Chapter 30: A Strange Dream (Part II)

The difference between long legs and short legs is that the long-legged walk with total leisure, while the short-legged nearly run themselves out of breath. Uh, wait, I’m a vampire. Vampires don't have breath.

Recalling the fact that I was a vampire, my speed instantly doubled—no, tripled—and I suddenly made a very surprising discovery: the first thing about being a vampire that actually satisfied me was that walking required no effort at all! People have poor constitutions when they lack exercise; in the past, climbing a flight of stairs would have me wheezing for ages. But now? Ever since becoming a vampire, I can zip up to the fifth floor in one go. My waist doesn’t ache, my back doesn’t hurt, and I’ve got pep in my step. One step now is worth five of my old ones...

The results are great, very convenient!

Just as I was feeling smug about my discovery, Albus, who was walking ahead, stopped dead in his tracks. Caught off guard, I went "thud" right into his back, which felt like a solid pillar of ice.

Peeking out from behind him, I saw Her Majesty the Queen!

She was sitting on a railing, swinging her feet. The gentle moonlight spilled over her, enveloping her in a hazy shadow that made her look unrealistically beautiful.

"Albus?" She blinked, appearing somewhat dazed.

I instinctively shrunk back, using Albus’s height as a shield. I had a serious psychological shadow regarding this Queen. Now that Sol was gone, I was the only vampire in this castle with the Daywalker bloodline. There was no guarantee that Her Majesty wouldn't get the urge one day to slice me open and drink my blood.

"Where did you go?"

I peeked up, staring at the back of Albus's head. He didn't say a word.

"I’ve been looking for you," the Queen murmured softly, lowering her head.

Albus walked straight forward, lifted the Queen from the railing, and settled her in his arms. "Dawn is approaching."

Speaking flatly, he carried the Queen into another corridor.

As he held her, their receding figures reminded me of the first time I saw them in Malachi’s bar. Albus had been carrying the Queen just like that back then—such a strange pair.

At that time, I had no idea that the little girl who looked barely ten years old was actually the Vampire Queen.

The Queen stayed quiet in his arms, but she suddenly turned her head to look back at me.

Those glass-like eyes stared straight at me.

I couldn't help but shiver.

"Bros before... wait, more like 'Queen before friends'," I cursed inwardly. This heartless, disloyal Albus saw the Queen and just tossed me aside, completely ignoring the fact that I was still lost. Waaa... I didn't have the guts to follow the Queen.

Thinking this, I rubbed my nose with a silly grin. Friends? That giant block of ice Albus? That bloodless, tearless, heartless, soulless big demon? What a joke... yet, for some reason, I felt a tiny bit of familiarity toward him.

Alternating between cursing and sighing, I was filled with emotion.

As the saying goes, when God closes a door, he opens a window. Just as I was lamenting my tragic situation of being lost yet again, someone walked past me.

To be precise, it wasn't a person, but a vampire.

Regardless, I bared my teeth and lunged forward with my "invincible" smile. "Hi, could I ask—"

The vampire turned around impatiently, but after seeing my face clearly, his eyes bulged. He looked as if he had seen a ghost. He shook off my hand and bolted as if escaping for his life, vanishing from my sight in the blink of an eye.

Uh?

Why did he look like he’d seen a ghost?

Isn't he a vampire?

He is a ghost, so what is he afraid of?

I couldn't understand it.

I rested my chin on my hand and began to fret.

A chorus of chattering voices interrupted my brooding. I perked up again and followed the sound, finding a group of vampires engaged in a chat.

Vampires chat too?

Of course. Ghosts fear loneliness too, so ghosts are even bigger gossips than humans.

Having learned my lesson, I was afraid of scaring them, so I approached them cautiously and steadily.

"Hey, did you guys see that?"

"I saw it. It was terrifying..."

"Aro was struck by her from a distance, and not even a scrap was left of him..."

Terrifying? Who were they talking about? I blinked. Was there any creature more terrifying than themselves?

"Did you guys think that woman looked like someone?" one vampire suddenly said in a gossipy tone.

"Looked like who? Really?" another vampire asked innocently.

"Hmph, that’s why I say you're young and haven't seen the world," the gossipy vampire sighed, shaking his head. "Just go and ask any of the Blood Kind in this castle who are over four hundred years old, and you'll know."

"Why over four hundred years old?" the innocent vampire asked again.

"Hmph, because Her Majesty was injured in the great war four hundred years ago. Because her injuries were too heavy to bear, her body mutated into its current ten-year-old form. In other words, only vampires over four hundred years old have seen the Queen's true appearance."

"Are you saying that woman looks like..."

They stopped talking simultaneously, falling into a dead silence.

"Four hundred years is a long time; I didn't notice it when I saw her before. It wasn't until that time in the underground palace—that power, that presence. It suddenly made me realize that woman's face and the Queen's face are..." the gossipy vampire spoke tremulously.

Another silence.

"Excuse me, could you..." Taking advantage of the silence, I spoke up with extreme care and a gentle tone.

"Her... Her Majesty the Queen!" Staring at me, the gossipy vampire let out a sharp gasp.

With the mindset of a mouse seeing a cat, I immediately looked all around, terrified that the Queen might jump out from somewhere.

"Her Majesty... the Queen? Where?" I blinked and looked back at the group of vampires, but they had already scattered like startled birds.

Uh?

Is my popularity really that bad?

I clearly look lovable enough to make the flowers bloom, don't I?

Or was my smile not sincere enough? The books say showing eight teeth is the standard smile! I pulled out a small mirror to check. Seeing my two sharp fangs, I gave myself a fright.

Uh... showing eight teeth is indeed a bit much. I’ll try showing six next time.

Sigh. It’s one thing for humans to fear me, but even ghosts are afraid of me.

It was like this in the human world, and I’ve ended up in the same state in the Demon Realm... Truly tragic, truly tragic...

Dejected, I tried to find my own way out. I walked for a long time, only to end up circling the same spot. I had already spent too much time in the Demon Realm. I wonder how Gareth is... doing.

I want to see him, yet I’m terrified to see him.