Chapter 13: Past II - Confession

Belevere knelt down next to her friend who was shaking like a wind-blown leaf and put a hand on her back. A pang struck through her heart when the girl flinched.

“Anne?”

At the sound of her voice, Annabelle seemed to calm down a bit, though she still remained curled up, refusing to come up when Belevere pulled on her arm a bit.

“Anne. It’s okay. She’s gone. I promise I’ll protect you,” Belevere said. She tried pulling again, but Annabelle still refused to budge. Helpless, she gave up. She didn’t want to force Annebelle to do something she didn’t want to do.

Thinking back on what happened earlier, she really had been too forceful with her. But she had no choice. She couldn’t keep watching Annabelle be terrorized by her mother like that.

“I’ll go get you something warm to drink, okay. How does tea sound?” Belevere stood up to leave, but she heard a soft voice coming from behind her and Annabelle pulling on her jacket.

The voice came again, barely audible. “Don’t go...stay here with me.”

With a start, Belevere realized just how unfamiliar this side of Annabelle was to her. In all those years of friendship with Annabelle, she didn’t think she’d ever seen her like this—so vulnerable, so helpless. The only times Annabelle came close was on certain days after spending a long time locked in her room.

Everyone had secrets that they didn’t want to reveal so she never pressed Annabelle too hard about what had happened during those times, but now she realized that most likely Lady Vesmelda Florent had been contacting Annabelle and renewing the fear her daughter had of her.

Until now, she had only thought that Annabelle disliked or was a little afraid of her mother, because that was all she ever indicated, but Belevere hadn’t expected the fear to be to this extent.

Although she didn’t want to force Annabelle to talk about things that she was uncomfortable to talk about, the two of them were no longer just students. If Belevere was to help her oppose her mother, she wanted to at least know what her friend went through.

Then she’d have to do some research of her own.

After some more coaxing, she managed to convince Annabelle to shift a bit so there was room to sit next to her. It was a tight squeeze in the corner, but she made it work. The way they squished together let her feel every movement that Annabelle did, and Belevere was happy to find that Annabelle had stopped trembling at least.

“Anne, can you tell me what happened between you and your mother?”

Annabelle hesitated. “I... don’t want to.”

It wasn’t going to be easy to convince Annabelle to talk. But Annabelle had shouldered the burden for so long now, Belevere was confident that if Annabelle shared some of it, it’d be better for her in the long run, even if it would be hard talking about it at the time.

“Come on, Anne, you’re stronger than this. Can you stand up?”

When Annabelle shook her head, Belevere remembered all the things that Vesmelda had said when she talked to Annabelle. She had called her a failure, a disappointment. Things that she knew Annabelle was not.

“Anne, no matter what your mother says, just ignore them because that’s not true. She’s just trying to upset you,” she said. “You’re strong. Stronger than me. Look at everything you’ve accomplishedI wouldn’t be able to do that if I had to interact with someone like her regularly.”

If it wasn’t for her feelings for Annabelle and having seen firsthand how Vesmelda treated Annabelle, Belevere doubted that she would be able to stand up to that woman. 

She was just too powerful.

There were very few people in Tamsel III that had not heard of the Florent Group, a knight faction just a little weaker than Alecto’s father’s Maxime Group.

However, where the Maxime Group focused on accruing a lot of military power to solve their problems and bully lesser players around, the Florent Group was much less conspicuous in their dealings. Thanks to their developed intelligence network, the Florent Group consistently managed to outmaneuver other more powerful factions as long as open war did not occur.

As Baron Arvent was still healthy and had a firm grasp on power in Tamsel III, open war was unlikely to occur any time soon, giving the Florent Group ample opportunities to continue their dealings.

Opposing Vesmelda Florent was like signing her own death warrant. If it was for Annabelle, Belevere didn’t care.

Belevere sighed. “Please tell me what she had done to you. I want to help you,” she pleaded. “I’m sorry I didn’t realize sooner what you were going through.”

“It’s not your fault. And... it’s nothing, really,” Annabelle murmured. “See? I’m fine now.” She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, staggering listlessly to her feet.

Belevere recognized that look. That same look she had always disregarded before. That listlessness she had grown to regard as just one of Annabelle’s quirks turned out to be something so insidious in nature.

It was just a defensive mechanism that Annabelle developed to suppress her traumas and let it fester. While Annabelle always seemed fine a few minutes later, if it kept happening, there was no doubt that Annabelle would break eventually.

Who knows if one day Annabelle will simply stop suppressing it and stay like that forever?

Belevere grabbed Annabelle’s hand, stopping her from leaving. “You’re not fine! How could anyone see their mother and act like that? It’s not normal. Anne, please! Let me help you carry some of that burden.”

As soon as the words came out of her mouth, Belevere realized that she had said the wrong thing. Being as considerate as Annabelle was, there was no way that she’d want to trouble her with any burdens. 

“No, I mean...” She quickly tried to correct herself, hoping that Annabelle wouldn’t notice. “It hurts me to see you like this, Anne.”

Annabelle looked up at that, although her eyes still looked blank and unseeing. But it was still a reaction. Hope blossomed in Belevere’s chest. Although she was essentially taking advantage of Annabelle’s feelings for her, perhaps the only way to get to Annabelle was through someone Annabelle cared about and not herself. 

Whatever they were going to do, first she had to get Annabelle out of this mire she had created around herself.

Belevere cupped Annabelle’s face, staring into her eyes, hoping that some of her sincerity will show through. “From now on, we’ll be together, so we should do everything together. Your pain is my pain, and my joy is your joy...”

Belevere blushed a little, a little embarrassed despite the situation. Until now, she had never confessed to Annabelle in a straightforward fashion. All she did were dropped hints that Annabelle was too shy to accept.

She had wanted her confession to be a happy occasion, but instead, she was using it to try and pull Annabelle from the abyss once and for all. 

“...so our struggles should be fought through side by side, right? There’s no need to handle everything by yourself. We’re tied together,” she said.

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Yay, she's finally going for it!

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Next Chapter: Chapter 14: Face Your Fears