While the twins were busy showering, Val and Callisto both sat on the couch in the living room, opposite each other. Val was especially exhausted from chasing that guard.
"I've been meaning to ask you this question." Val went ahead as he heard no objections. "Why did the guards allow you to bring a weapon inside but discarded mine?"
"Because I am trustworthy."
"Did you do something to help them before?"
"I did. Several times."
"What? Did you do a heroic act or something?" Val stopped jeering as Callisto admitted it was somewhat a valorous act. "Really?"
Callisto told him a story to entertain Val during the time waiting for the kids. "I met them 6 years ago. Those four kids were werewolf orphans who had lost their parents."
"Although I knew from books that werewolves mature as soon as they turn 15, I didn't know they could grow that fast in a year. By any chance were those four bodyguards the kids you are talking about right now?"
"Yeah. They left their clan at the age of 10, as they didn't want to cause any trouble for the pack who had raised them with care. Their rank was down to a rogue. Just as they expected to live a new life freely, they were kidnapped to the human slavery auction sponsored by politicians."
"Even with the politicians' power, I don't believe they can organize such an elaborate illegal auction smoothly. The officials in the government must have been bribed."
"You are correct. At least 10 or more high ranking officials in every country's government have been confirmed to be siding with the politicians. The most uncanny concern is that their network is vast yet they knew how to differentiate those from their side and our side."
"Our side?"
"Our side is what I use to refer to those people who lack greed and desire for success or power. Every once in a while, there's a big feast for the officials, aren't there?"
Val realized what this meant. "They must have chosen their potential henchmen and trustworthy individuals with ambition there every year."
"The big figures meet them to test their hearts. If they failed the entrance exam, they wouldn't ever be invited into their circle again. Because of this, only a few numbers whose fame is widely acknowledged by the public, are rarely chosen. This makes the chances of spies getting into their circle very low."
"That's harsh." Val pondered. With most of them tightly bound to the other with terrible secrets, it was unlikely the old members would betray the other for their personal greed. They harbored evil intentions but were sensible. Instead of asking how the duke knew the way of the inside circle, Val remained silent, waiting for him to speak.
"Fortunately, most officials aren't on the side of their superiors. They either laid low in order to not catch the attention of evil politicians or were busy gathering power behind their back in order to take revenge against them due to a personal or indirect vendetta."
"What did the auction look like?"
"It had an interior similar to an opera theater, with many seats filled with wealthy looking individuals. Behind the magnificent stage was the cruel act of imprisoning many different kinds of slaves from vampires, werewolves, humans to rare breeds of fierce animals."
Callisto went on to describe the scene he saw when the kids were almost beaten to death. He ignored it and moved on with the auction in order to proceed with the plan of catching corrupt politicians in one swoop. While his elite guards were silencing the scouts and slowly rescuing the slaves, he watched on, memorizing all of their faces to let the little ones seek revenge by themselves.
From his words, Val assumed the reason why the duke searched for a job for them after raising them in his household for two years and gave them fake identities as a human to blend into the world was because the duke seemed to feel guilty for the children, who were severely injured.
"Aside from that, I helped them escape a creep, a murderer, a drug addict and a crazy cult recruiter almost on a monthly basis."
"I see. That must have been quite the fun life."
"I guess... it was since I was busy praying the last two years for my wife to come back."
Val didn't respond, perhaps it lied on his conscience that he reminded the duke of painful memories when the duke never overstepped his boundaries after Val mentioned he didn't like talking about a wife. It was pretty awkward.
Not caring for Val's matters, the duke wondered why on earth he was confiding in a stranger he just met for a few times. This behavior was just like the times when he would confide in Velda mistakenly and Velda would just listen calmly before saying...
"Don't worry. You did well to help them." Val said.
....
Crap.
"Lis?" Val smiled.
Callisto avoided his eyes as he was starting to see the similarities between Velda and Val.
Though many people had tried to imitate Velda's behavior in attempts to win his heart, he could see through their fake looks immediately. But now, there had never been someone who could confuse him as much as Val did for his heart pounded and desired for him.
He knew that his heart still longed for Velda, at the same time, he was falling for Val. This was abnormal. He knew his mind and body more than anyone else. So how was it possible he fell for a complete stranger he wasn't familiar with in such a short time? Whatever this was, he knew he wasn't such a whimsical person. He must've missed something.
Val was worried. Callisto had dazed off ever since he had told him that story. Did he feel this guilty that he saved them late? Was he not as emotionless as he thought the duke was?
With words unsaid, there was a great misunderstanding between the two of them.
Just as he was about to die from the suffocation of silence, with great timing, the twins appeared. Discarding the wet, messy hair and their warm body, Val rushed to them for a quick hug, while Callisto grabbed his shirt to stop him. The duke pulled him gently to the seat next to him while the twins sat opposite after grabbing some milk from the near empty fridge.
"Did you guys have a good bath?" Val asked, even though he knew it would have been good because the room was already spectacular.
"Yeah!" Rune enthusiastically exclaimed while Raul grumbled his praise for its great design and the water system. "You know there were so many soaps and bath bombs to choose from! It was so fascinating!"
Val wanted to ask whether the duke was a person with such innocent desires but couldn't bear to as Callisto was warning him not to. "Then, which one did you choose in the end?"
"The grape one!" She smiled more energetically than she was in the car. Val patted her head because it had always been his habit of expressing his praise. Just as Raul was about to say something, Rune's tummy rumbled in hunger. She hadn't eaten anything since school had ended because some rats were busy chasing them.
Remembering there was almost nothing in the fridge, Val offered a grocery shopping trip to the supermarket and a convenience store nearby and motioned for the kids to follow him. Callisto tagged along to make sure they weren't hurt.
As he saw them walking together side by side, shopping and having fun together, he wondered if this warmth was what blood-tied families should have been like. Reaching out his hand for the three walking far away, it seemed as if the moment he held onto them with these vain emotions, they would disappear. He stood still for a second before moving forward.
"Lis?" Val called out to him.
Despite his unpredictable expressions, Val was worried as he could sense Callisto's mood had not improved from before in the room. Trudging towards him, he took Callisto's hand and tugged him along with the children back home.
The duke never joined in on their conversations, only listening to the twins brawl or ramble on about the school or any complaints they had about life while Val would lecture Raul and Rune to derail their pessimistic line of thinking or retort to their complaints.
As they reached back to their room safely, the twins rushed to the living room to take out their devices from their bags. Closing his eyes and sleeping on the couch, Raul had his earphones playing calm and relaxing music into his ears while Rune was wide awake playing video games until her mum had finished preparing dinner.
Callisto helped Val unpack all the ingredients they bought and stored all the unnecessary ones into the fridge.
Surprised with his quick handling of the materials, Val asked. "Why did you put those away?"
"Weren't you going to prepare instant noodles?"
"I was, but..."
"This saves time." Callisto said as he took out the eggs, and spring onions out of the shopping bag.
After Val hauled three noodle packs into a big pot, he mixed them in the hot water. Not familiar with the mechanism around an electric stove, he asked Callisto for help. Callisto approached the electric stove and set it to boil for a minute by pressing an up button.
While Val chopped the spring onions skillfully on the board, Callisto laid out the plates and cutlery onto the table. Val suddenly got curious about Callisto's daily meals. "Do you usually prepare a meal for yourself?"
"I do." Callisto replied. "I studied abroad for once and learnt how to live and cook by myself there."
"Then why did you agree with my decision to cook ramyeon?" Callisto remained silent. Val clarified his question. "You might have wanted something better than this flimsy meal since vampires have picky and refined tastes."
"I am not a rich young master nor do I cook that well. So I am fine." Callisto. "What about you? Do you often eat instant noodles or cook something better?"
"We usually order takeout because I am busy with work." Val answered. "Why? Do you want to cook for us?"
"If you want."
Val was stunned. That duke Callisto revered by thousands of ladies in the capital cooking for them? If those ladies surely saw him right now, the gorgeous, noble image of the duke they had at that ball would definitely be ruined.
After pouring down the water, Callisto added the chicken flavor powder and oil into the pot and stirred the noodles as Val ended up bursting out laughter. As Raul and Rune sat down next to each other, Callisto set down the pot in the middle of the table, along with extra rice.
Rune tummy rumbled impatiently. "Then, I would like to taste uncle's cooking some time later. But for today, itadakimasu!"
"What's that phrase?"
Raul asked since he wasn't knowledgeable in the world of entertainment, especially video games and anime. Not seeking an answer, he elegantly consumed his meal. Rune, on the other hand, was a mess, rapidly cramming down the noodles with rice and appeasing her dry throat by drinking cold water. Raul regretted sitting next to her to help bond Val and Callisto.
"It's a Japanese phrase for let's enjoy, usually stated before a meal." Val explained, as he picked up his chopsticks to take a portion from the ramyeon for himself.
Callisto, noticing an unusual habit, inquired. "Don't you live in the United States? Why do you seem so used to handling chopsticks?"
"Ah, it's because I find it more comfortable to use chopsticks than a fork and a spoon. Furthermore, it helps me ingest slower."
"I see." Val didn't think the duke would find it that strange since he had met all kinds of people in his life. But then, banquets hosted by vampires usually provide forks and spoons, not chopsticks as cutlery, so the duke might not have seen many people around him use the chopsticks.
Callisto was caught staring at him. Val offered him a teaching session. "Want me to teach you?"
"Yes."
Val, caught off guard that Callisto accepted immediately, was flustered. "D...do you know how to hold the chopsticks?"
"Yes," Callisto imitated the replica of how Val held his chopsticks, "isn't it like this?"
Val faced him and corrected him. "Both chopsticks are held on the middle and index finger because it's a long time habit but usually..." He led the bottom chopstick to be propped on top of the ring finger and the little finger. "It's like this."
Callisto tried picking the noodles up with the chopsticks but it flopped back into the pot, splattered his cheek with a drip of sauce from the noodles. Val felt kinda pitiful for him as he was the one who proposed this lesson to the duke. Not wanting to watch this drag on any longer, Val stood up, leaning forward at a close distance from Callisto. Placing his hands on top of his, he guided the duke through the process personally.
When Raul finished his meal, he was astounded by the scene going on in front of him, nudging Rune subconsciously to accompany him in the sight of this PDA.
Opposite them were two adults in their own world. At her devious grin, Raul frowned. Her expression was the spitting image of Val's playfulness. "Ehh.....," She said loudly to embarrass Val, "is my mum flirting with uncle again?"
At her words, Val stopped holding his hands, and scratched his neck awkwardly. He looked at Callisto who was unfazed and kept on using the chopsticks to eat, his nth attempt still failing.
He sighed. At this rate, the duke would never finish his meal. Snatching his bowl and chopsticks away, Val quickly extracted the noodles and handed the bowl over to Callisto along with a fresh glass of cold water to hydrate himself.
"No. I am just looking after him just like I do to you guys."
Rune raised an eyebrow at him. Val knew it was to tease him because of his delay in answering her. "Oh, really?" She snickered. "But your motto for us was to be independent. You always told us by the time we turned 15, we would have to fare for ourselves, didn't you?"
Raul attested to her claim. "Indeed." Raul looked back to see Val warning them to knock it off. He knew from experience how scary Val was once someone touched his bottom line whether that 'someone' was his own children or a complete stranger.
Since he was half human, half vampire while his sister was a rarer breed of half werewolf, half vampire, he was aware that they were stronger than average children. If he had to compare his physique, it held the same power as an average 17 year old, who regularly exercised in the gym.
Despite his power, no matter how much time had passed, Val's strength remained unmatched as indestructible as a sturdy wall. In addition to this, Raul had to deal with his swift attacks, each blow heavy enough to leave a bruise on his robust body. Even now, Raul wasn't capable of evading his hits or getting out of Val's wrath unscathed.
Which was why he swore that once he turned into a teenager, he would work hard to surpass Val, as the next successor of the information guild.
Rune's taunts stopped right after she heeded Val's . The twins put down the plates on the basin and returned to the living room to continue twiddling with their devices.
"That auction was where I met Joseph Shaw Heather for the first time." Callisto spoke up, spilling out more information he learnt with Val in order to gain his trust.
Val's eyes widened in surprise. He almost choked on the water he was drinking from his tea cup. "You managed to catch him?"
"No, he was bailed out instantly." Callisto answered. "I only had a brief talk with him in the auction and the jail."
"What was he like?"
"Since it was 6 years ago, he was unlike the cunning politician he is now. He was just an immature brat trying his best to catch up with his father and busy hiding his inferiority complex from his siblings."
"Did you say that to his face?"
"..." Callisto paused before denying it. He changed the subject by trying to provide more information. "I didn't give in to his bribes nor his luring words so he gained an interest in me. It wasn't love but it's more of an obsession."
"I see." Val empathized. "Did he show this obsession visibly or did he try to hide it?"
"He didn't try to cover for his actions like sending people to stalk me or report on every one of actions. One time, we met by coincidence where he convinced me to join his legion again. I immediately rejected his offer."
"It must not have been a coincidence."
"I should have listened to my butler and not come to the auction personally to oversee my plans." Callisto sighed. "His interest is burdensome."
"Hopefully, now that time has passed, his obsession has died down."
"Probably not. Although we rarely see each other, Joseph breaks the ice by starting a long conversation. Even if I didn't reply, he would keep on talking about his personal matters like how he was faring with his family."
"Despite the rumors claiming Joseph was clean and righteous, from your saying, he seemed to be approaching you with some sort of motive in mind."
"Um."
"Throughout the 6 years, he hasn't made a move. This means either he is acting, while masking his true motive, his father is ordering him to approach you or he wants to relieve his obsession by interacting with you, which is the least possible. At least from what I know of him now, he is the cautious type, not bringing attention to himself unless he is confident things will go his way. Conversing with you may have just been a whim or the desire to confide his feelings."
"I don't think he is evil, but he certainly is corrupt and twisted in his way of thinking."
"Certainly, I have experienced his antics first hand these past year and half. But, what was he doing there?"
"He was acting under his father's orders to acquire some human slaves for the drug cases."
"Oh, I forgot that big shot was also involved heavily in the drug activities." Val placed the dried plates and cutlery on top of the shelf and organized it. "What a pity. Even after being an adult, he still has to live with his family and follow his father's orders unconditionally. While the rest of his siblings lived a carefree life, he had to get his hands dirty by taking innocent lives."
"Unexpectedly, his personality didn't turn out as insane as his siblings nor his father."
"Nonetheless, he still remains an evil bastard. To obtain this type of cheerful mask mentality despite the harsh environment, his resentment that lied behind the peaceful personality must be so suffocatingly heavy that it kept him trudging over the madness that ran through the family blood and attained his twisted sense of rationality."
"The siblings aren't exactly that clean either." Callisto clarified. "They had their fair share of unclean cases in the police but were never leaked out to the public."
"I have heard of some minor cases like fraud, bullying where they only beat the victim but never did anything major."
"From my sources, I was informed of the same sort." Sensing Callisto's hesitation to say something, Val told him to speak his mind. Callisto asked. "Do you want to live here?"
"Huh?" Val almost spit out the tea he was ingesting.
"The children suggested it first." Callisto calmly told him as he wiped the tables. "Besides, it would do good for their safety and yours from any enemies."
"Yeah, dad." Raul, who usually said a few words, pleaded with him coming up with an excuse.. "Please agree. If we work this out, we can live safely without worrying about our friend's safety."
Rune also put a word and even reassured him that the duke was safe to trust. It was rare for his baby girl, who held distrust for people, to also speak up so kindly for someone.
When did they discuss this? He remembered. They must have spoken to each other while he was away from the house, trying to chase the rat. It made sense why the children asked him for help, but what was the duke's ulterior motive for agreeing to this? It had no benefits for the duke who hated family ties and relationships more than anyone else.
He obviously knew what Val was thinking right now, but still, it was amusing to see Val ponder over this little matter so seriously for the sake of his children, therefore, he explained vaguely. "Don't look at me like that. I already ordered a suit from your shop. If you were to be in danger, I would have to worry for 3 months straight that my tuxedo wouldn't come in time for the ball."
"I see." Carefully thinking whether his excuse was reasonable, Val accepted the duke's offer, not aware of the troubles that followed his decision.