Chapter 72
Chapter 72
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 72
Chapter Title: Harmonious Family (Not)
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"To the gate..."
Blending into the bushes with two twigs stuck on either side of her head, Sophia trailed behind them.
It was her own brand of stealth technique, but it was meaningless. She wasn't getting caught only because of her quiet footsteps.
Still, she didn't let go of the twigs.
Shh. Shh.
Sophia, moving nimbly and silently behind them, couldn't believe her eyes.
'Gone?'
The child had vanished. As soon as they entered a more crowded area, the kid was gone.
She rubbed her eyes. How many times had she done that today alone? She rubbed them furiously, but by the time she did, her target had already slipped into the gate.
"H-Hey? Wait!!"
Sophia dashed in after them. It was a bit crowded—people trying to get home before the gates closed, thanks to Rosaline.
The place was swarming, but finding them wasn't hard.
The owner of that striking black hair and otherworldly beauty stood out too much. Sophia weaved through the crowd, keeping on their tail.
'What do I do?'
If they took the gate out, should she follow? And then what? She was someone who lived in hiding.
Even if Sophia went outside via the gate, nothing good would come of it. Worst case, she'd get spotted by other vampires.
Best case, she'd return unscathed.
'Should I follow?'
While Sophia hesitated, she saw them warp through the gate and vanish.
No time for second thoughts. Sophia bolted forward and planted herself in front of the staff manning the warp gate they'd used.
"Um..."
"Yes?"
"Those people!! Send me where they just went!!"
"...Pardon?"
Oh no, not gonna work?! Sophia made a pouty face.
Luckily, it worked out. She bluffed that she was with their group and had gotten separated, and they let her through.
Sophia silently apologized to the kind staffer as she headed out of the gate—
Then froze.
—Seong-hoon.
—...
—Seong-hoon.
Because she saw them. Standing in front of the gate, staring out at the empty street.
'Why'd they come here?'
At first, she'd thought maybe a picnic, but the state of the place said otherwise.
No people. Not a single soul in sight, not even exaggerating. Instead, pigeons fluttered around, pecking at the ground.
'Not a picnic then?'
So what was it? As Sophia puzzled over it, a voice rang out.
—Mommy. Can't we play?
"Huh?"
The kid who'd vanished earlier popped back up. What the heck? Sophia plastered herself against a nearby wall again.
She pressed so close it practically slapped the wall, just to watch without being spotted.
The weird look from a passing guy who saw her like that stung a little.
'Mommy?'
She wasn't sure. The kid had called Lee Seong-hoon "daddy," but she'd never heard it call to Raphael before.
But mommy? Sophia felt a strange twinge. What was this feeling? Something kept bubbling up from deep inside.
It felt bad. Her chest tightened.
For now, she kept her cool and eavesdropped on their conversation.
—Tomorrow!! Let's go somewhere else tomorrow!! Yeah? Yeah? Guys?! Guys?!
"He's totally a dad soothing his kid."
Sophia couldn't believe what she was seeing.
'I knew they were close.'
They were always together, and when one got hospitalized, the other skipped classes entirely to nurse them. She'd known back then.
But she hadn't expected this. She hadn't known there was a kid.
Raphael turned around, cradling the child. Seeing that scene, Sophia couldn't deny it anymore.
All those thoughts—just moments ago—of "no way, probably cousins, just playing house"—flew right out the window.
They looked alike. Golden hair. Blue eyes. Stunning features.
Everything matched.
Sophia only realized she'd crushed the wall she'd been gripping when she heard it crumble. She'd clenched too hard without realizing.
She wanted to run over right now and ask. If it was true. If it was their kid.
'Who am I to ask?'
Her body wouldn't move at the question.
Sophia was nothing to Lee Seong-hoon. Just a classmate she knew. One of many maids. A kid whose vampire weakness he had leverage over.
Nothing more. Wasn't it ridiculous for someone like that to butt in and ask what they were to each other?
—Just this once. Tomorrow, we'll go somewhere with lots of good eats.
—My wallet's gonna cry...
—What's a wallet?
—It's a machine that feeds you rice.
—No it's not!!
Sophia kept tailing the two for now.
Next up was a weird shop.
A place packed with masks. It looked so amazing even Sophia wanted to go in and browse.
But she hid nearby, ears perked.
—Hands off!!
—La la la, can't hear you~
"..."
—Daddy! So many cool things here!!
—Yeah. Good job.
"..."
Sophia just kept staring. To anyone watching, it was a picture-perfect family. The two bickered like usual, but with the kid there, it just looked like a happy home.
Sophia, leaning against the wall, slid down to the ground. She tilted her head back to look at the sky, but it was blocked.
By the ceiling.
"Ah. Shouldn't have let myself believe it."
Humans really weren't worth trusting after all. Sophia muttered with a bitter smile.
"Yeah. Overstepped my bounds."
A vampire cooking food for humans. Pretending to be human. Crossing the line.
There were lines in the world. Lines you weren't supposed to cross.
And Sophia had crossed hers. Just because Lee Seong-hoon had been a little nice. She'd started thinking she was something special.
'I'm nothing.'
Just a filthy vampire. And she'd forgotten that because one person was kind.
Like a stray dog shunned everywhere, chasing after the first passerby who showed it a scrap of attention.
How pathetic.
'Let's go back.'
To the old days. When she didn't form bonds with anyone and just got by smoothly. That'd fix it.
She owed Lee Seong-hoon, so she'd keep being his maid. But in return...
"No more crossing lines."
How burdensome must it have been, her bringing food to the hospital every day.
Sophia stood up. Then trudged toward the gate.
Was "stagger" the right word? She didn't know. Nothing came to mind.
—You can live like a human if you think like one.
Wish he hadn't said that.
—I swear on the name of the dragon.
Just call her a vampire and be done with it.
—Vampires are a race too, right?
As if. Vampires were filthy outcasts everywhere they went.
Why say those things? Why make her hope?
'Shouldn't have been nice.'
Sophia walked toward the gate with those thoughts. She wanted to get back fast.
She didn't hear it, hastening her steps.
—You two a couple?
—Nah.
Dizzy. Her vision shook wildly.
'Gotta get back quick.'
Once she was back, it'd be fine. It was because she hadn't drunk blood. She'd been tailing Lee Seong-hoon since morning and starved herself.
That was it. Nothing else.
Of course. As Sophia quickened her pace, she felt an odd disconnect.
Her skin prickled. Her whole body screamed warnings.
Something was nearby.
'Where?'
Her skin told her. Not far. But Sophia didn't change course.
No reason to hunt a vampire outside Justitia.
Inside Justitia, they killed to expose locations, but outside? No.
Just run fast. That's what she thought as she moved her legs.
But her skin warned again.
Not just one. They kept multiplying. Two, three, four, five.
Not one by one.
Over ten now, too many to count on fingers. Cold sweat beaded as Sophia broke into a sprint instead of a brisk walk.
But that run wasn't allowed.
Her skin warned—not notified, warned.
About the presence right in front of her.
"Found you."
Clack—
Dress shoes echoed. A red-eyed man in a sharp suit stepped out from the shadows.
"Your runaway days are over, Lady Sophia."
"Ten years makes it independence. Leave me alone."
"No can do. Lady Remia is looking for you."
Why that woman? Her already foul mood soured further. It had pierced her core, and now it worsened.
"Just curious, but how exactly are you gonna drag me back? Without a progenitor? I'd have gone back for one first."
This was suicide. No regular vampire could beat a progenitor.
"The others miss you too, Lady Sophia."
"If you're gonna sell sob stories, can I go?"
"Afraid not. Shall we head to the shadows? Unlike you, we can only last three hours in the sun."
"Didn't look like it."
As she spoke, one of the encircling vampires exploded.
No warning strike. Using Chant Disruption, it killed one without even a scream.
"Couldn't even last three seconds."
Ah, perfect timing. Sophia felt a rush of relief for some reason. Her chest had been so tight she wanted to rip it open moments ago.
"Let's just kill 'em all. Survivors'll report back."
Sophia raised her hand. Vampires burst. The moment they showed themselves, heads exploded.
"Lady Sophia."
"What."
"If you keep this up, we'll have to use force."
"Hah."
The absurd line left her speechless. Sophia knew it—the vampire before her was a progenitor, upper echelon.
So what? One gesture from her and he'd die. She thrust her hand forward.
Intending to burst his head with magic, but he moved faster.
He pulled something from his chest pocket. A black cross.
"Huh?"
And that was just the start. Every encircling vampire held a black cross.
"Wait a sec."
"Here it comes."
Oh crap, this is bad. Sophia grinned bitterly.
"Guh... kkh..."
"I didn't want to use force either. Forgive our rudeness."
"Bullshit."
The black cross.
It was Sophia's one true weakness.
Progenitor vampires didn't have the usual vampire weaknesses.
Crosses, garlic, silver bullets, running water, sunlight—none of it worked.
Instead, each had a unique one. For Sophia, it was the black cross.
"Still, as expected of a progenitor. Holding out like this in that state."
The sun was setting. Sophia had endured two hours hemmed in by black crosses. Around her, dead vampires turned to ash.
"Let's head back."
"No... way."
Sophia mustered her last strength to shake off the man's arm. Too weak to land properly, she crawled in the direction she'd fallen.
"I'd rather die than go back."
"Lady Remia is waiting."
"Screw her."
So what if that woman was waiting? Sophia crawled. Crawled hard. But crawling versus walking...
The speed gap was inevitable.
Clack—
'No.'
She still remembered. Ten years ago. Even at seven, the memory was vivid. Locked in a dark room, drained of blood to near death on the progenitor's tenacious life force.
Clack—
'How'd I even escape?'
She never wanted to go back.
But Sophia had no way to win here. It was like a regular person fighting after muscle relaxants.
Clack—
Closing in. Sophia crawled, dirt coating her body. Her mind flashed with memories.
Like a life-flashing montage.
A life where she'd never once gotten help from anyone.
The back of the one who'd gone to fight a progenitor in her place.
The sight of him slicing the head off a lesser vampire attacking her kept replaying.
Would he help? If it was him—
She knew it was a pipe dream. He was happily spending time with his family. Texting him for help here would cross the line.
Clack—
Even closer. Sophia clawed the ground until her skin tore. Still, the distance didn't change.
'Someone.'
Someone help me. She wanted to scream it. But no one came to mind.
Except one.
"Lady Sophia, please stop. I'll be polite—"
The man's words cut off. Not just him. The approaching vampires halted too.
Everyone but Sophia froze like statues, staring at one spot.
Sophia floated a question mark over her head and looked where they stared.
Something was there. A bit far, but clear as day.
On a rooftop. A building where she could clearly see Sophia sprawled below.
A person? Was it a person?
Something.
Black robes whipped in the wind. A pure white mask gleamed even in the dark.
A mask etched with geometric patterns. One eye socket completely open.
A scythe in hand. A pristine white great scythe.
The ominous great scythe reeked of death.
Death looked down. That's when Sophia understood why the vampires behind her had frozen.
"Reaper..."
They were terrified. Of that reaper.