Only when I reached my room did I put that thought to rest and saw little Chloe staring at me intensely as she asked pitifully, "Sis, you'll leave?"
I knew that that moment was coming but I didn't know how to handle that. I could only sigh and explain how important it was for me to leave.
She didn't say anything and slowly reached out to embrace me, where she started sobbing. I patted the back of her head while she whispered,
"When will you come back?"
"...I don't know, Chloe," I answered truthfully in her ear.
"What will I do alone? It's so boring. I want to go on an adventure as well. Can you ask them for me?"
"If I could acquire high-quality vampire blood here, I wouldn't even think of leaving this home, but sadly, there's just no other way. When I come back, I'll wake Sis Hin and then the three of us will go on adventures together, wherever you want."
I understood a little of what went through my father's mind when I needed his advice. Same as he had done to me, I could only give Chloe hope for a better and more colorful future because I couldn't help her at the moment.
Our wishes and desires were endless but only so few of them could be actualized. I needed strength and power to climb out of that hole of incapability.
However, Chloe wasn't having an intellectual discourse with me, she was feeling emotional, knowing that I would be leaving her side for a long time after a week.
The next few days were spent like that. I found it awkward to talk to my parents after hiding my plans from them and Chloe kept giving me weird emotional looks.
Helplessly, I could only accompany Rowan in our backyard silently, where he did his experiments on the saplings and I read books. At times, Chloe would come to me with a book as well and start reading beside me, but then she'll drop it and just lean on me while holding my arm in her embrace.
Before I knew it, 5 days were gone. That night, father came home a little late and called Rowan and me to sit at the dinner table, where he informed us that he had visited Uncle Albert's shop and talked about us.
We were surprised knowing that he knew that desolate location, but considering that he was a guide and I had told him of my awakening through Uncle Albert long ago, perhaps he had already asked around for his shop.
Moreover, Uncle Albert was a dependable man and I was sure that anyone who would meet him would think like that too. If he had visited him back then as well, then his trust would be more well-founded as well.
We nodded our heads and waited for him to announce his decision.
Taking a deep breath, he said with a serious tone, "Promise me that you'll come back at least once within 2 years, and don't forget to keep writing letters."
Saying that he stood up and went to wash his face and change his clothes, leaving us befuddled.
Only after a while did I turn to Rowan, smiled, and said, "We need to pack our bags. I'll be depending on you."
He still looked perplexed as he nodded and went to his room.
After my father came back after washing his face and changing his clothes, I didn't forget to give him a deep hug and whisper 'thanks' in his ear. He patted my head and shook his head while hugging me back and told me in a soft tone, "I have convinced your mother but she is still incredibly worried. Keep writing letters from time to time, it'll help soothe her nerves. Don't wander far from your brother and Mr. Albert and don't trust anyone that they don't trust. At times you need to be certain of yourself but never do it at the cost of betraying the trust of your loved ones, understand?"
"Umm," I whispered in his ear again as a teardrop rolled down my eye. My gentle mother, standing not too far away, looked at this in silence and came to pat my back when she saw me weeping as well.
It was equally heartwarming and heartbreaking for me to be leaving such precious people behind but my choice had already been set in stone with my fate bending in favor of my conviction.