'What is there to fear when you are living in the Lord's house?' Doyoung yelled, completely different than his usual calm self.
'The Main Hall of the Lord's house is drenched in blood. How is this not terrible?' yelled a vampire dressed shabbily in the servant night suit. He was tall with lean shoulders but his voice was heavy and deep.
The entire staff of the Night Mansion was standing in the Main Hall which was covered in blood. Doyoung was trembling with anger, and his fangs were bared; he was dressed in his night gown with his hair dishevelled and seemed to have forgotten his glasses.
'Threats like these are common in the Lord's house,' he hissed. 'But that's all that they are – empty threats and nothing more.'
'Please, we are all scared but there is no need to start a ruckus over this,' a woman's voice came from the corner.
'Placating me won't help,' the tall vampire from earlier bellowed louder. 'Where is the Lord?'
'You called for me, Sunghyun?' A voice, assertive yet calm, silenced everyone at once.
Taeyong stepped forward into the warm light of the Main Hall, dressed in a velvet blue night gown. There was no panic, or fear in his eyes even when he saw the entire floor of his Main Hall shrouded in blood. The other vampires stood in the corner, covering their noses due to the pungent smell of this foul blood.
'The blood of the ten thousand rats,' Taeyong scoffed, looking bored already.
There was a saying in the world of vampires – Even the blood of ten thousand rats cannot satisfy a hungry vampire. One would assume it comes from the belief that a hungry vampire is insatiable but that is not the case. In the vampire realm, only the poorest would resort to feeding on the blood of something as common as rats on the street. A respectable vampire would rather choose to die than drink such rancid blood. And that's how the blood of rats became a bad omen among vampires. It was one thing to send the blood of ten thousand rats to an enemy to wish them bad luck, but to send it to the house of the Lord meant much more – It was to wish doom upon the Lord and served as a warning that their empire was in danger. This was a threat that the Vampire Lord will soon be thrown out of power.
Taeyong knew of this threat very well and so did everyone else because he himself had shrouded the Main Hall of the previous Vampire Lord with this blood before he rose to power.
Taeyong lit a cigarette and took a drag out of it before he turned to Sunghyun, 'Is there something you wish to say to me?'
'I-I, my Lord... no my Lord, I don't wish to say anything,' Sunghyun managed, bowing his head down.
'If there isn't anything you wish to speak, then shut that fucking mouth of yours,' Taeyong growled then turned to the others, his night gown flowing behind him, 'If there is fear in anybody's heart, then you are not fit to serve in the house of the Lord. I can easily make arrangements for your departure. So, I ask again, is there anything anybody wishes to say to me?'
Taeyong paused, taking another drag out of his cigarette. All the heads in the Main Hall bowed down and the staff said in muffled unison, 'No, my Lord.'
'Very well then. Doyoung,' Taeyong called out.
'Yes, my Lord.' Doyoung was instantly by his side.
'Get the staff to clean this up. Report to my chamber after that. And where is my Familiar?'
'My Lord- I mean, Master, I'm here,' came a soft voice from a dark corner. Dal-ae was still dressed in her Familiar's uniform, only her hair was untied falling over her back.
Taeyong eyed her from top to bottom. 'The rest of you are dismissed,' he said, stubbing his cigarette on a metal ashtray in the corner. 'Follow me,' he said to Dal-ae and turned to leave.
Soundlessly, Dal-ae walked through the moonlit corridors of the mansion behind Taeyong.
'Weren't you given a night gown?' Taeyong asked after some time, without turning his head.
'I was, Master,' Dal-ae replied.
Climbing up the last step, they were finally in the dark windowless level of the mansion.
'Then why is my familiar dressed in the same stinky clothes from the day, hm?' Taeyong hissed.
'I have a new set of uniform for tomorrow if th-'
'What did I tell you before giving you the job, Dal-ae?' Taeyong asked, slowly.
For a moment she was silent before replying softly, 'That a familiar is a reflection of their Master.'
'And?' Taeyong stopped in front the double doors to his room.
'And so, I am to appear perfect all the time.'
He turned around and leaned down to meet her eye level. 'So, you remember.' Even in the darkness, Dal-ae couldn't miss the displeasure in his eyes. 'I excused your shabby hair earlier but one time is already too many. Don't let me see you in a pitiful state again.'
'I will take care of it, Master,' she said, bowing her head down.
'Good. Come in,' Taeyong said when he saw her standing at the door. He pulled his night gown off to reveal his bare back to her and drew the curtains on the window. In the faint moonlight from outside, he looked divine, almost unreal.
'Did the blood scare you tonight?' he asked
'No, Master.'
'No?' he asked, tilting his head.
'No,' she said, meeting his eyes.
'Good. Run me a bath. I'll be in shortly,' Taeyong ordered prompting her to leave the room and close herself inside the bathroom.
After some time, Doyoung knocked on the door and entered. He was dressed in simple shirt and pants and had done his hair and his glasses rested firmly on his nose. Taeyong was sitting on the edge of the bed, half-naked, leaning on his palms stretched to the back. Before Doyoung could begin, Taeyong silently said, 'Not here,' and gestured towards the darkened study located up the stairs.
Climbing up the steps behind Taeyong, Doyoung promptly switched on every light in the narrow corridor lined with muraled windows on both sides. The deeper they walked into the hallway, the quieter it became until they reached a sliding door at the end sitting in absolute silence.
The two stepped into the magnificence of Taeyong's private study. Tall shelves covered in book lined the walls on three sides stretching almost two storeys high. In the middle stood a long ebony table filled with more books and scrolls. A ceiling high window was fitted into the fourth wall casting a blue hue of the moonlight in the study and beneath it stood Taeyong's sleek desk carved from the same ebony, paired with a high-backed chair like a throne.
Doyoung walked to switch on the light but Taeyong raised a hand stopping him. 'There is no need,' he said. He sat himself down on a cushioned chair near the entrance while Doyoung took the seat next to his.
'Don't spare any detail,' Taeyong said.
And with a disciplined ease, Doyoung began, 'The Main Hall was discovered by one of the maids when she smelled the blood while passing by. She was the one who screamed after seeing all that blood. I was the third to arrive at the scene after another maid, and the rest came afterwards from the door connecting to the Staff Towers. Dal-ae was the last one to arrive, but...' Doyoung paused.
'What is it?'
'My Lord, the staircase connected to her room should have led her to take the entrance on the far right of the Main Hall, but she entered through the centre. The stairs that lead to that entrance are connected to the West Wing.'
The two of them exchanged a look. The West Wing of the Night Mansion was the highest point after Taeyong's floor. Though there were spare bedrooms and storage rooms, the West Wing was used for its Raven Tower. For centuries, vampires have used ravens as their messengers and while every raven in the Night Mansion is accounted for, to ensure the privacy of his staff, Taeyong maintains the rule to never intercept their messages.
'That door however, does lead to the human pantry as well,' Doyoung said. 'But it is still the longer route. If she was in the pantry, the more practical route for her would be through the Staff Towers and she would have entered the main hall through the door that everyone else came through.'
Seeing Taeyong still deep in thought, Doyoung suggested quietly, 'Do you want me to investigate?'
Taeyong stared at him in confusion. 'No, of course, not. She used the wrong door. That's hardly anything.'
Despite looking reluctant, Doyoung nodded without protest.
𓆩 𓆪
Back in the bedroom, Dal-ae was waiting outside the bathroom door with her hands clasped in front of her and her head bowed down.
Taeyong dismissed Doyoung first then, stripped the remaining clothes off his body, handing them to Dal-ae before entering the bathroom. But instead of staying behind, Dal-ae followed him inside without a hint of shyness.
Sensing her behind him, Taeyong immediately turned around to find Dal-ae's obedient and calm expression. 'What is it?' he asked.
'Am I not to help you wash?' Dal-ae asked, still holding Taeyong's clothes in her arms.
An amused smile crept up his lips, as his eyes ran over her. He could hear her heart racing, and the rush of her blood under his gaze. He liked it but he knew humans needed rest. 'Not tonight,' he whispered, stepping into the bath tub.
Dal-ae looked up at him, in his eyes.
'You are dismissed,' he said, settling himself down.
Like a tame little kitten, Dal-ae bowed and walked out of the steaming bathroom. When he heard the door close, Taeyong slid further into the tub and closed his eyes, inhaling deeply; the water smelled of her, so did the rose petals floating on the surface. He could imagine it, Dal-ae preparing the bath; her fingers running through the warm water, her scent lingering on the petals as they slipped from her hand into the tub. Even the candles carried her fragrance.
'Fuck.' He opened his eyes in a moment of realization. She smells so fucking sweet.