Hidden Trauma

Keith looked at the tearful eyes of Rena. He was shocked by her outburst, as nothing like this ever happened. Before he got Keith's body, Rena always stayed with him. She took care of him all the time and stayed by his side all day long.

After he became Keith, he wasn't dependent like before. He stayed in solitude and always pushed her away. He didn't talk to her much. This type of sudden change must have scared Rena. First, she didn't know what to do; she waited, thinking that it may be due to the trauma. But as more time passed, Keith became more isolated.

" I didn't know that you thought this way. I just wanted to keep you safe. You are the closest to me aside from grandpa, and you are a human too. I didn't want you to be treated like other humans." Keith said in a sorrowful tone.

" Young master… we humans don't live as long as you. We are weak and fragile. We are only needed for the blood that suits the vampires. You will stay the same decades later. But, I won't be there for you. I want to serve you as long as I can, while I am capable. I am afraid that if I don't stay by your side now, I will fade away in your memories." Rena said in a shaky voice.

Keith couldn't utter a word. What she said was true. He was a vampire and she was a human. If he considered their life span, he would outlive her and still be considered young by vampire standards. His attempt to make her life better was only for her well-being. He didn't consider her feelings.

" Rena… you will always be in my heart. After all the things you did for me, I don't think I can forget you… ever. But trust me when I say this, I am doing something really important and risky. I can't afford to involve you In this. The less you know the better." Keith said in a plain tone.

Rena wiped her tears and nodded her head.

" I'm sorry that I lashed out like that, but after that incident, I don't want you to risk your life. I don't want you to leave. Whenever I am not with you, I imagine if anything bad will happen to you. The vivid memories of that day come to my mind when I looked at your deep wound in your stomach. When I stayed by your side, while there was a faint sign of life inside you, that could vanish any moment." Rena said in a sad voice.

" Rena… Listen to me. I am not the same as before. I am sorry that you went through such a traumatic experience, but that won't happen again. And you don't need to keep reminding yourself that." Keith touched her cheeks and wiped the remaining tears.

" I... I shouldn't have said that, I am sorry young master. I… I don't know what came over me." She shook her head.

" It's alright. Don't be so hard on yourself." Keith stroked her hair.

Rena's cheeks turned red from his touch. He withdrew his hand and walked to the bed.

" The most important thing for me now is to increase my strength. I have already surpassed baron level. My blood qi also increased a lot. I want more time to condense my blood qi and to stabilize my core. If you feel lonely, you can stay here by my side." Keith sat on his bed and closed his eyes.

"… I won't disturb you, young master. And I won't let anyone interfere." She mumbled.

Keith focused his mind on his blood core and started to circulate the blood qi. The tremendous amount of blood qi that he received from consuming so many glasses of vampire blood was brimming inside him.

First of all, he needed to get the blood qi to circulate and condense inside the blood core.

Slowly the blood qi accumulated inside the blood core and it condensed the blood qi. He stayed in that state for hours when he finished condensing twenty percent of the blood qi.

The blood qi that he got from the blood essence was the starting phase of accumulation. For him to make the blood qi into his own, he needed to circulate the blood qi throughout his body and mark the attribute. When the blood qi circulates throughout his body, it absorbs his unique mark.

Without the unique attribute, the blood qi won't be able to condense inside the blood core. As long as there is a unique personal attribute to the blood qi, it can be condensed into the blood core or it will dissipate later after it stays stagnant in the body.

That is why it is essential to circulate the blood qi in regular intervals to imbue it with your unique blood qi. Also, that is the reason other vampires can't use other's blood qi, as it disrupts their own.

Every vampire has a unique attribute to the blood qi, that can be harmful to others. If one vampire intakes too much blood qi that is not his own, there is a risk of losing your own attribute or worse, losing your sanity and turning into ghouls.

After Keith accumulated and condensed some of the blood qi that was brimming inside his body, he got up from the bed. He saw that Rena was sitting in a chair by the bed. She was looking at him with round eyes. There were two glasses on the table, which was probably brought by her.

" You stayed here all this time. Did you eat anything or not?" Keith asked while cracking his arms.

" Yes young master, I already ate my fill. I brought yours too. I didn't disturb you since you were so focused in that state." Rena replied with a smile.

" Hmm good. It's late already, don't you want to go back to your room?" Keith asked.

" Ahh… I totally forgot the time. Even though I don't want to leave, it's inappropriate to stay here at night." Rena placed her hand on her mouth.

Keith knew that she wanted to stay near him. As the maid quarters were on the other side of the castle, she would have to go there in the middle of the night. His room was on the southern side of the castle, and he was given the entire hallway. There were dozens of rooms here unoccupied.

The rooms were for his servants or guests. Usually, they were reserved for vampire servants and guests, as human quarters were in a different place. He thought about giving one room to Rena, as they were empty and collecting dust anyway. But he had to inform his grandpa about it too. Or the family members will be outraged if a maid stayed in the vampire's quarters unannounced.

" Rena, would you like to stay in a room adjacent to mine? I will tell grandpa tomorrow, I'm sure he will agree. This way you can stay near me." Keith suggested.

" Can I? But what will the other lords and masters say? I don't want to bring you any more trouble than you already have." Rena was hesitant about it.

" There you go again. Nobody will say anything. This place is empty anyway, We have too much free space. Even if someone tries to talk back, they can't go against grandpa or even me." Keith replied resolutely.