Chapter 26

Le Comte's voice was easy and quiet as he told me the story of Vlad's life, almost like he were telling me a fairytale.

Gabriel

"Ever since Vlad was born, he was different from other vampires. Among purebloods, vampires like him are called divine children."

Kira

"Divine children?"

Gabriel

"They're a different kind of vampire from the rest. Very few clans have been involved with humans, but they do exist." "However, purebloods--as the name suggests, have bloodlines that are completely pure, and are from noble lineage." "But Vlad's family, House Dräculesti, is the purest of them all. They're different from all the other purebloods."

Kira

"Why?"

Gabriel

"Because the Dräculestis are the original bloodline of vampires."

Kira

"You mean...that's where vampires came from?"

Le Comte nodded.

Gabriel

"Long ago, the Draculesti family was plagued with the problem of their heirs dying, generation after generation." "Their bloodlines were strong, and so were their bodies. So strong the pregnant mothers couldn't tolerate the pregnancies."

Kira

"So then Vlad...?"

Gabriel

"Yes, he miraculously was born and was the long-awaited heir the Dräculestis had been waiting for." "A child with blood as pure as a god…His family cherished him dearly, I'm sure." "But after he was born, he was kept inside the mansion like a bird in a cage." "I'd heard rumors and stories of Vlad, but I never saw him until I was older."

Kira

"So how did you meet, then?"

Gabriel

"It was at a banquet where only pure-blooded vampires gathered." "My parents brought me there. I was bored with the grown-ups' conversation and went out to look at the night sky." "And then Vlad suddenly appeared in front of me, completely out of nowhere... Like a little god."

Flashback

Vlad

"...Oof! Hm? Oh, I didn't know there was already someone here. Hello, golden-haired boy."

Gabriel

"Waaah! Why'd you just jump down from that tree? Wait...you're a pure-blooded vampire?"

Vlad

"Yep. My name's Vlad. I'm a pure-blood, just like you!"

"Hey, what's your name?"

Flashback Ends

Gabriel

"After I told him my name, Vlad told me he snuck out of his mansion to come to the banquet." "And that's when I realized the boy in front of me was the divine child. was completely flustered, but Vlad smiled at me."

Flashback

Vlad

"Everyone around me treats me like I'm really special. My family says I'm special, too." "They say, 'You have the blood of the Originals in you! That means you're special, like a god who can rule over the world!'" "Haha. It's funny, isn't it? I'm not special at all. And I'm not a god either."

Gabriel

"You're not?"

Vlad

"Nope. I'm just a kid who sneaks out of his house because I'm sick of being left out all the time!"

Gabriel

"I guess you are. You don't look like the rumors say, either. You look just like me!"

Vlad

"Yeah! We're the same. You know, I think that all creatures are the same, just like you and I are the same!"

Gabriel

"Huh?"

Vlad

"That bird, the grass and the trees, vampires, humans, we're all the same. We just live for different amounts of time." "That's why I love everything and everyone equally. I really do. No one's more special than anyone else."

Gabriel

"Hey, I think the same thing! I love animals and humans, and I always think how nice it would be if we were the same!"

Vlad

"Just this morning, I found a yellow geranium blooming in my garden."

Gabriel

"…?"

Vlad

"Did you know that yellow geraniums symbolize an unexpected encounter? Hey--will you be my friend?!"

Flashback Ends

My heart ached as I listened to the story of the two boys blossoming friendship from long, long ago.

Gabriel

"And so Vlad and I became friends as we snuck away from the glamourous banquet." "After that, we continued to sneak off and meet with each other without his family knowing." "But it wasn't all happy, fun times. We shared our sadness and loneliness together, too."

Kira

"Your loneliness?"

Gabriel

"Vlad's clan revealed their identities as vampires to a certain group of humans and co-existed with them." "However, my clan lived among humans as well, but we were strictly forbidden from revealing our true identity."

I was surprised to hear the difference in how the different vampire clans approached humans.

Gabriel

"…And because of that, I suffered greatly when I was a young boy."

Le Comte took his gold pocketwatch out of his pocket and stared at it, as if lamenting the passage of time.

Gabriel

"My beloved tutor, my music teacher, my favorite butler…" "I was forced to say goodbye to every precious human | ever got close to, and was torn away from them."

Kira

"Because they would realize something was suspicious when your appearance stayed the same?"

He nodded with a smile, looking off into the distance as he recalled it.

Gabriel

"Even though I understood the logic of it, my heart wouldn't accept it. I cried and cried." "And Vlad was there to comfort me and cheer me up.

Flashback

Gabriel

"Hey, Vlad? Do you really think humans and vampires are that different?" "I love humans so much...so why can't just stay with them?"

Vlad

"Don't cry. I'm sure one day humans and vampires will be able to live together forever."

Gabriel

"Really?"

Vlad

"Yeah. Because we love humans, and I'm sure humans love us, too!" "This world is so beautiful. Vampires and humans will join hands with all creatures and live in peace and harmony!" "Let's both pray that happens, and that that future goes on forever and ever!"

Flashback Ends

Gabriel

"At the time, I thought maybe he was just saying that to cheer me up." "But Vlad really believed it, from the bottom of his heart."

Kira

"..."

Gabriel

"Vlad would sneak away from the people watching over him to visit the humans who knew his clan's true identity." "And he would tell me all about them." "He said even though the humans in the village knew what he really was, they didn't give him special treatment." "He said he was so happy that they were friendly to him." "But then something happened that stole away Vlad's smile."

Kira

"What was it?"

Le Comte took a deep breath and then continued.

Gabriel

"One snowy day, Vlad's entire clan-the Drāculesti family--were killed, except for him." "Human vampire hunters killed them."

Kira

"But I thought Vlad's family co-existed with the humans! So then why...?"

Gabriel

"The humans only pretended to be peacefully co-existing with them. In actuality, they were terrified of the Dräculestis."

Kira

"I don't want to believe it... What about all the time they spent together? Did it mean nothing to them?"

Gabriel

"Vlad probably thought the same thing." "Apparently every one of the vampire hunters died in the incident as well, so the complete truth was lost to the darkness…"

The cold, grey feeling of uneasiness I had inside of me kept growing stronger.

Kira

"...Comte, I don't understand."

Gabriel

"Hm?"

Kira

"Vlad's whole family, which I'm sure he loved deeply, was stolen from him by humans." "And then he traveled to the future and saw that the entire world was destroyed--at the hands of humans."

No matter how much you wish otherwise, you can never become someone you're not. You can't ever truly know what's going on inside of someone else's heart.

Kira

"If I were Vlad, I probably would've started hating humans."

Gabriel

"..."

Kira

"I don't think I would've had any desire to protect them, ever."

Gabriel

"I thought the same thing and asked Vlad about it. This was before he had traveled into the future and saw the end of the world." "I asked, 'Do you hate humans now?' and he smiled at me."

Flashback

Vlad

"That snowy day I lost my family, I made a decision." "That no matter what happened in the future, I would hate the crime, and not the person."

Flashback Ends

He accepted what happened but decided not to hate the humans who perpetrated it. Any normal person wouldn't be able to do that, no matter how hard they tried. I know it would be hard for me, too.

Kira

"...He really does seem like he's divine."

remembered how when I was little, thought gods had castles high above the clouds and watched over the humans from up there. They would just gaze fondly down at the humans, but not be affected no matter what happened there. Le Comte had told me that everyone around Vlad had called him special and said he was a divine child. But…

Flashback

Vlad

"Everyone around me treats me like I'm really special. My family says I'm special, too." "They say, 'You have the blood of the Originals in you! That means you're special, like a god who can rule over the world!'" "Haha. It's funny, isn't it? I'm not special at all. And I'm not a god either."

Flashback Ends

Vlad thought he wasn't a god at all, but that he was just the same as everyone else. He wanted to be like everyone else, from the bottom of his heart. Only he knew when that had changed inside of him. But it's true that at some point, Vlad's love for humans changed. Although he still loved humans, now he felt it was his duty to guide them away from committing crimes and making mistakes. Perhaps from a broad viewpoint, that was love. But it was a twisted sort of love. I want to change that twisted love of his and make it right again, from the bottom of my heart. But…

Kira

"Is anyone capable of saving Vlad's heart, now that it's so far gone?"

I murmured, and le Comte looked down at the deep red rose Vlad had given me.

Gabriel

"…'Only you'"