Sixth Bloodline [BxB]

CHAPTER 13: AWAKENING [YOU SHALL BE MY BRIDE]

cHAptEr 13:

AwAkEning

[YOU shALL bE mY bridE]

   DRIP. DRIP.

Like a pendulum swinging in eternal emptiness, the falling of drops created translucent ripples in Mikhael's head, slowly making him aware of the passage of time. His mind that's been frozen for long time finally understood what motion is and with it, his feelings stirred up.

DRIP.

DROP.

One by one, feelings pilled up to form words, words bundled together to form thoughts, and thoughts connected giving birth to sentences.

With it, Mikhael's consciousness returned from the void, making him focus on the only sound available to him at the moment.

DRIP.

Mikhael was fond of sleeping and forgetting his worries. Calm and emptiness that didn't make him think of things that both trouble and torture him was something he didn't hate.

DROP.

Yet for some reason, his mind was pulled towards the only sound, as if hungrily seeking an opportunity to think, focusing his entire existence to comprehend the reason why those drops keep falling.

DRIP.

Over anything else in the world, Mikhael would chose to sleep. No matter what he had to do, even if he knew that it would eventually cause his death, he would still chose to sleep.

DROP.

No matter how insignificant or different his thoughts were, they continued to pile up and connect.

DRIP.

But Mikhael hated one thing when it comes to sleeping — and it's when something or someone made noise during his sleep!

DROP.

So they finally connected.

DRIP.

And this annoying sound of drops falling down was way too obvious and annoying for him to peacefully continue to dream about good things. He didn't know if the things he dreamed about were really good or bad unlike his imagination, but even so — the annoyance was the clearest thing on his mind at that moment.

So he wanted to stand up and destroy the source of noise until he realized that he couldn't move. He was conscious, but there wasn't a trace of his presence within the darkness surrounding him completely.

DRIP.

Swallowed.

DROP.

His existence was completely swallowed within the space where only the sound of drops falling could be heard.

   "Mikhael?" At that moment, he heard another sound. It was a word he knew, yet couldn't comprehend. His thoughts that once wanted to echo clear and loud in this darkness suddenly wanted to retreat and have him go back to eternal slumber.

DRIP.

But the persistent drops kept falling at a steady place keeping his mind rooted in place.

   "I know that you are very tired right now and want to sleep, but this is really important; where is the Sixth Pureblood?"

Mikhael completely forgot everything that happened and only wanted to sleep. Sixth Pureblood... what was that again? Some kind of food? Yes, he intended to feed on a Pureblood back when he was younger. Ah wait, he actually did feed on one, didn't he? Pureblood... Ethan. But for some reason, those words reminded him of his black coffin.

Yes, the one he prepared for his last slumber.

   "Co... co... ffin..." he couldn't think properly, but he trusted the female voice. He couldn't recognize whom or why was he answering, and could only speak as if it was the right thing to do.

   "Alright. One more thing and you can sleep, Mikhael. How do we get him out of it?"

Out of it? Was someone inside? Open...

Whatever, he could sleep more. It's the last question, after all. Questions should be answered so that they can no longer bother him.

   "B... blood. Po... pour. Blood."

He reached his limits.

And then his fragile consciousness became swallowed by darkness at last.

   "Blood. Pour blood?" Amelia repeated words he said, with Varus by her side. She held her chin as she pondered on those words. "Pour blood where? Simply on top of the coffin?" So she could only helplessly turn her head to face him.

   "It's the only clue we have for now," Varus sighed, "It's worth the try." After three days of waiting for Mikhael to wake up, this was the only reply they got regarding the mysterious coffin and their Lord Pureblood. It will become rather troublesome if they failed to find him soon. Especially if other Purebloods heard of it.

Varus already tried to keep the situation under the wraps and had told the others that Ethan left to deal with those responsible for this attack, but if Tristan got involved, then...

"Let's go then, we need to hurry up before things got complicated," she nodded and glanced at Mikhael before sighing.

At last, his body stopped withering. This state wasn't exactly good for Mikhael, but it's better than him having no reaction at all. After she poured her heart blood over his heart, his chest absorbed it before caving in as his entire body violently convulsed and got stuck between withering like a zombie and healing itself. But the hole in his heart just wouldn't heal no matter what they tried so they had to call a Healer to save him. That guy should arrive soon today.

Until then, they could only helplessly move him here to treat his wounds and find out Ethan's whereabouts — but when they tried to move that black coffin, they all got blasted away. When someone kicked it, their leg was gone. When they hit it, it was an arm instead. When they attacked it with full power, they got blasted away for entire mile, creating mess out of buildings around them.

In the end, they could only seal it in the place they found it and try to crack it open.

Not even the Higher Nobles could manage to destroy it, and they even sustained some injuries on top of everything! Amelia then voiced her opinion about Ethan being in there, but since they couldn't open it to confirm it, they needed Mikhael.

Yet the one responsible for this mess wouldn't wake for three days.

They later went to the scene where the two got attacked and although most of it was destroyed, the huge bullet that injured Ethan still remained without a single scratch, reeking of his blood and exuding aura that made vampires restless around it.

So they thought that Amelia's words might have some sense after all and that Ethan really was in that coffin, sleeping and heavily injured. When they thought about it and then about how they treated Mikhael... It really made them feel terrible.

Varus only glanced at Mikhael lying on the bed, with over hundred blood bags in the room, all attached to different parts of his shriveled body — but no matter how much of them he absorbed, he showed absolutely no signs of waking up.

It's like the blood got sucked into a miniature black hole.

Even with Amelia's miraculous blood, he wouldn't wake up.

   "Freak," he mused under his breath.

And it's the fourth set of blood bags he's absorbing right now...

   RETURNING BACK to the alley where Mikhael left Ethan in the coffin, the place got completely isolated from the outside world.

Since they couldn't move the coffin, they built a fortress around it instead with only trusted Higher Nobles of Ethan's faction knowing the truth about it, and some people Krull brought. Still, not even Krull dared to tell those people the truth and they only assumed that they were protecting an Armament similar to the one they found in place Mikhael burned down.

"It's already becoming the reason of public unrest so if this doesn't work, we will have no other choice but to call for other Pureblood to help us awaken Ethan. And once that happens..." Varus began and Amelia sighed.

Once that happens, Hunters and W.E.R.P. would have to bear responsibility for this accident, especially if something bad happened to Ethan. And Mikhael — who got caught up withing that storm — would be forced to bear the brunt of other Purebloods' rage.

   "I trust Mikhael," she sighed, guessing that Mikhael put the other guy inside in order to protect him. Even if it really comes to the point where they'll have no other choice but to invite another Pureblood — Amelia still had the means to obtain some leeway from one of them, so it didn't burden her mind as much as it did Varus.

But even so, when she recalled the state Mikhael was in, she couldn't help but worry.

   'Why did he lose so much blood?'

What wasn't Mikhael telling her?

When she met him ten years ago, the state he was in and the fact that he asked her to keep his movements a secret from the Hunters, just what had he been hiding then?

   "Let's go." Guards made way for them when they approached the coffin, surrounded by seven more Higher Nobles including Dimitri and another rather odd person.

Although he stood out from the crowd by not having the same white hair and red eyes, his red hair was quite weird on it's own — so he wasn't really strange looking compared to bunch of white youths.

   "Quite impressive, defenses of this artifact are all top notch, I assume that it's grade is just a little bit under those pillars around the city. Could it be the work of someone who had also seen the "needle"? In any case, it's definitely something a spell-caster of purple rank made."

As he mused to himself, trying to decipher the mystery of this coffin —no one, despite being Higher Nobles — dared to look at this guy in contempt because they were all aware of his identity.

A spell-caster.

And not just any spell-caster. Spell-casters all had ranks and used colors to classify them. With the dark purple robes he wore, he openly showed his status as one of the highest spell-casters out there.

They only knew that his name is Gai and nothing else except that he was an eccentric and did whatever he liked.

He's similar to Amelia, someone who lived for few centuries without being a vampire, and was originally invited here by Hunters HQ in order to fix the barrier. Since they already said that they'll invite someone, they had no choice but to pay a lot in order to bring him here.

He also sometimes worked for Purebloods if their offer grabbed his attention.

Not to mention that he's someone from the upper echelon of the most powerful spell-caster's organization — Neo Academy.

His power wasn't something to joke about either. He only came here because they told him that he can look at the eight pillars around Eden, but by the time he arrived — Mikhael already fixed the entire barrier. So just as Gai was about to go back, they called him to check our the black coffin Mikhael left behind.

He didn't expect much, but once he saw it with his own eyes...

   "It's definitely a top tier Armament meant for vampires to use rather than harm them."

Which was absurd considering how the only use of those Armaments was to slay vampires. Together with the barrier of Eden, this coffin could even be called the second of its kind because of its use.

Spell-casters of the purple rank were people who could raze down entire cities to the ground once they got serious, and no vampire would be able to remain unscratched under their attacks. Even Higher Nobles weren't exception from this case. One shouldn't underestimate those who reached the pinnacle of red-tiered spells like those guys.

Some might even be able to activate the legendary black talisman.

   "Oh," he noticed the duo coming in, "Did that fella finally wake up? He's quite an odd one indeed, he's almost like a Child of Night with the amount of blood he wasted, did he say anything?" He asked without pausing with his observation for a moment, something everyone here already got used to.

   "He said to pour blood, he fainted after that. We assume that..." she started explaining, but he cut in when he heard her words.

   "Oh, there are some odd inscriptions that serve for gathering, I didn't know what were they for before, but it seems like it's for blood. So this coffin really is meant for sleeping as the fella said, probably for hibernation lasting few decades or centuries even." He referred to the time when Mikhael told Dimitri and Estefan that he used coffin for sleep.

Because of its mystery, they told the guy everything from their meeting with Mikhael even if most of it was probably some nonsense.

But now that they heard his words and recalled their meeting, they... they really wanted to kill Mikhael, alright!

   "So, an Armament meant to protect from everything outside, and in the end gather blood to awaken. I'm really curios who designed this, for whom and why is it in the hands of that young fella, keke," He finished with an odd laugh before turning to those Higher Nobles.

   "Everyone, come over and pour over your blood, as much as possible. This coffin might be for slumber, but I guess that with the other weird Armament we picked those APO guys used to injure the Pureblood — his state should be rather serious. This guy did us a fine deed by hiding your Pureblood inside."

   "..."

They really felt guilty listening to those words. And they even assumed that Mikhael carried some dangerous weapon inside... Though, a Pureblood really was even more dangerous than any other weapon, cough!

   "As for the kid, his current state should also be caused by that weapon, hence he can't wake up despite all that blood you gave to him, it's most likely that only your Lord can awaken him now."

Pureblood's powers are quite potent. If their blood couldn't stimulate a vampire to awaken, then they'd really be too useless to call themselves leaders of the vampire race!

If Mikhael was here, he would have shivered with disgust. This guy guessed over 80% of things that happened just by hearing some random nonsense and observing his coffin for a while.

Spell-casters are all creeps!

On the other hand, Gai began to consider the idea of Hunters HQ hiding a powerful purple ranked spell-caster. But there really weren't many of them in the world, and he was certain that he knew almost every single one. If there were some he didn't know about or went missing recently...

   "Should be one or two from that time... Maybe even the Pope or something?"

Then it's no wonder the boy had this. As the only vampiric hunter among human Hunters, he should be properly protected and given something like this to entice him and protect him at the same time.

But...

Where did it come from? It can't have just avoided the radars of Eden's inspection or something?

Unless the guy stored it within void?

He shook his head, impossible. Mikhael would need to be rather old in order to use the void while — from what he heard — this little fellows regeneration abilities are as weak as the one found with newlings.

Not to mention that he would've known of a vampire that old in Hunters HQ since long time ago, so it's impossible for it to be the case. So then... Maybe it was given to him after he came to this city?

But from what he heard, this little guy only came in contact with Pureblood and... That's about it? So like, was it given to him by the Pureblood instead?

   "..."

Fuck, he seems to have found out something super suspicious!

He was eccentric and the only thing that he was interested in were new spells and other powerful spell-casters, so he didn't really know much about Hunters, vampires and their messed-up relationships. But even he heard of the legendary Da clan whose Hunters all specialized honey traps against vampires! Though, half of them got charmed by vampires instead and got turned...

So love between Hunters and vampires isn't that surprising.

He also glanced at Amelia.

There's also this one.

But the Hunters HQ... Something about it seemed really familiar and he felt like he's forgetting something rather important, but...

Who cares. Whatever!

No one doubted his words after he said them, and they all moved to follow his instructions, even Amelia joined to help after hearing the last part about Ethan being helpful to Mikhael.

Yet before any of them could get close to that coffin, another person suddenly appeared and stood in front of it. He casually glanced at Gai, then Amelia and finally the Higher Nobles.

In the end, he snickered.

   "No need, this ancestor alone will be sufficient!" Oddly enough, despite acting like a thug appearing out of nowhere, not a single Higher Noble dared to protest. If one observed them carefully, they'd even notice how every single one of them unhesitatingly took a step back the moment his eyes swept over them earlier.

Unfortunately, Amelia, Gai and W.E.R.P. didn't know the true terror of this guy, so they remained close to him.

   "Who are you, young fella? Another Pureblood?" Gai only knew half of them while Amelia only knew two. So seeing this stranger and how no other Higher Nobles came to stop him, they assumed that he's someone powerful they all knew. And only Purebloods suit that description.

   "Wow, a real K-pop star." Still, Amelia openly admired him. The youth in front of her really looked like the main singer of those K-pop bands she listened to.  Especially the aura around him, and his soft yet arrogant voice.

She almost kidnapped him to force him to create songs for her, but she quickly restrained herself. If it was really a Pureblood, then...

   "Who's one of those useless kids? To get knocked out because some annoying mosquitoes came to bother him, this Pureblood of yours really is a bit too useless," but the words he spoke were so harsh they brutally crushed her ideals. At the same times, Higher Nobles retreated again. Only Varus... Somewhat hesitantly remained next to him.

   "..."

   "Then, are you the Vampire King?" To disregard even the Purebloods, she really couldn't think of anyone else. It might've been her misconception, but...

The moment he heard those words, his face became so twisted like he'd rather be a good-for-nothing Pureblood than a Vampire King. Amelia doesn't know why she felt like that, though.

   "All those years later, this is probably the worst curse I heard from someone."

"..."

Well, OK. You be what you want to be!

He glanced at the coffin and then at Amelia and Gai. After a moment of confusion, his gaze stayed on the two for a while until he resolutely turned away his head.

   "An Immortal Human and a high ranking spell-caster... I really want to cut them up."

Not even a moment after he said those words, the weak minded group of Higher Nobles scattered away without even turning back to look at him. They completely forgot about their duty to protect Ethan in front of this madman and tried to not stay any longer so that he doesn't notice them. If he did... Then not even a Pureblood would bother saving them.

He only sneered once again before cutting his wrist and letting his blood freely flow on top of the black coffin.

The moment that coffin came in contact with his blood, it began to absorb it so fast that even a small vortex appeared on top of it. He didn't know when to stop, but looking at him — Gai assured him that it will stop itself when it had enough, so he continued to let his blood flow for few more seconds until clear cracks began to appear on the coffin lid.

If it were other guys using their blood, it would have definitely taken them much longer.

The vortex of blood finally seeped deep within, and the cracks all over the lid spread until they completely occupied every inch of it. In the end, the lid completely crumbled to dust before dissipating with the wind as it were never there to begin with.

When people present saw the person sleeping inside, they all sighed in relief.

In the next moment, Ethan's eyes sharply opened with an red gleam as he slowly sat up. His upper clothes were torn and disheveled, smeared with dust and blood, but his skin beneath was flawless and devoid of any scratch, save it for an obvious bite mark on his neck.

But when others saw them, they said nothing, but those who saw his neck... Suddenly wanted to drag Mikhael out and beat him.

He furrowed his eyes in confusion as he stood up and glanced around as if looking for someone before his eyes eventually landed on Amelia, and then the person that woke him up. He frowned after smelling blood around him and stepped out of the coffin making it crumble down to dust completely.

   "Eh?" Gai blinked in wonder. So it was one time use? Who would waste such a treasure for just one use? The efficiency of those spells was no joke, ah! It should've taken the creator few years or decades even to stack them all together like that!

Who was it supposed to keep inside? It's not really intended for a Pureblood and not some ordinary vampire?

   "..."

The more Gai thought about it, the more certain he became with his guess that this was originally Ethan's coffin. As for why Mikhael carried it around... Ethan might've took it out of his void and then asked Mikhael for help?

Just like that, Gai wrote off Mikhael's suspicion.

   'Well, it was really impossible for Hunters to have a vampire that old working for them, anyway...'

   "What happened?" Ethan asked no one in particular as he threw away his torn shirt and suit, leaving him only in his pants. Then he casually pulled out clothes from within his own void and dressed up in just seconds. In the end, he took the little silver cross that lay next to his feet where the coffin was some time ago and attached it back to his tie.

He was already used to carrying it around.

Wasn't he under attack with Mikhael? What happened to the barrier? Did the little brat decide to test his luck and run away while he was sleeping?

His eyes darkened as he finally put on his gloves. Even if that little vampire ran to the space, Ethan was still confident that he can track him down now that he knew that he's still alive.

   "Lord Pureblood, it all went like this..." In the end, Varus knelt down while others followed as he proceeded to explain everything that happened so far, not leaving out even a single thing.

Although most of what happened made their eyebrows furrow few times in succession —no matter how they looked at it, something just didn't add up — he still recounted everything in the exact order as it happened. Although he kept his head bowed as he said that, he didn't miss the faint trace of killing intent Ethan revealed when he heard the part of Mikhael being injured.

As Krull didn't bow and watched with tight nerves, he was directly exposed to the killing intent Ethan threw in his direction at that moment. Luckily, Ethan decided to not make it difficult for them.

   "So he's merely sleeping now. And... Give me a detailed report later. Clean up this place and as for the south, I'll leave it up to you. Do as you please."

   'It really is him.'

But some things were more important.

   "Gather the Higher Nobles involved in this matter in one hour for me. I..." Thinking about this mess, he really didn't f*****g want to acknowledge those guys anymore! That feeling would only grow stronger when he saw the extent of damage their silly chase caused later on.

   "Until then, take a separate group that was in South with you on that day and carefully comb through this place. There are some annoying rats from the Fifth's faction in this city. Lock down the barrier and make sure none of them escapes." Tristan getting involved is somewhat troublesome, but everything seems to fine for now.

Even so, he probably escaped already so even if they caught those guys, they'd have nothing to prove his involvement.

In the end, the thing that bothered him was Mikhael.

Mikhael used almost four hundred liters of blood and still didn't improve physically at all. No matter how he thought about it, it was too abnormal.

   'So was his reaction earlier that day.'

But Ethan decided to wait and see for himself instead of making blind guesses.

It was a good thing that vampires here all came to conclusion that Mikhael got hurt together with Ethan thinking that his current state was caused by APO's weird weapon. But Ethan couldn't be more clearer that he didn't let Mikhael even get scratched on that day, forget about serious injuries!

   "Where is Mikhael now?"

   "Lord Pureblood, he's been taken to the nearest hospital, but we're afraid his chances of waking up are almost zero." Varus sighed before eventually turning to the newcomer that simply ignored Ethan and everyone else.

   "So we called... For a Healer."

There seemed to be countless unspoken grievances in that pause he just made.

   "..."

Ethan turned to the so-called Healer that woke him up, but didn't know what to say.

   "I need to see him first before I act, but as long as it's his psychical body that was hurt, I'll be able to heal him." He spoke and Ethan eventually nodded, "Though, it remains to see who will be the one to awaken him."

Awakening a vampire from forced hibernation they use to heal themselves isn't as casual as they made it sound. After all, one needs to stimulate their blood using their own.

If someone with evil intentions got in charge of awakening such a vampire... Amnesia, retardation, mind-control, possession and many other wicked things were possible.

Therefore, those to awaken vampires from their hibernation are either people trusted by them, those who have a Blood Contract with them or neutral blood that had no killing intent.

   "There's no need to worry about it, the little guy is my responsibility, so I'll naturally be the one to awaken him." Although Ethan didn't understand why this person no one could contact for twenty years suddenly decided to come to Eden, his abilities were top notch. Not to mention that he didn't side with anyone, so using him to heal Mikhael would be for the best.

No matter what secret Mikhael's body hid, this guy won't leak it to anyone.

Though...

He might want to cut him open and properly observe it.

When the Nobles who returned after sensing their Lord's awakening heard that, some went pale like ghosts and one even dared to protest.

   "Lord Pureblood, please reconsider! The guy is of lowly origins and we don't even know who his maker is! For Lord Pureblood to..."

   "I don't recall asking for anyone's permission," Ethan immediately silenced him and exposed his bitten neck, "I do not need to remind you of traditions, do I?"

And in next moment, he disappeared together with the Healer, leaving everyone with dark expression on their faces. Traditions or whatnot, just the fact that their Lord decided to be serious about this guy made them worry. Everyone still remembered the m******e twenty years ago when Elders tried to get rid of Ethan's mortal lover.

So they didn't doubt that he'd do it again if they really dared to stop him.

   'Right. It's tradition, after all!'

So they used the excuse he's already given them to accept Mikhael.

Only Amelia stood there confused not comprehending a single thing that just happened, while Gai who's seen enough appeared like he's about to pluck his nose from boredom.

Noticing the only person who seemed like he could explain it properly, she got next to him and asked.

   "Say, say? What is all this about?"

He smiled knowingly and winked at her.

   "I'm surprised you don't know, aren't you the wife of Second Pureblood?"

At the same moment, everyone almost died from fright then and there once those words sank in. Like Ethan wasn't enough, another Pureblood also got taken away.

By a f*****g Immortal Seat of Hunters HQ!!

Especially Estefan. When he remembered how he threatened to kill her... He could feel shivers running through his neck.

   "The hell would I know, I'm a human and not vampire, I don't care about those traditions you blood-suckers have. Moreover, how do you know that? We married secretly? Hell, even I didn't know that he was a Pureblood until three days ago," Dominique only said he was an important vampire, while Amelia only said that she's important Hunter and the next thing they knew — Mikhael helped them get married.

No one bothered to uncover the secret of the other and they could only meet once in a few months. Moreover... she recalled Mikhael's hatred for Purebloods and decided to act like she didn't know anything. He probably didn't know of Dominique's identity either.

   "Heh," Gai only mysteriously smiled. "The Vatican's Pope made such a storm after being forced to wed a vampire because of some crazy psychopath, then stirred up everyone alive and undead trying to find out your identities in order to get revenge, but once he did — he shrunk his neck like a turtle. Yet you still ask how I know."

   "..."

Oh.

She had nothing to say in her defense.

As for other people present listening to his explanation... They were so confused that they even forgot their own names.

Who are we? What are we? What are we doing here?

   "Anyway, you should at least know about how Purebloods don't allow for their blood to be obtained by just anyone, and when they rarely DO give it away, they never let themselves get bitten?" he asked and she nodded.

Even when they give their blood, it's amount is limited to a single drop, protected in bottle, which is further kept sealed in special brief case, protected with all kind of people and spells.

It was that precious, indeed.

   "Well, you see — if a Pureblood allows another vampire to drink blood directly from their body, they have to marry and make them their blood partners."

   "..."

She was silent for a long while before simply nodding. Alright, things sure escalated quickly for Mikhael. At least she won't have to worry about him remaining single forever now.

   IT REEKED of blood.

The first thing Ethan noticed when he came to the hospital floor where Mikhael was, he recognized the familiar stench of blood. The Healer next to him also frowned.

Although it wasn't rare seeing that they were in a hospital specially built for vampires and many came here because of serious injuries or were in need of blood, the amount used on Mikhael really attracted attention.

He slowly followed the trail of that scent before arriving in front of the hospital doors and guards standing in front bowed when they saw him. The one that saw the guy next to Ethan and recognized him got scared so badly that he moved out of the way until it looked like he was guarding the room next doors, instead.

Although Ethan was prepared for it, but the moment he opened the doors and witnessed the sight in front of him — it still made him twitch his eyebrow and frown.

   "Seriously..." he wanted to say something, but stopped and just walked inside. Slightly shaking his hand, all the blood in the room suddenly disappeared as he got next to the bed Mikhael lied in. The Healer behind him walked step ahead before his hand almost touched the hole in Mikhael's chest.

   "A bit troublesome. It's sealed." He mused to himself and then his eyes inconspicuously went through Mikhael's face before eventually stopping to look somewhere next to him. Although there wasn't anything special in the place he glanced at, he could feel a familiar energy coming from something hidden in his void.

But Ethan whose eyes were glued to Mikhael didn't notice the little action of his.

   "Sealed?"

   "Yes, sealed. His heart is sealed with a powerful spell," the Healer explained.

   "Is it good or bad for him?"

   "That, I don't know. After all, you need to ask him personally for the reason behind this seal. If his heart has a problem and had to be sealed in order to not cause trouble, it's a good thing. But if it's done against his will..." He needn't say more for Ethan to understand.

   "The spell used, does it belong to a spell-caster or something else?" It was the only thing Ethan needed to know.

   "Definitely a spell-caster. Even I could break it if I really want to," since Healers used to be powerful spell-casters while they were still human, they knew how to deal with them the best. Especially since unlike hemomancers — someone like him could still use spells if he was willing to ignore little problems that came together with them.

   "Don't. Just heal him for now."

Ethan felt both relieved and worried. If it was done by a spell-caster, this little guy should be able to notice it faster than anyone else. But since he didn't touch it, it means that it was there for a reason behind that seal being there. But that also made Ethan worry — what reason was there for a vampire to seal their hearts?

   'It's no wonder he healed so slowly before.'

And still, Ethan went out and hurt him with his own two hands.

   "So be it, then," as he said that, the Healer once again cut himself and let his own blood flow down on top of Mikhael's chest. His body that didn't react at all to Amelia's blood hungrily reacted and devoured every single drop of Healer's blood. At the same time, the hole on Mikhael's chest began to mend at speed that could be observed with a naked eye.

In less than two seconds, it almost completely healed and he retracted his hand before turning to Ethan.

   "It's your turn from now on."

And then he headed outside.

Ethan didn't move, but instead observed him.

   "Why did you come to this town now?"

It was too suspicious. Adding to the messy situations that kept pilling one after another, he simply couldn't ignore this guy's arrival. Ethan wasn't blind, when he recalled the entire situation, it seemed like Mikhael's the one forced to suffer the most.

Although it was covered up with countless plots that could mask other people's eyes, to Ethan who knew the truth of Mikhael's identity — it all looked like a plan to get rid of him.

Since he himself used to be the target of countless people's machinations twenty years ago, he was even more clear to those details than other people.

Therefore...

   "Someone I was asked to look after appeared in this place, that's all. And someone who has an answer to my question just so happens to be that very same person. Whatever you have in mind, I've nothing to do with it. I don't like to be a pawn in bored people's chessboard."

   "..."

Neither of them said anything else before the guy eventually left. Ethan also sighed in defeat, with no other choice but to believe his words. Although he was a Pureblood, their blood is less effective on vampires older than themselves — especially some really powerful elders. And the Healer just now could also be considered to be an Elder whose real age no one knew.

For all Ethan knew, he might even be older than a Vampire King himself.

But he definitely isn't someone who would go so low as to scheme against someone like Mikhael.

He'd... Openly kidnap him and dissect him, instead?

   "..."

Well, Healers were all psychopaths like that.

In the end, he could only sit on the bed next to Mikhael and touch his face.

   "This should be your real face, then?" He mused to himself before his gaze moved to Mikhael's chest. Before the wound completely closed, Ethan removed his glove and but the tip of his finger. At the same time, he manipulated the source blood located at his heart to emerge from the wound he self-inflicted. Then, he smeared it on the open wound above Mikhael's heart.

The moment he did so, the wound that seem to have hard time completely closing just disappeared altogether and Ethan could feel his own blood that just left his body flow around Mikhael's chest.

Vampire's control of their own blood was something humans could never be able to comprehend. To them, their blood was no different than another hand, an extension of their fingers.

With clear intention in his mind, he began to stimulate the blood in Mikhael's body, forcing him to feel hunger. Although he could make Mikhael do whatever he wanted now that he had his blood and the other guy was unconscious, Ethan had no such twisted thoughts on his mind at the moment.

He just wanted Mikhael to wake up.

And that wish of his stimulated Mikhael who had no will to wake up, eventually winning over him.

   "When did you become a vampire? Why didn't you come looking for me?"

   'And what have you been doing for the past twenty years?'

He lifted Mikhael's body and gently placed him in his lap, ignoring his nakedness. Because they stuck so many needles in his body, they practically left him naked to cover as much of his skin with needles as possible. Ethan didn't know where all that blood went, but he was certain it was useless to Mikhael.

    "You really are a vengeful little fox," so sly and fast to run away once things don't go in his favour, yet stubborn to the point where he'd refuse to even say his name or show his face in order to not lose a childish bet.

Ethan helplessly grazed his own neck with his nails, making few droplets of blood flow out as he brought Mikhael's head closer to it.

   "It's lunch time, Mikhael."

Almost at the same time, Mikhael's eyes opened. Like there was a real blood trapped inside a transparent marble, his eyes were morbidly beautiful to the point where they almost obsessed someone to dig them out and have them preserved in a glass for eternity.

Even though there wasn't any focus in them, they didn't lack even an ounce of ferociousness as he immediately sunk his fangs in Ethan's neck and began to crazily devour his blood.

His dry skin slowly began to regain some color and vitality as his white hair regained it's former luster. The muscles over his bones began to rapidly grow and expand as his strength returned in them.

Ethan only sat in place, like it was no concern of his what was happening and carefully examined the other's body.

   'It can't really be that I hit the mark with my previous guess, can it?'

Ethan wasn't certain with his guess before — but now that he looked at Mikhael's bones and muscles, he realized that his age didn't quite match his looks. Also, he remembered what he knew about spell-casters and how mana influenced their bodies.

   'This little fox was a spell-caster before he was a vampire, that thing is certain.'

When Mikhael seemed to have slowed down, Ethan only slyly smiled before asking:

   "Say Flame, how old exactly were you when you were turned?"

Drink. Drink.

   "You don't really believe that you can fool me with that act," Ethan looked at Mikhael's eyes that now avoided his own, fully aware of his actions. Moreover... didn't this fellow cheat him saying that he was an old grandpa back then when they first met?

Sip. Sip.

Fuck!

   "You can stop pretending to be unconscious and start answering for a change. You look around twenty, but your bones are quite young for a twenty years old. Even if you were a vampire for millennia, that fact won't change."

Removing his fangs from Ethan's neck, Mikhael finally sighed.

   "Thirteen to fourteen, probably. I do not recall." He shrugged his shoulders, but his focus was elsewhere.

   "And the vampire who turned you, did they know about it?"

It was crime to turn children. They couldn't control themselves. They slaughtered and had twisted minds revolving around blood and killing. They didn't differ between good and evil. They did what they felt was supposed to be done.

If there really was someone that turned him, they'd be put under a trial and sentenced to eternal damnation.

   "Probably not. I looked like this when I died, so he assumed something else."

   "You died first?"

But Ethan who confirmed his doubts didn't believe Mikhael's words. Still, he continued to play along.

   "My mother was suspicious about how fast my body developed. It was probably in my genes to look older or something..." he glanced at Ethan, "But she was wrong in her head, and thought that demons possessed me. Water exterminated demons, or so was believed in my village. So she drowned me in a well. And then I got turned, becoming a vampire."

Well, it was eight hundred years ago. Not to mention the crazy priests or whatnot drowning "witches" to make them confess sorcery, his mother that had damaged brain believed it wholeheartedly and his young innocent self, ignorant of everything and believing in his dear mother did not suspect anything before she threw him inside the well and killed him.

The fall hurt, broke quite the number of his bones and even cracked his skull and at the moment, his dormant vampire genes awakened to save his body. Then he met Einz — his master — and began his new life as a Half-blood vampire.

   "..."

Fuck.

If he didn't know the truth and how mana forced capable spell-casters to grow faster in order to make their bodies more suitable to wield it — he would really start believing this nonsense!

Mikhael's body looked like he was about twenty years old, now.

But Mikhael who spewed one lie after another didn't know what Ethan thought at the moment.

   "So come on. Tell me how I'm dangerous, list all the tragedies Children of Night caused and justify my murder before killing me once for all, will you? Do hurry it up, I want to know what eternal slumber really feels like," Mikhael only yawned, like he hasn't been sleeping for three full days just now.

   "..."

Has this little fox been acting like an i***t for so long that he really became one?

Ethan only raised his eyebrow before pinning him down on the bed.

But the drowning part... Ethan felt that it should be true.

   "What you told me just now, you aren't allowed to mention to anyone else, if you want to stay alive. I'll use my blood within your body as an excuse as to why you couldn't wake up nor accept blood, just say you woke up your familiar or something, it's not that unusual."

It was a good thing that Mikhael had crazy luck so others already assumed all kinds of excuses for his current state.

   "Familiars need a lot of blood and they don't usually reawaken for next few decades or even centuries, so you'll be safe even if you don't have one. You look old and I could guess all this because I saw your abilities properly and knew some things, which don't quite match with your words. Your secret is perfectly safe, Flame."

Mikhael kept silent for a while before asking.

   "Why?"

   "Do you really not understand?"

Ethan only curled his lips in annoyance before moving away towards the doors.

Tapping the handle twice, Ethan turned to Mikhael with a somewhat innocent smile that made the later shiver from fright.

   "It's only right of me to protect my bride, isn't it? I still haven't devoured you properly after all."

   "..."

   "It would be such a pity to let you go to waste now."

And then he simply went out, leaving Mikhael rooted in place for a good while, who expected some answer like: "I want to threaten you, experiment on you, blackmail you and enjoy your misery," or something, but instead got this.

What bride, he's a f*****g man, okay!?

Should he remove the blanked and show off his naked glory for the other person to see properly!?