stood up.

"It was one of the humans. Most likely the one who occupied the cell opposite your sister’s," Lucian answered. "Blood was found splattered inside the cell."

Ruelle sighed. It was just as she had feared. "What is the courthouse going to do?" she asked.

"The officers who were in charge of putting people in the dungeon are the ones responsible for tracking them back. Her sketch has been sent out, so at least someone must spot her somewhere," Lucian explained, while there was a slight frown on his face. "But that depends on how the prisoners plan to hide and if they move farther away from the current lands."

That was true, Ruelle thought to herself. And it was too soon to know what had happened. They walked out of the room, following by Dane, who said, "A little break would do me good from all that sitting."

Lucian then informed Ruelle, "I have sent Claude to Sexton, he will fetch Caroline’s things so that we can track her. He will return after making a trip to the castle."

"Like Zhenya?" Ruelle asked with a hint of worry.

"Don’t worry about him. He has been trained well," Lucian replied.

On the way, when Ruelle disappeared to make use of the powder room, Lucian and Dane stood out in the corridor.

"Are you seeing ghosts, Lucian? There is no way Harold can be here," Dane laughed, his eyes bright in question. "He’s going to yell bloody murder."

"He doesn’t remember anything about that night and there’s not a scratch on him," Lucian slipped his hand in his coat pocket. "It isn’t making sense," there was a sliver of irritation under his voice.

Dane’s expression turned serious and he stated, "There’s no chance for it. Fuck, I want to see the person I buried. He was a human, wasn’t he?" he questioned in doubt, and Lucian gave a nod.

"Pure human," Lucian’s lips twisted in distaste.

He hadn’t planned to tell Ruelle about what he had done to her father. He found it strange that the last time he had broken Harold Belmont’s hands, they had stayed broken for a very long time.

"Another way to find out is digging the body back. But not right now." Lucian didn’t feel it was the right time to dig it out when Harold Belmont was walking around.

"The easiest thing is to kill him a second time. Not everyone gets to kill people twice. Twice the joy," Dane’s voice fell when he caught sight of an officer entering the corridor.

Once Ruelle stepped out of the room, the three of them headed in the direction of the interrogation room. The moment the door opened, she recognised the familiar tightness in her chest. Her parents sat at the table and somehow, they looked exactly the same. And somehow, that made her feel worse as the remnants of past gnawed inside her.

Mrs. Belmont uncomfortably shifted in her seat, while Mr. Belmont’s lips were set in a thin line of displeasure. Ruelle felt it right away and her hands clenched on her sides to ground herself.

"Are all of us being interrogated?" Mr. Belmont questioned cautiously.

"Miss Belmont is part of this matter and it seemed appropriate that everyone be present," Lucian walked around the table and caught hold of the chair. But he didn’t take a seat and instead only pulled it back and looked at Ruelle. She walked towards him and sat down, facing her parents.

Dane took a second to compose himself after seeing Harold alive. He then walked towards the wall and leaned against it, while his gaze was stuck on the male human in the room.

"Double the amount of what was borrowed should be good enough for them to scurry away from you, right?" Lucian’s voice was calm as his eyes moved from the Belmont couple.

"D—Double the amount?" Mrs. Belmont stumbled over the words as she blinked.

Lucian gave a lazy nod, his tongue running across his canine. "All because I don’t want Ruelle’s family to suffer. The gratitude belongs to her."

Ruelle’s eyes widened on hearing what Lucian said and she turned to look at him. He was paying her father’s debt?

"Thank you, Ruelle," Mrs. Belmont was quick to respond. "It seems my decision was right. You’ve got a good fiance who is also looking after us," she appeased.

Ruelle only stared at her parents. The gratitude should have made her happy but instead it made her uncomfortable. Her parents had always been like this, ready to jump when an opportunity arose in front of them. Her stepmother even more. When Lucian had revealed this morning about what she had done, she had spent a few minutes thinking about it. And as much as she was grateful for how things had gone by, it didn’t reduce the truth that Megan Belmont had never seen her favourably.

A part of her still waited for her father to snap at her. To tell her she had brought misfortune upon the family again. But the words never came. Not because he had changed, but because Lucian was standing in the room.

Lucian pulled a parchment from the drawer along with the ink and quill, placing it in front of Mr. Belmont and he ordered,

"Write down the names of people you took money from and how much you owe them."

Unlike his wife, Mr. Belmont didn’t thank Ruelle and she hadn’t expected it either. Some habits remained unchanged no matter how much time passed. Her father then spoke,

"We don’t need your money. We can take good care of us. What is more important is finding Caroline right now!" Harold gritted his teeth. "She is more important than the debt collectors."

Through her fevered mind, Ruelle almost laughed. Her father had accepted money from strangers, debt collectors, neighbours and eventually from her. Pride had never appeared during those moments. Yet somehow it had arrived now.

Mrs. Belmont looked back and forth between her husband and the pureblooded vampire. She tugged on her husband’s hand to stay quiet.

"What are you doing, Harold?!" the woman whispered. "This is no time to be prideful!"

"He calls us in the guise of talking about Caroline, who knows in what kind of state she is in and he’s now looking down on us," Mr. Belmont exhaled loudly.

Ruelle’s shoulders stiffened as the accusation sounded convincing enough that a stranger might believe it. But she had spent years listening to her father shift blame whenever a situation became uncomfortable.

"Your husband must be a masochist, Mrs. Belmont," Dane commented from the back. "A man who can’t repay his debts shouldn’t be provoking the person offering to pay them."

Ruelle noticed her father’s jaw tighten at Dane’s words. His eyes flickered towards the vampire leaning against the wall before quickly looking away again.

But it was when a chuckle escaped Lucian’s lips that everyone’s attention shifted towards him. Even Ruelle looked at him in surprise. It wasn’t the nice kind of chuckle. Yet something about her father’s words seemed to amuse him.

Lucian’s fingers tapped once against the back of her chair before his gaze settled on Mr. Belmont. He found the situation ridiculous. Harold Belmont was supposed to be dead, yet here they were discussing unpaid debts.

"Very well. Let us return to the matter at hand. You say it was debt collectors. Unfortunately, that remains unverified," Lucian said, his eyes cool. "As a father, I imagine you would have been occupied with proving your daughter’s innocence or letting her free. So where were you during the last three days?"