Was that just a random remark that Solmire was making, or did it mean more?
Bell stood up off his bed and was about to head downstairs to eat dinner when he noticed in the mirror that there was a strange glimmer in his eyes.
Leaning in, it was faint but he could see that deep within the redness of his eyes, there was Solmire's insignia.
'How biased was he towards Bell?' he pondered.
Not only according to the novel but also the history books he had read at the library, severing your tie with a God was not only the most offensive thing you could do to a God, but oftentimes, it would lead to their resentment and they would send their followers at your throat.
But rather than punishing Bell, Silmore left him with a gift, a mark of his blessing.
'Until I die… nobody else can ever be granted this mark.'
The mark was a blessing, but in a sense, it was also a curse. It was the source of envy because of its nature of granting the recipient of the blessing the effects of the marking without requiring them to be a follower of the God. So you could be on the path of a whole different skill tree while receiving the benefit of a separate deity.
"At least it's hard to notice," Bell muttered as he pulled away from the mirror.
Although he felt weak at the moment, drained of all his strength and energy due to losing all of the abilities and perks that were unlocked by the original Bell, he was feeling rather refreshed.
He made the decision expecting to start his journey from scratch, but he ended up leaving with a mark that would benefit him in the present and even more in the future.
"Thank you, Solmire," he said.
If he hadn't read the novel and knew which path was the correct one for him to take if he was correct in his assumption that he was brought here with a grand purpose, then he would've repaid the God's expectation by unlocking every star that he could in the skill tree.
* * *
"Rather than hitting you or even yelling at you, he warned you to be careful with the money?"
"Yes," the little girl frantically nodded her head.
"Is he a fool?"
The girl shook her head.
"Do you remember what he looked like?"
"Uhm… he had black hair and his eyes, they were like red but kind of a sad red."
"A sad red?"
The little girl was speaking to her boss, the one who controlled and protected all of the young beggars in the neighborhood.
This boss was only 15 years old. She had long white hair that curved inwards as if it were pointing to the middle line where her eyebrows met, where her nose was, her lips were, etc. The hair was unkempt and wild like a wolf cut, except even more primal.
Her skin was black and more beautiful than the finest obsidian. Her lips were like her skin, except a few shades darker.
Her eyes, hidden underneath the curtains that were her hair, were shut close, but beneath the lids were two different eye colors. The right one was a vibrant blue, while the left was a grey that looked more chaotic than a tornado.
'There's only one family who have black hair and red eyes in this city… at least that I know of.'
The Agnus family.
Maya "looked" at the little girl and asked, "How old did he look?"
"I think… I think he's around your age, boss."
"My age?"
'Bell?'
She shook her head. It couldn't be him. Even though no other students knew because of the Agnus family using their immense wealth to cover the incident, Maya was aware of their dark secret. She knew that Bell Agnus had done heinous crimes to a fellow schoolmate — Diana Watson.
'That person is a monster. He wouldn't have treated Emily that nicely. It must be one of his older brothers, a cousin perhaps, or maybe there's another black-haired and red-eyed person living in this city that has nothing to do with the Agnus.'
"Whoever this person was, he was loaded," Maya said as she tossed the wallet back to Emily, who caught it with so much shine in her eyes that it was like sparkling diamonds.
The amount of money that was in the wallet was more than the combined amount that all of the children had gathered in a month's time.
'If he knew he was pickpocketed and let Emily get away with it, then… he's either a very generous person or he likes children and didn't mind being robbed by one.'
Maya wanted to meet this person.
And if possible, she wanted to try and follow him home, see if she could "borrow" some of his wealth.
* * *
"Brother!"
Running towards Bell, who had made his way down the stairs, was a 2-year-old girl who shared most of his features. She leaped into the air and was caught by Bell, who positioned her in a more comfortable position before continuing his walk towards the dining table.
Tiara watched as a subtle smile appeared on his face.
'At least he still has the same love he had for his little sister. The only time we ever see him smile is when she's around.'
Tiara didn't want to admit it but she was a little jealous of her youngest daughter who was able to get that kind of reaction from Bell who had done a complete 180 after the bedroom self-confinement.
But more than jealousy, she was extremely happy that despite all the changes, his love for Rubi hadn't.
"How's your day been, Rubi?" Bell asked his little sister as he sat down at the table and placed her down on his left thigh.
"Good. Ate carrots. Ewww."
"You ate carrots? Wow. I'm so proud of you. You're a big girl now, huh?"
"Yes!"
"Hahaha," he softly laughed.
"Come on, Rubi. Sit in your own seat and stop bothering your older brother."
"Yes, Mommy," Rubi responded as she leaped off her thigh and landed on the floor, raising her arms into the air as if she had just completed an impressive gymnastic flip.
Godfrey, who had just finished his important call on the phone, which was still in its primitive era in comparison to Earth's smartphones, entered the room, joining the three Agnus who were present at the moment.
About to say something, he placed his metal hand on Bell's shoulder, but his train of thought was interrupted. Raising his eyebrow, he turned to his youngest grandson and said, "Meet me in my office after dinner."
Tiara was wondering what was wrong, but judging by the relaxed expression on Godfrey's face as well as Bell's lack of reaction, it didn't seem to be a big deal.
Dinner was the same as the past week. It was mainly Rubi speaking the entire time while the other three responded occasionally when she asked them a question.
Once dinner was over, the maids grabbed the plates and cleaned up the table. Tiara picked up Rubi, about to put her to bed. In the meantime, Bell followed his grandfather.
After Bell closed the door, Godfrey didn't turn to look at his grandson. He just continued walking until he reached the shelf tucked in the corner of the office, where he grabbed a small wooden box. He tossed the box over his shoulder and Bell caught it.
Godfrey took a few steps toward the window and stared out of it.
"Inside that box is the eye of a dragon. If you offer it to Solmire, he should forgive you and take you back under his wings."
Bell looked at the wooden box and began calculating its worth. Forget a number, the only way one would be able to afford this dragon eye would be through trading other valuables in exchange for it.
He tossed it back and Godfrey caught it despite not looking in its direction.
"Don't worry about the price. If it means our Familial God will forgive you, I don't care."
"...Solmire wasn't the one who severed the link."
Godfrey's eyes quivered. He finally turned around and looked at his grandson who didn't have a single hint of falsity or humor on his face.
"You severed the link?"
"Yeah."
"...Why?"
In honesty, he wanted to grab his grandson by the collar and scream at how stupid he was but because of his worries that Bell's recent recovery was a fragile one, not wanting to push him to the brink of shutting himself off from the rest of the world again — he refrained from doing so.
'This is the highest my blood pressure has been in decades!'
"Why?" he repeated himself.
"Because I have to."
"You have to? Did someone force you to do this? Name them. I'll go kill—"
"No," Bell shook his head. "Nobody forced me to do this. It was a decision that I made after thinking about it for a long time."
"If this is about your guilt for what you did to that girl, then—"
"No. It isn't that. I didn't sever the link because I felt like I was unworthy because of my actions. It's just that the path I foresee myself walking in the future… this is a choice that I have to make."
Godfrey went silent.
"May I ask what this path entails?"
Bell gave a fake smirk. "Hopefully I'm wrong, but I think a lot of pain and hard decisions."
'I have to be here in this world for a reason,' he repeated the sentiment that had been lingering in his mind for the past week.
Godfrey could see the sincerity in his eyes. He meant and believed wholeheartedly in his words.
"And what does severing the link have to do with this path?"
"I can't explain it. I wish I could, but certain restrictions prevent me from doing so," Bell answered.
"...Okay. If this is the path you feel you have to take, then I'll support you. I'll convince your father as well. But, take the eye. At least ask Solmire for forgiveness so that he doesn't demand we disown you or worse, cause you any harm."
Bell shook his head.
"Don't be stubborn. This is my grandson that I'm—"
"Grandfather, it's alright. Solmire and I already had a conversation, and he accepted my wishes. He also granted me the mark of his blessings."
Godfrey was already bamboozled that his grandson just casually mentioned he had a conversation with their Familial God as if they were drinking buddies. The mention of the mark caused him to freeze in place.
"...Grandfather? Are you alright?"
"Yeah," he said as a smile appeared on his face. Hiding the shock that was shaking all of his bones, he walked over to Bell and grabbed his hand. Facing his palm up, he placed the box on it.
"I don't—"
"Just take it. I never take back things I intended to give people. Even if it's a dragon eye. Sell it. Trade it. Do whatever you want with it. It's yours now. I'm just glad to hear that you won't be the recipient of Solmire's wrath."
This was usually where people would tear up, but for Bell, the most he could muster was a smile, one that was partially half-assed, the other half being sincerity.
"Go on and head to bed. I won't keep you here any longer."
Bell nodded and left the office.
Godfrey continued to listen to his footsteps, and only once he confirmed that Bell was in his room, he grabbed a vial of purple liquid from his drawer and chugged it. He wasn't sure if he was going to receive it, but he wanted to have a conversation with Solmire. He had a couple of questions he wanted to ask.