Chapter 14: Lords Of The Night (Part 1)

'The lords of the night', as they are called, are some of the deadliest species to have ever existed in history. The very source of their survival is blood and the human blood soothes to their tastes the most. The one word which is the name of the specie is also a word that commands fear among every human who knows of them. It's –

Queen: "Vampires"

Ro: "Huh? W-wait, t-that's …"

Ro has heard something he never thought he would. Not even in his wildest imaginings could he have thought of there being 'living' vampires.

Ro: "T-that should be …"

Barry: "Impossible?"

Seeing Ro unable to finish his words, Barry did so for him, though he says so knowing what would come next.

Reid: "Barry!"

Reid almost shouts out his name barely able to hold himself back from attacking him. Seeing that,

Barry: "Yeah, what?"

Barry smiles like he doesn't have a care in the world.

Reid: "Tch!"

Queen: "Constantly raging on every single thing will earn you nothing, Reid. Stop it."

As soon as Reid hears the queen saying that, he comes back to the bowing position and his tone gets humbled,

Reid: "Forgive me! It's just … I …"

Ignis: "How many times are you going to say 'forgive me' in one day, huh? Don't you feel ashamed at all for troubling the queen so much?"

Ignis says the words as if to mock Reid, but Reid does not reply. Though from Barry's field of view, he could clearly see him gritting his teeth.

Queen: "Stop Ignis! Reid getting angry over those things is nothing more than proof of how much he cares about this kingdom. Reid, you may raise your head."

As the queen commands, Reid raises his head but says nothing. Seeing as this exchange has given him some time to, Ro calms down a little. Nothing will come of getting anxious. He has to calmly think in order to understand the situation. Following that train of thought, Ro looks at Barry.

Barry: "Something wrong?"

The sudden question by Barry without even looking his way does not surprise Ro. He knew full well Barry would notice him so there's no point in acting like it's a big surprise.

Ro: "I have a lot of questions regarding … well, vampires."

Ro decides to use the truth at first. He does have questions regarding vampires and also regarding Barry and his own involvement with them.

Barry: "Can't say I didn't expect that."

Barry says so with a pretty normal expression. He's neither mocking nor reprimanding him, just stating a fact.

Ro: "I know you did."

Barry: "So, I don't think there's any need for you to ask them here, is there?"

Barry suggests that he should ask his questions someplace else when he gets the chance to, but this is also something Ro expected.

Ro: "I believe there is a need for me to ask these questions here, or more accurately, ask them to the queen."

Reid, the four generals and the queen turn towards him in surprise. They expected him to trust Barry the most out of all of them, so there's no sense in him choosing to ask the queen instead of Barry.

Ignis: "F-fool! You think you have the right to disturb the queen with such petty talk?"

Ro: "I do."

Two words – and each person in the court become silent, their eyes getting fixed at Ro. In this silence, a smile emerges on a single man's face.

Barry: "That's certainly something."

Noticing that smile on his face, Ro gets irritated but tries to bring himself back to the topic.

Ro: "I am someone who can be really useful to you all – vampires. That also means I am someone that can be very useful to your opponents – the ghosts, right?"

Ro could figure out these basic details from the exchanges between those present there with Barry.

Ignis: "Your point?"

Ignis shows clear irritation on having been asked such an obvious question.

Ro: "I'm already dead, you can't kill me and the ghosts will surely find me eventually. If you don't want me joining their side, then you need to gain my trust."

This part's less certain and it's a gamble Ro has taken to see if it works out.

Ignis: "Tch!"

But Ignis' reaction hints that it may work out.

Barry: "Seeing from the flow of conversation up to this point, are you planning on threatening the queen?"

Barry asks so with a smile. One similarity between Ethan and Barry is this smile they carry around while asking incredibly serious questions. It's this similarity that makes each of them easily disliked.

Ro: "Not exactly. That is to say, if she just agrees to it, there won't be any need to threaten her."

Ignis: "You imbecile!"

Reid: "How dare you!"

Reid again loses his calm but this time Ignis readies himself to attack too.

Ignis: "Just because you are already dead doesn't mean you can't feel pain, you …"

Queen: "I accept."

The queen's sudden words surprise everyone putting them in a standstill, everyone except Barry and Ro.

Barry: "Well, that's how it would go I guess."

Barry knows her well and Ro understands at least that she is a rational and calm individual. While Ro was still betting on his assumptions of the queen being right, Barry knew full well this answer would come.

Ro: "I see. Thanks for accepting this request."

Ignis: "Huh? So now it's became a 'request'?"

Just a few moments ago, Ro referred to his words as a 'threat'. Seeing him now call it 'request' infuriates Ignis to say the least.

Aquarius: "There's no point in yelling at him, Ignis. Sit down."

Ignis: "Don't you dare order me."

Aquarius: "(sighs) that's not what I was doing."

Ignis has proven himself to be hot-headed, to say the least. When it comes down to it, if there hasn't been Aquarius who has been holding him back from attacking, Ro may be in a much worse condition.

Queen: "Anyway, I assume you want to speak where there aren't so many people."

Ro turns his attention back to the queen as she asks this question.

Ro: "Yes, if at all possible, I would like there to only be Barry and you."

Queen: "Hmm … that might be a little difficult. I don't think my generals would leave us be no matter how much I try to convince them."

Their attention turns to Ignis, Aquarius and the other two generals who have been listening to the conversation with no interest.

Queen: "I am sure they'll find a way to not let that happen. So, just to be safe, I propose we have Reid with us there as well."

This time, everyone except Barry is surprised by her words.

Reid: "M-me?"

Queen: "Yes, Reid is a loyal servant who has no personal interests other than serving the Vampire Kingdom. Therefore, I think everyone would feel at ease if he is there with us."

Ro thinks to himself about the points the queen mentioned. Indeed, it doesn't seem like Reid serves any personal interest. He is very emotional about the queen and the kingdom. Whenever Ro spoke anything that may be disrespect to either of the two things, he immediately reacted to it.

Ro: "I see your point, your majesty."

He says while bowing.

Barry: "Well, is that okay with all of you then?"

Barry asks this while looking at the four generals.

Aquarius: "Yes, I think Reid is a very trustworthy person."

Ignis: "Tch! Well, I guess I would trust the queen's judgment."

Aquarius and Ignis agree to it. The other two generals don't speak anything. Ro starts feeling anxious about it but,

Barry: "Don't worry, they are like that. They don't have any problems either."

Barry says so and nobody objects.

Ro: "I-I see."

The queen then stands before declaring,

Queen: "Well then, I ask everyone except Reid, Barry and Ro to immediately leave this place."

All: "Yes, your highness."

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