8 1.08 Such Arrogance

Thunder and lightning. Rain hammering the ground with a wrathful vengeance. The wind howling in anger and defiance.

That's what the weather should have been to match the ambiance of this conversation.

Aelius felt like the current weather was completely inappropriate. The sun was shining happily, any clouds had moved on somewhere else. The wind was blowing softly, cooling the sweat Aelius was producing like a fountain.

'My palace, he says.'

Did that make sense? This palace that was so close to another ancient powerful vampire belonged to the patriarch.

Palaces of unrelated individuals should be further apart. Did that mean that the patriarch was close to the vampire lord he destroyed? Why then… This is supposed to be a supernatural redemption story, not a mystery novel. Aelius didn't have time, nor did he want to investigate the details of this mess any more than he had to.

''Dear author,

I get that novel-Aelius met the patriarch when he was 10 years old because the palaces are close together… but I am finding this situation a little overwhelming, please rewrite this part.

Kind regards,

The reincarnated individual that is facing a mortal crisis.'

The patriarch blinked at the sweating child in his grip. The child flinched.

Groooowl.

'Oh… No…'

Aelius cursed his traitorous stomach.

"Looks like he was hungry. Children are taught about these flowers and the flowers usually entrap small prey; this situation is a little strange."

'Thank you Mr. Bodyguard. Please ask the patriarch to ignore me and be off to his business.'

"Hm…"

Aelius screamed internally.

'Is he going to kill me? does that 'hmm' mean that he's contemplating how to tear me apart?'

Aelius mechanically turned his neck, seeing the devastation of the flowers behind him. The patriarch had barely lifted a finger and a radius of nearly 50 meters was blackened.

'Aaaahhhhhh! I'm just a little hungry. Wasn't that a little overkill just to show off his powers?'

Growl!

Aelius felt the pang in his stomach grow even fiercer. There was a void in his stomach trying to devour itself. It felt as if he had been fasting all day, he wanted to throw up. the dizziness and need to feed were making him confused.

'What the…'

Thoughts of wanting to pounce on the broken vial or biting his hand for blood were creeping at the edge of his mind. A small part of his mind tried to point out how irrational he was.

The flowers had taken too much blood. The previous paralysis from the vine's poison was wearing off making him feel the pain of the puncture wounds.

The poison seems to have paralytic and anesthetic effects. Now he felt the full brunt of the damage.

Just how much blood had the flowers…

Aelius felt pain behind his eyes. The world became more vibrant, and minute details he hadn't picked up on before became obvious.

The bodyguard showed a slight reaction when the patriarch picked up Aelius. He hadn't thought about it before, but the memory was suddenly crystal clear. Was the bodyguard nervous?

It made sense, even if the patriarch was heartless, no one wanted to see a child being murdered.

At that thought, Aelius felt his heart rate quicken.

Why did he have to die? Why did he have to be reborn to a crazy father of a bloodthirsty race? It wasn't fair. It wasn't right.

Anger began to build up.

Even the people taking care of him were crazy. If he hadn't earned their favor then his life would be a living hell right now.

The anger spiked.

Aelius felt the fangs in his mouth descend as his claws elongated.

A small part of his mind screamed to stop. Begging him to remain calm until he could go get blood from one of his stashes.

Aelius crushed that part of his mind.

"He's turning ravenous. The blood loss is forcing a transformation."

"Hoh?"

The patriarch looked amused at the transformed child hanging in the air.

Aelius looked at the amused expression. At the uncaring man who was supposed to be his father. At the broken vial and the thought of losing the hard-earned vials he hid.

A growl escaped his mouth. Then he lunged forward. His claws moved faster than he had ever managed to move before. The clawed fingers were inches from the patriarch's face.

A chill went through Aelius. The patriarch hadn't moved. The bodyguard looked just as concerned as before. Concerned for Aelius. Not the person he was supposed to be protecting.

This was a mistake. He made a mistake.

Yellow reptilian eyes shone faintly.

Aelius tried to struggle. Tried to move away. He couldn't. The brilliance of the sun dimmed. He saw darkness descend. The last thought on his mind was how Elizabeth was going to react. The crazy woman was going to be envious that his death came at the hands of the patriarch. Then he knew no more.

Nicolas stared at the unconscious child. The transformation receded quickly, but he still caught the change in the amber pupils. The slight morphing when the boy lunged.

"Interesting."

Nicolas tossed the child towards his bodyguard.

"Velan."

"?!"

"Carry him."

The patriarch was already walking away.

"I will have a light breakfast with my guest."

Velan looked at the tiny child with a complicated expression.

The warmth of the sun was the perfect temperature for napping. Elizabeth would wake him if anything important was going on. Children needed lots of sleep to grow up after all. The schedule for the past few years has been too hectic. Surely no one would begrudge him a little sleep outside.

Aelius was just about to go back into the realm of sweet dreams when he felt a drop of something divine on his lips.

Lick.

Exquisite. He had never tasted anything like this. A shiver of pleasure ran through his body as an involuntary smile crept on his face. This was even better than those treats Elizabeth brings every once in a while.

Were the servants feeding him while he slept? Perfect. This is how life should be. A prince being fed by his servants. Maybe he should introduce hot tubs to this world. It'll be nice for the servants to take a relaxing bath after work.

"How long are you going to remain asleep?"

Aelius heard the unfamiliar voice. He could vaguely recall that he heard it somewhere but… It didn't matter. He was comfy and was enjoying the aftertaste.

Aelius turned his back to the voice. The new servant can learn the ropes from Elizabeth later.

A choking sound followed.

Aelius sighed. That was a different voice, were there two new servants?

He sat up. There was an umbrella above, covering direct light from the sun. A table of different bloody meats sat before him with glasses filled to the brim with crimson.

Holy. The servants were going all out. This was extravagant even to him. what was the occasion?

Aelius rubbed the sleep from his eyes. Was he still asleep? He closed his eyes and waited two seconds before opening them back up. The food was still there.

He looked up and saw a man with eyes shut sitting lazily. The man looked peacefully resting. A true sleeping beauty, if the genders in that story were reversed then this man could be the lead.

The cool breeze became a little chilly as sweat began rolling off Aelius' head. He finally recognized who that man was.

The patriarch opened his eyes.

Aelius averted his gaze.

Nicolas tilted his head.

"Are you mute?"

Aelius jumped in his seat.

"This is less amusing than I expected."

The small sigh made Aelius' mind whirl.

What does that mean?

'Interest fading = time to swat the mosquito = off with the child's head'

"Aelius can talk."

He put on his most innocent smile and opened his eyes wide with 'genuine' wonder at the food.

"The child speaks."

Nicolas cracked an eye open.

"I had thought that you were only capable of growling and grunting like a feral beast."

Aelius colored remembering the transformation and how easily he had been subdued. Elizabeth mentioned the berserker state before. When vampires are low on blood and are injured, their instincts take over until they consume blood. It was said that breaking out of that state was almost impossible without killing the vampire.

"My lord, little children can be intimidated by adults."

The bodyguard tried to diffuse the situation.

"Hmm."

'Yup! Thank you Mr. Bodyguard. You're officially my favorite person in this palace. Please stay forever.'

The slitted pupils almost disappeared with the light of the sun, contrasting the beauty of the yellow eyes.

Aelius smiled brighter. Trying his best to look like an innocent and ignorant child.

He was sobbing inwardly, barely containing the tears about to roll down.

Nicolas tilted his head upwards and leaned forward. A lion readjusting before pouncing on the mouse in front of it.

"Velan."

"Yes, my lord?"

"You are intimidating the child. Leave us."

'Noooooo!'

The bodyguard bowed and turned to leave.

'Don't leave me!'

As if hearing the internal scream, Velan glanced back and gave an uneasy wink back to Aelius.

"Aelius…"

'!!!'

Nicolas closed his eyes, tilting his head upwards in contemplation.

'It should be illegal to be this photogenic.'

"What an audacious name."

'Uh oh.'

"The undying light of the sun."

'Not good.'

Aelius clenched his hands but tilted his head feigning innocence.

Innocence because showing any sign of understanding could spell death. How arrogant. The sun. An anathema to vampires. It's light an antithesis of life for their race.

"To be bestowed such a name at the heart of the clan."

Aelius swallowed.

"That witch would have been publicly whipped to death if she had not died giving birth."

'Ah. So, she died.'

He suspected it but… hearing it made Aelius' heart ache slightly. Someone he hadn't known and now would never meet. His mother.

What kind of person was she? To be with a man like the patriarch. To give birth to his child she must have loved or cared for either Nicolas or Aelius. To name your child an undying light. Did that mean she had unwavering hope for him or was it out of spite for his race?

He wanted to ask. He wanted to know.

Nicolas seemed to be annoyed by the name as well.

Aelius blinked slowly, trying to look as harmless as possible.

'… Because that psycho could just kill me at any time.'

Aelius tried to project his thoughts.

'No danger here. I'm an insignificant bug. Patriarchs don't look at bugs. I just wanna leave this place and die in peace, I don't want to be trapped underground and starved to death. Not too much, right?'

"Are you not hungry? The food will not jump into your mouth. Go on, eat."

Nicolas' voice brought Aelius' attention to the foods on the table.

Growl~

Aelius hesitated. Was it alright to eat right—

Nicolas' eyes opened wider, his yellow eyes glinting with malice.

"Is this food not to your liking?"

Aelius shivered at the change.

"Maybe I should kill the cook, would fresh blood be more pleasing?"

'What. The. Fuck.'

Aelius' hands trembled as he cut up the bloody steak. He tried to maintain the smile, but it was a monumental effort to keep it on his face.

'He's crazy! Elizabeth, I didn't know what crazy was. I'm sorry. Please save me.'

How was he supposed to enjoy the food with a gun pointed at his head? He felt sick. If he refused to eat, is that maniac going to start another massacre?

The blood drained from his face at the thought.

"D-delicious!"

Aelius smiled in 'pleasure'.

What did that food even taste like? Gods he couldn't even enjoy it. His stomach was doing flips, either from happiness or anxiety. He couldn't tell.

Nicolas' face remained unchanged, simply observing Aelius.

'Yup. Look at the silly, innocent, and harmless child.'

He took another bite and tried to force the tear back from the edge of falling.

'Elizabeth! Where are you?! How can you like this man? I'm terrified. He's just staring at me eat.'

The attention was a tiny bit suffocating.

'Why did I even come here? It's like walking headfirst into a death flag. I should have just hid quietly in the palace until it was time to leave. I wanna cry.'

"I expected an imbecilic, considering how you were feeding yourself to the flowers. Yet you are picking out the most nutritious meals first."

Aelius noticed that he had chosen the foods based on instincts, not just eating what was in front of him.

'I should give Elizabeth a big hug. That smell training helped.'

He swallowed before speaking.

"Beth taught me."

"Hmm. Beth. You are referring to Elizabeth Alvira."

Aelius jerked up, startled at hearing Elizabeth's full name.

"The only servant to remain standing unfazed by the death that night."

Aelius blinked. Unsure if the patriarch remembering Elizabeth was a good or bad thing. From Elizabeth's perspective, she would have died on the spot from happiness.

"She look me in the eyes as I handed you to her."

'Elizabeth! I miss you!'

"Such arrogance."

'Hic!'

"I should have removed her head."

Aelius immediately began munching faster on the food around him.

"Do you know who I am?"

Clang!

Aelius dropped the fork and knife.

'Is this it…?'

Thump!

The yellow eyes encompassed Aelius. He was a bug that was about to be stepped on. You don't sit and eat with a bug. You squash it after laying hands on your food.

'Why did he bring me here?'

The smile slipped from Aelius.

'Boredom. He was probably just passing the time by doing something mildly interesting.'

Hairs rose on the back of his neck.

'He brought me here to decide… Decide whether let me live a little longer…'

The patriarch leaned forward.

'… Or have me killed.'