CH 59 - Seeking attention?

CH 59 - Seeking attention?


The front door creaked open slowly, followed by the heavy sound of boots and a faint trace of blood in the air. Elara, who had been pacing anxiously in the living room, immediately stood up, her eyes fixed on the figure stepping inside.

Blood covered his right hand. A deep claw mark stretched down his forearm torn and not fully healed. Without hesitation, Elara rushed over, grabbed the medical kit from the table, and gently took Lucien’s arm in hers.

“Lucien!” she said, her voice tight with worry. “You’re hurt, why didn’t you heal this?”

Lucien stayed quiet, letting her tend to the wound. Her fingers moved quickly, carefully cleaning the gash. She tried to stay calm, but the relief on her face was clear.

“You’ve been gone for two days... I thought something had happened. I thought you—” Her voice faltered, unable to finish the sentence.

Lucien glanced at her, tired but calm. “I don’t die that easily, Elara.”

Laughter suddenly rang from the corner of the room. Adeline leaned against the doorway, arms crossed, a smirk playing on her lips.

“He’s right,” she said with a mocking chuckle. “Lucien? Dead? The world would have to end first.”

Elara turned her head, but Adeline kept her gaze on Lucien as she approached, eyeing the wound Elara had just cleaned.

“Lucien always did have a flair for the dramatic,” Adeline said, strolling closer with casual steps. She crossed her arms and gave him a long look before flicking her gaze to Elara with a lazy smile. “One bloody arm and everyone suddenly forgets how annoying he is.”

Lucien looked over at her, but didn’t respond. He just let out a quiet breath.

“Let me guess,” Adeline added, tone sharp. “You left that wound open on purpose, just dramatic enough to get attention?”

Lucien glanced at her, then allowed the smallest smirk to tug at his lips.

“Even heroes need a little theatrics sometimes,” he said lightly, then turned to Elara. “But thanks for caring.”

Adeline tilted her head. “That wound’s too clean to be accidental. You could’ve healed it in seconds. So why leave it? So Elara panics? So she’ll swoon over how noble you are?”

Elara flushed, turning toward her. “Adeline, stop.”

“I’m just being honest,” Adeline replied. “Lucien loves a good scene. Especially when there’s a pureblood girl watching.”

Lucien raised an eyebrow. “You really do have a gift for twisting sincerity into something cheap.”

Adeline smiled. “And you’ve got a gift for using wounds as flirting tools. Want me to give you a healing potion, Lord Aurelion? Might speed up your recovery or tone down that ego of yours.”

“No, thanks,” Lucien said coolly. “I’d rather not make it worse.”



The night wind swept across the rooftops of the city, brushing against the edges of buildings slowly disappearing beneath a thin layer of mist. Dark clouds loomed overhead, like they sensed something was about to go wrong. At the top of a long-forgotten tower, two figures stood at the edge of the roof, gazing down at the sleeping city below like banished gods watching over mortals, waiting for the right moment to reclaim what was once theirs.

Kael leaned against a cracked stone pillar, arms folded across his chest, his cloak catching the breeze. His eyes were sharp, scanning the quiet streets, the shuttered storefronts, the warm glow of homes—warmth that people like him had never truly known. Beside him, Gabriel stood still, eyes narrowed, as if calculating.

"Are we going in head-on?" Kael asked.

"Should we hit them head-on?" Kael asked.

Gabriel didn’t look at him. A faint smile tugged at the corner of his lips. “Why get our hands dirty? We’re not mindless vampires. We have names. Legacy.”

Kael frowned, still staring at the city below. “And you think those with no clan, no honor, will actually follow your orders?”

“They’re hungry,” Gabriel said simply. “And they hate the system. Offer them blood, freedom, or chaos… they’ll follow.”

“So,” Kael said, his voice sharp and cold like a blade drawn in the dead of night, “you’re really going through with this? Starting a war in a city full of humans who don’t even know they’re sitting on a fault line? Have you forgotten we made a pact? No open attacks on humans. The world agreed to that.”

Gabriel let out a short laugh, bitter at the edges. “You’ve been in exile too long, Kael. That pact? It’s just words now. The humans broke it first. They once begged for our protection and now they write laws to shackle us. You still think they’re kind, harmless creatures? They’re the true traitors. They forgot their place long before we did.”

Kael turned to him, his eyes like frost. “But when this war happens, they’ll say we started it.”

Gabriel’s smile was twisted, humorless. “Not us. Them. The outcasts. The ones who’ve lived in the dark, cast aside, branded useless because they don’t carry a clan’s emblem on their back. We give them fury. We give them purpose. They’ll tear this city apart for us and we won’t have to lift a single finger. Though of course, Lucien will know the truth.”

Kael was silent for a beat. “You talk like their lives mean nothing.”

“This is bigger than that,” Gabriel snapped, eyes flaring. “It’s about burning down a rotten system. Dismantling the order Aurelion’s guarded for centuries. And you know what holds that system up? Humans. The ones who close their eyes to everything we’ve given them. Who enjoy safety built from our blood—then stab us from behind.”

Kael didn’t answer. Once, his clan had been part of that order. Guardians of the balance. And yet…

“That pact was never about peace,” Gabriel pressed. “It was about taming us. Forcing immortal beings to play by rules written for mayflies. And you, Kael, of all vampires—you should understand that. Or have you forgotten how your whole clan was slaughtered for one mistake?”

Kael shut his eyes briefly. Images from the past flashed like wounds blood, screams, fire. The night the world decided that the Garcia clan was better off erased than forgiven.

“And if I go along with this,” he said quietly, “can you promise they won’t hunt us down again? That another Aurelion won’t show up with fire and steel to drag us back into exile or into the ground?”

Gabriel gave a low, cruel laugh. “Kael… you still think the world would let us live, even if we stay quiet? They’re coming, one way or another. They’re just waiting for a reason. So let’s give them one. But this time, let’s be the monsters who write history rather than its victims.”

Kael didn’t answer right away. Silence settled between them, broken only by the wind and the distant hush of a sleeping city. Inside him, something churned. A part of him knew Gabriel wasn’t entirely wrong. But another part… still wasn’t sure this was the way.

Finally, Kael murmured, “So… when do we start?”

Gabriel’s thin smile returned, confident, hungry. “Tonight, we throw the first stone. Let the world remember the fear of shadows they should’ve never forgotten.”