Sage took a deep breath, and then a shocking realization made him freeze. He didn't feel uncomfortable at all when he held his breath, as if he didn't need to breathe at all. Emilia looked at Sage and waited for the latter to come back to his senses.
"I'm dead, aren't I?" Sage mumbled, the full impact slamming into him. From now on, he couldn't be called human. He was a vampire, and he felt a bit giddy. Who would choose to be human if they could be something, anything else?
"You died that day, but it's also the day you were granted a true life. I've looked through the information on you while you were asleep and I can say you haven't truly lived. You just existed, and now you have the chance to do more than just exist."
"Come with me." Emilia opened the door and headed outside to a car with the engine running. Sage followed curiously and watched the car with wide eyes, wondering how expensive the car must have been, then he recalled Emilia who should be one of the wealthiest vampires in the world.
"Nice car." Sage got into the passenger seat and looked at Emilia who smiled and redirected her attention to driving the car. Sage realized they were in a stylish mansion when they drove to the gate, decorated with various statues and trees.
"I have to bring you to a friend so he can register you with our Nightrose Clan. It won't take long, we can go out and have a few drinks later." Emilia looked at the road ahead and ignored the people inside their cars looking at the car driving past with envy or admiration.
"I'm so small I doubt the bartender would even serve me a single drink." Sage sighed and looked at the pedestrians walking by outside who stopped to gawk or take pictures of the car. The windows were tinted, so Sage just stared back without fear of being looked at.
"Did you forget that you can compel people to do your bidding? I'll just compel him to give you a drink." Emilia didn't think compelling the bartender would be hard because she had ample experience with feeding on humans.
Due to some reason, vampires had to first ingest the blood of the target before being able to compel them. Most vampires just used intimidation to get what they wanted because it was simpler and easier.
"So, when we reach the place, don't feel shy or inferior to anyone, you're my daughter!" Emilia spoke firmly, not wanting Sage to feel one bit inferior to anyone. Reading his files, she learned he was introverted and shy, and she didn't want him to close himself off and lose the opportunities to make friends and meet others.
"Yes mom." Sage mumbled and turned to the side, looking at the buildings as they drove past. After waiting at a light for a few seconds, they drove forward and pulled into a parking garage next to a tall building with the logo of a Eclipse on it.
Emilia smiled widely, enjoying being called mom by Sage. Getting out of the car, Emilia and Sage walked over to the elevator without interruption because the parking garage was relatively empty with a few cars inside.
"Jerimiah has been my friend for centuries and he also deals with the census for our kind. He has a son a few decades old. Maybe you could be friends." Emilia smiled and pressed the button and rode the elevator to the ground floor since they parked on the second level of the parking garage.
"We need to head to the top floor to meet him." Emilia walked out when the elevator opened, her steps confident and casual, yet it only added to her mature beauty. Sage followed and raised his head, feeling a bit weird in his heart when he saw people staring at the two of them.
Sage hadn't seen himself yet, so he was unaware that he was an absolute beauty with dark brown skin and silky black hair that feel to his waist. With both Sage and Emilia being such beauties, it was hard for the guys in the lobby not to stare.
"I'm here to meet with Jerimiah." Emilia told the receptionist who nodded like a hen pecking rice and directed them to a private elevator and pressed the button to the top floor.
"Would you like anything to drink?" The receptionist got into the elevator and asked politely, wanting to appear as competent as possible so she didn't get fired. Who knew how bigshots acted? She simply tried her best to serve them while being a bit jealous of their ethereal beauty.
"I'm fine." Emilia smiled while Sage shook his head silently. If he truly did drink something, it was obvious the receptionist wouldn't be alive when the elevator doors opened again. Thinking of warm blood flowing down his throat like some heavenly beverage, his amber irises started to turn crimson.
"Sage!" Emilia spoke sternly, jolting Sage out of his strange state, but the sound of the receptionists heart beating made his teeth ache, wishing they could pierce and drink straight from the source. Seeing Sage losing it, Emilia frowned and walked over and hugged Sage gently.
"I should have waited but my excitement got the best of me." Emilia looked at Sage and felt that she hadn't done a good job as a parent because Sage was now suffering the urges to feed due to being in close proximity with a human.
"I'm fine mom." Sage swallowed a mouthful of liquid that tasted strangely sweet but was more viscous than saliva. Emilia looked at the display and sighed in relief that they were almost to the top floor.
When the door opened, a flustered employee walked out followed by Emilia dragging a dazed Sage along. Walking towards the double doors of the biggest office on the floor, Emilia pushed the door open and raised an eyebrow at the man inside.
"I heard from security that you had come. Do you need something or did you come to chat?" Jerimiah placed a hand on the table and tapped the wooden desk lightly, glaring at Emilia with helplessness in his eyes.
"You can leave." Emilia spoke to the receptionist who looked at Jerimiah who nodded at her in response before leaving. When the doors closed, Jerimiah sighed and pulled out a stack of documents with Sage Nightrose written on the front cover.
"I did as you asked and created an identity for your kid. But I did say I'd send it, why did you come over?" Jerimiah looked at Emilia with wariness, as if he were unsettled by something, but Emilia didn't speak and instead looked out the window behind Jerimiah with a frown.
"There are some pesky rats hanging around my daughter who has just entered this world. Lend me a bodyguard or I'll have to take matters into my own hands." Emilia walked to the mini-fridge in the corner and pulled a blood bag from it.
"Hunters hm? To think you'd actually come all the way over here just for that... Okay, I'll send a few guys to beat them up a bit, to get them out of your hair. Good enough?" Emilia knew that he wouldn't do anything as drastic as killing if he could solve the matter peacefully which was why he was the person from the vampire world who negotiated with the humans often.
"They literally hunt our kind and you want to let them go? Well, I do understand the point, they'd just send more men to chase after me." Emilia handed Sage the blood bag and watched as Sage gulped it down as soon as his fangs pierced the plastic.
"Jerimiah here is a pacifist who prefers to speak over fighting. It's a wonder he's lived as long as he's had." Sage empited the blood bag and tossed it into the garbage with little to no effort despite being a few feet away.
"I'd rather reason with people instead of tearing them apart. Just look at the wolves, without diplomacy, there isn't much room for growth for our species." Jerimiah spoke confidently, ignoring Emilia's glare.
"The wolves have been busy. I heard they tried to mount an attack on the Crimson Lodge, and a few vampires died out there." Emilia spoke nonchalantly while Sage had a question mark appear above his head.
"The Crimson Lodge is a gathering point of sorts for vampires who normally stay on the move. The wolves attacked it a few times in the past, but they never managed to cause any casualties. Maybe they got lucky?" Jerimiah explained so Sage could understand their conversation.
"Well, none of the nobility were there, so the vampires of various regions ended up miserably because the wolves managed to find an Alpha." Hearing Jerimiah, Emilia snorted with disdain and then filled Sage in.
"Alphas are the typical pack leaders of those mangy mutts. After them are Betas who fight alongside the Alpha, and Omegas who are lonely dogs scorned by their own kind. Werewolves have waged many wars against us and they tend to kill every vampire they can."
"If not for the fact they aren't that much of a threat, the Vampire Royal Family would have had them wiped from the face of the Earth." Jerimiah nodded in affirmation as he wasn't fond of werewolves either.
"Okay, I'm satisfied with the work you did. Thanks a bunch." Emilia handed Sage the papers and Sage realized they were identification papers, birth certificates and passports with his name on them. Emilia smiled at Sage and then sat down and waited for Sage to go through them all.