Chapter 197: 44

Chapter 197: 44

5.44

"As usual," Prince Damien's smile widens with nostalgia, "You're always so polite and rule-abiding."

"Not really," Jia Hyson replies mildly, blue eyes lowering a little, expression hard to see, "After all, if I really respected the rules, I wouldn't be talking to you, knowing what your intentions are."

The younger vampire's smile fades, "Let's go somewhere else."

Deserving of a big prestigious academy in a vampire romance novel, there were, of course, many beautiful private areas with some form of dramatic lighting that varied from romantic hidden nature spots to secret hidden murder dungeons.

Even Jia Hyson, who has taken advantage of this knowledge and fucked in at least over half of these secret spots, had to admit it was more than a little ridiculous. He knows education isn't emphasised greatly here, but goddamn, you could hide a small army of people around this place. It was a serious safety hazard.

Of course, given the nature of this modern fantasy world, some of those areas could only be accessed when met with certain conditions or codes, and there were some incredibly well-hidden places, too. Jia Hyson naturally couldn't find them all, even with his cheat of Bebe's abilities and a few he had only learned through his sex partners during that time he was playing around.Finnd new chapters at novelhall.com

One of the graduating students, in his eagerness to lose his virginity with him after graduation, had revealed a hidden room underneath one of the staircases that not only was surprisingly clean and well maintained but also held a small pond of clear water full of small goldfish. In the middle of this pond was a glowing pale purple lotus flower. It was as delicate as it was mesmerising to look at, and the light it emitted was enough to dimly illuminate the room.

The student admitted his great-grandfather was one of the people who helped create this space, with a few other vampires, in order to preserve this lotus flower. Jia Hyson could only sigh for the original architect of this building. This place truly had more holes than maggot-infested cheese.

Of course, he couldn't completely complain; the delicate lighting of the flower provided a truly delightful ambience as he got fucked hard against the wall, his groans and the other young man's panting mixing together in an erotic echo that fuelled them further.

Compared to some of the other hidden alcoves around, this one was really nice ah. Jia Hyson, since then, had occasionally used this particular hideaway just to put on some nice music, read or take a nap when he wanted to change the scenery a little.

Thinking about it now, he was a bit nostalgic for it. Silently Jia Hyson planned to go see if the place was uncovered by anyone or not, if it was still untouched he had to show Mr Garth when he finally came back.

Though if that was the case he probably needed to get some larger pillows or thick rug. While Jia Hyson was a hedonist he was also more then a bit lazy. Thus between being a bit cushier and the effort it would take to be cushier, he ultimately decided he didn't mind sitting on the floor given he didn't spend too much time in there anyway. In contrast the older vampire was more diligent and would rather exert more effort to make it more comfortable for the long run.

Not only a rug but it's also not bad to put in a small shelf, nothing big, just enough to put small items like cigarettes and snacks ah wait, even if the air in there was strangely refreshing it didn't stop the fact that the ventilation is still a bit poor, smoking is probably not good. Then it was better to put some candy instead to better satisfy his boyfriend, of course there were other things Mr Garth could put in his mouth instead too

As Jia Hyson was messily thinking about what to add to the hiding spot, he was led to the back of the leftmost dormitory building. There Prince Damien walked ahead and randomly knocked on parts of the back wall a few times. Right before their eyes the grassy area in front of them shifted into a descending earthen staircase.

Prince Damien beckons the older, petite vampire to follow him, "Watch your step." He kindly reminds.

Such a reminder was greatly appreciated. The stairs is crudely constructed, made of dirt, roots and rocks, resulting in a breathtakingly uneven and rough flooring. Even with their heightened physical abilities it wouldn't be surprising to trip if they weren't careful.

Looking at the staircase that emerged from the ground and nothing else, Jia Hyson raises his brows but follows the other down obediently. Partly because it was in character to follow the prince respectfully but mainly because he was long used to the more magical means of this world.

As he suspected, the moment he reached the final wobbly step, the surroundings had changed into the scenery of a fairytale-esque lakeside under the stars. Jia Hyson couldn't help but look around with admiration and awe at this large and ethereal hidden place. Just the night sky alone was an impressive display of power, given it was still late afternoon in reality. As expected of a prince, no, Prince Silas had never shown him such a place existed before, maybe it should be said, as expected of the male lead. Even his secret spots were far more grandiose and romantic than others.

"Alaric.." Prince Damien's voice breaks him out of his absentminded thoughts and moves his previously distracted gaze back to the younger vampire. "Prince Silas is not-"

"Look, Your Highness, I don't want him to be the king either." Jia Hyson interrupts him as he brushes his hair back with a sigh, "To be honest at this point I'm the least enthusiastic for such a future but you need to give me a reason to support you specifically." His blue eyes stare intently at the other, no trace of his usual gentleness present, just cool, calculating seriousness. Prince Damien was a little surprised, having never seen such a side from the other before. "Please don't be offended but, you had never been truly considered for the throne, nor have you, yourself proven to be worth considering. I came down with you because I want to see if you're worth it."

It was a lie if Damien didn't feel offended and hurt at the words. After all they weren't close but they've known each other for a long time. However Damien also wasn't blind to Alaric's strictness and almost nagging loyalty to the royal family. After all, he had seen him scold and encourage Prince Silas multiple times to step up and improve himself with a bluntness no one else would really dare to be.

If someone like Silas could be considered 'not yet good enough' for Alaric, it's no surprise he wouldn't stand up well either. With that thought in mind, the sharpness of the words was no longer so painful.

Still, Damien's smile was a little bitter, regretful for his naive past. He had constantly talked about the romance of humans, wanting to live a 'normal life' and looking down at his own kind on some level. Disdaining the hypocrisy of the vampires and their elitism, hating the pressures, and resenting the expectations that come from his royal birthright.

But he had long since been humbled now. Losing his powers, with his strength, was only somewhat stronger than a normal human man's, feeling pain in his bones from poor posture, chill from the cold and pain from the simplest things.. Damien had been afraid he could adapt at all. Things that he were used to, like his hearing and sight, seemed to be blurred and foggy, if a ball was thrown at his back he wouldn't be able to sense its oncoming presence at all.

It wasn't just his physical abilities lost, his status that he used to want to discard, when gone, gave him a whole different sense of anxiety. Money, which had never been a problem, became something he had to face seriously. People would disrespect him with their eyes and words, something no one had dared to do to his person before.

Prince Damien had experienced trickery and blatant mockery, his pride crushed, and he faced a reality that truly crushed his idealistic dreams. If it wasn't for

His hand moves up to touch a string around his neck, eyes softening a little with warmth. "Alaric, let me show you something." He says.

With a flick of his wrist, a faint sizzle and a split second of a spark jumps from the vampire prince's skin like oil splatter before fizzling out. Even with his vampiric eyesight, Jia Hyson would have almost thought it was a trick of the light if his eyes hadn't been drawn to the movement. Understanding the implications, Jia Hyson was truly shocked. "Your power is?"

"Useless." The prince sighs forlornly but his eyes were slightly curved, it was clear that, as minuscule as it was, the fact his ability hadn't left him brought great comfort. "Useless but not gone."

He looks to Alaric, expression solemn and determined, "Just like me."

Jia Hyson: '' For a vampire who would write poetry in the rain, he wasn't very good at his metaphoric deliveries.

But this was still not a bad turn of events.

As the male lead, of course, Prince Damien's power was something that one couldn't simply scoff at. It was named Lightning bearer, and as the name suggests, similar to Alaric's Icy Kiss, the other held the ability to wield lightning. To be precise though he can infuse lightning from his body into other mediums, for example to provide an energy source, to infuse electricity in metals, and can also absorb electricity to become temporarily more powerful.

The Lightning Bearer's limitations though were a bit specific. Unlike Icy Kiss, which has the precondition of needed Alaric to not only kiss and create kinetic energy to stimulate the strength of the summoned ice, Lightning Bearer can only be really utilised via a direct medium. Meaning when Prince Damien throws out lightning in the air, it was essentially nothing but a slightly impressive light show, at most making people feel tingly and static. To showcase the true violence of lightning it needed to have some sort of vessel to contain it, a gun, a sword, water any of those can be used, but they had to always have Prince Damien touching it to supply the energy.

Later in the series, as the male lead experiences more tumultuous adventures and hardships, growing with the female lead, naturally he will also gain some insight and understanding to his abilities and lose this limitation. Prince Damien would be capable of summoning lightning storms and throwing electric dragons around, being a domineering and powerful vampire in his own right, the speed of lightning allowing him to even hold a bit of advantage over Prince Silas whose reaction time was comparably much slower.

However, at this point, it can be said the Lightning Bearer power's ability was on par with Alaric's Icy Kiss, maybe even a little weaker. After all, as long as Alaric had the preparation to summon his ice, the power of his ice is flexible and fierce, it can be used strategically as the activation of the ice can be done at any time and while it could melt, there was still a buffer period. While holding strong and rapid bursts of power and having some significant supporting ability, the Lightning Bearer ability was still considered useless as long as Prince Damien is separated from the medium at hand. It was a fatal weakness constantly taken advantage of in the early stages of the story.

Still, as long as it wasn't completely blocked, there is hope of a turnaround. The male lead halo can't be overlooked in the end.

With a regal and formal bow of respect, Jia Hyson smiles, "I'm happy to serve you, my prince."

Of course it's not as simple as that, for such a decision it was important to discuss the details and precautions. But time was tight and their newfound relationship as comrades needed to be discovered as late as possible.

When Prince Silas found out, it didn't take a genius to understand that trouble would immediately follow.

Before leaving this secret area, Jia Hyson turned around and gazed deeply at Prince Damien. "Your Highness, I need to request something. This is very important to me."

Prince Damien, who had relaxed since Alaric had agreed to helping him, immediately tensed. "What is it?"

"Darrian Garth I want you to make sure he's safe."

The prince didn't fully understand, "Of course I will do my best? But-"

"No," Jia Hyson shook his head, "My apologies I should have been clearer. I want you to ensure he's safe- no matter what." His bright blue eyes flash red, "Even if it means prioritising his life over my own, I want you to do it."

Prince Damien was stunned.

Seeing the younger vampire's expression, Jia Hyson's serious expression eased into his usual gentle smile as he softly laughs. "Of course, that's just the worst case scenario ah. Take it as me being pessimistic and wanting to just let you know, should such a situation arise."

"Alaric, I.." Prince Damien swallows heavily, "Do you, really love him that much?" He also felt that he was in love, but whether it was to the extent of giving up his life like that? Um it was still a bit hard to say. They were all young vampires, the idea of mortality was difficult to grasp while also being extremely frightening. He also wished to protect his beloved as much as he could, but if someone told him to die in exchange, it would be a lie to say he wouldn't balk a bit at that.

Jia Hyson's smile softens into something genuine and soft, "Who knows?" He hums, "I just know he's worth it."

Prince Damien was silent for a moment. Objectively, he had to disagree. Alaric, who had youth and talent in his hands, held great potential, both in himself and for the coven. He liked Mr Garth and acknowledged his abilities and strength but if one used the cold word of 'worth' to evaluate them, the other simply couldn't match up in comparison.

But, the worth in a beloved's eyes had nothing to do with objectivity in the end.

The young vampire prince exhales, his young and handsome face looking a bit tired. "Then, I shall do my best to do as you wish, should it ever come to that."

He just sincerely hoped it wouldn't.

No matter how much things have changed, Prince Damien was still a romantic at heart.

Seeing their strong bond of affection, he still can't help but wish them a happily ever after.

As they left, the two vampires began to slowly stroll back. However they barely walked a few steps before a cold voice suddenly speaks out.

"And what, have you two been doing so secretly?"

Under the rustling of leaves in the faint breeze, both Jia Hyson and Damien felt chills run through their body as they immediately look toward the owner of the voice.

There, sitting languidly on a tree, not a few metres away, a young man more beautiful than a sculpture with long silver-white hair tied up in a high ponytail. His eyes, just as black as Prince Damien's but somehow felt even darker, stare gloomily at them. He no longer had a lazy and indulgent air like Jia Hyson had been used to seeing, but was full of a sharp and suffocating aura.

He had to admit, the other truly had the air of a king now.

"Brother." Prince Damien greets softly.

However the other vampire blatantly ignored him, dropping down and lightly landing on top of the leaves of the bushes below, as if almost floating.

"Aren't you going to greet me too?" Prince Silas softly asks, coaxing and mocking at the same time. "After all, it's been so long."

He jumps onto the ground and begins to walk toward them. Every move and breath he made felt beautiful and captivating, like an immortal who had descended. But the obsessive eyes that were transfixed to Alaric were filled with nothing but dirty mortal desires.

The crown prince reaches his hand out to try touch Alaric's face, almost impulsively in his greed. But Jia Hyson instinctively moves away, making the extended hand pause. However it was only a moment of stagnation before Prince Silas' hand strikes out and pinches his chin, fingers digging into his cheeks as he pulls him forcefully closer.

Prince Silas' eyes flash red under Jia Hyson's increasing struggles under his hand, anger and unwillingness thrumming in his veins. "You still reject me this much? Am I not now the crown prince you feel I should be?"

Jia Hyson ground his teeth and chuckles with helpless rage. "Your Highness, I really can't understand you. It's not a matter of whether you can perform your duties well or not anymore, it's simply a matter of my heart."

The crown prince tilts his head, expression contorted for a moment before suddenly breaking into a smile. "That's okay, then."

Jia Hyson: If I believe you, then I'm a fucking puppy.

Glancing at his free hand Prince Silas seems to summon a small swirl of powder from his palm. "If it's the matter of the heart, all we have to do.. is change it, right?"

Seeing it, Jia Hyson's pupils shake as he remembers the last time he had encountered that strange powder from a while back. "You you're really going to do that again?! Are you so low?"

"I don't want to do this either," Prince Silas sighs, "But what can I do? Any other way is too troublesome."

"You could just give up." Jia Hyson suggests, knowing he can't beat the other in strength, he can only soften his tone. "Silas, please, I'm happy with Darrian. You have so much more out there for you. Do you know what you can lose if you continue this path?"

"I don't know." Prince Silas smiles bitterly, "I just know you're worth it."