Inky Book

Belle was still struck by the letter as she continued to clean the room. The blood had been cleaned but the image didn’t leave her mind.

Why did Rachel send those letter to their grandmother? What does she meant by ‘him’? Was it truly a poem? An enigmatic code? But Belle couldn’t find any hidden code which only her or her grandmother would understand. A warning? No… it didn’t felt like one to Belle.

Amongst the siblings, Belle believed she knows the most about her sister, Rachel but now she felt at loss, understanding nothing, not even her sister’s intention. But indeed, there was one thing she understood from the letter. That the words that her sister wrote in the letter was engraved with emotions.

Who us the man she mentioned in the letter then? Dante?

Belle who found the little clue decided it would be faster to ask the person in the question and immediately searched for the butler who she found walking on the first floor.

“Albert!” Belle ran down the stairs, “Prepare the carriage.”

“The carriage?” Albert, the butler of the house who had been working in the house since the previous generation was puzzled by the young lady’s sudden decision. “Where to, milady?”

“Baron Dante’s mansion,” she answered, “Quickly please.”

During the ride, Belle reflected on what she knew about Baron Dante. Other than what she heard from Rachel, Belle barely knew anything about Dante; moreover, she rarely talked to him and remembered only having a light discussion to him once.

The man was known to be strict and stoic. He never smiled, and Belle see him as a person who was too tense to befriend with. Rachel found it an adorable charm from the man and for she knew, her sister was madly in love with him. She doesn’t know what Dante thought about Rachel, however. But seeing how the wedding was a smooth process and there was never a fight between them, she took that both of them were in love with each other.

Belle stepped down hurriedly from the carriage once they stopped at the house. She was surprised when all of a sudden Dante had been standing in front of the mansion.

“Miss Belle,” he greeted.

Belle felt awkward as his early arrival wasn’t a part of her thorough calculation. She smiled politely, “Mr. Dante, good afternoon. My apologies for coming uninvited, I have something I wish to ask you.”

“Is this about Rachel?” Dante questioned at once. Belle looked at the man, she heard it from Rachel and her friends how Dante was known to be one of the most handsome bachelor in their town while it is true, Belle was far from attracted by him.

“Has someone came here?” Belle questioned.

“The authorities,” he replied. “They doubted that I was in love with Rachel and suspected I had murdered her. How could they dare say those words,” the man ground his teeth with his hand balled into a fist. This explain his terrible mood when greeting her.

Although Belle had doubted the man to like her sister sincerely, seeing his anger, she knew that he did loved Rachel.

“During the incident, I was in the neighboring town,” He then explained. When Belle looked at him in question as to why he had stated those, his frown was knit tighter, “I thought you had come to ask this like the others? They all thought that I had killed her. Rachel. How can I? She wanted a simple wedding and she almost had it if not… if not she died.”

There was regret, anger, and visible sadness coming from Dante’s face that was hard for Belle to suspect it was all an act.

“I don’t doubt you, Mr. Dante, I am sorry to bother you in such a time,” Belle saw the man shaking his head in response.

“Everyone is having a hard time, including you and your family, I am certain. I need some time alone but I can still answer your questions,” Dante responded politely. Belle had noticed now how pale the man’s face was and how haggard he appeared, as if he was lacking sleep like her and everyone in Caperly Family.

Belle became hesitant to bother the man but she couldn’t rest without finding answer as well. She refused to believe Rachel had taken her own life. “Had Rachel ever talk to you about anything before her death? Like a poem… perhaps?”

“Poem?” Dante frowned to rethink his moments with Rachel which was a heavy task for him. He then shook his head, “No, that never happened.”

Belle thought of giving the letter that Rachel had written but the content of the letter was too ambiguous and she didn’t want to create a misunderstanding between her late sister and her fiance.

“Or maybe she had talked about someone… who she think closely?” Belle didn’t specify and Dante tried to give some time to think of it but was at loss of knowledge.

“Most of the time, she talked about you while reading books with me. We both love peaceful moments and usually spend our time together doing simple activities such as reading… but I remember Rachel loved a certain book very much.” Dante responded weakly.

“Book?” Belle tilted her head.

“It is a book with a very inky cover. It appeared ominous but Rachel loved to read the book. She had read it for all I can remember. I never knew what was written in it. I’m sorry,” Dante stopped to wiped his tears as he talked. “When you spoke about poem that was all that comes in my mind.”

Belle saw that Dante was in dire need of time to be alone. She thanked the man for the information she received before retiring back to her home. She continued to think about Dante’s mention of her sister even after she had rested in her room.

She wondered about the reason why Rachel had died. If she had truly took her own life, was there a reason for it? She never saw any sign that could lead to her sister’s death. That being said, she didn’t have any evidence that could point to her sister being murdered.

Belle recalled how when they were young, Rachel would often carry her on her back and how even as they had gotten older, her sister would do the same thing to spoil her.

Tears dribbled from the corner of her eyes and Belle decided to move her body around, to prevent herself from crying and wallowing in her sadness.

As she made herself to her sister’s room, Belle was reminded with Dante’s mention of an inky book. Out of curiosity, she decided to find the book.

Starting from the shelves, Belle went around to search for the book but there was too few books that Rachel owned. By the time she had finished searching for a book, Belle could only find seven books of her sister’s possession. None of them have the black cover Dante stated.

Belle turned and open the books, finding them mostly to be stories that she had also read. “It’s not here,” whispered Belle to herself as she looked around the room.

The maid who had stepped inside the room out of worry for Belle heard her words and asked, “Are you searching for anything, milady?”

“Orpha, do you know anything about a black book that my sister often read?” Belle questioned her maid who then shook her head in reply. Right, Orpha had always stayed beside her she wouldn’t know anything. Orpha who was then called by the other maid, reluctantly left Belle’s side. But Belle was too immersed on finding the book she didn’t notice how once Orpha had stepped out of the room, the door to Rachel’s room slowly closed itself in a softest click.

Belle looked around the room, her hands were set on the side of her dress. She then recalled Rachel’s habit of storing her secret items inside her closet where there would be a small gap where she could fit a few things inside.

Thinking so, Belle hurried to find the small gap, her fingers felt around the bottom of the surface until she felt was seemed to be a book.

Pulling it outside, Belle’s eyes were stared affixed on the title of the jet black book.

‘Peccare.’