Arthur Vladimir

The was a subtle burning sensation at the back of his hand. Arthur found himself flinching at that abrupt feeling as he gazed at his right hand. On the surface of his pale skin, an emblem of a knight’s helmet painted in ashy grey colour covered almost the entirety of the back of his palm. That region would throb sometimes, but it has been a while since it did. 70 whole years, that’s a long time indeed.

Arthur remembered experiencing this kind of throbbing pain when he became one of the Ancients, a title only vampires who lived over 900 years old could be entitled to. That throbbing pain wasn’t a mere pain that he could have just shake it off just like that. If a throbbing sensation occurs on that exact spot, it meant that his other half has appeared. The one and only love of his life, his destined mate.

He remembered feeling ecstatic the first time that happened, and since then, the search for his other half began. It’s been almost 70 years, though, and Arthur wasn’t sure anymore if he would ever find his other half.

“My Lord,” A person appeared beside Arthur, waking him from his faze. That person’s orange eyes wore a serious look, despite the light-heartedness in his general expression. “There was a trace of the criminal nearby, he mustn’t have gotten that far away.”

Arthur nodded before standing up from his sitting position. As he did, his height overshadowed the person beside him, immediately revealed the fact that he was taller than an average human. He IS a vampire after all. Arthur released the order for the criminal to be pursued and captured, so all the 20 members of the royal knights who was with him at the time began their move, leaving Arthur and the person beside him.

While the other knights scoured the perimeter, Arthur along with the person beside him, his aide, inspected the area nearby. It came into Arthur’s view of a road that led up to a certain direction up into the hills.

“Edmund,” Arthur called his aide. Edmund—who was walking by his side and was checking the surrounding—turned to look at Arthur. “Are we nearing a residence, or is there something that I miss?”

Edmund broke into a bright smile before he answered, “I believe there is a mansion uphill. It belongs to the late Count Charles Wicker. Many people believed that he had passed away due to his old age.”

“Believed?” Arthur raised one of his eyebrows.

“Yes,” Edmund nodded. “His upcoming was unfortunate, as per explained by the wandering merchants and people who had encountered him before. The late Count was left by his people and his family after his family came to ruin. I don’t think the Count would have survived his ruin, as it was deemed a catastrophe for nobles. Besides that, he was too old to even survive on his own.”

Arthur’s pace slowed down. “How so?”

Edmund let out a giggled. “My Lord, even if he is still alive today, he would have been 70 years old this year. That’s a long age even for humans.”

Arthur’s lips parted a bit. There were no words that came out from it, apart from a short sentence of, “I see…”

A rustling sound appeared nearby that put the conversation between them into a halt. The two angled their head in the direction of that rustling sound, patiently waiting for the perpetrator who made that sound to appear.

The surroundings turned deathly quiet after that.

Suddenly, a figure leaped out from the bushes. It was a man that looked to be in his mid-20s, his pale, desperate face was stained with blood and a pair of sharp fangs flashed behind his lips. Like most low-level vampires, his skin had started to burn from the sunlight. The man darted his eyes around frantically, purposefully avoiding Arthur’s and Edmund’s eyes before running off in an opposite direction from them.

“The criminal…” Arthur muttered. He gave Edmund a quick glance before the two of them chased after him.

Charles Wicker

The 70 years old Charles had successfully left his mansion! It all happened on a whim after he finished his meal when he decided to have some fresh air outside. Because of that, he started dressing up warmly before leaving the house.

A metallic sound was heard when he locked the main gate with a lock and key. He somehow managed to find the key for the main gate placed just on top of the coffee table beside his bed. Before he sauntered towards the opposite direction of the mansion, he gazed at the huge mansion gate. The gloomy and unkempt exterior of his mansion made even the thieves refuse to steal from his house. That was the level of severity in his house’s exterior. But Charles was too old to care, or even do something about it.

Feeling slightly regrettful, the old Count adjusted the thick and long muffler around his neck and his brown long coat that reaches until below his knee. Charles Wicker then began his venture outside of the mansion.

The land around his mansion was originally his. However, after his worth declined, it was now managed by his first son, Gregor. He wondered what Gregor was doing right now. His son is smart, so he might be managing his land way better than him.

While the old man pondered as he walked, his steps stopped when he saw a furry white being standing not too far from him.

It was that skinny white cat.

The cat stared at him emptily, while occasionally blinking its yellow eyes.

“...Well hello there.” Charles bloomed a smile. He then resumed to walk past the cat.

“Meow.” The cat meowed and followed Charles from behind.

“Oh my?” Charles let the cat pace beside him. “Are you taking a walk also, little cat? What a great idea, at least I have a company so I won’t be lonely.”

The cat didn’t meow back, but it followed after Charles.

The two strolled across the estate quietly while walking side by side.

“By the way, thank you for the pouch that you dropped earlier.” Suddenly Charles spoke. “I don’t know whose pouch was it, but for some reason, it gave me hope in having some money to spend.”

The cat stared at him, before it meowed.

“Ah, I didn’t mean that I would spend it lavishly like I did before. You know the feeling of someone who didn’t have to feel anxious of having an empty pocket while leaving the house? That is what I feel right now.” The old noble smiled at the white cat.

Unbeknownst to Charles, he had been walking for almost an hour non-stop. Was his one-sided conversation with the white cat that enjoyful that he forget to take a quick rest in the middle?

The fatigue from walking finally caught him after he arrived at the rural area of the town, a town nearest to his mansion, and also, a town which was originally his but now managed by Gregor.

Charles was lucky enough that almost everyone didn’t recognize him as the lord of the fief. He is just an old man in people’s eyes, which was actually a good thing for the old Charles as he would feel embarrassed if people recognized him.

When he was catching up his breath, the white cat meowed at him, before turning its head to a bench located near him.

“Why thank you, little cat.” The old man sighed in relief and dragged himself to sit on the bench.

Charles took a few moments of rest, before he eyed his surroundings. It occurred in his mind before, but what is this curious smell that he had been smelling since the time he entered town?

The old noble looked at his surroundings, and found the reason why he was smelling the scent of yeast, and baked breads.

Just above the old man’s head, the word ‘bakery’ was embedded into a white wooden plate using brown letters. He didn’t realize it before, but the building behind him was designed to be considerably pleasant on the eyes. It wasn’t as lavish as those five star bakeries he had gone to when he was younger, but it was fancier than a small cottage style bakery.

The delectable smell of bread roused a sense of melancholy inside Charles. When was the last time he smelled something as warm and welcoming as this? The old man immediately shut his eyes tight, trying to stop himself from falling into another ponder, yet a sad smile formed on his lips.

“Did you smell that, little one?” Charles lowered his gaze to the skinny cat which was sitting beside him on the bench. The cat’s eyes were sparkling with excitement, probably was excited about the smell of bread too. Charles couldn’t help but let out a laugh.

“What a strange creature. Let us go.” Charles stood up from the bench before entering the front door of the bakery.