“And what will you do once you know, Your Majesty?” Emmie stared at the smiling emperor with a straight face despite the subtle change in his eyes at her question.
The emperor, Albern, smirked with a strange glint in his eyes that only looked threatening to the daughter-in-law. He swayed his hand leisurely in an elegant shrug before bringing back his fingers to rest them on his temple, “That will depend. Any ruler must see the big picture before making a decision.” He huffed a light scoff, looking at the girl before him with almost accusing eyes. “And it seems I've been pushed and kept in the dark for the longest time by the vampires.”
Emmie took a breath, fixing her eyes on the man before she asked what anyone should not attempt with the emperor, especially after knowing and living with Albern for centuries. “And what if I refused to answer, Your Majesty?”
Albern’s eyebrows slightly raised with sharp eyes. “There are always many ways to a goal, Emmie.” He answered almost in a whisper, narrowing his eyes with a confident, comfortable smile. “If there is one to none at all, I shall make ten others.”
Her eyes slightly widened with trembling pupils, relaxing at the look of the man in front of her who looked no less intimidating but seemed to keep his head leveled no matter what. The emperor she always admired, the one imperial member she always believed in, the person who changed her image of the Nobles in the first place. The person who… she had believed was the true emperor who could change their life for the better, if not for the snakes all around him back then. She smiled a little. ‘...Albern Verick is back.’ She slightly tightened her hold over her other hand to stop them from trembling. She had waited so long to see someone familiar, someone dear to her, to look the same in her eyes finally.
She forced herself to calm the flooding emotions inside and closed her eyes for a moment, “Then allow me to ask one thing of you.”
Albern observed Emmie, noticing the slight tremble in her hands despite her warning eyes. “Speak your wish.”
She smiled at the subtle meaning behind his words; Albern Verick does not take orders from anyone. He does hear the wishes of his people carefully and decides what to do with them, but he allows no one to demand a thing from him. It was his way of reminding everyone that he was the ruler above everything, and he had the right to make his own decisions no matter what their demands would be, and that side of his had always been a thorn in the bastards’ throats in the past. She always respected that side of him.
However, she looked straight into his eyes, and sternly she said. “Do not stand against Davante Fixsen.
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The Red Flower
Chapter. 35
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Her bleary eyes slowly opened, and with a hazy view, she could see someone sitting in front of her on a chair with his arms crossed.
“Did Sleeping Beauty have a sweet dream?”
She blinked calmly at the cold whisper, trying but failing to see the man clearly. Her lips slowly stretched into a comfortable smile despite realizing she had been given a potent drug. “It felt like a familiar dream I had very long before, swimming in an endless black.” She breathed a light chuckle, “A nice change of pace, however. I appreciate your concern, Mr. Gentleman.” She could vaguely see the man smiling a little, tilting his head slightly to the side.
“Your definition of a gentleman must be outstanding, I imagine.”
It was a blatant sarcasm aimed at her, making her blink at the familiar, biting tone. She tried to remember where she had heard the voice before. But she noted that the man kept talking in a hushed tone, making it harder to distinguish his voice clearly. She kept smiling as she was silently amused.
“How long do you think it will take your poor big brother to find you?”
She was sure now that the room she was in with the man was a prison cell of some sort; no wonder it was dark with a tiny lamp above. Was she in a torture room? She wondered. “If you threw him a bite, it would take him a day or less.” She breathed a light chuckle, “Though, you don't sound the least bit worried to me.” She caught soft, silent laughter from the man, even though there wasn’t any feeling behind it.
“And you graciously surrendered yourself, leaving no trace behind.”
She hummed lightly, “And you will only leave one bite in the end, and that will be my corpse.”
“Wouldn’t I have done so instead of sitting with you now?”
She saw the man casually pointing at her before crossing his arms again, making her move her head groggily to look down at her body; only then had she noticed the state she was in. There were no legs, and she didn’t have to move her heavy head and look at her arms to know they were missing as well. She thought it was because of the drug that she wasn’t feeling her limbs, but it turned out they were cut in her sleep. She strained her eyes to see what exactly was the black thing around the remaining of her thighs and arms, she couldn’t be sure, but it wasn’t anything she was familiar with. However, the chair she was kept on wasn’t ordinary; she was sure because she had been familiar with it from a very faraway time. She slowly smiled again, “A nice change of pace, indeed.” She heard the man breathing a lifeless chuckle again.
“It seems you were getting tired of the life of a human. Was the power you were given not enough to entertain your aged soul?”
Angela slowly raised her head to look at the man again; her smile and eyes weren’t looking amused for the first time, “...interesting, are you also...”
“A reincarnated vampire?” the man shrugged slightly, calmly tilting his head to the other side. “Take a wild guess.”
“Huh,” she lightly scoffed, looking at the man with pitying eyes and a smile. “Are you a Kicked Out?”
The man hummed lowly, “Then the Rulers Circle does exist.” He gave a little nod, “Thank you for confirming the theories, and I'm only a human, born in this world, or should I say fake world?”
“......” Angela’s smile fell and looked devoid of any emotion.
The man chuckled silently at the unusually offended woman, “Oh, please forgive this lowly human, Queen.” With a flat tone, he moved to cross his legs casually despite his begging for forgiveness from the ‘Queen’ before him, who kept staring with a straight face. “I had no intention to make you unknowingly confess the truth and ruin your little entertainment in our talk. Will you please grant this poor human the honor to keep talking with you?”
Angela stared long at the man who wasn’t even trying to hide the fact that he was mocking her. Her eyes softened, and a cold smile came to her features, “You're a peculiar one for speaking to me this way when you know who I am, human.”
“You mean who you were?” the man breathed a chuckle at the silent glare he received, “Your soul and memories are the only things left with you as the Queen, and now you are lower than a human. It must be a nice change.” He briefly referred to her with his hand, “Don’t you like trying new things?”
The seat beneath her was one the vampires had used on humans before with a specific spell to prevent them from dying, either to torture or save them, but usually the former. How ironic, she thought. She guessed the containers by the corner of the room were where her limbs were kept. After looking at everything with blurry vision, she noted that the man came to hunt her, knowing exactly what he was dealing with, fully prepared with devices made by vampires that were supposed to be no longer in this world where vampires are taken as mere fantasy. “You speak confidently, so I wonder where you took your resources from.”
“Your father.”
“......” she stared silently at the man who had answered immediately, sounding unbothered.
He blinked at the look of disbelief on her, “Oh, that wasn’t clear enough.” He nodded, “Your human father, the father you found boring, the father you planned to get rid of because he would have never given you what you wanted to feel sort of a vampire again, or maybe to reclaim a bit of your control from before.”
Angela raised her eyebrows slightly at the man whom she could guess now who he was by his answer, “And you are saying Xenos Anfinrud knew my identity from the start and the Circle Rule?” she hummed in thought, “If so, then explain how he fell into the trap so easily?”
The man breathed a scoff, tilting his head to the other side again with a light sigh, “Haven't you thought that maybe, just maybe, Xenos must have known your plan and thus wanted to play along and take advantage of it?”
“And for what reason would he do that? His whole identity is crushed in the process, and everything precious to him has been ruined. His promise of not hurting the innocent is long broken. I believe he had foolishly lost more than gained.” She smiled coldly at the man, “He had also dragged his dearest friend into the trap with him, your brother-in-law, I recall, Mr. Hanover?”
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Armand breathed his usual chuckle, which lacked emotion, not giving away anything despite his identity being caught. “Are you taking him for a normal human? If so, then you are making a grave mistake.” He took a deep breath at the recall of the man who always had a carefree demeanor despite knowing secrets beyond everyone, hinting out these secrets to him in the most discreet ways only now he could understand. The memories were so vivid that he couldn’t help feeling sentimental, longing for the old days and for spending his time with the two friends who were like brothers to him. He shook his head slightly with a little smile, “I, too, thought he was just like any human in this life, a man who looked to be playing around but, in fact, wiser than anyone around him. An admirable and interesting brother. But it turned out he was a literal menace.” He chuckled, sounding amused for once, looking up at the woman with a cold smile, “The kind of prankster that some trash in this world deserves.”
Angela chuckled, “Oh, and I wonder how he would escape the crazy doctor’s clutches?”
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“I don’t know. Let’s wait together and see.” He expected the soft scoff of disbelief from the woman; he shrugged a little with a smirk, “My role is to gather the Real Borns and keep the pesky ones until my two bosses come back to deal with the likes of you.”
She slightly narrowed her eyes at him, “So you work for not only Ral Cavalon but also Xenos Anfinrud.”
“Ah, you don't know the protocol?” Armand raised his eyebrows mockingly at the past Queen, “Xenos is the brain, Ral is the body. That had been their pattern, in case you haven't known.”
“So leaving the mafia life was only an act?”
He lightly shrugged, “Who knows?”
She lightly chuckled again, “What clowns you three are. A bunch of evil humans playing justice.”
“There are lots of clowns among humans, indeed.” He shook his head slightly, smiling in disbelief. “Well, now, I shall wait for your guest to come, and therefore you are stuck with me for the time being.” He smiled coldly at her. “Let's get along well, ex-Vampire Queen.”
“And my guest would be?”
“Oh, it's just your child whom you tried to curse.”
“......” the smile completely fell from her face again, which elicited a chuckle from the other.
“Oh, the look of relief.” He amused himself by catching the slight anger beneath her stoic face, “You must be eager to reconcile with a family member after so long. He should take a bit of time to organize his thoughts and come to a decision soon. Let's wait patiently.”
“Is that your revenge, Armand Hanover?” she threw the question she only ever asked one of her victims in the past. And the answer was so gentle that she was surprised with herself feeling guilty a little back then. It was why Neron was a different human to her; he held a soft spot in her human heart, which belonged to a previously cold vampire who could care less about any human. So, she listened to his request; she waited patiently in her room, knowing that whoever had come to attack the family would undoubtedly be after her one way or another. Thinking again, did the cute Neron ask her to promise him that, knowing of the three harlequins’ plan?
She found it hard to believe, but here she was, taken easily as a prisoner by none other than Armand Hanover, who was supposed to be dead by the canvas she had made for the Cavalon family. She could care less if some had survived; the process was enjoyable, and she was entertained in the end.
But this, meeting the misfortune she had brought to the vampires in the past, the very same child who had dared to kill her with cold blood after everything she had worked on, the child who shouldn’t have had the powers to overcome her in any way, the damn child who was the weakest of all the imperial family members!
If this was Armand’s revenge, she could applaud him for it. This man had managed to get on her nerves after this long as a human. Or maybe it was Xenos to whom she had to give credit, but that is if what was Armand saying the truth even. The bastard could be the one planning all this while playing the cold butler who was only good at listening to orders.
Said man had stared at her long in silence, and she would have liked to think the question riled him even if little, but she knew the man was like a dead person when dealing with enemies.
Armand slowly moved to rest his elbows on his thighs, and with a cold smile, he whispered. “If punishment is what you are looking for, woman...” He closed his eyes briefly and breathed calmly, nodding his head absently. “…then be careful to ask it from the ones who could care less about revenge.” He smiled again, “Because they wouldn’t tire or break down, they would think thoroughly with a clear head, and their emotions are dangerously numbed. They simply follow your wishes and know exactly what to do to exceed your expectations.” He nodded again, “You’re right, I’m evil. I barely care if I killed a person or a whole country, but I also don’t have the time to chase whoever had managed to push me down countless times before in my life.”
“……”
“It’s not my revenge. It’s what you asked for when you played with someone like Xenos Anfinrud,” he closed his eyes with a cold smile. “And I’m only following the plan accordingly.” His voice came to a whisper again. “I’m good at following orders, after all.”
.
.
“The results... are good,” Alvis said as he skimmed over the reports with his eyes, staring at them with a bewildered frown, “Though you should not exhaust your body, light body activities will be fine.” He stared some more, lowering his hand with the papers and looking at the teen sitting comfortably in Alvis’s bed with a stoic face, not looking surprised. “Your heart is still weak as it seems...”
“Hmm, so it's the same old.” Davante nodded indifferently. “Good.”
“What?” Alvis blinked several times at Davante, wondering what was good about having a weak heart. Or did he mean that at least he could manage with what he was used to dealing with all those years instead of dealing with some other things?
Davante looked out the window, staring at the gentle light from the sun and the students walking outside in the gardens. “It's been a week now, so can I leave then...” he missed how Alvis stiffened as he paused long before adding, “…uncle?”
Neron glanced at Alvis from the corner of his eye and cleared his throat quietly.
‘What is that pause for?’ Alvis hesitated to ask since a week ago, for a whole week, Davante had developed a habit of pausing whenever he was about to call him ‘uncle’ for some reason. ‘I-Is he mad because I kicked his father after all?’ he had thought of the possibility that the teen would disapprove of what he had done that day, even if it was out of reflex, which was why he was going to apologize and explain the situation as he should, but the teen had fallen asleep for weeks, and Owin wasn’t going to help with how he laughs every time he remembers the situation that day.
He flinched when Davante turned to look at him when he hadn’t received his answer yet, “W-Well, I don't want to lock you in here, but your father is...” he cautiously said, “He had attempted to kill you once, so...” he recalled how the blond man was trembling and seething, moving closer and looking ready to strangle his own son. ‘That is... if the person back then was really Kaven...’ the look on his eyes back then, the way he was breathing, everything looked odd and… unsettling. No matter how he tried to look and search for anything familiar in the man, his friend wasn't there.
“How is he doing now, by the way?”
He was pulled from his thoughts by Davante’s question, which sounded a bit too casual despite the situation. “...he is doing well, actually... he looks so refreshed?” that was the confusing part now; Kaven looked almost the same as before, he behaved the same way as before all this mess or maybe way back when he was himself, but he couldn’t shake off the feeling that his friend still wasn’t there.
“That's fine, then.”
“What?” Alvis and Neron stared blankly at the teen, who looked strangely unbothered, or was he hiding his feelings like before? But it didn’t feel like it this once. Alvis couldn’t explain it well, but Davante seemed… overly relaxed? Which was a good sign, maybe, or was it? The boy had always looked calm and collected, but that was because he kept everything to himself and tried to avoid everyone if possible, but now… he looked unbothered and laidback. Which shouldn’t be a bad thing normally, but how could the boy change suddenly and be like that now of all times?
Davante looked back at Alvis and tilted his head a bit, “It should be fine as long as I stay out of his sight, right?”
“Well, that...” Alvis had already made the teen try this method before but look at where they were now, “It's hard to do when you can run into him any time in this academy...”
“Has he asked you about me?”
Again, Alvis wondered how the teen looked unbothered still. “About that...” he reluctantly answered, “He doesn't remember you...”
Davante didn’t respond in any way to the news and only stared back in silence.
“I tried to test the waters, but he claims not to know anyone with your name...” Alvis wasn’t sure if he did the right thing in sharing the fact with the teen, but the look he had received made him worry for another reason.
“Oh?” Davante slightly raised one eyebrow and looked down in thought, humming lowly to himself.
Alvis stared at the boy who, if he looked closely, looked… amused down beneath his stoic features. He couldn’t help but ask, “...Davante, are you okay?”
“What?” Davante looked back at the man, blinking blankly before touching his face with his hand while looking baffled. “Why, do I look tired?”
“Uh, no,” Alvis awkwardly rubbed his neck, “You look way better than any time, actually...”
Davante stared for a long moment, lowering his hand back on his lap. “Then what's wrong?”
“...I must be worrying a bit too much.” Was he looking too much into it? He glanced at Neron, who usually had a straight face and rarely showed any reaction, but he also looked a bit puzzled by the situation.
“I appreciate that side of you...” Davante paused, looking to the window, “…uncle.”
‘Then again, what’s with the pause?!’ he couldn’t help but ask again, “A-Are you mad at me?”
Davante turned back to Alvis, looking baffled once again, “Why? Did we fight?”
“...no?”
A moment of silence passed between the three, and Neron glanced from Alvis to Davante as they stared long at each other.
Davante broke the silence first, “I'm sorry if I looked or sounded mad. No, I'm not mad at you...” he paused again, seeming to think for a moment, “Uncle.”
‘Why do you hesitate every time you call me uncle then?!’ Alvis felt like crying. Was he overreacting? Well, he had often been told that he tended to overthink or overreact a lot, but he couldn’t help but feel something was wrong with the kid. His cute nephew was acting weird!
Davante looked at him again, “So, can I leave?”
Alvis blinked at the teen, who sounded almost desperate despite hardly showing any of his feelings on his face. “That... well... would you mind if Neron follows as your guard...?”
Davante looked at the purple head with a contemplative look, “It would look suspicious. I don't think it's a good idea.” He hummed quietly, “But you can watch me from a distance if that would keep you at ease.”
Neron only nodded.
Davante looked at Alvis again, “Then I can leave now.”
“Yes, you can...” despite agreeing, Alvis still looked uncertain of his decision, “Would you want me to walk you back to your room?”
Davante shook his head slightly, “You look tired, take some rest. N— sir Neron could do that,” he turned to the quiet man, “If it's okay with you?”
Neron nodded again, “I'll do it.”
“Okay, can I have a shower first?”
Alvis and Neron fell silent at the request.
Alvis smiled awkwardly, “Ah, yes, of course. I'll prepare a change of clothes and leave it by the door for you.”
“Thank you... uncle.” Davante calmly moved to put his leg on the floor.
Alvis’s smile twitched at the pause again, and he was starting to wonder if the teen was doing it on purpose only to tease him.
“Ah—”
“Careful—!” Alvis quickly grabbed the boy, preventing him from falling when he had just stood up. He frowned down at the teen, who still looked calm with his stoic face. Alvis was sure of the test results because he had taken the tests and checked more than once, which was why it had taken them a whole week to begin with. Ellmer even made it clear not to let his brother leave unless he had made sure of his state, not that he needed the threat, but he was sure everything was okay or back to normal. So then, why would Davante still stumble every time he so much stands on his two feet?
“Haa, I don't know why I can't get used to this.”
“W... what?” Alvis wasn’t sure if he heard the whisper from the teen correctly; getting used to what? Standing? Walking? Was it the result of sleeping and lying in bed most of the time for months? He made sure to make the teen walk a bit every day and gave his body careful and thorough exercise when he was asleep for weeks, so was that really the reason?
Davante looked like he had just noticed Alvis by his side and looked at him, “It feels strange to be standing like this after all this time...” he smiled a little to assure the man, “I’m fine now. Please let go.”
“Ah, yes...” the man reluctantly let go, ready to catch the boy again any second. He and Neron looked in silence as Davante walked comfortably to the bathroom door, not looking back at the two and closing the door silently behind him.
Click—
The room fell into deep silence, with the two men looking blankly at the closed door.
“Neron...”
“Yes?”
“Tell me I'm not the only one confused here...”
“You are not, sir.”
“Did something happen that day...?” he turned to the other with a little frown, “When he woke up...”
“He just woke up and had a look of recognition when his eyes landed on me, but stayed quiet and kept staring at the ceiling until he announced he was hungry and pushed himself to sit, and that was when you came with the food, sir.”
Alvis blinked, looking a bit surprised. “...he recognized you?”
“...yes.”
Alvis frowned at the puzzled look from the other, “Have you two talked before?” he hadn’t been informed before; Neron had only stayed behind to watch Davante and only come close when Davante was sleeping and tired, they hadn’t been introduced yet, or so he thought.
“No, we haven’t.”
Alvis blinked dumbly at the other, “...then...” how…?
“...I honestly don't know, sir.”
Alvis kept blinking at Neron, who looked equally confused. “......huh?”
What was happening anymore?
Meanwhile, Davante stood still in front of the mirror in the bathroom with his arms crossed, staring in long silence with a stoic face.
“Kaven Fixsen doesn't remember me…” he kept humming in thought.
.
.
“...Bren...?” Javi whispered, standing still in place before carefully turning around and trying to mesh along with the students in the restaurant.
“Oh, Javi?”
Javi flinched and stopped immediately.
“Running away?”
“......” He noticed the cold tone from Bren despite sounding playful while still sitting and enjoying his meal. He could feel the sharp eyes staring daggers at him from behind.
He reluctantly turned around and walked to sit down on the seat in front of his past friend, looking anywhere but the other’s eyes.
“Good choice.” Bren hummed and wiped his lips with the tissue, nodding before leaning on the backrest with a glass of fresh and sweet lemon juice in his hand, “I was going to finish eating and meet with Owin later, but it's good I met you first.” He hummed once he took a slurp, looking right at the other with his hawk-like eyes. “You know, I wish I could start with a good slap, can I?”
Javi silently winced at the request, unable to come up with an answer. ‘I forgot how nervous I used to be whenever I was left alone with Bren...’ recalling the past, he was only able to communicate with Bren with help from Owin. It wasn’t because of how horribly blunt the guy always had been, but only because his eyes always seemed to look deeper, deep into his soul, but would cover it with being playful and absentminded most of the time when he had a feeling the guy wasn’t absentminded even once.
To him, Bren had always been scary in a way he couldn’t explain, especially when the guy was blatantly upset with him.
‘Owin... of all times,’ he closed his eyes with a resigned smile, silently accepting his fate. ‘Did you have to talk to your brother now of all times?’
.
.
“Was it necessary to make Javi leave the room?” Owin asked as he looked at the closed door, turning to Elois, who came to join his little brother sitting on the floor with two glasses of water on the small table in between. “Weren't you two together in the forest, big brother? Nothing should be new to him.”
Elois blinked at his brother with his cheek resting on the palm of his hand. “I thought you'd feel better if we talked alone, no?”
Owin hummed with a small smile, looking down for a moment. “...right, since I didn't come here to talk about that night only,” he looked back at the other with an observing eye, “But it felt like you were quickly trying to hide something from him.”
Elois stared long at Owin before looking to the side, “...do you have to know?”
Owin stiffened a bit, relaxing soon next with a weak smile while mumbling, “...I want to know what happened to my brother and friend.”
Elois’s hand twitched, sighing with his eyes closed, “I'm sorry.”
“I— no, it's okay, you don’t have to answer if you...” he had only come because Ellmer looked so sure when he gave him the green light, and the guy rarely misses with his judgments, so...
“No, no, it's fine, we should stop...” Elois sighed again, rubbing his temples with his hand, “We should stop running in circles and this dodging game. Well, I should stop.” He raised his head and looked at his brother, “I'll answer anything you ask me, Owin.”
Owin observed in silence, noticing how his brother looked and sounded almost the same as when they were kids, the responsible, caring and collected big brother he had always followed and felt most safe with. He cautiously asked, “...promise?”
Elois nodded right away, “Yes, promise. So...”
Owin smiled, “I'll answer all your questions, big brother.”
Elois blinked, slowly smiling back at his little brother, “Right, let’s talk.”
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The End of CH. 35
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