Chapter 134 - The Beast And The Hunter That Wants To Be Hunted

After arranging Leron the same way Sangfroid does, he returned to fetch the Hunter. He saw the badly twisted legs, but noticed that they have stopped bleeding, only looking bruised and bent, but not broken like glass. He looked at Ofelia who was practicing her song at a distance, and smiled.

"Ofelia dear, you're doing great." He smiled at her, uplifting her mood a little. "Remember, do not tire yourself. Sleep when you feel like it."

"Alright." She nodded.

It was only through the wind that they understand each other, yet they have grown a connection already through their body language for them to know what the other meant even without words themselves. Out of her three fathers, he had the most connection to her.

Vladstin will do anything to protect her, and so, he knows now that he could not die. Not until the Beast dies with him.

He must return Leron only. Perhaps the Hermit has answers to that, perhaps he does not.

Well, all things at their own pace. He observed first if Ofelia's singing brought any more changes to Sangfroid's injury, but it did not, or perhaps, it was too minuscule to notice. So he carried the Hunter who was clutching tightly to his flag cape.

He did his best to wrap those legs up, tying them to a hard wooden stick to keep them straight. Then, he laid them two together.

And has fallen asleep beside them as well. He placed himself in the middle of Sangfroid and Leron, to make sure that if the one who wakes up tomorrow is the Beast, he would be a protective shield over Sangfroid.

Vampires don't need sleep, but he was a different kind, and he is just so tired. It's similar to someone closing their eyes, meditating. It is not needed, but it is still refreshing.

He slept for quite a long time.

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As the sun had woken up from its slumber, the first two to stir was in fact, Sangfroid and Vladstin.

Sangfroid opened his eyes still feeling the imminent pain of his broken legs, but they are somehow lessened tremendously. He wondered how they had healed so fast. Something else must have happened when he had fallen unconscious.

Another surprise was to find the Crescentian vampire lord's sleeping face in front of him the moment he woke up. But somehow, he did not feel any apprehensiveness for it. He instead waited for those closed eyes to open.

The Crescentian prince's lashes were thin, sparse, and short compared to Leron's. And still, it was like curtains that fluttered a little from an air of disturbance, looking very delicate and sensitive.

Sangfroid had the urge to touch them, but retracted his hand once those thin white curtains had fully opened with a swish. They revealed two golden spheres that are so light they reflected clearly his own face. 

It petrified him, seeing his own face in those eyes. He doesn't know how to react besides blinking and staring blankly back at the Sangfroid inside them, bathed in golden light.

"Shhh...." Vladstin placed a finger to his own lips. "Wait."

Sangfroid was not sure what to wait for, but he obeyed. Vladstin turned to the other side, and from a slight glimpse as he turned, Sangfroid caught sight of the other person sleeping beside them.

He was alarmed, but kept quiet not just because of Vladstin's orders, but because of fright. Why is the new Vampire Lord.....?

Was everything just a dream? No, how else would his legs be broken and this Crescentian flag wrapped over him like a blanket would come to be if it had just been a dream?

He retraced his steps down his memory lane. First, it all began with him overhearing Vladstin and Ofelia. The wind translated the words and brought them closer to him, making him hear even at a distance. On the night of the full moon, he confronted Vladstin about it, asking for a stroll.

He asked for a chance to kill Vladstin again, and Vladstin asked for a kiss... Everything since that point had been nonsensical and would not have happened under normal circumstances. It was like the big, big moon had something to do with the madness of it all, inducing their lunacies until reality and sense itself crumbled.

Even time itself also seemed to have been tampered with... For that walk with Vladstin explaining about his dearly beloved kingdom felt longer than an hour or two. It felt like transporting to the place itself for a decade or two. Through him, through his intoxicating, whimsical words, he had experienced a land he had not seen even once. And he had fallen in love with it at once, fallen in love with its people.

He clutched the flag closer to his heart.

It seems Crescentia loves him too, as it had saved his life last night.

He wanted to kiss it again, and remembered Vladstin also doing so. Therefore, it is almost like they have shared a kiss themselves. He doesn't know what to feel about it, though he knows he certainly does not feel unhappy. There is warmth in his heart at this shared devotion to a kingdom.

Then..... The flower. The flower is when the lunacy had taken a different turn. It is no longer a happy, drunken madness like that of faint kisses. It had become a nightmare instead of a dream.

Leron was not resurrected, and instead, was turned by the blue hibiscus flower into a new vampire lord. This Ilvedian vampire lord is much more powerful than Vladstin. He had seen them two fight in the river he created for Ophelia to escape to.....

And after that, there are gaps. What happened from there to here, he could no longer figure out. He is missing another important part, a single piece that will link the two together. 

And this link was immediately given to him as Vladstin called out to his fellow vampire lord. "Leron?"

Sangfroid's eyelashes fluttered like disturbed butterflies. Does this mean...

That somehow, in the nonsensical night, just as he had succumbed to the slumber induced by pain.... Leron had returned!?

His heart leaped several times in great joy, wanting to lift himself up to confirm it for himself...

When he heard a low, inhuman growl responding to Vladstin's question.

Vladstin moved quickly, and pinned down the man. The man was already tied up, no sword in his scabbard. He was only pinned down as another safety measure.

Vladstin sneered at him. "Ah, it is you again, you beast."

The Beast's struggled, wanting to rip this man on top of him into shreds. He laughed a condescending laugh. "You can't restrain me forever, Vladstin. Even that siren girl will not be enough to fully get rid of me and have that weakling soul return. Accept your fate, and let yourself die by my hands."

"I could not, I have already promised my death to someone else. " He gave a look to Sangfroid. "Why don't you give up and let the real Leron take over, hm?"

"Real Leron? I am Leron, what folly are you speaking of? Hahahaha!" The Ilvedian vampire lord just cackled harshly.

Sangfroid analyze what is happening to the best of his capabilities, and discerned two things. One is that the old Leron, the one who is kind, returned and can be returned again, but this new one is currently taking over the body. The other is that Ofelia was involved, possibly the one that allowed it to happen.

"And why would you promise your death to that person...." The Beast gave Sangfroid a scornful look up and down. "He is nothing but a weak human, while you and I are of the same kind. Would you rather die in such a shameful way, under the hands of the weak, instead of the strong?"

"Yes. For you see, you beast, you are not really strong. My Sangfroid is." Vladstin said with a boastful hint in the end.

Sangfroid did not react badly at being called 'My Sangfroid', for he already knew what Min Libitino meant thanks to his talk with Vladstin last night, and had decided that is a much worse title for him. He instead focused on the Beast, and asked. "Do you really not remember me?"

"No. Should I remember someone as insignificant-looking as you?" The Beast jeered. "And what is with your eye? Surely, I was not the one who caused that when I threw you, I would have recognized my own claw marks. And your hair.... Who would wear it in such a womanly manner?"

"You were the one who tied it for me." Sangfroid said. "Your Highness, Prince Leron."

"Hah, if I did, I could no longer recall such a thing nor care about it. You are Vladstin's substitute for me, are you not? His new 'love'." The Beast looked so condescending and malicious, that it had completely distorted Leron's face to make him appear ugly. "Once I get out of these bounds, I will slit your throat and take your heart, eating it like biscuits. Yes, I will make a tea party for myself with your blood as my tea and your flesh as my snacks----"

"Go ahead."

Both vampire lords blinked in confusion for a long moment after that.

Vladstin narrowed his eyes. "Sangfroid, this is not Leron. This is the Vampire Lord, the Beast. Do not listen to anything he says."

The Beast instead gave an amused look. "Do you really mean what you say, boy? Or do you take what I say as just empty threats? For I must let you know, that I will truly feast on you once the time comes."

"Mn. I mean it." Sangfroid said briefly and solemnly.

Vladstin was distressed, face scrunching. "Sangfroid, I know you love Leron more than anything in this world and your greatest dream is to be a doormat to be stepped on by his feet. But listen well, this is not that man you love. This is the remnant of his soul, a corporeal one, only existing for his greedy and devilish desires inside this body. Wait a little until Ofelia sings to bring him back---"

"You heard him. He is Leron." Sangfroid insisted. "And from what you said, that supports that fact even more. He may be the 'evil' side of Leron, or the 'desire', but it is still a part of him. It is still him."

The Beast cackled with great joy. "Hahaha! He understands it! Hey, what's your name again, pretty boy? Something about your blood being cold?"

"Sangfroid." He answered without any hint of affection despite declaring his love for this 'person'.

"Ah, yes, yes. Sangfroid whom Vladstin loves, and who loves Leron in turn." He grinned widely, baring his long fangs glistening in the sunlight. "Well, can you untie me then, my lovely boy? And help me get rid of this annoyance above me?"

Sangfroid answered bluntly.

"No."

The two became even more confused.

"I have broken legs. I can't move." He said plainly. "Also....."

"Vladstin is my friend, I can't let you kill him.. You can kill me, but you can't harm him or anyone else important to me."