The Seventh Delusion (3)
The origin of our species is unknown.
The first leader of our kind, Khan Turuk, unified our scattered people around the year 1500 AD and gathered the tribes into one. That moment marks the true beginning of our recorded history.
Our species resembles ordinary humans in appearance, yet we differ in many fundamental ways. Our lifespan far exceeds that of normal humans, reaching well over five hundred years. Those who earn the honored title of “High” live beyond a thousand years. What’s more, our bodies do not age until the very end of our lives. We remain in our physical prime until the moment of death.
Beyond that, our kind possesses the ability to “transform.” When we do, an extra pair of ears sprouts from our heads and a tail emerges. Our physical capabilities surge to levels no human could ever match.
For these reasons, ordinary humans have always rejected us, treating us as monsters.
Then, around 1500 AD, the first Khan—Turuk—called every member of our scattered race back together and forged them into a single force. After roughly thirty years of relentless struggle against humanity, we secured an unshakable position among them.
This world is filled with monsters possessing supernatural powers, yet human rulers have kept that truth hidden from the general population. Until our uprising, the Papal Court, centered on the Pope, had overseen all such creatures. But after our conflict proved the old system unsustainable, the Papacy of the time acknowledged us and accepted our people into their ranks. In exchange for being erased from history, we received the name “Lycanthrope”—a fusion of Lycos (wolf) and Anthropos (human)—and were granted the role of managing monsters within human society.
The “Khan,” leader of our species, obtained supreme authority over the supervision of supernatural monsters from the humans. Working in cooperation with the world’s power brokers, we have controlled these beings for the past five hundred years. I am currently operating under a special directive from my mother, the present Khan, after infiltrating this country.
Countless monsters have existed throughout history, and most refused to bow to our rule. Yet our strength was overwhelming, and with human backing we brought nearly all of them under control, save for a few exceptions. Those exceptions evaded our grasp, and the handful of nations under their influence slipped beyond our reach. Those entities used their spheres of power to place those countries under their own dominion. Among them, the most dangerous were the vampires.
Vampires possessed unique abilities that let them slip through our surveillance network and hide among humans in plain sight. They concealed their presence so perfectly that detecting one under normal circumstances was nearly impossible. As a solution, we turned our attention to the True Ancestor.
Every vampire obeys the single existing True Ancestor—the Vampire Lord. Whether imprinted on their very instincts or not, they cannot defy the Lord’s commands under any circumstances. If we could persuade or subdue that True Ancestor and bring them under our influence, controlling all vampires would become possible. After centuries of investigation, we finally located the Grace family, the True Ancestor bloodline to which the Vampire Lord belonged.
The Grace family had taken root in the nation of Korea, manipulating it from the shadows. Many of our kind who operated here were sacrificed in the process. In the end, only the most capable among us could successfully infiltrate the country. Of those, I—the strongest of all and the Khan’s direct successor—was chosen to work within these borders and continue the investigation into the Grace family.
After decades of painstaking work, I discovered that Isabel Grace, the Vampire Lord and head of the Grace family, had a single child. Monica Grace, the de facto next Vampire Lord, had recently caused multiple incidents and was now confined to this shopping mall under disciplinary supervision, living quietly. I had recruited several staff members from the mall’s management office to keep watch over her. Then she issued the staff a very strange order.
She suddenly commanded them to surveil a certain couple. Furthermore, they were never to look directly at the male with their naked eyes.
There are indeed monsters one must never observe with bare eyes, but the CCTV footage sent by the staff showed no such traits in this man. I decided to see for myself exactly what kind of person could make her issue such an unusual command out of intense interest.
My original plan was to observe the man from a short distance away from the couple. Approaching him directly risked a report reaching Monica, which could prove extremely dangerous. But the instant I saw his face, I could not stop myself from walking toward him.
In my three hundred years of life, I had seen countless beautiful men. None had ever moved my heart. Many desired me for my power, beauty, or strength, yet because our species can love only one man for an entire lifetime, I had cast them all aside and continued my search.
Yet here, for the first time, was a man who stole my breath. His face looked as though God had poured every ounce of divine power into sculpting it before vanishing in exhaustion. No words in existence could possibly describe his beauty.
Even the men who had appeared in the illusions I witnessed during my battles against the Sirens could not compare. The moment I saw him, I found myself unconsciously moving closer. A sliver of reason must have remained, because I approached only after the couple separated—the woman heading off to buy popcorn and cola while the man went to the restroom.
The closer I drew, the more my nose felt paralyzed. An indescribable scent mixed with pheromones I had never encountered before washed over me. Under normal circumstances it would have been too faint for an ordinary human to notice unless he removed his clothes, but our species’ extremely heightened sense of smell made the fragrance hit me with staggering intensity.
Even the Apostle of the Goddess of Beauty I once met had not emitted pheromones this potent. The more I inhaled it, the stronger the urge grew to kidnap him and claim him as my own. Any other member of my race would have lost control. But I am the greatest warrior of our kind and the next Khan. I suppress it through sheer force of will.
“Excuse me?”
“…Yes? Me? Are you talking to me?”
“Yes. I’m interested in you. Would you mind giving me your phone number?”
I have seduced many men in the course of my missions. None had ever resisted my allure. Of course, I had never progressed beyond seduction to physical contact, but no woman should have been able to follow me even that far.
“What? My number? Are you asking me because it’s part of some penalty game or something?”
Penalty… game?
What is he talking about? A man with that face has never been approached before? How could he possibly interpret this as a penalty?
“What? My number? Are you asking me because it’s part of some penalty game or something?”
“…No, not at all. Haha, I’m not doing anything like that. You were simply so beautiful that I couldn’t stop myself from speaking to you. If it’s not too forward, could I have your number?”
“Um… well, the thing is… I don’t actually have a phone right now. Or more precisely, I did have one, but due to certain circumstances it’s… gone.”
“Do I not appeal to you? Or do you already have a girlfriend?”
“No, no! I like you a lot. If I had my phone I’d give you my number immediately, but I lost it while handling some work.”
“I see. Then just a moment.”
What does he mean he doesn’t have a phone? At first I feared my charm had failed completely, but the way he spoke suggested he had genuinely lost it.
Learning he had no girlfriend filled me with joy. Still, what should I do now?
Ah. I can write my number on my business card.
Thanks to my infiltration mission, I maintain multiple identities. The one most likely to attract men is also the most critical, so it cannot be exposed. That is why my card carries no phone number. Writing one on it and handing it over would be an extremely risky act of self-exposure. Yet, wanting to show him I was someone exceptional, I unconsciously wrote my number on the card and offered it to him.
“Here is my card. Since you said I caught your interest, please contact me at this number.”
“Yes, I will.”
“Then I’ll take my leave. I’ll be waiting for your call.”
After doing my best to appear as impressive as possible, I withdrew and slipped into the staff-only restricted area.
Approaching him had exposed me. I needed to leave this place immediately.
I took a deep breath, steadied my racing heart, and retied my hair. Time was short.
At that exact moment, a text message arrived from one of the management staff members I had recruited.
Damn it.
Of all times.
So that was why she issued such an order. I understand now. With a man like him, how could she not? In that case, I cannot abandon this place.
One in the morning.
I must protect him.
Even if my identity is exposed.
Even if decades of effort turn to nothing but foam on the water.
Even if it costs me my life.