Regulus of Hogwarts: Lord of the Stars

Chapter 300 Bella's Performance

Rodolphus waved his hand.

The servants who were still tidying up stopped what they were doing, put the plates and wine glasses back on the long table, and silently withdrew.

The house-elves were even faster, disappearing before the servants could leave, without even stirring the air.

The banquet hall doors were closed.

Bella stood in the center of the hall, still holding the wine glass in her hand.

Her gaze fell on Regulus, but she didn't speak immediately.

She tilted her head back and drank the last drop of wine in her glass, twirled the glass in her hand, and then casually placed it on the edge of the long table beside her.

She began to walk around Regulus, her high heels clicking on the tiles, the rhythm slow and deliberate, each step landing just before the echo of the previous sound had completely faded.

Her skirt trailed behind her, drawing an arc on the ground and making a soft scraping sound, like a snake gliding across a stone slab.

Her body swayed slightly, her left hand hanging down, her right hand held high, her fingers tracing random lines in the air, as if conducting an orchestra that only she could hear.

Then she laughed, no longer with the fervor of a speech meant to be shown to a hundred people; that was over.

Now it's just for him to see, it's more relaxing, more enjoyable, it's the kind of laughter that rises from deep in his throat.

She's already given speeches to a hundred people, and now she just wants to hang out with one person.

This person couldn't escape; he left his father, mother, brother, and cousin behind. In her view, this was tantamount to bringing the ceremony to her home.

She had wanted to go to Grimmauld Place because she wanted to make Orion and Walbuga bow their heads in front of him.

Now there's no need to go; he's gathered everyone himself.

So she can play for a while first.

Regulus stood still, without moving, his face expressionless.

Bella walked around behind him, the sound of her high heels echoing behind him a few times, then turned to her right, tilting her head as she passed him, glancing at him out of the corner of her eye.

Keep walking, until you are directly in front of him, then go around him, walk about half a circle, and return to the right side.

"Everyone's gone." There was a sense of satisfaction in her voice, as if she had the whole stage after clearing the venue.

She walked around to Regulus's front, took a step forward, and whispered in his ear.

She was even taller than him, and when she bent over, her curly hair fell down from her shoulders, almost brushing against his collar.

"You certainly know how to pick your time." Bella's voice was like a whisper, her breath brushing against his ear, carrying a hint of alcohol.

Regulus didn't move, didn't reply, and didn't even move to the side.

Bella took a half step back, a smirk playing on her lips, her eyes shining, her gaze sliding across his face as if she were looking at something interesting, not in a hurry to unpack it.

She started walking again, moving to his left, slowing her pace, her tone of voice, and her tone of voice.

Does your aunt know what you've done?

She didn't stop walking, her skirt sweeping past his feet.

"Or is it that only your uncle knows?"

Bella continued walking, circled to the other side, and suddenly raised her voice before returning to normal volume, so that everyone in the banquet hall could hear her.

"You were right to stay, Regulus."

She stopped circling around, faced forward without moving her feet, turned her head to look at him, and a vein in her neck stood out.

"We're family, so everything is easy to talk about."

She turned around to face him, raised her hand, placed it on his shoulder, and gently pinched it with her five fingers, showing affection.

"Regulus, my dear cousin."

She patted him on the shoulder twice, then her hand slid down.

She took a step back, her smile still the same, intimate and warm, but the smile in her eyes began to fade little by little.

"I feel confused." She tilted her head and spoke slowly.

"One heir of the Black family, and two half-bloods openly protected at Hogwarts."

She held up two fingers and waved them in the air: "Have you thought about what this means?"

Regulus remained silent, simply standing there, looking at her with a calm expression, as if gazing at a painting hanging on a wall.

Bella stared into his eyes, withdrew her hand from in front of him, took a step back, tilted her head to the other side, and narrowed her eyes slightly.

"Or do you think this kind of thing won't reach my ears?"

Regulus finally spoke, his voice low and flat, as if he were saying something trivial about the weather that night.

My cousin is well-informed.

Bella paused for a moment.

This answer surprised her because it didn't say anything.

After all that going around in circles and saying all that, Regulus only said this?

There was no explanation, no rebuttal, no admission of wrongdoing, nothing at all.

Then the corners of her mouth turned up again, only the curve was tighter than before: "I gave you advice before, at Hogwarts."

She took a step forward, her face less than half a foot away from his, close enough to see the gray iris patterns in his pupils: "More than once."

Pupils facing each other.

"Why do you do this?"

Regulus looked at her and simply replied, "Just doing it."

Bella's expression froze, and the muscle under her left eye twitched briefly, but only for a very short time.

smoothly?

He answered, but it was as good as not answering at all.

This is not what she wanted.

He could say he cared about the honor of purebloods, he could say those two half-bloods were just tools to consolidate their position in Slytherin and then discard them, or he could even say it was a carefully planned political statement.

He could even tell her to her face that he simply didn't want to listen to her.

Even if we say this was a deliberate provocation against the pureblood faction?

But he only said it was convenient.

All she wanted was something she could accept, refute, and continue acting out.

But she couldn't catch it.

This was just a pointless statement, a statement that rendered all her prepared lines meaningless.

Bella's fingers clenched and unclenched, the smile on her lips held on, but it seemed to be held up with some strain.

She took a half step back, then raised her eyebrows and smiled back, as if amused by something absurd.

So?

She tilted her head slightly, with an exaggerated look of confusion, and repeated the word in an almost singing tone.

So?

'

She told it to everyone present as a funny family story.

"I wrote the letter, and I spent so long carefully considering the wording."

She turned towards Orion, then towards Walbuga, shrugged, and spoke with an overly sincere tone, as if recalling something that had kept her up at night.

I'm afraid that if it's too light, you won't care, and if it's too heavy, it will hurt our relationship.

97

She sighed, but it was an exaggerated sigh.

"And then what did you reply to me? One word, So, written in ketchup."

She laughed out loud, as if she thought the whole thing was so absurd it was worth bringing it up for everyone to judge. She shook her head with laughter, her curly hair swaying over her shoulders.

Then she turned towards Walbuga, her eyes filled with grievance.

A look of confusion flashed across Volbuga's face, which quickly turned into embarrassment.

She only knew that Regulus's reply was very arrogant, but she didn't expect it to be like this.

So?

Ketchup?

The heir to the Black family wrote back to his cousin using ketchup!

She turned the light toward Regulus, her lips pressed into a thin line, a mixture of disappointment and anger, and a sense of unfamiliarity that she was not used to.

Her son was right in front of her, but she suddenly felt like she didn't recognize him.

He looked at Bella, his face expressionless, as if none of this concerned him.

He knew this moment would come; not a single word he said at the dinner table was true!

She turned her head to look at Orion, but Orion didn't look at her; his gaze was fixed ahead, and he didn't even blink.

She sensed something was wrong, but couldn't quite put her finger on it. She opened her mouth to say something, but Bella's voice had already started again.

She shut her mouth.

When she looked at Regulus again, the temperature in her eyes dropped.

She couldn't help but glance at Orion again. Did he know?

She didn't want to think about it anymore, but suddenly felt a little cold.

"Regulus, why don't you at least use ink?"

Bella raised her hand, hooked her index finger in the air, shook her head, and gave a wide, helpless smile: "Ketchup, do you know what that letter in my hand tasted like that day?"

The room was so quiet you could hear the candle wicks burning.

Bella turned her gaze away from Volbuga and fixed it back on Regulus's face.

The eyes are still the same eyes, the corners of the mouth are still the same curve, but the message conveyed by the whole face is different.

"So, you mean you don't care?" Her voice lowered, no longer as emotional as before.

"They don't care about my advice, they don't care about that person's good intentions."

Her pupils contracted slightly: "I don't care about being pure forever."

Regulus looked at her.

Bellatrix Lestrange, Voldemort's most fervent follower, is the true master of this banquet tonight.

Regulus then thought of Venda Rozier.

She carried out the most ruthless tasks in the most sophisticated social settings, holding a glass of champagne while committing the murder.

After Grindelwald's downfall, she disappeared into the shadows of Nurmengard, but those who saw her said that the witch remained elegant even after her defeat.

Both generations of Dark Lords had a woman like this by their side, and both held high positions and played significant roles.

But the art style is quite different.

Bella is actually quite beautiful when she's quiet.

He had the distinctive features of the Black family: a high nose, deep-set eyes, thick black curly hair, and pale skin.

She could be another Narcissa if she wanted to; just looking at her silhouette, she exudes nobility.

But she didn't.

She chose madness, she chose insanity, she chose to scream and wave in public, she chose to unleash her fervor like fireworks.

If we were to compare, Venda is the French Black Rose, and Bella is the English Black Poppy.

Regulus pulled those thoughts from his mind.

She even brought up Voldemort, but that's all she went for.

She said so much, but he didn't want to respond to a single word. He found it boring and didn't even have the desire to refute her.

It's time to move on to the next step.

He shifted his gaze from her face, over her shoulder, and onto Rodolphus, where the foyer and banquet hall met.

"Rodolphs, there's something I'd like to say tonight in person."