Kaien was aware that what Rouen had told him was the truth and he could tell that his words were also accompanied by a warning. Something that the prince would see through if he would not cooperate with him. Rouen's words as he threatened Kaien so openly held no trace of any jest, and his golden-aquamarine eyes that glimmered every now and then like there was an electricity passing through from his pupils to his captivating irises clearly showed his determination to see what he came here to do to an end. For a while, no one spoke a word after the prince told him his intentions, as a sudden tension filled the room. With how silent his office became, a drop of a pin on the tiled floor could surely be heard if it happened.
"Do you really think everything stayed the same after what happened to Eona? She fell in a comatose state, with no definite date as to when she would open her eyes once again. You drained her blood to the point that it put her life in danger and her family was enraged by what you did."
Kaien made sure to tell the prince everything, hoping that he would be able to sway him into deciding that seeing the girl right now wouldn't be for the best interest of everyone, but Rouen replied with a noncholant tone.
"Isn't it natural for them to be so? I put her life in danger after all. If I was the one in their shoes, I'd feel the same."
"Their rage and animosity is solely directed at you."
"I was already expecting it. Do you really think I didn't consider such things before coming here?"
Kaien sighed. With Rouen acting totally indifferent, their conversation is going nowhere.
"Your royal highness," he addressed him formally out of respect, but the way Rouen narrowed his eyes as he stared at him showed that he didn't like it one bit, but nevertheless, the prince chose not to say anything about it, so he continued. "There is something you should understand. Her family finally steeled their resolve to keep her away from things related to supernaturals. They did not want her near your kind. More particularly, they did not want you near her."
The Silver Bloods remained silent as they exchanged glances subtly. Rouen perfectly hiding his emotions as he remained stoic and silent in his place caused them to worry about their lives more than when he was openly showing his anger and irritation. They didn't know what to expect and Rouen being a Gold Blood, the restricting artifact he was wearing wouldn't be enough to stop him from causing a mess if he ever decided to pursue his intentions using brute force.
After a deafening silence, Rouen snickered before it turned into a full-blown laugh, but it didn't give any comfort to those around him. In fact, it made them think of an impending doom. He may look less menacing as he laughed with mirth, but it didn't mean he is not posing to be a threat to the school's chairman, who is not giving him what he wanted. Rouen's golden-aquamarine eyes glistened gleefully and a grin that held secrets curved into his lips. Marius and Zaniel fidgeted in their position while the Silvers prepared themselves for what Rouen was about to do, whatever it was.
"I guess that means you won't be giving me permission to visit her?"
"Yes," Kaien answered with finality.
Rouen tilted his head. "What makes you think that will stop me from doing so?"
Kaien frowned. "What?"
"I only came here to let you know of my plans out of respect. To you and to the Silver Bloods here who do not want any useless casualties if we ever clash because of the upcoming gathering of the five kingdoms. That would cause quite a ruckus if something happened before the said event. Who knows what the naturals will come up with again to put blame on our side with regards to your race's inability to cope with ours? And now that we're finally at it, I guess the only thing left for me to do to get the permission I need is dig what I'm looking for out of your memories. After all, it was you who were helping the Lorentzs to keep her away from me. Not the Duke of the Lohengrin Duchy. You."
Before the hunters could even do anything to keep Rouen away from Kaien, they were glued in their place as a sudden urge of power which came from the prince engulfed the whole room to the point that it suffocated them. Black mist slowly crept towards them from the ground and it is sucking their strength away as fast as seconds pass by. His control of his power as a Gold Blood vampire was already perfected, as if it finally came in sync with his own will. When Rouen walked towards Kaien at a slow and steady pace, he saw through his peripheral vision that the Silver Bloods who were with him were about to make a move, so he glanced towards their direction.
"Stay in your place."
Such simple words, but for the Silvers it was more than that. Rouen's words at that moment were like a spoken curse to them. It held an order which their blood, as Silvers, was obliged to follow despite their will and intention to rebel against it. They were left dumfounded as they blamed the hierarchy of their blood wherein Rouen was the one standing on the summit. In fact, when he uses his ability to command, even the First Bloods who were at the beginning of their race would succumb to him without much of a choice. It was his privilege and right as a Gold Blood vampire. Something that all of the vampires in Aceldama admire and at the same time are jealous of.
Rouen faced Kaien who was now glaring at him, but he just smiled, his protruding fangs slightly showing themselves behind his upper lip.
"This will only take a while. Bear with me for a moment."
"You're saying those words as if I have a choice," Kairen gritted as he tried to move from his seat but to no avail.
The prince chuckled as he extended his right hand towards Kaien's head.
"Oh, but you don't."
When Kaien felt a throbbing pain which turned into an excruciating one after just a few seconds, he cursed the prince in silence. Rouen is probing into his memory as he pleases without permission. Seconds felt like hours and when Rouen withdrew his hand away from his head with a satisfied grin, he knew Rouen had succeeded in knowing how to undo the protection magic cast around the residence of the Lorentzs.
"Damn you, Rouen…"
"I've already been damned since the beginning of my time, Kaien. You should know that," he retorted instead of taking what Kaien uttered in defeat to heart.
"Don't hurt her."
"That has never been my intention in the first place. I at least can assure you that." He stepped back away from Kaien before he continued, "I'll be visiting the girl alone. I don't want any interruptions," he then told them before he vanished like he had never been there in the first place.
Kaien knew that what he meant was that he did not want anyone standing in his way during his visit, hence he'd end up hurting them or worse, killing them. Along with Rouen's disappearance, the suffocating power that engulfed the room disappeared as well as the black mist that glued the hunters in place. The hunters were freed from an invisible restraint while the Silver Bloods were released from the order given to them. No one said a word until Delilah decided to break the silence.
"I guess that didn't end quite as we had expected."
After Rouen's severance had finally been lifted, today was the first time Kaien and the two hunters who were with them during the severance night had seen him and they could tell how much he'd changed. His presence screamed danger no matter how much he suppresses the power that accompanied his birth. Compared to how he portrayed himself before, Rouen had now truly became the embodiment of a crown prince who is next in line to the throne covered and dripping in blood.
"Kaien, you should keep in mind that the prince is no longer what he used to be. In fact, the main purpose of the artifact he was wearing was not actually to restrain his blood but to bring a false assurance to those that feared his existence as a Gold Blood. After his severance, he is by far the only vampire whose existence was closest to the Noble Bloods."
Mihai was correct. Rouen has changed. Anyone could tell that at a glance. He is finally acting like a vampire befitting his position. If anyone stood in his way, he would use force without any second thoughts. But why was he so attached to the human girl even after everything that had happened? It was like there was something that entangled them together the second they met and Rouen could not free himself from it. Rouen was born a predator yet the girl could easily tame him. He was ruthless and cold-hearted, but she could easily extract the kindness out of him without her doing anything.
"You never should have tried to keep the girl away from him. I'm sure you are aware that even in the midst of the severance, when he couldn't tell right from wrong as his instincts as a predator were heightened, one thing stayed the same. He wanted her near him. The only one who could keep him at bay, the only one who could push him away was her and no one else. Not you, not us, or anybody else."
Kaien looked at Sin, who sounded like he was blaming him for what happened. It seemed as if he was telling him that it was his own fault that Rouen had to use force to get what he wanted from him.
"That is what her family wanted. I was only doing my part since it was I whom they asked for for help to see it through."
"Yes. But the girl should still be the one to decide whether she should stay away from him or not. Besides, if her mother doesn't completely cut her ties with the Lohengrins, do you really think they could keep her away from our world?"
For a while, Kaien was at a loss for words. What Sin said was the truth. If the Lorentzs wanted Eona away from Rouen, her mother had to take the first step of completely cutting off their ties to the Duke of the Lohengrin Duchy. Why she continued to work for the Duke as his blood donor while wanting to keep her daughter away from his kind at the same time is beyond his own understanding.
"You are letting a minor decide about something as grave as delving in deeper into your world?"
"Isn't it her life?" Caius asked him back when Sin chose not to answer him. "She should have the right to decide for her own."
Would they even come to understand that a minor, one that is a human being, cannot decide about such things on her own without the interference of her parents or guardians? After all, the laws in the world of the living greatly differ from the laws of Aceldama where they lived and grew up. But what could Kaien possibly gain in return if he thoroughly explained it to them, who had certainly killed a few at the mere age of ten without remorse?
"Something is pulling those two closer to each other. We may not be certain if it was the pull of a beloved, but we are sure that something is there."
"Sin, I know how important a beloved is to your kind. If ever she was that to Rouen, wouldn't he have been able to recognize her by now?"
"Even the greatest being that ever existed would never recognize his other half if she was imprinted with a blood seal. In fact, he wouldn't even know that she was sealed because the seal's nature is in reverse. It is hidden when it is in full effect and it can only be seen when it is about to be lifted. And I told you before that the sigil on her neck was that kind of seal."
Yes, Kaien remembered Sin telling him that before. As his thoughts wandered off to somewhere else, he frowned when he realized something. With an alarming look, he glanced at where Sin was at.
"Didn't you also say that we can see it being engraved on her skin at a steady pace because the effect of the blood seal is slowly diminishing?"
"Yes."
"So does it mean the seal was almost in its complete state when it faded to the point that you could no longer see it without staring intently at the place where it used to be?"
"What do you mean?"
"As you are aware, I am guarding her as she recuperates. I have had the chance to check on her personally whenever I visited the residence of the Lorentzs. I myself had seen the sigils on her neck before everything that had happened. But the last time I saw her, the sigils had lost their brilliant color. In fact, it faded to the point you can no longer see it on her skin if you do not stare at her neck. Most of the sigil's marks have completely faded and a very few fading lines remain."
Does that mean they are back at square one again? That night, when they found Rouen and Eona in the villa, he was certain something had happened. With the blood seal almost at its complete state that night, he knew Rouen had found out something. He recognized someone in her. He wouldn't have been in much agony, as if he lost someone he treasured more than his life if he hadn't. But Rouen didn't say anything about that night. He avoided reminiscing on that horrendous memory because he knew he had put her life in danger. Besides, he appeared to have lost a part of his memory. And Sin had a hunch that those missing puzzle pieces he needed were in that memory the prince could not remember.
"Would it have been better for the sigils to completely appear?" Kaien asked.
"Yes. Because by then, we would know as to why Rouen was so attached to her. Through all of our unending existence, he had never once treated another the way he treated her with care. In addition, we would also know as to why the Monarch and the Werewolf Supreme had her, a mere human being, under their radar."
"But didn't you once put it into consideration that the one who cast the blood seal on her might want it more for the seal to be completely in effect even up to this moment?"
All eyes went to Delilah because of what she had just uttered, so she decided to elaborate.
"Think of it this way. Everyone has their own side of the story. Only this time, the human girl is in the middle of it all. We wanted the seal on the girl to be lifted because we desperately wanted some questions to be answered. But did none of you think that there might also be someone out there who wanted the seal on her to stay intact?"
"But a seal such as that should only be used to supernatural beings like us. That was its sole purpose. To completely seal. What could there be in a natural as young as Eona who has just discovered the existence of our world to seal in?"
"Mihai, the thing you should ask is why was she, a mere human being, was sealed in the first place?"
"Isn't that the same thing?" Caius asked with a frown.
"Then what about… what is there to hide along with her existence?"
"What?"
Sin stared at Delilah. All of them are aware of the power she was born to have as a Silver Blood vampire. She could see something the naked eye was not able to. And the way she is speaking, he is certain she knows something.
"What did you see when you met her back in Laudicea?"
Delilah pursed her lips, afraid that the one whose voice she heard in her mind back then would interfere with her once more.
"Lady Delilah…"
She glanced at Mihai, whose eyes were encouraging her to speak of what she knew and after a while she gave out a deep sigh.
"Every being, naturals or supernaturals, has their own distinct color which only I can tell, but Eona has one dominant color and a faint one. Her aura was faintly tinted by something that belonged to that of a supernatural, a vampire. Something which should not be."
Sin was astonished. "She's... a vampire?"
Delilah shook her head. "No. She couldn't be. I only told the prince she was sleeping then because she looked like it from my eyes and that was the time when the seal in her started diminishing."
"Should we keep her under surveillance?" Zaniel asked after a while.
"Rouen wouldn't want that happening."
"We could do it without him knowing," Caius suggested after considering all the consequences that might follow through with that decision. "Something is brewing and both the prince and the girl are in the middle of it. We wouldn't be able to get the answers we needed if we only watched everything happen on the sidelines. I'm not suggesting we should keep her under watch twenty-four seven. I'm only saying we should keep tabs on her the way we would with the prince."
"You are not to interfere with the girl's day to day life," a voice which came from the one who suddenly appeared from nowhere interceded.
With his sudden appearance, the eyes of all the Silver Blood vampires glistened in alert as they simultaneously looked in his direction while Marius and Zaniel pulled out their weapons, ready to defend or attack one way or the other. How the hell were they not able to notice him when he came?
"You…" Caius said when he recognized him to be one of the three modified human beings they met back during the soiree hosted by Cohen.
Saber raised his hands, showing them that he meant them no harm.
"What are you doing here?"
Saber then focused his attention on the school's chairman, who was the only one who was not fazed by his sudden appearance. He looked like he was already used to people showing themselves in his office without prior notice or any invitation from him.
"You asked for our help on the Lepers that have been roaming around lately in groups in exchange for your cooperation with us and I am here to tell you that we have fulfilled our end of the bargain. We believe the Hunters' Association will no longer need to require our assistance regarding that matter, thus, we are completely handing the case back to you. After all, our group have a much more pressing matter to focus our attention on."
"Did you find the one behind their sudden appearance?"
"Yes. Archer compiled all of our reports and, if I was not mistaken, he'll be sending them to you soon. One thing we have confirmed though was that the Alliance was involved in everything that had happened. They seemed to be conducting experiments to further develop the abilities of their own agents, the modified ones, to another level."
When Saber turned towards the balcony, Kaien knew he was already done with his errand in his office and he was about to leave without even a goodbye.
"And the girl…" Kaien said, which made Saber stop in his tracks and look at him with wary eyes. "What did you mean when you said we are not to interfere with the girl's day to day life?"
"It's as I said, Kaien."
"Why?" It was Mihai this time.
Saber completely turned his back on them before he said in a whisper, "she was not yet ready to face the horrors of her own existence."
When Saber disappeared, they were once again left with a deafening silence as their thoughts went from here to there.
"That just makes it more complicated."
"What does he mean by that last remark?"
Kaien sighed. "Who knows?"
There is something hidden along with Eona's existence and the Monarch along with the members of his group knew about it. He didn't have any ounce of idea what it was, but there must be a reason why the Monarch and the rest are keeping their mouths shut about it.
***
"Are you with me, Eona? Open your eyes. You have been sleeping for a while now. You need to wake up."
Eona groaned, feeling like she hadn't moved her muscles in a long time. Her body felt stiff and she couldn't find the strength to easily open her eyes. She had been hearing a woman's voice for a while but it was only now that she could hear it unmistakably. She blinked her eyes once, twice and then she blinked again until her eyesight cleared, only for her to frown when she realized that she was in another place aside from their home yet again. She fisted her hands on both her sides only to feel the snow beneath her instead of a duvet. She was lying on snow-covered ground but she couldn't feel the cold despite the kind of clothes she was wearing. After all, she was only wearing a set of silk pajamas.
After a while, she decided to sit up and look around and a sudden realization dawned on her. Once again, she was inside another dream, in a place that had now become too familiar to her. The wide garden she once saw in ruins was in its original state. But even though it was covered in snow, some of the garden plants bloomed beautifully in the midst of winter and the palace beyond it still stood as majestic as before, no matter what the season. Was this place always this beautiful? But why was she in this place yet again? What is her connection to this place that she keeps coming back here in her dreams?
"Are you awake now, Eona?"
"No, I'm still asleep," she answered, not bothering to look at the owner of that voice as she covered her eyes with her hands. It didn't even register in her mind that there was someone in that place other than her.
The girl who was talking to her chuckled.
"You're right, you are asleep. For over a few months now… and for almost a thousand years," she whispered those last words in a way that Eona did not completely catch what she had just uttered. "But you know, this isn't a dream. This is a reality. It's a crossroad where the past, the present and the future meet."
With that, Eona raised her head and glanced in the direction where that voice was coming from, only for her eyes to widen while her heart thumped inside her chest in fear. There in the middle of the garden, not too far away from her, was the girl she once saw as an apparition on the night when Rouen abducted her, though she looked a little more mature compared to last time. As she smiled at her in a friendly manner, her fangs behind her upper lips showed themselves subtly, reminding Eona that she wasn't human at all, but a vampire.
The woman was standing regally by the edge of the fountain while looking at her with a smile on her lips. She did not bother to walk towards her. In fact, she stayed standing in her position at a proper distance as if she was not allowed to stand too close to her. She is wearing all-black attire befitting that of an assassin. A skin tight sweatshirt tucked in fitted jeans paired with black heeled boots. The trench coat she was wearing had golden linings on the edges as well as an insignia on her left chest that looked a little familiar to Eona, but she couldn't remember where she had seen it before. She knew it was a family crest, but which family was it? A gun placed in a holster was attached to her right thigh, while three combat knives were placed in a holster attached to her left thigh. She looked ready to kill. Her raven black hair appeared to be a midnight blue under the soft moonlight and her ruby-colored eyes glistened while hiding all the secrets she knew behind them.
"The past is this place while the present is you."
Eona took her words as a joke, hence why she snickered. "And where does that leave you, the future?"
"Yes."
Eona was aware the woman was telling her something in between those lines but her mind didn't seem to want to cooperate this time, leaving her thoughts in an unruly mess. Everything had been in chaos lately and she didn't know what to believe in anymore, because the things she was forced to consider insignificant and unimportant were the things she should've paid more attention to.
"This place is a memory. One which belonged to you," the woman continued when she did not say anything. "You wonder why you keep coming back here? You keep coming back unconsciously to this place because it means a lot more to you than you could ever imagine. You grew up here, you know? The Northernheim palace was where you were born and the first eight years of your life that you could not remember is right within this place."
What is she talking about?
"Do you remember me, Eona?"
Remember? Of course she remembers her. There was no way she would forget someone who told her her death would be her awakening with a sinister smile. Though she doesn't appear as hostile as before, she is still the same one who made her feel threatened in just a matter of seconds.
"Ah, yes. I remember doing that," the woman stated as if she read her mind. "I apologize for doing so. But I would like you to know that it was never my intention to threaten myself. You and I are one. After all, we share the same name and blood. If the weakening of the seal was due to Aelvien's interference, we would have met in a more peaceful way."
Eona frowned. Why is she talking as if they were one being? That can't be because she was born and raised as a natural, a human being. Unless Rouen had accidentally turned her into one, she couldn't have become a vampire on her own without the interference of another.
"The consequences of my awakening depend on the way the seal appears on your skin. If it appeared forcibly through other means without the blood that is meant to undo it, my awakening would threaten the existence of all living things. Aelvien for sure wouldn't let that happen."
"W-who are you?"
The woman who looked exactly like her stared back at her with a meaningful smile etched on her lips. And another thing that caught Eona's attention was the glowing mark on the side of her neck. The seal that once appeared on her was completely etched there for her to see.
"Does that mean you are finally curious as to who you really are?"
"What?"
"You are asking who I am. It only meant you are questioning who you are. Because Eona... I am you."
Eona's eyebrows furrowed, especially when the woman started to fade right in front of her. The woman smiled sadly as she raised her fading hand to see for herself what was happening to her.
"He really did make sure I'd fall back into deep slumber…" Aelya thought to herself while thinking of what her brother did the night when he ordered the prince to drain her dry.
For her, meeting Rouen was both enchanting and saddening because she knew that time wasn't at their disposal and their meeting would only be for a short while. The tingles she felt as their skin touched were exhilarating while the fireworks that erupted were blinding. She knew what that meeting meant and the same recognition flashed right back into his eyes when he stared at her. But her brother just had to intervene right at that moment. And Eona for sure doesn't remember what took place at that moment.
She couldn't blame her brother, who had been the one who was forced to look after her while pretending that they were not related to each other. She knew he did what he needed to do for the sake of others, because if the seal was released without his interference, she would become a threat to everyone that ever existed. She was a Royal Blood vampire born from the Landegrei Clan and the power that lies within her blood was something that should not exist. Yet, at the same time, it was something that their uncle wanted to covet for himself. She was sealed for a reason, but the seal also restricted Rouen from recognizing her.
"When you wake up, try and remember everything that I have told you here," Aelya told the young girl as she slowly vanished from her eyes, her voice starting to sound like a fading sound. "Do not let go of the prince's hand. He means to you just as much as this place does."