로그인Author Q&A CornerQ: Is Aldric intentionally ignoring Zero?A: That's a dangerous question.Let's just say Aldric is very aware of Zero's existence. More aware than he probably wants to be. The problem isn't that he doesn't notice Zero. The problem is that he notices him too much.Aldric is someone who values control above almost everything else. Control over himself. Control over his emotions. Control over his position and responsibilities.Then Zero appeared.And Zero has a habit of making very reasonable people question their life choices.So while it might look like indifference from Zero's perspective, the reality is a little more complicated than that.---Q: Why did Seraphiel call him "little Zero"?A: Because Seraphiel is a menace.No, seriously.Unlike Aldric, Seraphiel enjoys getting reactions out of people. Especially reactions that make everyone uncomfortable.He knows things.He notices things.And perhaps most importantly, he enjoys reminding people that he knows things.
Author Q&A CornerQ: Is Aldric intentionally ignoring Zero?A: That's a dangerous question.Let's just say Aldric is very aware of Zero's existence. More aware than he probably wants to be. The problem isn't that he doesn't notice Zero. The problem is that he notices him too much.Aldric is someone who values control above almost everything else. Control over himself. Control over his emotions. Control over his position and responsibilities.Then Zero appeared.And Zero has a habit of making very reasonable people question their life choices.So while it might look like indifference from Zero's perspective, the reality is a little more complicated than that.---Q: Why did Seraphiel call him "little Zero"?A: Because Seraphiel is a menace.No, seriously.Unlike Aldric, Seraphiel enjoys getting reactions out of people. Especially reactions that make everyone uncomfortable.He knows things.He notices things.And perhaps most importantly, he enjoys reminding people that he knows things.
Running outside the medicine garden, we had crossed the border to the west.. or so I thought. But the Mo did not let their prey escape so easily. They had been waiting for us. They emerged from the shadows between the trees. Dark elves, their black eyes cold, their blades already drawn. Vampires, their red eyes hungry, their fangs bared. Fae, small and deadly, their wings humming with power. They had surrounded us while we sat in the green forest, while we breathed, while we thought we were safe. I stood, pulling Aldric and Seraphiel behind me. The frost in my core stirred, but it was weak. The beast within me was sleeping again, exhausted from the explosion of power at the cliff. I had nothing left. Nothing but my body and my will. "Jade," Aldric whispered. "There are too many." "I know." Seraphiel coughed, blood speckling his lips. He could not run. He could barely stand. The seed in his chest was frozen but still there, a weight that dragged him toward death with eve
We were deep in the heart of Thornwood, surrounded by stone and shadow and creatures that would tear us apart if we ran. Elias walked ahead of us, his silver hair catching the torchlight.I recognized Elias... I was shocked.. when he transformed from his little face self to his human form, morphing into that beautiful painter who was a precious acquaintance. I just couldn't understand why Aldric looked so pale and Elias had a knowing look on his face.She walked beside me, her hand in mine. Her grip was weak, trembling. She kept looking at the back of his head, at the delicate wings, at the smallness of him that belied everything she knew. "He is going to kill us," she whispered. "Huh?? Elias? kill us?"But unfortunately.. Aldric didn't reply.. leaving me thinking I must have heard wrong. Elias led us through corridors that twisted downward, stairs carved from black stone, archways that groaned with age. The air grew colder, damper, thick with the smell of soil and rot. My fros
The chamber was carved from the heart of a mountain, its walls veined with silver that pulsed like slow breath. Moonlight filtered through a ceiling of crystal, casting pale shadows across the gathered Yao. They sat in a circle of stone thrones, each one different, each one marked with the sigil of a bloodline. Some thrones were empty. Those empty seats drew the eye like missing teeth. Elder Shen of the Moonfall lineage spoke first. His voice was gravel, worn smooth by centuries. "These heirs are unaccounted for. Aldric suspected to have 99% Fenrir bloodline. And the key fragment they called Zero, now known as Jade." He paused, letting the names settle. "No word in weeks. No sign. The portals remain sealed." Across the circle, Lady Wei of the Starlight Serpents smiled. It was not a kind smile. "Good riddance. Aldric was too powerful for his own good anyways.. And Seraphiel, a Mo, heard they were buddies? Good riddance to both." Elder Shen's eyes narrowed. "You speak of heirs o
Seraphiel no longer remembered how long he had been here. The chamber of black stone, the warm wet soil, the constant drip of water from somewhere above. Time had dissolved into a cycle of pain and harvesting and the slow, inexorable growth of roots through his body.He was dying.Not quickly. The Mo who tended him were careful not to let him die. They needed him alive. A dead host could not produce the rare herbs that grew only from living Mo flesh. So they kept him balanced on the edge, feeding him just enough to keep his heart beating, just enough to keep the roots growing.But his heart was weakening. He could feel it stuttering in his chest, missing beats, struggling to push blood through veins that were clogged with root fibers. The seed they had planted inside him, the one nestled between his ribs, had germinated weeks ago. Its shoots had wrapped around his lungs, his stomach, his spine. Every breath was a battle. Every swallow was agony.The plants on his skin had multiplied.
I did not even have time to process the tearing pain in my chest.Before I could understand why Aldric’s name had surfaced so violently in my heart, I felt it.His presence. A not so subtle presence at that.The night, which had been cool and almost tender beneath the moonlight, turned heavy. The b
Everything since the kiss had been this strange, a thing string called possibility had occurred. We kissed. It was not tender. It was jagged and full of things unsaid. It left me raw and smiling and stupid for hours. It left me wondering if the way Aldric had pressed his mouth to mine meant anythin
The vampire world unfolded slowly, like a story that did not care whether I was ready to read it.Morning did not arrive here the way it did in the academy. There was no sun clawing its way into the sky, no sharp light to pull you awake. Instead, the violet sky softened into deeper hues, as if nigh
I returned to the academy long after the halls had fallen into a slight quiet, I couldn't tell how long I had been out in the vampire realm but there was a certain unease that cling to my skin like glue, it felt like I had committed a sin, the rouge in which the Academy had taken was a betrayer, ta







