[TW: mentions of suicide and possibly other topics that may trigger some traumatic experiences. ]
"What is a prince doing here, I thought they were… uhh you know, abroad." Lakoi said as he circled Kyle's body to inspect him.
"I'm not a prince." Kyle said as he started to feel dizzy as he kept looking at him.
"Are you a new king?" Lakoi said as he stopped in front of him to look at his face.
"No, that's crazy…" Kyle said as he backed up to use the chair as support.
"Then are you a… princess?" Lakoi asked as he stood up straight and tilted his head.
"That's enough Lakoi, you just came back from your classes so get ready for your training." Duchess Aliana said as she still wanted to finish her conversation with Kyle.
"Fine… come and find me later. Or I might just find you when I'm done." Lakoi said almost as if he was excited before going back downstairs
"Alright…" Kyle said before he sat down.
"I'm sorry about that, he's enjoys company especially nowadays since majority of the kids in the village can't keep up with him. Those who can are too busy trying to keep up with themselves to hang out with him." She said as she watched him go down the stairs. "Anyway, if you aren't a prince or the king. Who are you?" Duchess Aliana said as what he said earlier stood on her mind.
"I am Kyle Gorge… half human, half vampire." He said.
"All I see is a vampire and someone with the exact same features as me. Are you sure that there's human in you?" Duchess Aliana asked as she looked at his body.
"Yes, I am human. I'm not a vampire, I am not a member of the royal family." Kyle said stubbornly.
"Then what are you here for?" Duchess Aliana said in a cold tone.
"Wha- I'm here for the river. I don't want to consume blood the same way I was doing before." Kyle said as recoiled from the sudden switch.
"Only vampires and the residents of Blutheim are allowed to drink from the river. To say that you are here to drink from the river is synonymous with saying that you are a vampire." Duchess Aliana said.
"…" Kyle didn't say anything, he knew what he said was stupid but that still didn't change the way he felt.
"All I smell whenever I'm near you is blood. You reek of it, even your breath. Are you going to sit in front of me and deny everything you said and what you are?" Duchess Aliana asked as he put his head.
"No, I'm telling you the truth. I'm not fit to be King, I'm not the heir to the throne. I can't be the heir, the next king to a country I dont even know about. I wasn't even born here, this isn't my home… even in my home I did terrible, awful things. I shouldn't be on the crown, I'm nothing like the royal family everyone loved, I'm not someone the Great King gave to you. I'm a criminal." He exclaimed before he let out a deep breath. "I've killed hundreds of humans like a wild beast and I dragged two random people into my own mess and ruined their lives by making them kill hundreds more. I killed her fiancé… I ruined my families lives. Some like me cannot be heir to the throne, I cannot be the one to carry on the royal family." He finished.
"Did you come here to run away?" Duchess Aliana asked him.
"…No, I don't want to kill anyone anymore, I don't want to kill humans just to survive that's why I came here. I want to drink from the river of blood because it means I get to live without taking a life." He said as picked his head up slowly.
"Do you regret what you did?" Duchess Aliana asked.
"Obviously." Kyle said as he kept his head down.
"Then you must find a place that's right for you, a place where you could lay your head and call home. Then all those lives would not be needlessly lost, just as much as you changed those people's lives, you can change more lives for the better. Or will you simply kill yourself and have everything you've ever did and accomplish go to waste as well as all those lives." Duchess Aliana said with a calm look on her face as she sat with her back pressed against the chair.
Just as she said those words to him, he started to remember the day that he was caught by the ANM. Kyle remembered how Jeremy gave his life just for him to survive, he made Kyle drink his own blood so that he would have enough energy to live and reach his goal.
"You were welcomed and treated by the Captain of the guards and his family, you are more than welcomed to stay here and straighten out your thoughts." Duchess Aliana said as she saw a tear fall from his face.
"Jeremy, gave his life to save me. Melissa and Drey, while I was gone…. They stood back and continued to collect blood for me, all on their own." He took a brief pause before going on. "My mother fought for her life to make sure the heir continues, to make sure her family keeps on living in a world she is forbidden from. I can't just give up but what do I do… I made it to the river, I did what I set out to do. Am I supposed to do more…" Kyle said as his hands covered his face.
"Do you wish to do more?" Duchess Aliana asked.
"What?" Kyle said as he looked at her.
"What do you want to do, was it really just reaching the river? You are but a child, there is thousands of more stuff that you will do and will come to understand. However your mind is clouded, you regret what you did in the past, you regret how you used to live but what will that do, when you can and will live differently. You made a way did you not?" Duchess Aliana said. "Did you not fight hard to make it here with what little you knew of the world and the desire to obtain what you set out to do?"
"…I did." Kyle answered.
"You've made it to the river. Then rest, your body may have healed but your mind is still exhausted. You cannot rest in the kingdom so rest here. There is nothing to worry about, you have nothing to do until you've made up your mind. " Duchess Aliana said.
"I can't really do anything even if I wanted to, Melissa still needs to heal. But she should be fine, Deiamos and Drey are still there." He thought. "…I guess so, I'll take this time to rest. "Kyle said as he leaned back on the chair.
"You can take one of the rooms up here, I have a few no one uses." Duchess Aliana said.
"He's staying… here?!" Lakoi said excitedly from the first floor.
"Yeah I am, just for a couple days. If you don't mind." Kyle said as he walked over to the railing to look at him.
"Of course not, make yourself at home. Well then I'll be back later, so then we can talk more." Lakoi said before he left the lodge.
"Come, let me show you something." Duchess Aliana said as she stood up and took him downstairs.
She walked him towards, the right side of the lodge. There was a large open doorway and on the other side, you could see a room filled with hundreds of books as if it was a library. If one didn't know their way around they would probably get lost because of the arrangement of the dozens of filled bookshelves.
"Is this your personal library?" Kyle asked in surprise as he looked around.
"It's the family library. Lady Eliana enjoyed reading books so she built her very own library filled with books she loved, she left room for her descendants to fill with their loved books and their descendants did the same." Duchess Aliana said as she walked into the library.
Kyle walked in behind her and it was if he stepped into a completely different atmosphere. He heard the sound of something similar to that of scribbling can be heard. Duchess Aliana walked through the bookshelves, towards the sound of scribbling. She moved fast and fluently, almost as if she was flying through.
She suddenly stopped which almost made him bump into her but he was able to catch himself in time. "Are you still writing?" Duchess Alian asked before the scribbling abruptly stopped.
"Almost done beloved." The man said as he turned around.
Kyle was able to recognize him as the other man in the Duchess's family portrait. The man looked at him and seemed to have already figured out who he was.
"Did I do it again?" The man asked as he looked at Duchess Aliana.
"Yes, you've been up since yesterday. Why don't you take a break and get some rest." Duchess Aliana said as she put her hand on his shoulder.
"Hmm… I don't see why not, I've made some great progress." The man said as he put his quil down and stood up. "Who is this?" He said as he looked back at Kyle.
She stepped to the side to allow Kyle to introduce himself.
"I'm Kyle Gorge of the… R- ANM, captain of the Blutheim branch." Kyle said as he held his hand out.
"I am Aeon Blüt, 2nd in command in the Village of Blüt. I am an author, second." Aeon said before he saw his hand. "What are you doing?" He asked before he grabbed his hand.
"This is how I learned to greet people." Kyle said as they shook hands.
"Is that so… I've never seen any greeting like this…" Aeon said as he continued to shake Kyle's.
"Yeah, it usually doesn't go on for so long like this." Kyle said with a awkward smirk on his face.
"Really? Why?" Aeon said as he didn't seem to even think of stopping.
At the same time the royal retainers were still waiting inside of the Blutheim Castle. Melissa was alone reading books inside of the medical room while Drey and Deiamos were in the lounge room on the lower floor.
"Are you sure you never played this before, you're oddly good at this for a first timer." Deiamos said as he had three cards in his hand and nearly a dozen other cards placed faced down in front of him.
"I don't know what you mean, you've been winning every round we've played so far." Drey said as he had less than three cards face down and a handful of other cards in his hand.
"You've been doing good, you even managed to take a few of mine from me." Deiamos said as he looked at the cards on the table.
"Are you trying to patronize me because it's working." Drey said as he put a card down.
"I'm entirely sure what you mean but it's the end of time, I win again." Deiamos said as he put his two cards down.
"Hmm… I have a question for you." Drey said as he lowered his hand.
"Okay?" Deiamos said as he waited.
"You can avoid the question but for a kid you only just met, you have a lot of high expectations for Kyle. I mean, is it really only because he's a part of the royal family?" Drey asked.
Deiamos paused for a moment as he thought of his question, he seemed to have been pulled into a deep thought as his eyes shifted away. "He is a kid, however when I talk to him I feel as if I'm talking to another man, the same as I am with you. He is brave and bold, smart and kind and he radiates a certain light that shines brighter than the royal family itself. It isn't physical so I can't explain what it is but from what I see, I believe he has the potential to change the world, on the same level as the great king." He took another pause. "Don't you see it, I can tell he didn't make the bloodbond between you strict, you would still be looking for him by now. I may be wrong but-"
"He didn't get to experience his life correctly and I sometimes forget myself that he is still a child so I know what you mean but I'm glad you see him that way, he's been through shit that'll ruin any kids head. He is brave and smart but he is also cowardice and reckless because he is a child so I need you to remember this before you ask something, that you would ask the first Prince." Drey explained as he gathered the cards on his side.