The Plan

"What do you think will happen if she finds out she married a cold-blooded vampire who can kill her even for no apparent reason?" Irene asked.

'But her being married to the cold-blooded vampire was the truth. It would be strange to paint Luca as a misunderstood vampire while the whole district knows that he is a total villain who hates humans,' Rainy thought inwardly but when her eyes met with Irene's hard gaze, she swallowed the words again. 

"What do you think, dear?" Irene asked with a smile that made Rainy's back shudder. 

"She will be afraid and run away?" Rainy replied, seemingly unsure of her own answer.

Irene looked unsatisfied as she looked at Enoch.

"The one of the worst cases that might happen if she happened to know that Luca was ruthless and abhor human was might get depressed and die from anxiety because she knows that she can't escape from the Winter family house," Enoch answered with a firm voice.

Enoch had another answer in his head, but decided to say an answer that would not make the woman in front of her angry. 

"You are quite intelligent! That's right, that is one of the reasons, but the main reason is that I don't want her to panic around Luca. The boy hates it when he feels that kind of feeling from people around him, especially from humans," Irene explained. 

Enoch nodded his head. That was actually what he wanted to say, but saying that her grandson was cruel and would love to toy with a weak woman's fear would definitely annoy Irene, so Enoch held back from saying that thing. 

"Let's try to keep Miss Ayana in the fairy tale for at least two years. You must be aware that this marriage stopped the contract between District 4 and District 5, which allowed us to take control of District 5 when their coal supply thinned." Irene said as she sipped the tea.

Ever since she found out that the land has a lot of potential, she always wanted to buy the land there and gain as much profit as possible. Unfortunately, the policy in District 5 was very strict. Even if she used someone's power, the government would find out about it and confiscate the land. She could not let anyone find out the value of that land, therefore she needed to be very patient and move carefully. She also could not let District 5 get help from another district and stabilize their condition. 

'Two fucking years! That sound like impossible mission since the human did not look like a retarded woman who would not notice anything around her. It's easier to sedate her or let her sleep for two years to hide general's true nature from her.' Enoch felt that his head was hurting just from thinking the worst case scenario in his head. 

"Did you purposely advise Miss Ayana without using the sound barrier to warn all the vampires in the plane to avoid saying something that might scare Miss Ayana?" Rainy asked. There was a hint of worry in her voice. 

Enoch turned to the woman beside him with surprise. He did not expect Rainy would come with that kind of scenario. It was possible. He was about to praise Rainy when the girl talked again.

"I think I might say something to scare her," Rainy said as regret started to fill her voice.

Enoch blinked in realization and suddenly really wanted to wipe his face in frustration. He felt that Rainy was like an innocent child that just confessed her mistake to her parents.

Irene sighed loudly but then stared at Rainy, "I will let it pass this time. You just need to keep what you think about Luca inside your head the next time you meet her. Or you just need to avoid her by all means. I've already discussed this with the other colonels and elders to have them manage their subordinates. I even had to beg Luca not to act too violent around her," Irene said as she was massaging her temples.

Enoch looked down. He could not help but wonder how long Luca was able to keep his words. 

"May I ask another question, madam?" Enoch asked. 

"What is it?"

"Why does it have to be our general? How should I say this….  He is… He never really listened to others. He just…" Enoch could not finish his words since what he wanted to say would definitely sound rude. 

Irene giggled, and understood what Enoch wanted to say about his grandson, "I know what you want to say. Yes. He is hard to control, but it doesn't mean that he would just ignore everyone. Did you forget that the woman sitting in front of you is the one who persuaded him to marry a human, the creature he hated the most?"

Enoch blinked then realized the truth in what Irene just said. She was right. Luca rarely hears everyone's words, but he must have heard what his parents and the eldest in his family said. 

"Moreover, do you think there is someone of high rank from our district who would marry off their child with a human, especially a girl with her upbringing?" Irene asked, making Enoch and Rainy stunned.

"What's wrong with her upbringing?" Rainy looked curiously at Enoch beside her.

Enoch looked at Irene. After getting confirmation from her, he started to talk.

"She is the daughter of a criminal from District 3. The rumor said that the elder in District 4 intentionally sent the girl out for marriage to insult us. We can't reject the proposal because the elders from district 4 threatened to breach the contract with us. They even wanted to make another agreement with District 5." Enoch said as his eyes looked at his friend with disappointment. He had told Rainy about this several days ago, but based on her reaction, Enoch was sure that the girl did not hear what he said at all although she was always replied with affirmatives. 

"Did you understand our situation now, colonel?" Irene looks at the dumbfounded Rainy.

"I do, madam," Rainy answered but still confused about the situation. It looks like a lot of questions appear on her mind but she refused to say that out loud. 

"After all, I was the one who planned to control District 5, so this small sacrifice doesn't matter to me. I just hope that the girl will last long enough in our clan until everything is ready," Irene said as she took a sip of her drink.

Rainy blinked a bit surprised at something Irene said. She was just opening her mouth when she felt a sting in her lower thigh. She frowned when she found Enoch's hand near her thigh. 

'Ah, that must be a sign for me to shut up,' Rainy thought, then swallowed the question that was already on the tip of her lips. 

"What was it? I know you wanted to say something," Irene looked at Rainy. 

"No, madam. I just felt that you liked Miss Ayana," Rainy decided to make a light comment about what passed her mind earlier. 

"I like her. She looks like a good child that would obediently listen to what I told her to, but I prefer a formidable vampire like Skylar, to be Luca's wife. I want someone who can stand beside Luca proudly," Irene said with a proud smile on her face.

"I just hope that she will not hate me when she comes back since I am the one who told Luca to marry that human. I just hope that this Ayana girl will be gone by the time she comes back," Irene said as she laughed heartily.

Rainy was stunned when she looked at Irene. Never once in her life, she saw someone who could laugh so elegantly and beautifully at other misfortunes.

She got goosebumps thinking about what happened to the girl after her usefulness was over. Rainy looked at Enoch beside her.

The man was calm. There was no emotion in his eyes. Rainy felt something odd at the unfeeling Enoch beside her.

'Shouldn't Enoch be the softie one between them? Why did he look so cold now?'

A tingle of doubt started to grow in her heart. She cannot imagine if she was in the girl position. She used to be a frightful human.

She and Enoch used to be human. Their family lived in poverty and starvation until the notice to become a vampire came. They could choose to keep living in poverty or change their life by being a vampire.

They definitely won't live in starvation if they can fully transform into vampires since their power will be needed. She used to have a big family, but they were all gone. She was the sole survivor of her family.

At that time, the percentage to successfully transform into a vampire was only 25 percent since the subject was the poor people. The weak ones, the disabled, and people with illnesses won't survive the changing process. Only the best one survives.

Enoch was the same as her. He was also the sole survivor of his family. Although, their reaction to the loss was the opposite. Enoch was relieved that his abusive family cannot survive the ordeal. His father and two brothers used to vent their anger on him. His mother, the person who should have protected him, was a drug addict. She doesn't care about anything besides getting money for drugs.

He never shed tears for them and said that he was always alone from the start.

Sometimes, she thinks that this was the conspire of the wicked people to eliminate useless and weak people in District 2. She wanted to vent her anger on someone, blaming them for the death of her family, but there was no one. They chose to change their life for the better.

Rainy lost all her family just like that. She remembered how hopeful they were as their father said everything will be okay when they walked to the lab together. Two days later, she found out that all of them died. She lost her four older siblings and parents just like that. She cannot even fight for them. Everything was just gone.

"What's wrong?" Enoch taped her hand, waking her from her memory lane.

"What?" Rainy looked confused as she focused on the man beside her. 

"You are too quiet."

"I am thinking about something," Rainy's statement created a frown on Enoch's face.

"Where is Irene?" Rainy asked when she realized that they were alone in the private room.

"She has gone back to take a rest," Enoch said casually.

"What are you thinking of? Do you want to talk about it?" Enoch said, bringing back the topic.

"Just the usual stuff," Rainy said helplessly, lifting her shoulder.

Enoch sighed after observing the girl for a while.

"You know I am only one call away, right?" Enoch said as he patted her head.

"Eww, stop it. That was so cringe that I am gonna puke. Thanks for the offer, though," Rainy said, trying to dispel the worry in the man's face.

Enoch smiled when Rainy was back to being talkative.