I think Belle has always subconsciously been fascinated by the dark side of Rumple but is dominated by her compassion for others. Lacey was essentially Belle minus her compassion hence why when Rumple was playing nice she wasn’t interested but as soon as he started showing a darker side, she was all over him.
I’m really liking this new direction RumBelle has gone in. Rumple has stopped pandering to Belle’s sense of righteousness and is honest in the fact that sometimes there is no “right” way whilst Belle is not being so rigid in her definition of right and wrong. I loved the scenes where Rumple and Belle were squabbling like an old married couple because it was fun. RumBelle are FINALLY solving a problem TOGETHER.
All magic comes with a price!
Keeper of Felix