It was raining hard when Kai arrived at the Reign Castle. He had spotted Raven in the courtyard, so he was about to approach him and ask Zeke’s whereabouts when he noticed the man next to Raven. The man was leaning against the pillar and facing away, but Kai could recognize him just by seeing that fiery red hair of his even in the shadows. That man was definitely Lucas, Zeke’s personal guard. All crown princes in the past until now always had a personal guard assigned to stay by their side since they were little. These guards were the strongest of all non-royal vampires, so of course, this Lucas was strong. In fact, even Kai himself, a prince, never stood a chance against him. Lucas was entrusted with the responsibility of protecting the next king, so his skill was only second and even almost on par with Zeke himself.
Kai knew that Zeke had long ordered Lucas not to stay beside him anymore because Zeke didn’t need any protection now. So it had been so long since Kai saw Lucas. He didn’t know where did Lucas spent the last hundred years because he never appeared since Zeke dismissed him. And that was why it was such a surprise seeing him in the palace now. Why? Did Zeke call him back?
The lines on Kai’s forehead deepened as he leaped away and immediately headed to Zeke’s room.
Before he could even announce his presence, he heard Zeke’s voice.
“It’s open,” he said, and Kai turned the knob and stepped into Zeke’s room.
Zeke was standing by the large window and staring out. But it seemed he was expecting Kai to arrive.
There was a long silence after Kai closed the door. He just stared hard at Zeke’s back before he finally spoke.
“Why’s Lucas here?” This wasn’t what Kai had thought he’d say first as soon as he met Zeke. The reason why he came had nothing to do with Lucas.
Zeke finally swung and faced him. He shot him a calm look before he moved and sat on his chair, crossing his legs.
“You came here to ask me that?” Zeke asked. His expression was as usual, calm and detached.
“No, I came here for a different reason,” Kai replied. “But I spotted him on my way here. Why did you call him back?”
The only reason why Lucas was back must be because Zeke now needed his protection. That was the only reason Kai could come up with, even though he couldn’t believe that Zeke would ever need anyone’s protection. There were no more enemies alive that was stronger than him, so why?
Zeke didn’t respond instantly. His finger tapped on the arm of his chair in a slow, deliberate beat as he spoke. “I have a business to deal with.”
“Business…” Kai echoed, narrowing his eyes, wanting Zeke to elaborate more of it.
But the man leaned back in his chair. His expression never showed anything but calm.
“You don’t need to know.” He said. His tone telling Kai that he wouldn’t say anything more about it and whenever Zeke sounded like this, it would always be the final verdict. “You better get to your business with me now, Kai, while I’m still here.”
Kai’s brows pulled together in a hard knot. “You’re leaving?”
“Yes.”
Kai’s eyes widened. For some reason, Kai felt that Zeke wasn’t just talking about going somewhere else. He could tell Zeke was talking about leaving the kingdom and wouldn’t come back any time soon.
“You’re leaving the kingdom?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“Somewhere far.”
“And you won’t come back any time soon…”
“Correct. I might take more than ten years.”
“T-ten years…” Kai was speechless. He couldn’t believe he would take that long. Well, he realized that ten years wasn’t really that long for Zeke but, just what kind of business was it that he needed more than ten years to deal with it?
“Now enough with the questions, and tell me why you’re here.” Zeke’s tone became severe that Kai could only force himself to stop pressing his nose on this man’s business anymore. He knew he’d only waste his time if he kept asking. And he also knew his opinion wouldn’t even change Zeke’s decision. No one could stop him from doing anything he wanted. Not even Alex.
Finally focusing his thought on his very own business, Kai sighed and looked through the window. The sky was still grey, and the rain kept falling even heavier.
“I…” Kai hesitated for a moment. “I believe I have found the answer.” He said finally, not looking at Zeke. Kai’s relationship with Zeke wasn’t that great but also wasn’t bad. Even though Zeke was his older brother, Kai had always felt closer with Alex than with Zeke. He had never talk with Zeke about personal matters before, so it was a little hard for him to come to him and talk about things that weren’t related to Alex, the kingdom, or the vampires.
“You finally had a successful sex with her without you self-destructive midway?” came Zeke’s voice. His words surprised Kai that he cleared his throat. It surprised him that Zeke didn’t seem to have any problem talking about this at all. Did he get used to this kind of talk now because of Alex?
“Yes.” Kai finally faced him. “And… I didn’t crave for her blood…” he confessed.
Zeke stopped tapping his fingers. His face remained expressionless, but he seemed as though a thought had just hit him.
“So you’ve become almost the same as a half-blooded vampire.” He muttered. “Well, you’re now a vampire with a life span of a human…” he trailed off and fell silent for a while. “So it seemed self-destruction is the key, huh.” He then concluded.
“Maybe, but…” Kai looked at him intently, “I didn’t even know anything about self-destruction before. It just happened. I believe my love for her and my desire to never hurt her triggered my body to self-destruct.”
“So are you saying that the human and vampire lovers before you and Kelly did not love each other’s enough? That’s why they failed to self-destruct and ended up killing their partner?”
His questions silenced Kai. Kai knew about the tragic end of those relationships. It wouldn’t be fair for him to even think that those lovers failed because they didn’t love each other’s enough. But Kai still believed that he was able to self-destruct because of how powerful his feelings for her. Kai had never known or felt anything stronger than his love for Kelly. He was his own witness. The feelings within him were so strong it could overpower anything, everything. And he couldn’t think of anything else that could have pushed him to that point but the power of this so-called ‘love.’
Kai returned his gaze to Zeke again, and he was about to speak when Zeke suddenly mumbled.
“I see,” he nodded, but at that moment, he looked as though he was talking to himself. After a while, he lifted his face and continued. “You might be right. The strong emotions could be the trigger since there was actually one or two records of vampires suddenly dying while mating with their human partners. We could never tell if the cause of death was self-destruction since no one really investigated, and most vampires now don’t even know about it. But it now made sense.” Zeke said. “The only difference between you and them is that you’re still alive. The reason is that you’re a royal.” He seemed satisfied with his conclusion but too soon, a new thought seemed to hit him again. “Did you ever craved blood since that night you self-destruct?”
The question made Kai stiffen. He had finally realized that he hadn’t drunk a single drop of blood since that night.
His silence was enough for Zeke to deduce Kai’s answer.
“It appeared self-destruction didn’t just reduce your lifespan; it also took away your craving for blood,” Zeke commented, and Kai’s eyes glimmered. A sudden surge of great relief filled his entire being. He was so glad knowing that he would never have to crave for Kelly’s blood again.
However, Zeke seemed to be displeased. His expression never showed anything but his god-level calmness. Only the change in his aura hinted that he might be a little ticked.
“You’re going to die after a few decades, Kai.” Zeke’s voice hardened.
Kai knew this wouldn’t be a piece of good news to everyone. In fact, he might be the only one feeling glad. He still didn’t know how would Kelly react to this once she heard the truth, once she heard what it took and what kind of sacrifice had been offered for their relationship to finally work. But for now, Kai wouldn’t think about that yet. He was the second in line on the throne, so this news wouldn’t be easy for his family and everyone to accept. Even though Zeke would surely be the next king, the loss of one royal would still be a huge blow. There were only five males in the family left. The king would soon take his rest, and now Kai would eventually go next. That will leave only four left. He knew the king would surely rage, but Kai was more worried about Zeke than the king. Even though Zeke was calm now, his calmness was always one of the most terrifying of all. Because Kai knew Zeke’s serenity was like the eye of the storm.
“I know this is me being irresponsible, Zeke.” Kai’s voice echoed softly but firmly. “But… I love her—more than my life. And I don’t regret it. I will never regret it.”
