Chapter １２

The next morning I woke up on a bed, a groan escaped my lips as I gained consciousness. What happened last night? For a moment, I couldn't remember. A frown formed on my forehead. Turning my head to the side, I tried to open my eyes. That was when I remembered what happened yesterday, and a chill sent down on my spine.

I lost control of my power and killed three vampire magicians! But instead of the churning of the stomach, I felt a deep craving as a familiar memory of blood flashed in my mind.

I gulped and pulled the quilt over my head as I took a deep breath to calm myself. Although I didn't feel canines growing out, I still had the urge to drink blood.

What was wrong with me?

My breath shuddered, even thinking of the moment I lost my control. Was it better to keep it sealed? At least, I wouldn't have done something like this.

But Derrick was in danger. He was the king of Vampires and Liam's father. How could I just sit aside and let dangerous events unfold?

The frown only deepened as my expression went dark. I didn't know what to do. I felt like a ticking bomb that can blast anytime because of anger.

"You're awake." I heard a familiar voice that brought me out of my nightmarish thoughts. I instantly open my eyes to see Liam standing before me, crossing his arms on his chest. His cold eyes kept staring at me for a long time. Did he find out about my inhuman nature? My heartbeat increased at that. I pursed my lips and looked at him in anticipation. Just when I thought he would say the next few words of rejection, he parted his lips and said, "I presume you have something to say to me."

I opened my mouth and closed, looking at his expressionless face for a long time. Did he know about my history or not? If not, it would be better if he didn't find out. After all, I belonged to a group of vampires that wanted to hunt down his father. No matter how much Liam hated him, that man was still a king. How could he not be angry?

I wanted to lie to him. But if he already knew the truth, my lie would be in vain.

What should I do? My fingers automatically curled and formed a fist against the sheets.

"Um...I-I," I paused and gulped. "I-I..." My hand went up to my hair, and I scratched my head, trying to come up with a few words.

Why was this so hard?

My eyes everywhere but on the man standing before me. Just when I thought I would die because of embarrassing myself, I heard someone opening the door.

"Master, please don't make trouble," Daleri said in her motherly tone. "She has suffered enough."

Liam snorted. "How can she suffer after killing three and injuring one?"

So he knew...

I shrank back in my bedsheet, pretending to go back to sleep. It was early in the morning, anyway. I certainly didn't want to know what Liam thought of me after knowing about my powers.

But this bloodsucking monster had a different thought in mind. He forcefully uncovered the blanket I used to hide from him and gave me a look of amusement. "Get up. Dad wants to see you."

Hearing about the king, I stood up in an instant and rushed towards the bathroom.

How could I forget about the king? He was gravely injured! At least, I could have had enough conscience to find the man and see if he was still alright. What kind of huma-vampire witch was I?

Damn it! I still haven't been able to accept my identity as a vampire witch.

My entire bathroom time was spent in frustration as I hurriedly scrubbed soap over my body and washed myself thoroughly.

After I was done, I cautiously sneaked a peek in the room only to see Liam sitting on the couch and flipping the magazine. He had a lazy expression on his face as if he was too bored.

Why was he still here? The king wanted to see me, not Liam! The contradiction between my overly uncontrolled power and my timid attitude was already embarrassing enough. On top of that, I was still worried if Liam would reject me just because I wasn't human.

I groaned. Why was my life so hard?

After opening the door and glancing at Liam, I said, "Let's go."

Fifteen minutes later, I found myself sitting in a family position inside Derrick's room. Liam was beside me like before, making me feel like we had gone back in time when I first met his father.

Back then, I was also afraid of the Vampire king. I didn't know my identity and thought that these vampires were supposed to be cruel creatures. But who would have thought that I would end up being one of the royal families from the cruelest creatures in the world who could even surpass the vampires?

I should be ashamed of my identity. The clan members that had been killed in the car by me also talked about sucking blood. Did that mean they suck everyone dry?

I pursed my lips as the image of vampires grew better in my mind.

It had been a few days ever since I found out that the vampires never thought of drinking human blood. After finding out about this, I was angry at Liam for fooling me. At that time, I had decided to give him the cold shoulder for a week. Who told him to threaten me that he would suck my blood? It was against their laws!

"Here." That word brought me out of my thoughts, and I glanced at the old man standing before his bookshelf. Derrick blew the dust off of an old book and walked over to me. "This is the book that you need."

My ears perked up at that. Earlier, when we came, we found Derrick going through his shelf to find something. The only explanation I heard was that he was finding a book worthy enough to make me understand my own powers. I don't know why this man vampire King had such a book at hand. He didn't even know anything about magic! Could it be he stole it from Les Rêveurs clan members? I didn't continue to think about it as my anticipation grew stronger.

I carefully looked up at the words written on the cover as he passed the book to me. My eyebrows automatically wrinkled after saying the words. What the hell was this? It just felt more like a combination of circles in a line. I couldn't even read it properly!

When I tried to open the book, It wouldn't budge. My brows furrowed deeper as I used all my humanly strength to open this small book, but I failed. After passing ten minutes like that, I finally threw the book on the table and pouted. "Why doesn't it open?"

"It won't." Liam offered me a bemused smile. "It's funny seeing you like this."

I glared at him, ignoring his presence as I turned to face Derrick, who had a similar smile on his face.

I cursed father and son under my breath. How could they make fun of me? This book clearly didn't want me to open it. Even the words scribbled on the cover seemed weird as if a caveman had drafted this book.

Fine, I won't read it anymore.

The two people laughed before me, making my expressions dark. "Can't a girl be so weak that she can't open a book?"

"Don't you think that sentence sounds a bit weird?" Liam said, coughing out a choke to hide his chuckle.

I puffed up my cheeks and refused to answer. It really wasn't opening. Why won't they believe me?

"Okay, okay. I believe you." Derrick stopped laughing and sat before me. Then, his face suddenly turned grave after a moment of silence as if he remembered something. "I don't think we should hide it from you now that you're involved."

"No way!" Liam hit the table, making me flinch. His face contorted due to anger. "Do whatever you want. But she shouldn't be involved."

"Don't you think you're too late on that, my dear son?" Derrick glanced at Liam and narrowed his eyes.

The prince beside me fumed in anger but didn’t say anything. He just turned his head sideways and refused to answer.

An awkward silence filled the room as I glanced at the father and son duo fighting again. They just needed an excuse to fight, don’t they? The misunderstanding seemed to have subsided during the last meeting, and yet these two continued to argue like little children. I sighed helplessly and cleared my throat to gain their attention.

Liam’s expression softened as he glanced at me. Even his father faced me with a smile.

“Shouldn’t you ask me whether I want to hear confidential things?” For some reason, I knew what they wanted to talk about.

Before Derrick could say anything, Liam interrupted his father from parting his lips and said, “Human or not. You’re still a girl under my protection. I have the right to decide.”

That got me angry. What did he think of me? A servant? I was human!

I was so angry at those words that it took me a while before I could register my own thoughts as my chest ached at a loss. It felt like I had lost my identity.

‘I’m not a human anymore,’ I thought in dismay.

But I could tell why Liam refused to involve me in this discussion. At first, there was someone out there, presumably Barbara’s father, who still wanted the American throne. George had always been after him like a sword hanging on his head, willing to attack anytime. And now, they just gained new enemies, the clan that was supposed to be nearly extinct and banned in America, but yesterday, I found out that the new leader wasn’t from the royal family.

So were they all working together? Or did they want to go after Liam and Derrick separately?

And if I’m also added to this political mess, my life would be in danger too. I could understand Liam’s sentiments, but I refused to back down now when I knew my identity.

But this stubborn man wouldn’t listen to my reasoning.

I turned to face Derrick and said frankly, “I’m a vampire witch, and the people involved were supposed to be my clansmen. I think I have a right to be involved in this discussion.”

“I forbid.” Liam still wasn’t willing to give up. And that made me even angrier.

I glanced at him sharply and said coldly, “I didn’t ask your permission.” I wouldn’t back down no matter what! If he didn’t want me to be involved, he could’ve said nicely. I have my own ego!

Before things could get even colder between the three of us, Derrick interrupted. “Liam, she already killed three vampire wizards. They would find out that Emily has also awakened her powers. Even if we don’t want to, she would be involved no matter what.”

Liam didn’t say anything but pursed his lips.

Turning to me, Derrick finally explained. “The wizards and witches have had a single clan, but a few years ago, apparently the same time you were born, your parents were leaders.”

I gasped hearing that. Although I had a hunch that my parents could have been leaders since we belonged to the royal family, hearing still made me surprised.

“When you were two years old, American’s association fought against Britain, and your clan was the central participant.” Derrick sighed and looked out of the window in a daze.

Suddenly, my Grandpa’s words echoed in my mind.

The magician vampires were banned in America. I knitted my brows. Did something happen in the war that forced Derrick to create such a rule?

Just as I opened my mouth to ask my queries, Derrick interrupted and turned to face Liam. “They were silent all these years. Why would they attack me all of a sudden?”

Liam furrowed his brows. His fist tightened as his lips pressed in a thin line. “I’ll contact spies in the North and find out.” Saying that he walked out of the room. Before leaving, he turned toward me and said, “I hope this time, I wouldn’t find you in a new trouble.”

I scratched my head awkwardly. “I don’t want to, you know?”

“You better remember your words.” He pointed his fingers at me and left.

Why did I feel like he was going on a business trip rather than contacting his spies?

Seeing my confused expression, Derrick said, “He would probably be gone for three, four days this time.” A sigh escaped his lips as he turned toward the book that I had thrown on the table. “Let’s resume our study.”

I tilted my head in bewilderment. “What study?”

“Do you know what this book is about?” Derrick said, pointing his finger at the brown-colored old book with circular writings on the top.

I shook my head. How would I know? The title itself was filled with circles.

“Release your power.”

I looked at him in alarm. Release my power? Didn’t he know that I had lost control and ended up killing three people? Even now, the scene from that car gave me chills. I couldn’t believe I was responsible for that.

“Just release it a bit, like 1% of your energy, and guide it toward the book.”

And I did. I closed my eyes and relaxed my shoulders. I didn’t remember what exactly I should do to release the power. Should I just say the spell that unsealed my identity? No, that wasn’t it. If I did that, perhaps it would end up backfiring on me. I tried hard for a long time, but nothing happened. I didn’t feel the energy circulating in my body. Not only that, I didn’t even feel that I had energy vessels within my body. Frustrated, I fisted my clothes as wrinkles formed on my forehead.

Nothing was happening!

Just as I felt like I would go bald out of frustration, Derrick patted my shoulders, bringing me out of my trance. “You're not doing it right.”

I looked at him in confusion. What was it that I should do then?

He rubbed his temples and thought for a while and said, “Every human body has two types of energy: the Sun and the Moon. You just have to balance it. How? Just use breathing exercises and balance your life-breath, and after that, you will start feeling your energy vessels.” He tapped his finger on the table to think of something and continued, “It will probably take more than a few months…”

I nodded and closed my eyes, taking a few deep breaths. Although I never tried exercises like yoga and all, I knew that I had to take deep breaths or something like that. There was even one where I would have to take a breath from one nose and release from another. But that was something complicated and confusing. For now, I could only focus on what Derrick said.

“Um..” Derrick chuckled awkwardly and said, “You don’t have to do it now. What I was saying is…”

The rest of his words were interrupted because I actually produced some results. While I was taking deep breaths, all I could think was activating my powers. I was practically begging my abilities to be released from my body.

Resulting, I felt a tingle on the surface of my skin. A wave of goosebump followed it. Suddenly, I felt like something had entered my body from the top of my head, something warm that filled me with energy. At one point, I even started to glow, and Derrick had to shut his mouth. I didn’t know what type of expression he was making, but I could guess that he was probably shocked.

But I guess we both underestimated my powers. Just like yesterday, a burst of energy entered my vessels as my body shone brighter. The color of my eyes and hair changed to purple. Suddenly, a wave of energy blasted out of my body, creating a loud noise.

Did something break? Oh no! I furrowed my brows and concentrated on stopping myself from killing someone. I couldn’t kill Derrick just because my powers were out of control! But my efforts were in vain, and things got worse. The energy continued to burst stubbornly as if it had its own mind. Just when I thought I would do something terrible, a familiar cold hand cupped my cheeks, and I felt a soft sensation on my lips, snapping me out of my overflowing energy. All the blasting energy that had leaked out of my body stopped circulating and went into hibernation. Everything went silent, and the only thing I could feel was his lips against mine.

I opened my eyes to see Liam standing before me, crossing his arms. He narrowed his eyes at me. “You can’t stay away from trouble, can you?”