156 Send condolences to the vampire king

Noah winces when he feels the dull ache in his body. His body has healed, but the pain would take some time to disappear. He looks around. There's nobody in the room except for him. He could smell Izo's lingering scent. Did Izo take care of him? Sighing, he climbs off the bed. What might have happened while he was asleep? He walks out of the room. Did Izo go to see Jin? He heads toward Jin's room. 

"Why are you on your feet?" Izo appears in front of him. "You need to rest."

"Izo, I am fine." Noah smiles at him. "I want to see Jin."

"He has fallen asleep." Izo reaches for Noah's arm. When their eyes meet, he hesitates and pulls back his hand. Does Noah remember or not? Should he ask him what he remembers? If he asks and it turns out that Noah doesn't remember, then it would disturb their relationship for a long time. He doesn't want to embarrass Noah. Then, it's better if he keeps it a secret. 

"How is his body?" Noah asks him. 

"His body is fine now." Izo holds Noah's arm, blushing a little when he recalls the burning kiss. He glances at Noah who is anything but flustered. "It's his core… the link between the source and his core is weak. I wonder if there's any way to fix that."

"Brother Lei might be able to find some way to fix it." Noah grabs Izo's arm and leans on him as he walks toward his room. Izo's obvious discomfort is not so obvious to him. "Kai said that the queen's blood can heal the vampire."

"Queen is also hurt." Izo avoids looking at Noah. "She has the opposite problem. Her core is fine, but her body is affected by the world's instabilities."

"She can't wake up either?" Noah creases his forehead. Why is this happening to them? His King must be in pain. 

"She will wake up in the future." Izo says to him, "But Jin's condition is rather serious. He might never be able to stay awake for a long time."

After a pause, Izo decides to reveal it to Noah, "There's something else…'

"What is it?" Noah stares at him. His brother seems worried.

"His memories are…" Izo replies with a worried tone, "When I talked to him a while ago, he didn't recognize me."

"What?" Noah shouts. "How is that possible? He can't lose his memories."

"He's not losing them." Izo shakes his head. "It's rather… he's forgetful. He recognized me after a while, but then… he forgot who Huang Qiuyan was. Also, I noticed that his magic has weakened. He asked me to take him out of the castle because there was someone whom he wanted to see."

This is strange. Noah has never heard of a vampire being forgetful like this. Then, was there ever a vampire who got his core damaged the way Jin did? "Who?"

"He said that he didn't know who it was." Izo sighs. "He just felt the need to go to a place. He didn't even know where it was."

"Is he losing his mind?" Noah widens his eyes. "Is it magic poisoning?"

***

Klyn can't fight the chaotic dark energy. He decides to just go with the flow literally. He reaches a demonic world, falling right on his face on the ground with a loud thump. He flinches when he feels the pain in his bones. Did he break something? "Aish! I should work on the landing."

"You should." Klyn hears a deep voice.

"Who?" Klyn looks up at the men in front of him. Tall and identical, both men are dressed in black. Behind them, there's a beautiful woman in a loose white tunic and blue jeans. Her dark hair is long and curly. She seems to be in her early twenties, not much older than he is. 

It seems that he came to the right world. 

"Is this what I think it is?" The woman walks to him with a mischievous look in her eyes. "A pureblooded vampire, the endangered species of planet earth."

Endangered species? That's… Well, he can't deny it. There are only nine pureblooded vampires in the world. "Beautiful miss, my name is Klyn. may I have your name?"

"I am Fang Aisa." She bends down on her knees and scrutinizes Klyn's face. He gives her a beautiful smile. She looks into his eyes and says, "You are a pretty one."

"Mother, if Father finds out that you are flirting with a man…" Sung Soo-Han sighs. Father's bad moods are hand to handle. "I think that we should return since the gate is opened."

A married woman? Klyn blinks his eyes. Are those men her sons? How old is she? 

She looks over her head with a sour look in her eyes. "Do you think that no goddess ever tried to flirt with your father?"

Nevermind! Why does it matter how old she is? This woman is clearly unhappy with her husband. Klyn grins at her. "What kind of man would ignore a beautiful miss like you?"

"Little one." Fang Aisa snickers. "He doesn't ignore me. But it's annoying when I see goddesses fawning over him."

Soo-Han and Soo-Hyun shake their heads. Their mother is already a grandmother now, but she is still possessive and jealous as ever. Their father is not any better. 

Little one? Klyn doesn't know what to say. He glances at her sons. They look familiar. He decides to introduce himself first. "Do we know each other from somewhere?"

Both men roll their eyes and look away.

Giggling, she gives her hand to him. "I have never talked to a pureblooded vampire. Why did you come to this world?"

Klyn holds her hand and stands up. "I am just travelling. This world is quite small."

"It got smaller after we came here." Soo-Hyun tells him, "Mother bullied the demons and sent them away because she was angry."

He purses his lips. Why did she bully demons when she's angry?

"Are you not worried about your sister?" Fang Aisa glowers at them. "Go back to the world now."

"If I leave you behind, I don't even want to imagine what would Father do to me." Soo-Han shudders at the thought. "You already sent Seong-Jin back. How long are you planning to stay here, Mother?"

"I am not leaving. Your father doesn't have any affection for me anymore." Fang Aisa crosses her arms and pouts. 

"Mother, don't be childish." Soo-Han walks to her side. "I am sure that Father is waiting for you at the gate."

"He couldn't come here to get me, could he?" Fang Aisa sighs and turns to Klyn. "Never get married, pretty one. Love will fade away after a few decades. Marriage kills it."

Soo-Han covers his face with his hand. "Mother, do you want to start another fight with Father?"

"I want to divorce him." Fang Aisa snaps at Soo-Han. "How could he take so long? Then, he didn't come here to see me right away. I didn't want him to go to that place with goddesses. He still went to that place."

Just what is going on here? Klyn watches them with a poker face. What is this place with goddesses? He also wants to go there.

"He had to go because of the deal." Soo-Han wonders if there's only mud in her mother's head. Is this the right time to act like this? "Mother, let's go back home."

"I won't go." She holds Klyn's hand. "I am going to play around with this boy. Tell your father that he can continue to play around with goddesses."

"Mother!" Soo-Han shouts when Fang Aisa disappears with Klyn by her side. "Not again!"

Soo-Hyun takes a deep breath. "You can't stop Mother when she wants to pick a fight with Father."

"When will she ever act her age?" Soo-Han feels exhausted. "Father will punish us if he finds out that she disappeared with a vampire by her side."

"I pity the vampire though." Soo-Hyun shakes his head. "Poor man! He should have run away the moment she laid her eyes on him."

"Didn't you see how he looked at her?" Soo-Han feels anything but pity for that man.

"Admiration." Soo-Hyun stretches his body. Before he returns, he should be prepared for the punishment. Is Father going to make them run around the mountain again or make them stand on the big toe for three days? "Hey, didn't that boy look familiar?"

"That vampire?" Soo-Han furrows his brows. "Did we meet him before?"

"He…" Soo-Hyun taps his forehead with his index finger. "Isn't he that boy?"

"Who?"

"The one who stole Seong-Won's first girlfriend…"

"That asshole!" Soo-Han grits his teeth. "He dares to show his face to us."

"It was messy, wasn't it?" Soo-Hyun laughs. "Seong-Won was so pitiful after she left him for this vampire. I think that he's still not over it."

"Should you laugh at your younger brother's pain?" Soo-Han grimaces at him. "Wait! Doesn't Mother know about this vampire?"

"She does." Soo-Hyun blinks his eyes in surprise. "Why did she leave with him then?"

A long silence falls between the demons. They share an understanding look.

"Let's go back home." Soo-Hoo's eyes are full of satisfaction. "We should tell Father."

"And send condolences to the vampire king."

"Seong-Won would finally get justice."