Expected Reunion

I remember... I stayed in my room for days with Gistel. It was more like I was being held in my room rather than being kept safe. Every time I try to leave the room, Gistel would always stop me. Of course, now I realized that he was simply doing his job but at the time, I thought of him as a wall keeping me away from seeing my parents.

When I finally managed to leave the room, I ran away from my room as fast as I could. He chased me down but Gistel was never fast enough to catch up with my seven-year-old self with all the armour he had. When I finally lost him in the hallway, I started making my way to the throne room where I had last seen my parents. I was exhausted and sweaty. But I paid little to no attention to how exhausted I was as all I wanted to see was my parents.

The hallways were dead silent. So silent that I could clearly hear my hard breathing and the unusual wind. When I reached a corner turn, that's when I realized... that the enemies have reached us. There were five maids and two royal knights all laying on the ground with no life. They were all shrivelled up like they have been drained to death. Which made sense considering that I wasn't able to smell their blood. There was a broken window and all the doors were forced open. How come they never broke through my door? I thought at the time. I later realized that the reason why they never went through my door was because it was hidden by a powerful art. I never knew who cast it but if royal executors couldn't see it then it must've been potent.

As I walked on top of the bodies of our servants, I was filled with terror. To a normal child, it would be a traumatic experience walking on top of bodies. But for me, it never reached the point where it became traumatic. Because the second time I saw lifeless bodies, it became nothing to look at. I've always wondered why that is. Perhaps it was because of how I was raised or perhaps it had something to do with my personality. Regardless, I never found my answer.

The moment I opened the door to the throne room, a stench of blood filled the air. Upon entering, all sorts of vampires were scattered all over the throne room. One was on the ceiling but most of the bodies were on the wall and the floor. Dry blood all over the throne room. It was gruesome to the point that I puked upon entering, yet I still moved forward. It became clear that there was some sort of battle that occurred. I recognized our kingdom's insignia and another I had never once seen. Our royal guards, some of our diplomats, and a noble friend of my father were all I was able to recognize on the floor, the rest were another faction.

As I went up the small stairs to reach the throne, I prepared myself for the worst. Two bodies lay in front of me and the throne. Their heads were cut off, and if it weren't for the clothes they were wearing, I never would've recognized that it was my parents. I was confused about whether I should grieve for my parents or run away in terror. How could someone kill a royal blood? Who would do such a thing? I questioned and tried to answer this question over and over again.

As I kneeled down in shock in front of my lifeless parents, Gistel burst into the throne room. He was all tattered up and his left arm was broken. "Young Master! We have to leave this place! It is no longer safe here," Gistel said before a group of vampires burst into the throne room. They were all wearing cloaks except for one. The one who wasn't wearing a cloak was a pure royal blood named Zeldris Norn. He was a high-ranking royal executor that killed many royal families, including my parents. So when I managed to escape his grasp, he became obsessed with me and chased me even after coming to the human world. I-

"Could you keep it chronological. You're getting off-topic Nate..."

"Fine. As I was saying..."

Gistel told me to go to the gate to reach the human world while he stayed to hold off the royal executors. That was the last time I saw him. And I'm sure he did his best even in his tattered state. As I tried to find the entrance to the hidden dungeon underneath our castle, the royal executors were behind my back. I managed to lose them in the hallways but only for a few seconds as they smelled the blood in my hands. When I finally found the entrance, I closed it off and ran away as far away as I could until I reached the exit. But I never would've imagined that upon reaching the exit, it would be the beginning of a very long chase to reach the gate...

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I sat down on the couch across from the sketchy man. I did my best to not react to his terrible smell. Lea sat beside me before the room broke into silence. No one said a thing for what seemed to be minutes. It was very awkward.

"When was the last time you showered?" Lea asked the man across, breaking the silence.

"About two months ago... It's a perfect way to make vampires avoid you. You should try it too Lea." The man answered.

"No thanks. I would rather have my friends with me rather than avoid me..." Lea said before looking at me and continuing "Anyways, Nathan, allow me to introduce you to my master. Despite his umm... oddness, he's a good master in blood arts. He taught me many things even though he seemed to only care about money. Once you get used to him, that means that you could handle most types of vampires."

"Nice to meet you, kid... Seems like you have quite a sensitive nose. Anyways, I've been meaning to ask you. In your fight with Alph, why did you hold back?"

Eh?

"Stop Kezar. Now's not the time for that..." The man behind the desk said before turning to face me. "Forgive us, Nathan. We should've introduced ourselves as soon as you entered this room. I'm Lea's father, Coleas Goldfrost, my human name is Cole Foster. The one sitting across from you is Kezar. He does not have a human name and he's an outcast in the noble society hence why he does not have a last name. But his blood arts are not to be taken lightly...Now, I'll get straight to the point. Nathan, no...Zain Griswal! I wish to make an alliance with you. I believe that this will not only benefit our family but also you in the long run. I'm sure that deep inside you there is a fire that wishes to take back what has been taken. I am here to tell you... that you are not alone. So what say you? King of Westalis..."

An alliance? It's true that in the long run, it'll make my life easier knowing that I have others behind my back. But I'm sure that as soon as I say yes, he will make Kezar train me. After all, Royal bloods are the only ones that are powerful enough to kill a royal blood... And based on what Lea said earlier about not having a good relationship with other noble families, it's most likely that I'll get caught in their problems which could affect my current life. I need to take this decision seriously... This will affect my future.

"Please, do not refer to me as king. But before I give you my answer, I would like to ask you something... What do you think of humanity?" I asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Do you think that they stand equal or below us?... Do you see them as an individual, not as livestock?" I clarified.

"Some humans can be equal but some are not. I decide whether they could be considered livestock after I learn more about them... It may be true that vampires are a superior species but humanity, however, could be even more terrifying than us. They have the potential to be better than us... This is my answer to your question." Cole said.

"I see... Then... I'll accept your alliance." I said before we shook hands.

We then started talking about the details of the alliance. So basically, other than protecting one another, Kezar would train me in weapon arts and teach me a sword style that will fit me, which I expected. The schedule for the training will be given to me at a later date. In exchange, I will now keep an eye on other noble families. I will simply give them information if I find anything. I am to not engage in combat or reveal that I am of royal blood. My worth to them will come later on when we've gathered enough allies to go against the vampire king. Lucius, Luna, and I are the only ones that stand against the vampire king which makes it important that I learn weapon arts. It was a good deal. I would get to learn weapon arts and a sword style to further enhance my combat prowess. The only thing I needed to do was get information if I stumbled on one. A really good deal for me.

Lea and I soon left his father's office. I was quite confused as to why she was still following me. I assumed that she thought that I would get lost but that didn't seem to be the case. As we walked through the hallway, she suddenly asked "Why did ask that question about humans?"

Oh... She's curious.

"Oh, I was just curious about what your father thought considering you guys have human maids and stuff," I said. Although part of what I said was true, that wasn't all of it. Now I know that Cole isn't one of those vampires that underestimate the potential of humanity. He's the type that doesn't like to lose things based on how he describes the fire inside me... If he were to lose everything, he will become an unpredictable piece which could prove beneficial to me in the long run. With a little guidance, he could be used...

"I see... Though it's quite weird what happened back there. Now I know what you look like when you take things seriously. Even Master was shocked... It's like darkness enveloped you or something... Even now you still have some," Lea said.

*Sigh, this is why I don't like taking things seriously.

"Wow... I didn't know you had such an imagination. Who would've thought that you act like an adult but inside you're actually just a kid..." I said, mockingly.

"And you're back to pissing off... *Sigh, anyways, why don't you stick around until your catch-up session with Lucius and Luna. It's much better than coming back, plus I have yet to show you the entirety of this mansion..." Lea said.

"No thanks, I would rather go outside and touch grass. Plus I already know you're just flexing this huge mansion of yours..."

"Tsk...You figured it out huh..."