Chapter 60
Chapter 60
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 60
Chapter Title: Juni
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Jain was about to enter the bathroom when he bumped into Tora coming out.
“Oh, sorry.”
“No worries. The bathroom’s empty.”
“Yeah.”
They exchanged those words, but neither moved.
An awkward silence hung in the air. Jain racked his brain for a topic and said,
“You don’t drink much, do you?”
Tora looked at him in surprise.
“Were you watching me?”
“Huh? No, that’s not what I...”
He hadn’t meant it that way, but it came out sounding like he had, so Jain clamped his mouth shut without realizing it. Saying more wouldn’t help.
Silence fell again. To change the subject, Jain said,
“I’m heading out now.”
Tora blinked in confusion.
“Already?”
“Yeah. I’ve got... something tomorrow.”
“Oh, okay.”
More silence followed.
Tora could usually play it cool and sly, but he had no idea why he froze up like a total loner in front of a woman.
“Well then... I’ll get going.”
As Tora spoke, Jain snapped out of it and pointed toward the bathroom.
“Yeah. I need to use the restroom...”
They both stepped the same way at once, then veered the other direction together, bumping into each other repeatedly. Tora gave an awkward laugh and apologized.
“Sorry.”
“No, it’s fine.”
Tora finally made it out into the hallway, and Jain slipped into the bathroom. Tora forced himself to take a few steps before glancing back. But Jain was already inside.
He let out a long breath and turned away—only to find Gamal standing at the end of the hall, staring blankly.
“Why are you just standing there?”
Tora asked, startled for no reason.
“Nothing. Want some jelly, Tora?”
Gamal held up a bag of jelly he’d brought from his room.
“Matty, if you love that stuff so much, your teeth’ll rot.”
“There wasn’t anything this sweet. It’s delicious.”
True, the sweetest thing on the island was sugarcane, and after chewing that endlessly, this chemical sweetness was a whole new world.
Tora chuckled.
“Looks like our Matty’s totally adapted to civilized life now.”
***
Meanwhile, Doyoung and Yeonha stood on the second-floor balcony. Doyoung, leaning on the railing with a beer in hand, asked,
“How’s Hisha doing?”
Hisha was Yeonha’s son with Ivan.
Yeonha nodded.
“He’s great. You should hear him talk these days. Seeing that face of his— just like Ivan’s—munching away at his food is so adorable, I sometimes wonder if I really gave birth to him.”
“Hard to picture a cute version of the Director.”
Doyoung still called Ivan by his old title.
“He’s cute. Super cute.”
Then Yeonha looked apologetic.
“Sorry I can’t show him off more. I’m still not fully confident...”
Vampires couldn’t have children.
It was as ironclad a fact as their need for blood—an absolute given.
But rare fertile bloodlines existed that retained human-era fertility, and Ivanov was one of them.
The Ivanov Clan even had two children born among the Luas, who were supposedly incapable of pregnancy by principle.
Ivan’s son and Rex’s daughter.
Ivan couldn’t be sure of the massive implications these two children held, so he kept their very existence top secret.
Even Doyoung had only seen him once.
“Don’t worry about it. Hisha’s safety comes first.”
Yeonha glanced at Doyoung after he spoke and asked,
“What about your parents?”
Doyoung gave a wry smile.
“Haven’t told them yet. I’ve called a few times, and they haven’t noticed anything off.”
Elio and Sarang didn’t seem to find it strange that Doyoung hadn’t video-called in weeks. They were used to him going radio silent for stretches.
He’d only sent a few texts, and there was no sign they suspected anything.
Yeonha said,
“Tell them soon. You need every extra day with them.”
She was right. His human parents would pass someday, while Doyoung would remain here.
Doyoung muttered,
“Feels weird. I always knew they’d go before me, but thinking about sticking around after they’re gone...”
“But Gamal will be with you.”
Yeonha handed him a file.
“Here.”
It bore the ISLE logo.
“Results from Gamal’s tests.”
Doyoung took it. Yeonha gestured for him to flip through as she explained,
“The back has Rat and Captain Tora’s results too. Bottom line: Satadi bloodline is fertile.”
Doyoung wasn’t surprised.
“You said he got infected after falling into the swamp. Figured as much.”
“Cases of vampires turning after swamp falls get reported occasionally. And this case matters because...”
The researcher from Hexa Science Bio Lab—recently merged with Ganexi Pharmaceuticals under ISLE—continued,
“These vampires retain fertility. More precisely, they haven’t lost the fertility they had as humans.”
“Why the swamp specifically?”
“Simply put, the swamp’s chemical properties. That’s why mummies form there too. For similar reasons, the X Virus lingering in swamps stays close to its original form, unmutated.”
The researcher held up one finger.
“In other words, the original virus didn’t kill human fertility.”
“They can have a child.”
Yeonha said.
“Not right now.”
Doyoung declared, scanning the results.
“We deal with that guy first.”
He read through the file for a while, then closed it.
“The Grand Duke has backers. The scale of what he’s pulled off is too big for Legion alone. No old-school factions like that left.”
And lavishing this much care on someone locked up for three years?
Sure, if the Grand Duke—Kunis—offered hefty payment or promises, it made sense. But when Kunis was caught three years ago, they’d stripped him bare, confiscating every asset. Anyone with even a tenuous link to him got rounded up like pests with a club.
The purge was so ruthless that whispers spread: deny any tie to the Grand Duke or die.
Yet the force aiding him now felt just like the terrorist group SN from Kunis’s heyday.
But SN was long gone. Meaning some other faction entangled with Kunis for mutual gain.
Doyoung said,
“It’s an organization with solid funding and weapons. The armed groups that helped the Grand Duke escape were no slouches—rivaled regular armies. Seemed like Luas mixed in here and there too.”
“We’re doing everything to track them.”
“Track what?”
Gamal’s voice cut in suddenly.
“What are you looking for?”
Gamal stepped onto the terrace, grilling them like they’d been sneaking a smoke.
Doyoung closed the file and handed it casually to Yeonha.
“Work stuff.”
Gamal wrapped an arm around Doyoung’s waist for show and asked Yeonha,
“What’s Ivan up to?”
“On deadline. Busier than me these days.”
“Wives should stay by their husbands.”
Yeonha shrugged at Gamal’s words.
“Even couples need personal time. That’s the secret to eternity together.”
Gamal looked up at Doyoung.
“Not me.”
Doyoung cupped the back of Gamal’s head and smiled.
“Sorry, but I need my space.”
He peeled Gamal off and headed for the door. Gamal chased after him immediately.
“Doyoung, where you going?”
“Bathroom.”
“Me too.”
“Why would you go there?”
The two bickered playfully as they vanished through the door. Yeonha chuckled at the familiar sight.
***
Kunis ground his teeth.
“Doyoung de Ferr is alive.”
Despite the severed neck.
A Luas virus carrier? Unthinkable. He couldn’t fathom how much Ivanov and ISLE wanted to screw him over.
‘That guy became a Luas.’
Because of him, no less.
He’d embrace Gamal.
Beyond the tall window stretching to the ceiling, gray waves crashed against the cliffs, shattering into the sea.
Kunis watched, then murmured softly,
“I’d like to be alone.”
The two men behind him gave slight bows and left the room. They walked silently down the hall for a stretch.
Finally, one man said to the other,
“I’d like to monitor the situation a bit longer.”
The man replied with intrigued curiosity.
“Why?”
“Captain de Ferr was revived with Ivanov bloodline.”
Ivanov hadn’t joined the project, but had donated blood specifically for Doyoung.
“As an acquaintance, sure. And if de Ferr survived infection, they’d groom him as next-gen leader bridging MCTC and ISLE.”
The man nodded.
“Truth is, MCTC’s top brass is mostly human. ISLE contractors from back then retired or died; turnover’s happened. Old ties are fading.”
The other man nodded too.
“But humans won’t put Luas in military leadership roles. They won’t hand institutional power to already superhumanly strong Luas.”
That explained why Luas major generals were still rare in MCTC.
The man hummed thoughtfully.
“But if he became an officer as human, then a Luas via military project, humans would make exceptions. So they made de Ferr Ivanov. Forward-thinking.”
“No wonder it’s ISLE. Anyway, key point: de Ferr’s Ivanov bloodline means he and Gamal could have a child.”
Realization dawned; excitement lit the man’s face.
“The perfect chance for a Luas embryo.”
A Luas embryo—what was it?
Living gold.
It could yield biological weapons to wipe out hundreds at once, or unlock immortality’s secrets, like alchemists once dreamed of turning lead to gold.
The man glanced toward the room they’d left. The thought of obtaining one alone was orgasmic, but concerns lingered.
“Not sure that friend will sit idle.”
Hoping Doyoung de Ferr and Gamal had a child inevitably meant wanting them together...
It wasn’t a secret, even among them, that Kunis harbored special feelings for his twin Gamal.
But the other man shook his head firmly.
“He can’t move without our help. Different from years ago.”
The man pondered, then said,
“Ivanov Clan’s involved. Mess up, and it’ll tip them off.”
The other smiled thinly.
“Of course, we’ll prepare accordingly.”
His red eyes gleamed with delight.