Chapter 406 - 406 Laughter

406 Laughter

Alexander turned his head to look at Everard and asked nonchalantly, “Would you bite me if I punched you in your face?”

“Hey!” Everard frowned and immediately shouted defensively, “Why would I bite you, you arse?”

The two of them kept on looking at each other’s faces for a few seconds. And as if they had both been holding in their laugh for some time now, both of them suddenly burst into peals of laughter.

As they were laughing to their heart’s content, Everard started to slap Alexander’s thigh and shoulder. Alexander didn’t protest for a while, but the seemingly harmless slap was painful.

Alexander abruptly slapped Everard on the back of the head and scolded him, “It hurts! Stop slapping me while laughing. This habit of yours is annoying at times.”

Upon seeing the frown on Alexander’s forehead, Everard folded his lips inside his mouth to control his hysterical laughter and wiped his tears.

What he didn’t realize was that the heavy dust particles attached to his eyelashes now got smudged and it looked as though he had dark circles around his eyes.

Alexander had barely managed to hold his laugh earlier. But when he saw those eyes, he couldn’t stop himself from laughing again. He pointed his finger at Everard’s eyes and mumbled while laughing, “You look like a damn raccoon with those eyes.”

“Raccoon?” Everard scoffed because he thought that Alexander was only joking.

.....

However, Alexander was now holding his stomach with both of his hands as he began to laugh more and more hysterically.

Everard pouted and swiftly got up on his feet. He sprinted and stood in front of the huge mirror in the room, only to find out that Alexander wasn’t lying. “What the– Ugh! I look disgusting!”

He sighed and then looked at the backpack that he brought from Xanmar. It was sitting on the sofa that was on the opposite side of Alexander. And he muttered while slightly knitting his brows, “I guess I should have taken a bath as soon as I came here.”

Alexander pinched his nose and then teased Everard even more, “Yes, I should have asked the maids to prepare a bath for you. You stink!”

“You little–” Everard bit his lower lip as if he was threatening a little kid.

But that only made Alexander laugh even more.

Everard fisted on his hips and then pretended to be angry at Alexander, “I swear that if you don’t stop laughing right now then I am going to bite you for real.”

“Okay, okay... I will stop now,” Alexander said in his suppressed voice and then pressed his palm over his mouth to stop himself. His shoulders were still moving up and down though.

“Tsk!” Everard rolled his eyes at Alexander and began to unpack his backpack. He first took out the leftover food from the bag. Then he pulled his fresh set of clothes out and placed it on the sofa.

Alexander got curious about what his friend was doing since Everard’s back was concealing his activity. So, he also got up from the sofa to go and take a look.

When he saw Everard’s clothes, he asked, “Oh, you want to take a bath right now? Shall I ask the maids to prepare the bath for you?”

“Yes.” Everard was pouting when he set the bag aside and then sat down on the sofa with a thump.

Alexander silently laughed when he saw how Everard hadn’t changed much, at least behavior-wise. He was still the same quirky and outspoken man that he knew. Alexander also reminisced about how Everard always loved to poke fun at him but he couldn’t handle it when he was made fun of.

‘This is very typical of him!’ Alexander thought while staring at Everard’s pouted lips and suppressing his smile. He shook his head and then went outside to find the maids.

As soon as he came back inside, he sat beside the things that Everard had spread on the sofa. “I’ve ordered the maids,” he informed.

Everard just nodded in response. His head was facing the other way because he was too embarrassed to show his face to his friend.

Alexander’s attention was soon caught by a small box and he asked Everard while pointing at it, “And what’s that? Did you bring a peace offering for me?”

Before Everard could even answer, Alexander proceeded to take the box on his lap so that he could take off the lid.

Everard quickly snatched the box back from Alexander and said while narrowing his eyes, “This is my food for the travel back home. Don’t you dare touch it!”

Alexander was somewhat offended by what Everard just said. So, he folded his arms in front of his chest and questioned, “You thought that you needed to pack food for the return travel as well because I am that stingy?”

Everard looked the other way again and replied, “Who knows? What if you had denied recognizing me at the gate earlier? What if you didn’t let the MONSTER enter your castle?”

Alexander pursed his lips when he heard Everard referring to himself as the monster. He was now feeling guilty for giving his friend a name that seemingly hurt his ego.

He looked down and apologized to his friend. “I’m sorry I called you that, Eve.” He took a deep breath in and then truthfully said, “To be honest, I was terrified thinking that I was always around someone who could turn into… such a scary form.”

“Wait what?” Everard looked at his friend and asked, “You don’t know?”

“Know what?” Alexander slowly tilted his head and stared at Everard in confusion.

“Ugh!” Everard held his head and closed his eyes upon realizing that he never told Alexander how he wasn’t always the way he was now. “Of course, you don’t know…”

He heaved a deep sigh and looked at his friend again. Alexander’s eyes were demanding answers to the question he didn’t know.

Everard heaved another sigh before revealing something about himself, “I haven’t always been like this, Alex. I have always been an oblivious human. I had no knowledge about the thing I am now, and neither did I know about the existence of vampires. I was just leading a normal human life until recently when I suddenly turned into this thing that you call a monster.”

His breathing began to tremble when he recalled his very first transformation. The fear of the unknown that he felt at that time, the excruciating pain, the guilt of accidentally biting Ruby, and the change that was too drastic began to suddenly pour out and overwhelm Everard.

Not just his breathing, but his whole body began to tremble when he thought back to it. He was slowly accepting the reality of his situation now. However, every now and then, his identity as a werewolf would haunt him. It would make him question if he was in an elaborate dream or if everything was real.

Alexander’s eyes glistened when he saw his friend in that state. He could tell that the change wasn’t something that he wanted but was somehow forced upon him.

He consolingly patted Everard’s shoulder until Everard calmed down a little and was ready to speak again.

And surely enough, Everard shook his head and whispered as his eyes welled with tears, “I never wanted this, Alex. I was never ready for all the things that are happening to me right now… And with my father gone… I cannot even run from it…”