Can someone like that really be trash?

TWELVE

Eruhaben almost snorted.

Almost.

Instead, worry took over and he returned to the worried-mix expression that had been creeping Cale out. The redhead got the chills and quickly looked back at the frozen Vampire Duke who was still standing in front of him, staring at him with a terrified expression.

Cale could understand Duke Fredo's feelings quite well – this time that is. Their problem was information. They had too little information on this strange organization that had been after Cale Henituse ever since (and even before) Kim Rok Soo came to this world. They knew what they wanted, but they didn't know how many people they had, how strong they were, what they actually wanted to achieve with Cale's blood and so on.

They needed to know the goals of such a dangerous organization in order to know how to deal with it.

While people might not think so, knowing the end goal of such an organization that was even scarier than the White Star and his Arm, was important to cancel it, to toy with it. Yet, even after six whole years of searching, neither Cale nor his people were able to find anything.

"Cale Henituse."

The atmosphere in the room had turned darker than before. Cale got the chills. If he was to look at the Vampire Duke's face right now, he was guaranteed to faint. That vicious of an expression was on Duke Fredo's face right now. The Vampire then stopped frowning and started to smile as benignly as Ron always did, yet it looked at least a hundred times scarier. Cale did the mistake and looked at the man's face. The redhead quickly turned his head and instead faces the ancient dragon, who did not have the best of complexions himself.

Contrary to what he looked like on the outside, Vampire Duke Fredo was devastated on the inside. He didn't know what to do with that foolish boy in front of him.

He had warned him many times already, over and over again, that if he were to continue to act that reckless, no matter how much planning he did, he would end up dead. Of course, he himself hadn't quite believed that statement, yet the odds of that happening weren't as farfetched as one might think. At least not right now.

"Show me your arm."

Cale sighed but knew better than to complain again. He quietly did as he was told and handed his arm to Duke Fredo who carefully lifted Cale's sleeve and looked at the red curse mark that was very vibrant on Cale's pale skin.

Seven circles.

Inside of the smallest, was a crimson fingerprint.

It was the worst case scenario that Duke Fredo could have imagined. He couldn't help but frown as he shook his head in disapproval and finally let go of Cale's hand. He hadn't noticed his strong grip on the frail man's hand until he let go and Cale hurried to pull his sleeves down, hiding the red bruise mark.

It wasn't that his skin bruised this easily, but being marked with the curse mark alone but a great stroll on his body. If it wasn't for the Vitality of the Heart, he wouldn't be able to walk around and speak so easily, instead having to lie down with a fever.

The curse mark was like a seal that sealed the host's vitality, strength and energy away. It wouldn't disappear until the curse was fully over.

The room stayed silent until the ancient dragon decided to say something.

"What is happening right now?"

Eruhaben, who had lived almost a thousand years now, couldn't follow the conservation. While he understood that something bad had happened, he wasn't aware of the graveness of the situation at all. As one of the very few people who knew of Cale's special ability, at least partly, it was only natural for him to want to understand what was going on.