Vamp!

Vamp! I - Chapter 3

Chapter 3: The Gentleman Filling the Coffin

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I think I'll talk about Father.

Father is a gentleman.

He's always dramatic, and he makes people angry a lot of time because he ruins the mood or makes mistakes. But I still call him a gentleman.

Father always bluffs his way through things. He's no good at fighting. That's why he uses underhanded tactics sometimes, though he'll always call it 'strategy'.

I guess in that sense he's not a gentleman at all.

But that doesn't matter.

There's one thing about Father that makes me truly respect him as a gentleman.

You see, Father will always make things work somehow, whenever and wherever.

No matter what kind of a situation he's in, even when most people would give up, as long as it's not something impossible like raising the dead, he'll make things work.

That's right. I can't really put it into words, but I respect him.

I respect him.

I may have power, but I can never solve anything myself.

I don't want to have power.

I just want to be able to do something about everything that happens in front of me.

The house was quiet, as though nothing had ever happened. Relic and Hilda were leaning on each other's shoulders.

"Say, Hilda. Sorry about before."

"About what?"

"I drank a bit of your blood."

"I don't really mind."

There was a moment of silence before Relic awkwardly spoke up again.

"Say, Hilda. Sorry about before."

"About what?"

"When you were yelling at that guy, I first thought what you said wouldn't help me. I didn't believe in you. I'm sorry."

"I wouldn't even have known that if you hadn't said anything, you know..."

There was another moment of silence.

"Hilda! I-I'm sorry!"

"A-about what?"

"I forgot about your parents!"

It seemed that even Hilda had needed a reminder. She quickly got to her feet in the hallway.

"Oh no! Dad! Mom!"

As Hilda burst into tears, Relic truly understood his powerlessness.

"L-let's head to the castle first. They're all vampires, so I'm sure Father can do something!"

He felt foolish for having to turn to his father in the end.

"Y-yeah... I'm sure he could do something..."

And he was indescribably miserable because even Hilda was relying on his father.

Waldstein Castle, parlour.

It was just about midnight. The viscount formed sentences in the air in an unnecessarily dramatic font.

[My word, to think you would be so swept away by power that you would lose sight of your duty...]

"...You don't need to put it that gravely." Relic said as he sipped his tea, his eyes on the floor and embarrassment clear on his face.

He felt incredibly weary. It was only natural, seeing as he had sucked very little blood from Hilda while having expended so much power.