Claimed by the Prince of Darkness

Chapter 141: Debts That Wait

"H–How did you find me?" Mr. Belmont’s voice cracked. He stumbled before going to stand behind the lone armchair as if it could protect him from the pureblooded vampire. "You already took the house. What else do you want from me?!"

Lucian did not respond and instead, he stepped inside the house. The sharp sound of his polished shoes struck the wooden floor, echoing through the living room. Each step seemed louder than the last in the suffocating silence.

He stopped a few steps away from the humans, his eyes resting on Mr. Belmont, calm and unblinking.

Mrs. Belmont offered a deep bow and pleaded, "I don’t know what foolish promise my husband has made you, but we—" She fell silent when Lucian raised his hand slightly without even looking at her. The gesture was small, but it was enough to make her swallow the rest of her words.

"Harold Belmont, you are charged with treason against the Crown and the courthouse," Lucian finally spoke, "you are under arrest."

The room went silent.

"What?" Mr. Belmont whispered, looking as though the ground had vanished beneath his feet.

Mrs. Belmont looked between the two men, her face draining of colour. She whispered, "What...treason?"

"I committed no treason," Mr. Belmont said, his voice rising in panic. "Someone has lied. I am being accused falsely."

Lucian pulled out a rolled parchment and dropped it onto the table. He said, "Perhaps this will refresh your memory."

Mr. Belmont hurried forward and picked it up. His eyes widened as they moved over the first few lines. His mouth fell open in shock and he denied, "This isn’t mine! It is someone else with my name."

"How interesting," Lucian responded dryly. "It is the same signature as the one on the documents you used when you pawned the house."

Not knowing what they were talking about Mrs. Belmont took the parchments from her husband’s hand and her eyes skimmed through them. Half way, her hand began to tremble.

"You signed the treaty knowing the terms. And instead of honouring it, you sent her to Sexton. If I did not know better, Mr. Belmont. I would think you were trying to avoid the treaty altogether. After all, when the war took place," Lucian paused for a brief second, "you disappeared."

"But that was twelve years ago," Mrs. Belmont said carefully. "And after the conflict began, we believed the matter had been abandoned. The courthouse never pursued it, and the other side never came forward. If there is blame, it should not fall on us alone."

Lucian let out a quiet chuckle.

"Is that so? They did not run. They did not hide. And they did not break their word. You did." His eyes returned to Mr. Belmont. He raised his hand slightly. "Take them."

"No!" Mrs. Belmont said immediately with an alarmed expression. "I did nothing. I did not sign anything to be executed!"

But Lucian didn’t care about it. He asked, "When one member of a family commits treason, the punishment rarely concerns that person alone. You should know that."

Mrs. Belmont stared at him with her mouth dry.

"No one came for us," she said quickly. "We were afraid. After the conflict... we thought it had been forgotten. We were trying to protect our daughters. They were frightened. Both of them were frightened of vampires."

Lucian was silent for a moment. Then he questioned, "Is that why you married one daughter to a halfling and sent the other to Sexton? Because they were scared of vampires?" He tilted his head slightly.

The woman’s hands clenched into tight fists at the thought of spending the rest of her life behind bars where sunlight never reached and neither did clean air. She quickly fell on her knees as if in shock and begged, "Please spare us! Harold, say something!" she cried in panic.

Harold Belmont had never thought that the step he had taken to get a position in the courthouse would end up turning against him in time. He gritted his teeth, knowing this person before him had intentionally tried to dig about him! Else, there was no way for anyone to know about this.

now, Mr. Belmont was forced to bow his head. Also, he didn’t want to break another limb of his where he would have to limp in

speaking to. You should have taken better care of it. It was

Belmont had begun to sweat even though it was winter. He wiped his

are innocent folks and this is all just a bad turn of events. You are

watched the man’s face carefully. He could almost see the thoughts forming as if calculating, searching, and weighing what else could be offered, what else

at Sexton, her father would have sold her. The very thought had black tendrils escape from his body, his corruption spilling

gasped at the sight of something so unknown that

turned for the best, thought Lucian. Because if the Belmonts hadn’t sent Ruelle to Sexton, he would have never known. He remembered the time when they had

something. "There may be

Mrs. Belmont

signed twelve years ago still stands. Breaking it is treason. However, there is a difference

slightly, trying

parchment closer and tapped a section near

will be recorded as a formal clarification. The treaty will be dissolved and replaced with a penalty decided by the courthouse. In other words, the courthouse will only

asked, "Then the courthouse will not

almost held a position within it. But

"On the

how these procedures work," Lucian stated, and it seemed to

"Of course I know how it works. Bring the pen, Megan." Mrs. Belmont quickly

Belmont sign his name and once it was done, he pulled the document away. Inspecting it for a brief moment, he rolled and placed it in his inner

"How much time will it take for it to be

weeks," Lucian answered, and he turned ready to leave, when Mr. Belmont

pureblooded vampire would come at him again. He thought the debt collectors were

remarked before walking out of the Henleys’ residence, where the door was

to his wife. "The girl does not know when to hold her tongue, and the last thing we need is for this to be

the carriage and Claude opened the carriage door.

thought you were going to send them to the

the officer. "The

heard the officer

doubted their younger daughter was any different. Apparently two of the victims had purchased knitwear from the Belmonts, and June Clifford had been seen leaving their

forgotten the smell of rot from that day in class. Even Dane had not been able to find a trail, and it hit

the treaty going to be dissolved...?" Claude’s words trailed at what

carriage before replying, "I told him

slightly.

renewal. He would

lanterns and candles burned brightly,

now, Ruelle, if in the end we are only to be

last week of the bidding. To see what they can still extract before the bidding,"

the ball, but so far, there had been no response. In dire times, hope was a cruel thing, but it was often all a person had left. Ruelle reached out and gently patted Hailey’s

would all be together, and the thought sat heavily

you free? That should solve it, shouldn’t

from the table. "Me too, Your Highness?" she asked with

wore a

Ruelle said, and a frown settling on his face. "When someone buys a human in Sexton, it gives them a chance to earn. A place to

buyer?" Edward asked, raising his