BXBX NOVEL Chapter 809
Belle gave a harsh shrug and a grunt before saying, “I suppose it depends on how you look at it. See, when I was younger I... indulged a bit. I had no interest in marrying. The company was MINE and I wasn’t exactly keen to share it. Then... well... I got to thinking about what would happen to it once I was gone. So... I decided to be a bit less... careful during my encounters.
“A particularly memorable encounter, and one that I attribute to Gaston’s conception was with the current Lord of the 8th. He was clearly interested and my looks were much better in my youth... and before my... issues with the world started. So, I bedded him for a better price on some goods he was offering. I don’t regret it. It was the right call at the time, and I love the son I’m certain resulted from it...
“But of course... that means that Gaston was the bastard for the Lord of the 8th. So... when he’s finally free of his baron wife... well... I think any bastards had to go. Personally, I do wonder how long he knew about Gaston. It isn’t exactly hard to notice. They look quite similar, especially, or so I’m told, if you knew the Lord back when he was younger. He’s filled out a bit now and lost the muscle.
“The other reason I suspect foul play is I was looking into the possibility of Gaston having Innate Strength magic. I can’t be sure of it. He’s always been quite strong for his age, but a lot of that can be attributed being a merchant’s son and being able to more easily afford protein for his diet along with his desire to work out. I’d had suspicions for quite a while but finding an artifact compatible with strength magic is nearly impossible, hiring a tutor is like wishing for the moon, and even just paying for the TEST to confirm my guess was much to expensive.
“I mean. What would I do with the knowledge exactly? Inform my son that despite having a rare magical affinity he would never be able to use it because finding such an obscure artifact could bankrupt small kingdoms and I’m just a merchant? Still. He was getting older. Noticing things and I... well I did acquire one of those tests anyway. It was intending as my wedding present for the two... well. Doesn’t matter now,”
Belle sighed, shoulder drooping. “The thing is. Those points are just guesses. Unlike the first two. I mean, I know how my parents died, and I know how unlikely it is those crates were left unsecure... but I don’t know how much Gaston’s strength really helped him. Nor can I truly confirm he was the Lord’s son. Sure I think that, and I didn’t really sleep with anyone else around the right time but I did sleep with a couple of men the month before, and a few after the Lord. Though in the case of afterwards all bar one of those encounters were after I’d missed my monthly so...”
.....
Belle shrugged, “Really if it wasn’t him based on resemblance, timing and a mother’s gut instincts then I’m not going to cry about it. I’m pretty sure I wasn’t the only one to think my son and the Lord were related and even if it isn’t true well... if enough people believe it. Enough for it to potentially cause a succession issue... well... that’s all that’s required. It was a bit of a scandal anyway. We celebrate marriage so strongly that it had to be. So I had a lot more eyes on me than most.
“Did get a lot of people interested in me a after I started showing though. Apparently all the perverts came out of the woodwork. Still, I’m not begrudging them that. I was horny, and a couple of them even gave me some nice gifts to sell. Easily made back the money I lost taking time off for the birth,”
*What do you think?* Belle started clicking again. “Ok really? I feel like I should be able to have this conversation with Lily. You dropped a lot of compelling evidence that your son was murdered and I feel like it should be discussed,”
“And it can be discussed with me if you’re going to do it here, especially if it leads to you asking more questions. You think I’ve shared this information with many people? I’ve kept it all damned quiet. I certainly don’t want to get taken out as well. I might not have any plans for what I’m going to do with my company once I pass, but I ain’t passin anytime soon!” declared Belle.
Kat felt a minor amount of anger burn at the statement. “I’m sorry... ‘no plans’? Belle... I get that your upset about your son, and I don’t begrudge you that... but you live a few streets away from a rather large orphanage. A building full of kids that would love to have a parent again. And you mean to tell me you have NO plans for what to do with it?”
Belle didn’t back down, “What’s it to you? You’re not in line to inherit. And you certainly didn’t grow up in that orphanage. Did you forget I know you’re a demon or something?”
Kat felt her face twitching at the dismissal. She wasn’t truly angry but let a bit of her demonic energy seep into her vocal cords anyway. “I may not have grown up in THIS orphanage but I did still grow up in ONE. I never needed a parent, I had Gramps, my orphanage director and the equivalent to the matron but that doesn’t mean much considering nine out of ten kids I looked after while I was there DID want a family. Even if it’s just you by yourself, it’d be a dream come true for many of them. That’s not even taking into account that the Lord has been screwing them over for a while now,”
Belle growled at Kat’s response but leant back into her chair, calming herself. Scowl stayed on though. “Fine. Maybe if I can get a bit of closure for myself about Gaston I’ll look into it. I’ll even pretend I’m not listening to whatever you want to talk about with your girlfriend,”
Lily glared at Belle. She was still standing behind Kat though so it really didn’t look all that threatening. Belle just ignored it, looking up at the ceiling, intentionally ignoring whatever the pair were doing. Seeing Lily in a one-sided staring contest Kat sighed and said, “Right well... what do you think Lily?”
Lily pouted at Kat but couldn’t stop herself from responding for long, “I... I don’t really know. I mean... it certainly sounds compelling. My concern is a lot more on the side of ‘how would we ever prove it’ I mean... this isn’t exactly a NEW crime Kat. This is one that’s years old. Even if Belle is right, which it sounds like she probably is, we don’t have any good way to prove that. Neither of us have like... time powers or truth compulsion as part of our powerset. Maybe if I knew anything about paper magic I could make like a magic contract or something to compel truth? I dunno. I haven’t really learnt paper magic yet. What do you think?”
“I’m also not entirely sure what to do with this sort of information. I mean... Apep will probably want to help just to help Zuhra, and Jara’s the same... but they then have to convince their parents to re-open a two year old investigation against the Lord of the 8th. That... that can’t be a good idea politically speaking,” said Kat. Belle scoffed in the background but didn’t turn away from the ceiling.
“Would you dream powers work?” asked Lily ignoring the angry old woman in the room.
Kat shrugged, “I don’t even understand them properly. Besides, that’s not something we could use as evidence either. All it would be good for is making us MORE certain but I mean... Belle isn’t ever going to not be convinced at this point. I’m also pretty sure I agree with her, and you do as well. So we don’t need convincing... so who would it be for? Anybody who really needed a push in our direction wouldn’t be convinced jut because I said I saw something in his head,”
Lily bit her lip and looked over to Belle, “Well Belle... do YOU have any ideas? Because honestly... we don’t,”
Belle shifted in her chair to face forward again, scowl still on her face. “Do you really think if I had any idea how to prove that bastard killed my son I wouldn’t already be hounding his ass?”
“Well... no but you have been at this longer then the thirty minutes we’ve had,” responded Lily a lot snarkier then intended.
Belle sighed, “The issue is I’m really not sure how much work it’d take to set up an accident like that. I can’t really look into it to actively either because then people start asking ME questions. I... I can’t even remember if they simply left off the nets or cut through them... I think... I think they made them looked frayed but... I was a complete mess when the investigation was happening so my memory isn’t the best for it...”