2. A Blind Boy

Lanver gritted his teeth, expecting her sharp teeth to plunge on his skin. However, just as she was about to do that, the door opened.

“Enough, Emery,” spoke a baritone voice.

Lanver sighed in relief when the woman let go of him. With furrowed brows, she turned to see who came. He did the same, curious who his savior was.

It was a man in a black coat and vest. He had black hair, a little longer than the usual, and the same amber eyes as the woman had. He also looked as fierce.

“Great timing, Lucius. As if I was trying to kill him.”

“Were you not?” Lanver couldn’t help but butt in.

The woman glared at him. If he heard the man named “Lucius” right, her name was Emery. It was a shame for her to have such a sweet name when she was anything but sweet.

“See? He is disrespectful, Lucius. He is better off a slave.”

“The council has confirmed it so we can’t do that. It’s really him.”

It’s really him? What did that mean? Lanver had never been so confused his whole life.

“But a taste won’t hurt.”

Of course, it would! Lanver wanted to shout at her.

“Let’s set aside other business for the meantime, Emery. The others are waiting to meet him.”

Lanver’s eyes narrowed. Waiting to meet him? Why did he feel like he has a special thing to do with them? He thought he was brought here to be fed to the thirsty vampire princess but now it seemed like he was brought here for another reason, which was far more important than the lady’s desire.

“Even if you are not humans, it’s still not right to just abduct anyone, don’t you think?” Lanver spoke that made the two look at him.

“I apologize for my sister’s aggressiveness, but we didn’t mean harm.”

Lanver scoffed. “You didn’t mean harm? She almost killed me. And if you really meant no harm, why was I forcibly brought here and tied like this? You are like a fucking syndicate.”

“You are talking to a prince. Have respect.” Emery glared at him.

Lucius tapped her shoulder as if saying it was alright.

“Stuart,” Lucius called. The door opened and a man with curly hair entered. He stopped a meter from Lucius’ back.

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“Untie our guest.”

Guest, huh? Lanver’s lips curved into an annoyed smirk. He didn’t know he was a guest because he didn’t feel like one.

The servant went to him immediately and untied him. He stood right after and moved his joints to see if all were perfectly fine after being tied so tightly on that position. So far, he was good.

“It was an urgent matter and our men were just being careful to not make a mistake that’s why they tied you up. My apologies,” Lucius said.

Lanver looked at the man’s physique. He was just as tall as him, and almost had the same build. If only he was human, there was no doubt he could take him down. He was a fighter, after all. A highly trained captain in one of the most elite special units in U.S. military.

But this was a different case, the creatures in front of him were not humans to begin with. Even if he was the best human fighter, he wouldn’t match what they were capable of. He would be lucky enough if he had special weapons to use, but at the moment he had none.

“Care to tell me what is going on? Because the last thing I remember I was sleeping in my condo.”

“I understand your confusion, but to cut it short, there is another world apart from what the human has, which is our world – Terra Lucien.”

Lanver brushed his fingers on his hair, one thing he usually does when frustrated. He was still having a hard time processing in his mind that vampires were real, and then there was this another revelation that seemed so out of the world.

“Oh please, tell me you’re just kidding.”

“Let me punch him once to knock some sense on him, Lucius,” Emery interrupted, eyeing him sharply as if she was ready to kill him.

Lanver shook his head. He had never liked violent women. If he would have a wife in the future, he wanted her to be soft inside and out. And this lady was the exact opposite.

“I am telling the truth. You are here in Terra Lucien, in our world,” Lucius continued.

“And you'd tell me what? That this is the world of vampires?”

“World of what’s considered as supernatural in human world, Lanver. Which means not only vampires exist in this world. There are other creatures living with us and we are trying to co-exist through treaties, laws, and kingdoms.”

“And guess what?” Emery spoke. “You don’t belong in human world. You belong here.”

“What was that supposed to mean? I’m not like you. I’m a human.”

“Says from a man whose wounds heal faster than ordinary humans.”

Lanver’s forehead creased. “How did you know that?”

Emery didn’t answer.

“I am hundred percent sure I’m not a vampire,” Lanver insisted.

Emery shook her head and said, “You talk to him, Lucius. I will be waiting with the others.” Then she left with a displeased face.

Lucius heaved and went to the window. Lanver followed him with his gaze.

“It’s hard to believe, I know. But this is true, Lanver. You were not born as a human. You weren’t supposed to be in their world in the first place. Twenty-eight years ago, my father’s right hand was the most well-known mage in his time, Lord Vincentius.”

Vincentius.

Back when Lanver’s mother was still alive, she had never told him anything about his father but his name. Vincentius, that's what she said. The same name she kept on mentioning on her deathbed. At that time, he felt like she wanted to tell him something else but she was having a hard time and all she could utter was his name.

“Have you ever wondered why you had never met your father? Or why you have no single relative you know? This is the answer.”

Lanver thought about it. His mother said she was orphaned and she lived alone until she met his father. She didn’t say anything about what life they had and how it ended. He wanted to know, but he felt like it was a part of his mother’s life he wasn’t allowed to touch. He also thought that maybe it was too painful for her so she chose to keep it to herself.

“And I know strange things happened to you.”

Lanver couldn’t speak. Because he knew that Lucius was right. Some strange things happened to him and he was trying to believe that it had nothing to do with him but right now, the puzzles of his life seemed to form something.

“Lord Vincentius fell in love with a mage princess from another kingdom and brought her here. They are your parents.”

“Mage princess?” Lanver scoffed. “My mom died in sickness. How could she die like that if she was someone powerful?”

Lucius remained calm. “And were you told by the human physicians what kind of sickness she had?”

Lanver fell silent.

“You weren’t, right? Because those people didn’t know. She wasn’t just sick, Lanver. She was cursed.”

“Cursed?”

“Yes, but years had passed and it is yet to be revealed who cursed her. No one knows but everyone believed that it was done by her own sister because of envy. Her sister wanted to marry Lord Vincentius but your mother ended up marrying him.”

How could someone kill her own sister just because of a man?

“Lord Vincentius and Princess Anna were together for a while. They were a perfect couple in the eyes of many. They were happy. Until Princess Anna gave birth to a boy. A blind boy.”