Charles Wicker

The noble vampire

Arthur Vladimir

The was a subtle burning sensation at the back of his hand. Arthur found himself flinching at that abrupt feeling as he gazed at his right hand. On the surface of his pale skin, an emblem of a knight's helmet painted in ashy grey colour covered almost the entirety of the back of his palm. That region would throb sometimes, but it has been a while since it did. 70 whole years, that's a long time indeed.

Arthur remembered experiencing this kind of throbbing pain when he became one of the Ancients, a title only vampires who lived over 900 years old could be entitled to. That throbbing pain wasn't a mere pain that he could have just shake it off just like that. If a throbbing sensation occurs on that exact spot, it meant that his other half has appeared. The one and only love of his life, his destined mate.

He remembered feeling ecstatic the first time that happened, and since then, the search for his other half began. It's been almost 70 years, though, and Arthur wasn't sure anymore if he would ever find his other half.

"My Lord," A person appeared beside Arthur, waking him from his faze. That person's orange eyes wore a serious look, despite the light-heartedness in his general expression. "There was a trace of the criminal nearby, he mustn't have gotten that far away."

Arthur nodded before standing up from his sitting position. As he did, his height overshadowed the person beside him, immediately revealed the fact that he was taller than an average human. He IS a vampire after all. Arthur released the order for the criminal to be pursued and captured, so all the 20 members of the royal knights who was with him at the time began their move, leaving Arthur and the person beside him.

While the other knights scoured the perimeter, Arthur along with the person beside him, his aide, inspected the area nearby. It came into Arthur's view of a road that led up to a certain direction up into the hills.

"Edmund," Arthur called his aide. Edmund—who was walking by his side and was checking the surrounding—turned to look at Arthur. "Are we nearing a residence, or is there something that I miss?"

Edmund broke into a bright smile before he answered, "I believe there is a mansion uphill. It belongs to the late Count Charles Wicker. Many people believed that he had passed away due to his old age."

"Believed?" Arthur raised one of his eyebrows.

"Yes," Edmund nodded. "His upcoming was unfortunate, as per explained by the wandering merchants and people who had encountered him before. The late Count was left by his people and his family after his family came to ruin. I don't think the Count would have survived his ruin, as it was deemed a catastrophe for nobles. Besides that, he was too old to even survive on his own."

Arthur's pace slowed down. "How so?"

Edmund let out a giggled. "My Lord, even if he is still alive today, he would have been 70 years old this year. That's a long age even for humans."

Arthur's lips parted a bit. There were no words that came out from it, apart from a short sentence of, "I see..."

A rustling sound appeared nearby that put the conversation between them into a halt. The two angled their head in the direction of that rustling sound, patiently waiting for the perpetrator who made that sound to appear.

The surroundings turned deathly quiet after that.

Suddenly, a figure leaped out from the bushes. It was a man that looked to be in his mid-20s, his pale, desperate face was stained with blood and a pair of sharp fangs flashed behind his lips. Like most low-level vampires, his skin had started to burn from the sunlight. The man darted his eyes around frantically, purposefully avoiding Arthur's and Edmund's eyes before running off in an opposite direction from them.