Trails of Intertwined Stars: Chapter 74 {Part 1}

~Chapter 98: She didn't do it~

Jiu's shoulders sagged, his eyes wide at the sight. Archie Mills was gone. But how? Surely not Leora? The general glanced at the girl, seemingly at a loss for words. She cried hysterically, pointing her bloody hands at the corpse in distress. The blood on her, it wasn't a good look, considering what poor Archie Mills was coated in.
"Leora..." Jiu whispered," Did you...?"
"No!" Leora screamed, hiding her face in his chest; sobbing desperately," No! No! No!"
That was confession enough for Jiu to believe the girl, and he swiftly gathered her in his arms; holding her tightly, hiding her face from the sight. There had been blood on her bedsheets, after all; it couldn't belong to Archie. From the patio, he could see the servants of the manor rushing out, confused and scared. He'd likely woken them when he'd ran through the house, and seeing Leora's room empty and blood stained would have almost definitely caused panic. They all collectively staggered to a halt as they were met with the sight.
"Oh god!" Hettie cried, hiding her face in Helga's side.
Edward's eyes were wide," What... happened?"
"I..." Jiu looked at them all, clutching the trembling girl tighter in his grip,"...I don't know, but...all I know is; it wasn't Leora."
Some servants seemed skeptical, whereas others seemed to nod weakly along with Jiu. He was relieved to see Edward and Soren were some of the ones who agreed with him.
"Come on, some of you get the body out," Edward muttered," Some get Leora back to bed; we'll figure out what to do from there..."

Jiu scooped Leora up into his arms, not particularly wanting anyone else to do the job. In his opinion, she was already shaken up enough as it was. He held her tightly, making his way back up to the patio; holding her tightly so she couldn't look back at the horrifying sight behind them. Leora weakly clutched Jiu, sobbing incoherently; holding him as tightly as she could in her state. Her fingers traced over the glass bottle in her pocket.

Jiu got her settled back into bed with fresh sheets; he managed to console her panicked state till she fell asleep from crying so much, in such a weak condition. The servants removed Archie's corpse from the water, and apparently took him off to the town church to see what they could do about giving the poor boy a proper send off. It felt bitterly ironic; the servant who was newest, died first during the tragic haunting. And what was even more cruel, was hadn't it been Duncan who told Jiu how the waters had been stained red with blood upon the death of those soldiers during the civil war? Those words had clearly come back to curse him, in the most unfortunate way possible. Edward and Soren eventually joined Jiu in Leora's room once everything seemed to have mainly been sorted out. Fortunately, Leora was still asleep from the whole ordeal.
"It's dreadful, isn't it?" Edward muttered, distantly," That poor boy; he didn't deserve a bit of it."
Soren nodded, grimly," Why was he and Leora there last night, I wonder..."
"Did you confirm what his cause of death was?" Jiu glanced up at them.
Edward nodded," He fell into the river and struggled; poor boy didn't know how to swim. In the process of struggling, he hit his head on that dreadful rock and lost blood... suppose he died rather quickly after that."
Jiu grimaced just imaging it. It was horrifying.

"They're blaming her, aren't they?" Jiu whispered, grasping his clothes.
Soren sighed," You can't exactly blame them, Jiu. Archie died, Leora was there, and bloody. This isn't the first time she's been..."
"That's not fair!" Jiu snapped, suddenly; their eyes widened in shock," I know she didn't do it! I know it! She's always being set up, ever since she was young! Always!"
"Jiu, we're not saying we disagree with you," Edward frowned," But you have to understand, we can't just dismiss the fact she's always there. Until we know what happened, we can't confidently say Leora didn't kill Archie Mills."
Jiu trembled, glaring at his lap. He couldn't argue that. He knew he couldn't. But it irritated him that she always seemed to be taking the fall for all of these deaths. She truly didn't get a break from it.
Soren sighed," We've contacted Henry and-"
"You've contacted him?" Jiu hissed.
"Of course we have," Soren frowned," He hired Archie Mills, he deserves to know what's happened."
"So what? Henry will be coming back early?"
"Yes, not just to fill in the documents, but to comfort his distressed sister."
Jiu scoffed," He would call it that, wouldn't he?"
"Jiu," Edward furrowed his eyebrows," Don't be like that, Henry, he's-"
"Her brother; I know that," Jiu hissed, crossing his arms with a scowl," But a sorry excuse for one. He's a manipulator. There's something more to it than just comforting Leora, believe me."

He watched her sleeping, pale face; struggling to not cry at the sight. Edward and Soren exchanged looks, before standing up.
"Listen, we get it, you care about her deeply, so do we," Soren muttered," It's just... Leora's human too. She's got her past, and her imperfections, and struggles. That built up, it can change someone for the worst. She's ill, maybe her mind is too..."
Jiu didn't respond, his gaze not leaving Leora. The tutor glanced at the butler, and shrugged, not knowing what else to say.
"We'll leave you be for now," Edward frowned.
Jiu didn't bother to respond, staring at the sleeping girl. He listened to their footsteps as they went to the door, and exited, closing it behind themselves. Jiu shuffled closer to Leora's bedside, brushing a strand of hair out of her face as tears began to freely fall.
"I know you didn't do it, Leora...I just know it..."