Chapter 67 - The Ballad Of Min Libitino

"Vladstin hasn't gone back here for a while, where could he be?" Leron asked Sangfroid worriedly. 

"Like I said, Your Highness. You need not to worry. He will come back soon, I told him to come back before nighttime." Sangfroid led the wolves in the canopy of thick trees with the army of corpses following closely behind. 

He fed his favorite undead wolf, Sangfron, the bird where they plucked the feather from. Despite being dead, it is still a vampire wolf after all, and needed sustenance. The wolf took the bird in its mouth and sucked all the blood he needed then spat out the bones and meat and all the useless things into one big mess full of drool.

It was disgusting, but Sangfroid never showed any repulsion for it. He merely patted the wolf's back. "Good boy."

"But the sun seems to begin to set soon, don't you think? I know Vladstin would probably be safe, but we call this the Perilous Woods for a reason." Leron fiddled with the hem of his clothes worriedly. "What if he encounters a creature even more powerful than him, like those faes in the legends—"

"I highly doubt there is any creature more powerful than him in these woods. " Sangfroid patted his shoulder. "And even if there was, they could not kill him, remember?"

Sangfroid mentally added: 'And that would be his greatest wish, anyway. It would also solve all our problems and we would only need to go to the Hermit to cure you.'

"I still could not keep calm despite knowing the facts. This fear is outside any rationality and reasoning, Sangfroid. I must go look for him." Leron said with so much resolution in his blue eyes, and went down from the wolf he was riding. 

"Wait!" Sangfroid held out a hand to stop him, and hesitated while rubbing his temples before eventually saying. "Alright, I'll go find him. Just..... Please stay here, Your High—Leron."

"Thank you so much, Sangfroid." Leron felt sheepish, since he do feel like he was worrying over nothing and he was just causing more stress to Sangfroid. But he just couldn't shake off the feeling that he needs to be around Vladstin to be sure he's safe.

Sangfroid turned Sangfron away from the direction they wear heading. Then, he let the undead one-eyed wolf to 'sniff' Vladstin's scent. 

All the undead have a connection to the Vampire Lord after all, and so locating him only took about 5 minutes from the speed these big Crescentian wolves have. 

He found Vladstin in a small hill, a clearing in the forest where there's denser wildlife and lavender and carnations grew side by side. The Perilous Woods often have these strange areas that seem out of place from the majority of it. These areas are an indication of some long-lost civilization or temporary settlement of nomadic groups a long time ago. 

The Thirteen Kingdoms had always been trying to conquer each other and compete over the expansion of their lands, but there are always areas in this large continent that they could not touch. These areas are unmarked territories that nobody owns, like the woods, the Libitinous Mountain, and the Southern Sea. 

Sangfroid had not studied much outside the lessons from the Bishop and vampire hunting, so he doesn't know much about history and geography. But he recalled Leron telling him in one of his long monologues of lamenting his past with Vladstin that the Crescentian prince was well-versed on those subjects. 

So he wondered if Vladstin has a clue on what this location could be for, and why he chose this place to write his ballad. 

Vladstin was humming a strange tune, probably a native one from his kingdom, as he wrote at lightning speed on Sangfroid's diary. 

Sangfroid even doubts he's writing anything comprehensible at all, so he just took a peek without making his presence known to see what in the holy dragon lord's name could this vampire be writing. 

He realized he wasn't writing in a language he could understand, but in a series of glyphs that seems familiar. He couldn't place when he saw these glyphs, or where he had seen them. Before he could observe them further, Sangfron, which he left 10 meters away from where Vladstin was sitting, made a huge howl. 

Vladstin stopped writing and looked up. "Oh."

Sangfroid thought for a moment that he was in a daze, and those yellow eyes of his stared at nothing and everything at the same time. They glowed brightly like two suns. But the moment passed quickly, so he wasn't quite sure if it must have been his imagination or something else. 

"Min Libitino!" Vladstin reached out to tackle-hug him. 

Sangfroid quickly stepped back and swatted him away by the face again. 

"You came to find me! Are you going to bring me my sweet death now?" Vladstin's smile could not be erased even when he's being held off like this. 

"No. Prince Leron was looking for you, so I came to bring you back. Can't you see that the sun is already setting?" Sangfroid said sternly. 

"Ohhhhh? I didn't notice. Even without sunlight, I'd still be able to see and write, so I would never have cared if you did not point it out, Min Libitino!"

Sangfroid wants nothing more than to throw this troublesome vampire off the hill and never see him again. 

But he let go of his face. This is Prince Leron's favored person after all. Until he is not executed, his heart and his spirits rely strongly upon this person's well-being, and he doesn't want to break his prince's heart and spirits. 

So whether he likes it or not, the vampire stays. 

These conflictions never show on his stone-cold face. "Let's head back now."

"Wait! Wait! You haven't even heard of the ballad I wrote for you yet!" Vladstin protested as Sangfroid dragged him by the arm towards the wolf Sangfron.

The reason why the undead wolf howled was because it saw a dragonfly and is now in deadlock staring competition with it. 

"I could read it later on, let's go now since I still have to prepare dinner for Prince Leron," Sangfroid said, not showing any hint of annoyance but it was quite obvious to any other observer that he is slightly losing his patience. 

"But it would feel more special if I read it to you out loud! And it is much more romantic when we do it on the lavender and carnation field, don't you think?" Vladstin insisted with his wild fanged smile. "Please, it won't take long! I'm very proud of my work and I really want to honor you as much as I can, Min Libitino!"

Sangfroid rubbed his temples again, then relented with a sigh.

"Alright. But on one condition."

"Anything for you, Min Libitino! What is it?"

Sangfroid's eyes narrowed, his tone dead serious. He emphasized every word. "Stop. With. The. Min. Libitino. My name is Sangfroid, and you shall call me by it."

"But you are my death, Min—"

"Stop calling me that or I wouldn't listen to your ballad."

The unhinged Vladstin weighed his options and decided he would want to have the ballad he wrote to be heard. He can keep calling this deadly man 'Min Libitino' behind his back anyway. 

But sure, in front of him, he will call him Sangfroid. 

"Alright, Sangfroid! Now, come on!"Vladstin was now the one to run and drag the much heavier Sangfroid with him back towards that scenic spot in the small hill. 

Sangfroid eyed Sangfron as they left. " You stay put."

"Awoooo!!!" The wolf doesn't seem to be going anywhere now that he's distracted by the dragonfly.

When they reach the spot where Vladstin had been, the Vampire Lord dramatically cleared his throat. He has been a performer in his youth, after all, so he does have that grandiose flamboyance in him.

"A-A-Ahem! The Ballad of Min Libitino, by Vladstin dien Griscoeur."

He made a light bow. The winds seem to be supportive of him and blew to make the lavenders and carnation petals swirl around him, adding to the aesthetic.

Sangfroid merely sat on the grass with his arms crossed. 

"Min Libitino, Min Libitino, no one compares to you

You who as cold as the night

Who will snuff out the light

Of this flame that already burned past its due

Min Libitino, Min Libitino, I long to die for you

You who gives fright

With your awesome might

In the sky that will never be blue

Min Libitino, Min Libitino, oh, what to say to you?

I'd pluck my heart on sight

And hand it for you to smite 

With your own blade, believe me, it's true!"

Vladstin finished with another exaggerated bow, the falling sun casting ethereal shadows on him and the swaying trees and flowers seem to applaud him.

Sangfroid's face remained unimpressed. He gave three small claps anyway. 

'His mind is still intact enough to create poetry, good for him. Though I don't understand it and why he would bother to make it for me. ' He merely thought. 

"Thank you! Thank you, oh great Min—Sangfroid!" Vladstin was all smiles, very pleased with himself like a little kid. "I know it's not in the similar form as any ballad you may have heard, but I have developed my own style over these last few days."

"I barely noticed the difference from other ballads. It's rhymes, it's spoken in that singsong voice, so it's already a ballad for me." Sangfroid hasn't even heard any ballads before this anyway.

He stood up and brush the dust off himself. "Are you finished? Let's go now."

"Alright!" Vladstin was too crazy to be disappointed by this lackluster reaction and merely jogged happily as he followed Sangfroid back to Sangfron. 

He didn't even offer Vladstin to ride with him on the wolf's back. The cold King of Ilvedia mounted his similar-looking wolf and Vladstin ran beside them with his inhuman speed. 

The dragonfly also followed closely behind.