Conquering His Cold Heart

Rather than answering, Everard kept on clasping his mouth tightly and sitting there motionless as though he had suddenly turned into a statue.

Seeing his friend like that, Alexander lifted his hand so as to grab Everard’s shoulder and shake him. However, he changed his mind at the last moment thinking that it might not be a good idea, and ended up gently poking Everard on the arm.

“Eve?”

Everard finally turned to face Alexander. However, he looked as though he was about to break into tears. And before Alexander could ask anything, he removed his palm from his mouth and began apologizing profusely.

“I’m so sorry, Alex! I should have never come here… I didn’t mean to do that…”

“Do what?” Alexander asked as fear slowly started to creep into his heart. He didn’t understand why his friend was apologizing to him in the first place.

However, rather than explaining the reason for his apology, Everard just kept on repeating his words. “I am really really sorry… I wouldn’t have come here if I knew this would happen.”

“What happened? Tell me what happened first. Why are you even asking for forgiveness?” Alexander was baffled by the sudden change in the atmosphere.

.....

Everard’s voice suddenly began cracking and his tears rolled down his eyes when he further said, “I don’t even deserve to be alive after what I did to you…” He got up on his feet and said while shaking his head, “I can’t ever forgive myself for what I just did…”

He messed his ponytail by pulling his hair and then said while hiccupping hysterically, “I deserve to die… I am going to hell for what I just did…”

“Oh! Right!” Alexander whispered monotonously.

It finally dawned upon Alexander why Everard was suddenly acting so strangely. He felt his heart sinking to his stomach when he asked in his dazed state, “I am going to die, aren’t I? Because you revealed what you are to me…”

Everard collapsed to the floor on his knees and kept on shedding tears while trying not to break down completely. ‘What the hell did I do?’ he kept on questioning himself. He couldn’t fathom how he could be so stupid to make such a great mistake.

A lot of things were going on inside his head at the moment. He was trying to think back to how and when he began revealing everything to Alexander.

‘I didn’t come here to share my damn secrets! I came here to make amends… All I needed to do was tell him how sorry I was for not controlling my citizens. That was it. But I had to spill everything without any filter! I even showed my disgusting form! Why… Just why…’

Alexander’s mind, on the other hand, was simply blank. His eyes were staring at Everard having a meltdown. However, his brain wasn’t registering what his eyes were seeing. And neither was his brain functioning properly because he was as shocked as Everard.

Everard’s silent cries slowly began to get louder and louder until it sounded like he was wailing in sorrow.

And why wouldn’t he be in anguish when he literally signed his friend’s name in the Book of Death?

*Slam!*

“What’s with all the noise? My eardrums are going to burst!”

Both of them got startled when they heard the door suddenly opening and slamming shut, followed by someone’s voice right beside them.

It was one of Alexander’s vampire guards named Henry. He, including the others, were in the vicinity, listening in to the whole conversation between Everard and Alexander so that they could bust inside the moment they sensed danger.

Although Henry didn’t sense any immediate danger inside the room, he busted in because he couldn’t stand Everard wailing like a child, especially when he was wailing without any reason.

“H-Henry? What are you d-doing here?” Alexander stuttered once his mind processed the gravity of the situation in his chamber.

For a second, he was afraid that Everard would flip out when his eyes met with that of the vampire guard. However, there was little to no reaction from his side.

Henry, on the other hand, looked somewhat irritated by the mere presence of Everard.

Alexander didn’t want the situation to get any worse than it already was. Thus, he looked at Henry and asked him in a defeated tone, “Henry, please leave us alone.”

“I was going to do just that. But…” Henry turned his gaze from the Crown Prince to the King and said in a condescending tone, “I couldn’t just sit and listen to His Majesty bawling his eyes out over something that’s not even true. I was worried that–”

“What do you mean by not true?” Everard abruptly cut him off in the middle and asked, a glimmer of hope flickering in his eyes as he did so.

Although Henry would have loved to see Everard being all depressed and losing his mind for some more time just for the sake of seeing him in misery, he didn’t want the Crown Prince to suffer as well.

Thus, he looked at the King who didn’t look any better than a beggar at the moment with disheveled hair and a runny nose. He wrinkled his nose and revealed what he meant to say earlier, “With all due respect, you were wrong about the blood pact.”

“I was wrong?” Everard suddenly felt like a fool when he heard that. “You mean everyone was lying to me all along?” He wondered if everyone around him was purposely keeping him in the dark.

Henry slightly shrugged his shoulders and then said, “I don’t know what your people told you about the blood pact but it’s not what you think.”

Everard was all ears. He quickly wiped his nose on the sleeve of his shirt and asked Henry in a rather authoritative tone, “Quickly explain everything to me.”

Henry clenched his teeth when Everard was acting as though he had the authority to order him. However, he didn’t want to start a fight with the King of the enemy kind.

Thus, he took the responsibility of entering the room in the first place and answered Everard, “You didn’t reveal the secret of us vampires to the Crown Prince. You revealed your own. The pact doesn’t restrict us from revealing our own secrets to humans. And since the Crown Prince was already aware of what we are, you didn’t break the pact.”

Alexander heaved a quiet sigh of relief when he heard that, while Everard sighed quite audibly.

Everard was very relieved to know that he didn’t accidentally put his friend’s life in danger. He let out a soft chuckle and expressed his thankfulness, “Alex is safe, huh! I don’t need to kill myself to repent for the sin.”

“You didn’t commit any sin, to begin with.” Henry turned his back so as to leave the room. And while he headed towards the door, he mumbled, “So, I guess you don’t need to repent for something you didn’t even do in the first place.”