Charles

The town of Frista. In ancient orcish language, it means frost. As its name implies, the town of Frista is located near the edge of the continent, at the northern part of the land facing the wild northern sea. Spring and autumn didn’t have much difference. The winter is extremely harsh and unforgiving, yet the summer is a blessing from God.

Charles’ eyes faltered a bit when a small and thin leaf landed on his wrinkly cheeks. It might be a representative that autumn is coming to Frista, as trees shed their leaves, and the cold spell counted their time to show up.

The old noble shifted his gaze down towards the white cat, who was drinking the thick and warm mushroom soup out of a paper bowl. He then looked at his own mushroom soup in his right hand, while holding a bag of bread on the other. His original intention when entering the bakery was just to look around and appreciate the bread scent, yet he unconsciously bought some of them, and was given a bowl of warm mushroom soup as a freebie.

Which then came to the current situation. How long has it been since he savoured a mushroom soup? He remembered a mushroom soup having a slightly different taste than pumpkin soup, with mushroom soup tasting milkier, and pumpkin soup tasting nuttier.

The cat meowed in satisfaction after finishing its bowl. Charles too should finish his bowl before the soup gets cold.

After he enjoyed his soup with a little bit of bread that he bought, Charles decided that it’s time to go home. It might be evening by the time Charles reached his place, but the old noble, free of all duties and responsibilities, has more than enough time to spare.

He started walking with the white cat back home.

There was a strange sense of impending doom that came creeping on Charles when he and the cat entered the forest to head home to the mansion. And as if to prove his sense, the sky suddenly got dark, indicating an incoming rain.

“Oh my.” Charles Wicker halted his steps. He didn’t sense it earlier, but something was here inside the forest.

“Did you feel it, little cat?” Charles began to speak. “I was a traveller before so I learned about a thing or two, especially about senses. But it did take me some time to get a grasp of my surroundings. I might have gotten old after all.”

The cat silently stared at Charles.

A small droplet of rain landed on Charles’ hand. Convinced that the rain is coming, Charles ushered the white cat to quicken its steps. The two started pacing back home, with Charles covering the bag of bread underneath his baggy coat.

Suddenly he heard a rustling sound coming from the trees on the side of the road. Looking around, the old man hadn’t had enough time to discern what that sound was, before something passed in front of him, bringing a strong wind that knocked his backward and made him fall down on the ground.

The white cat meowed before trotting near him.

“I’m okay, little cat…” The old man writhed in pain as he tried to get up from the ground. He then remembered the bread he bought and looked around to search for the paper bag. He heaved a short sigh when he saw the bag is still intact and was lying on the ground not too far from him.

While trying to drag his old and fatigued body up, he heard another rustle coming from the direction where the passing object originated from. He gazed at the trees for a bit to ascertain who it was.

Exiting from the woods, were two figures of men; one was taller than the other and possessed a whitish porcelain skin and a black wavy hair with his bangs hung in front of his eye. While that black haired male possessed a pair of red eyes, the other guy possessed at pale orange eyes, his hair is a lush colour of blonde while his skin is slightly darker yet still in the bright skinned group.

The old man stared at them in wonder, questioning who they are and where did they come from. Meanwhile, the cat brushed its body on Charles’ legs.

“Look.” The black-haired male pointed at Charles. The two of them exchanged glances between each other before then, stepped closer to the old man and helped him get up.

“Are you alright, sir?” The male with the black hair picked up the paper bag while the blonde haired one helped him to stand up.

“I’m alright. Thank you for helping me.” Charles thanked them. The white cat meowed, as if saying its thanks, while sticking close to Charles.

Charles grabbed a hold on the blonde’s shoulder and noticed an emblem of a moon on it. His wrinkled eyes widened a bit.

“Are you people, from The Moon Sector?” Charles hesitated. In his 70 years old of life, he has never met the people from the Moon Sector before, except from afar or in special event hosted by the royalties. There were rumours circulating the people from The Moon Sector, saying that they are murderously beautiful and have a tendency to taste blood.

That’s a given, when in this world that he lives in, vampires coexist with humans.

The thoughts of those two beautiful looking men in front of him being vampires caused Charles to freeze on his feet. Rather than feeling afraid, Charles was more flustered by the sudden turn of events, and didn’t know how to react.

He had dreamed of meeting and holding a conversation with the people from the moon sector several times before, when he was younger. Mainly because he was influenced by the rumours that if a person is able to hold a conversation with the vampire nobles and is able to entertain them, they would be granted great riches. That influence had died down after he became old and somehow feeling himself change since yesterday. Or was it last night when he dreamed of his old self?

“Mister? Are you alright?” The blonde-haired guy brought his face closer to Charles, snapping him out of his daze.

“P-Pardon me of my impertinence.” Charles immediately brushed himself away from him, his face wore a troubled look as he thought about ways to break free from the two of them. It might be his wish to mingle with the vampire nobles, but right now, all he wished to do is to return home before the rain gets any worse than a simple light shower.

The black-haired man shot the blonde-haired man a glance, before he stepped forward in front of Charles.

“We apologize for causing you any peril.” He shot Charles a smile, which, in an old man’s opinion such as him, was the most gentle and sincere smile he had ever seen since the day his whole family left him alone. Charles gingerly nodded his head and accepted the bag from the black-haired man before holding it close in his trembling arms.

The air became still.

“…My name is Arthur. Arthur Vladimir.”

The blonde-haired man darted his gaze towards the man called Arthur in shock.

“W-What do you think you’re doing?... Arthur?” He sounded flustered.

The man named Arthur shrugged his shoulders. “We are helping this mister, so might as well introduce ourselves, no?”

His statement won a shaking head from the blonde-haired man as he heaved a long sigh. “That doesn’t mean you can tell him your name just like that. Alias, at least use an alias or something.”

Arthur cracked a smirk. He then turned to the blonde-haired guy and jerked his head to the direction of where the passing figure had gone to. The blonde-haired guy looks a bit taken aback for a quick second, before he slowly abides to his orders.

The blonde haired guy then left the two alone to resume the chase of the figure. Charles passed his glances between the disappearing blonde-haired guy and Arthur.

Arthur weaved another gentle smile. “It’s quite dangerous for an old man to walk alone in these woods, so I will accompany you until you reached home, Mister.”

The first thought Charles had after Arthur said that was ‘how kind this kid is.’ His wrinkly lips inadvertently smiled.

“Thank you, young man. You are a great help.”

Arthur stayed smiling and gently took away the bag from Charles while he offered his arm for Charles to hold on to. Charles was by no means average in height, but as time went by, his height decreases due to his less compact bone. Because of that, given Arthur’s superhuman height passing 6’5, Charles’s height is only on par with his abdomen.

The two of them began to walk slowly. Once again, apart from the sound of the rustling leaves, and water droplets falling from the trees to the puddles on the muddy pathway, the two of them were quiet.

“Mister, do you know who I am?” Arthur suddenly asked, breaking off the silence.

Charles stared at Arthur’s face for a long time, before he fluttered his eyes. Arthur Vladimir, that name rang a bell yet the bell felt so distant. It’s been a while since he’s interested to know about the vampire nobles, but he couldn’t seem to remember anything about Arthur. The fact that confusion appeared in the reflection of his eyes was enough of a proof that Charles didn’t have any idea who the person named Arthur is.

“…My apologies…” He answered, still bewildered.

Arthur then broke into a subtle chuckle. “It’s okay. I didn’t harbour any hope that you would know me anyways.” He then bloomed a wide smile at Charles.

Charles might have not a single idea of who Arthur is, but for some reason unknown to him, where had he seen him before?