BLOODY LOVE'S

Episode 214

"I don't need an apology" said Maria, giving up wiping her cheeks. Tears still melt due to a mixture of pain in the head. His temples were throbbing pain and the shadows of memories that did not belong to him were still always flashing like broken, disturbing scenes.

Maria wants to continue her affirmation, saying that she is not in disbelief but afraid to see Jose hurt. But that statement would have hurt Jose's self-esteem, so he held back.

"I'm not endangering myself on purpose" said Jose Lirih.

They sat side by side, but the man's voice seemed to have come from somewhere far away, instantly making Maria fear Jose would disappear suddenly.

"The problem, on some occasions, is that it's the only option I have. If I pause to think about whether there are other options, time will be wasted. If time is wasted, what will happen can be the worst choice. I could've just not been able to finish whatever I wanted to do." Jose looked straight ahead. His eyes were as hard as stone. "There's no time to doubt. Once in doubt, I could slip."

Maria knew the man was thinking about Higgins. Jose still always regretted his dead workers because he didn't move faster, didn't make more informed decisions. "You're too hard on yourself."

Jose shakes. "I've only realized recently .. that in my every move, I also bear the fate of others." He clenched his eyelids. "There are people willing to get hurt or even die for me. Not a few who swore to dedicate their lives to protect me. One of them has died. He hasn't even been buried yet. I haven't had time to give him a proper funeral .. If I don't act so hard on myself, how many people will die when I'm hurt?"

"Then you should know how I feel now" Maria said dryly. "That's how I feel. This all happened because I had a face similar to Arabella, right?"

"You guys don't look alike" Jose said. He looked sharply, looking at the profile of Mary's face. "If you guys are that similar, Uncle Marco must have been aware and astonished from the start. You know he never forgets people's faces. He had seen another Arabella, used as a medium before."

"For Uncle Marco, everyone's faces are different" Maria said flatly. "Even identical twins can be distinguished easily because it looks different in his eyes. You are too, right. It's in your genes, I guess."

"Blonde Arabella hair, brown hair. You're prettier anyway."

Maria rolled her eyes. "Serious talk doesn't stop you from throwing seduction, hm?"

Jose laughs. He paused for a moment, then continued in a slightly urgent tone, "Don't go see him. If Clearwater and Marsh manage to break the shield cluster Sir William made, you can take cover outside Aston until this is done."

"You're telling me to hide like a cowardly rat?"

"What are the cowards from saving themselves?"

"You have no right to prevent me, Jose Argent." Mary leapt down from the bed, turning in one sharp turn. This time there were no tears. There is no sad look. His blue eyes flashed with anger. "You don't want to be quiet for your own safety, do you? When your uncles tell you to shut up for safety, how do you feel? Did you hide in your room like a little mouse? You should be the one who understands best what I feel right now!"

"Our conditions are different. I'm not in danger."

"Not threatened by danger?" Maria shook her impatient hands. "Therefore you hunted the undead all night? Is that why you vomited blood and nosebleeds?"

An awkward silence filled the room. The two stared at each other stubbornly, no one wanted to give up even though they were both confused as to why they even got into a fight.

"All right," Jose finally relented. His voice is ice cold. "Just your luck. You can roam around free out there, trust yourself in others, anyone, even a puff, not me."

"You sulk like a child."

"You who are sulking, Marry," sambar Jose, now stand up, one hand placed on the waist. "You came here to get angry. From the beginning, you didn't want to visit but scold me."

"I'm worried about you!"

"Omong empty. Whatever I say, you just want to fight it. Nevermind! I'm lazy to argue with you." Jose was getting angry. "Go there wherever you like!"

Mary bit the tip of her lips, desperately holding back tears. At first he thought it was coming from his head that was like it was about to break and was filled with the sound of a bee hum. But he was wrong. Jose's rejection scratches him, hurting him deeper than he thought, and he doesn't like it.

He circulated his gaze around the room, like looking for a gap to take shelter. There's no hiding place. This room is Jose territory. Everything belongs to that man.

Maria took a deep breath, trying to calm her heart. "Lately ..Every time I'm with you, I can't be myself." Breathe one. "I'm always fucked. Every time I worry about you, I can't stop being angry and irritated, and you don't even care about that." Breath two. "I hate you."

Jose dropped his head to the right side, his facial expression unfathomable. "Is that so?" reply lirih.

Long silence filled the room. Maria rubbed her heavy, wet eyelashes. "I hate you" he whispered quickly, more like convincing himself.

"If you call that feeling hate, I feel it too. It's because the hatred is extinguished that I want you to be in a safe place. Don't come to Flora's. Please."

Mary raised her face. There was a strange electric shiver stinging his stomach when their eyes met a glance. Jose was there, two steps away from him, just standing still without doing anything. But the existence and the way the man looked at her was enough to make Maria feel so weak and strong at the same time. Confusing and mixed feelings. He wanted to completely give up, drowning in indulging in that feeling, but the sheer intensity of the memories in his head made a high barrier wall. The shadow of how he made out with Sir William blocked him like a barbed-on fence, reminding him that he was inappropriate.

Jose smiled gently, almost like a bashful. But those black eyes were staring fixedly and seriously. "I hated you first, Marry. Long since before all this happened .. I really .. hate you so much."

Maria really wanted to give up.

***

Wooden boxes containing weapons lay in Argent's manor courtyard. Marco took one double-barrelled rifle from there, peering through the crosshairs.

"Just like a paper sigil, this weapon is useless" Rolan reminded. He was actually very tired, but still could not sleep even though he tried to lie in bed. "Have I told you about Jose's skull?"

"He was thrown down" said Marco, who never forgot the slightest detail. "He also fell when Jose beat him up at the dance, right? So he can be dropped. If the devil appears, we can try to flush holy water or onion water or oil, and burn it. Put him in the horse-drawn carriage, throw him into the river Bjork. Jose will be there and I'll see for myself how Miracle Argent will be the main topic of tomorrow's paper. "

Lady Chantall will use that theme after hearing the full story of what happened last night. After being given all the material that Marco had filtered and manipulated Lady Chantall, Hubbert supported them now, and the man would be a great help in spreading the news among the underworld. Eventually, everyone will side with them.

"I hope you don't just rely on guns" Rolan still warned. "You don't know what you're up against."

"I know, of course I know." Marco opened another box containing ammunition. "Anything that has a physical body will be physically destroyed as well. It's possible that we're dealing with a demon, but as long as we're on earth, he's also bound by the laws of nature and the rules of earth."

"Who said?"

"Who else? Obviously said. Even those who were touted as gods or gods by Jose could not intervene carelessly, right?" Marco turned his head with a satisfied smile as if he had won the fight. "They can't just eradicate evil creatures, there are rules of the game starting from the strength of the people's beliefs and whether there are other belief temples that stand in the way. With the devil by his side, Sir William could not raise Arabella. Jose also could not carelessly eliminate the living corpses, he had to do something even if it was only a short rite. Well, see? There are rules to be kept. They all—we all walk in the wheel of the proper rules, according to the laws of nature. Let's just check the limits that exist and the extent of the rules that we can make weapons."

Rolan buried both his hands in his pants pocket. His face looked up at the sky, towards the morning sun. This was the first time he felt quite optimistic after several days of anxiety. "Alright, that sounds reasonable. You're an expert at convincing others" he said. He is still inexhaustible how Marco can always make things sound as if they are under his control. He remembered Jose, to the stability of the voice of the young man who always transmitted the same calmness to his listeners. "If there's a course on how to be like an Argent, I'd sign up. Your persuasive abilities are good. I need that. Sometimes I need to persuade myself to stay calm."

"If there's a course you need, it's how to stop being silly" Marco said. He raised his eyebrows when he turned to the left, towards the main gate of the manor. "When did Robert come?"

Rolan placed his hand side on his forehead as a barrier to sunlight. He saw a figure in a blue uniform step closer together with another dark brown-haired man. "What's behind him is Mr Stuart?"

"Yes. And judging by his face, it looks like he's bringing bad news."

"Oh, I hate this pattern." Rolan groaned, looking so languid. He looked at Marco with a look of blame. "Is there never a quiet morning in your house?"

***