Ch. 1: Evening Rendezvous
Kingdom of Norpli in the Land of Clergymen, Month of Shadow…-
Looking up, the sky was turning indigo and the stars were twinkling. At Prince Jay’s invitation, I had arrived in his kingdom and was taking in the area around where we were to meet.
(It’s beautiful…)
The people coming and going were all clad in white vestments that reflected the street lamps, making them stand out slightly.
(They look kind of mystical without any color…)
A solemn sort of ambiance seemed to be closing in from somewhere.
(They look like the western clergymen I’ve seen in books…)
Jay: “Something caught your eye?”
A sweet, soft voice came from behind me and I turned to look…
OO: “Jay.”
Jay smiled, his hair falling gracefully.
Jay: “Hey OO. Did you see something you like? Your eyes are sparkling.”
OO: “Yes…this town is so beautiful.”
Jay: “Ah. Then I’m glad we met up here. Since you came all this way, it’d be a waste to go straight to the castle.”
(Jay may be a prince but he’s so down to earth…)
Jay: “Come one, let’s go.”
OO: “Go where?”
Jay: “Isn’t it obvious? We’re going to go have fun like adults in the night.”
OO: “Eh…?”
Jay gave a suggestive smile.
Jay: “Come on, the night’s only just begun. Let’s go.”
Jay had started walking and turned back to me as he spoke.
(Where are we going? I’m kind of…excited.)
A feeling of eagerness bubbled up in my chest.
Ch. 2: A Malevolent Gaze
Jay took me to a beautiful wine bar.
(I think I’m a little tipsy…)
Leaving the bar, the stars in the night sky seemed to be spinning. As we talked and drank, I noticed my footsteps were unsteady on the cobblestones.
(Feels like I’m floating…)
Jay: “You alright?”
OO: “I’m fine…”
With a wry smile, Jay held out his hand to me.
Jay: “Young lady, please take my hand.”
OO: “…thank you.”
My heart skipped a beat as Jay wrapped his large, strong hand around mine.
OO: “I’m fine. I can keep walking…”
I hid my hand behind my back but Jay grabbed it.
Jay: “I’ll feel better if I know you won’t fall over.”
Relying on his cool hand, we began walking down the street.
Then…
Clergyman 1: “Disgraceful…”
(Eh…?)
I looked towards the voice and saw a group of people whispering and watching. An older man walked by and glared at Jay.
Clergyman 2: “Tainted…leave this place.”
As he left us with those words, I stared in confusion.
Jay: “…let’s go.”
Jay walked off, still holding my hand.
OO: “Jay, what was…?”
Jay: “I wonder…maybe they were drunk?”
I looked up and Jay gave me a thin smile. Then we heard a different voice.
Man: “Yo. Half breed.”
A man clad in jet black clothes was looking at us and smirking. From the corners of his mouth, sharp teeth like fangs caught the light.
(He kind of looks like a vampire, like from the books I’ve read…)
Jay: “It’s been a while.”
Jay gave a light greeting and kept walking by the man.
(Is that someone he knows? But what did he mean by ‘half breed’…?)
Noticing my gaze, Jay shrugged.
Jay: “Oh, I didn’t tell you? I’m a half vampire.”
(Real vampires…!?)
Looking behind, I saw the men who had called Jay a half breed watching us and laughing.
Jay: “Sorry you had to see that.”
OO: “No… I don’t mind, really.”
(More importantly, I wonder if Jay is okay…)
I hadn’t really noticed until now, but all the people walking down the street were watching and whispering about Jay.
(I bet they’re saying mean things about him…)
Kid: “Aaaah the half vampire! Even the king hates you! You’re not a real prince!”
(How cruel…)
I turned around, unable to hold myself back.
However…
Jay put his finger on my chin and turned my head back forward.
Jay: “You’ll ruin your cute face that way. Come on, smile, smile.”
OO: “But…”
Jay: “It’s fine. It doesn’t really bother me. The fact that I’m a half vampire and my father hates me, and how people are always looking at me, it’s all just ridiculous. Come on, let’s go get another drink. There’s a place that has some really good vintage wine.”
Jay put his arm around my shoulder and we left that place behind.
At the sound of Jay’s footsteps echoing on the cold cobblestones, my heart quieted.
Ch. 3: No Matter the Kind of Person You Are...
Jay took my hand, and what awaited me on the other side of the castle entrance was an extravagant room.
(The place he said had great wine…)
In the light of the lamps, the furnishings stood out against a dark background.
Jay: “Something wrong? Go on and sit.”
This is Jay’s room…
OO: “A-alright.”
Jay: “You don’t have to be so nervous…”
OO: “I don’t want to be a bother…”
Jay: “Just stay for one drink.”
Jay: “Ah…it’s not like I’m going to attack you or anything.”
OO: “A-attack…”
Jay: “I may be a half vampire, but I don’t need to drink blood. And even if I were to attack you, I don’t have the power to make you a vampire.”
OO: “Ah…I see…”
Jay: “Well, drinking blood does energize me though. Want to give it a try?”
OO: “Eh…?”
Jay’s eyes sparked with mischief.
Jay: “Kidding. …I just want to relax and have a drink.”
He poured some ruby-red wine into a glass.
Jay: “At any rate, things kind of got spoiled quicker than I’d intended. I had actually planned to tell you about it once we got here. It’s something that usually frightens people. I met with you at night because I can’t go out in the daylight. That’s really the only thing about me that’s very vampire-like though.”
Sitting on a stool and leaning back, Jay took a sip of wine.
Jay: “I was attacked by a vampire when I was in boarding school. If help had come even a second later, I’d have become a full vampire. But, I ended up become something that isn’t human.”
OO: “So that’s what happened…”
——————–
Clergyman: “Tainted…leave this place.”
Man: “Yo, half breed.”
Kid: “Aaaah the half vampire! Even the king hates you! You’re no prince!”
——————–
(People say such terrible things to him, even though he didn’t do anything wrong…)
Jay: “…it’s not something you have to worry yourself over. …Oh yeah. There’s one more thing about me that’s vampire-like.”
Jay nimbly set down the glass and suddenly wrapped himself around me.
OO: “…!”
In that second…
The window glass shattered, scattering thousands of shards about the room.
OO: “B…bats!?”
Jay: “And here I thought I’d be able to relax and get a drink. It’s probably just a prank…by that guy from earlier.”
Jay stood in front of me, staring menacingly at the bats and…
The bats fled in a panic back out the window.
Jay: “Even though I’m only half vampire, seems I can still subjugate bats.”
Suddenly looking at Jay…
The glass glittered at his feet, and I saw blood flowing down his arm.
OO: “Your arm, you need to take care of that.”
Jay: “It’s fine. Here, look.”
Saying so, I looked at Jay’s arm and…
(His wound is healing so quickly…!)
Jay: “See, all better.”
OO: “That’s amazing…”
Jay: “…you’re a strange one. Isn’t this normally something that frightens people?”
(I wonder…is it?)
Jay: “…”
While looking at me, Jay let out a small laugh and gave a smile that reached his eyes.
Jay: “…I think I can talk to you about this.”
Jay pulled out a painting from a back corner.
It was coated in dust, as if it had been lying forgotten, and Jay looked at it lovingly.
Jay: “You know…long ago, I wanted to be a painter. I loved painting. Whenever I was working on something, I felt truly happy…”
OO: “And…now?”
His eyes clouded with sadness for a moment, and he looked away from the painting as if he could run away.
Jay: “Painting is something that needs light and the shadows that light creates. For someone like me who can’t go out into the light, it isn’t really possible.”
(That’s…so sad…)
OO: “…I’d like to see one of your paintings.”
Jay: “When I stopped painting, I burned everything. All the pieces here were done by other artists.”
OO: “Then, why not paint something now?”
Jay: “You sure say some unreasonable things…”
OO: “Is it really…that unreasonable? But the moon is so beautiful tonight. If the light of the moon is this bright…look, it creates shadows.”
Outside the window, the trees were casting shadows in the pale light.
Jay’s eyes got round.
Jay: “Guess I’m beat…”
Jay started to smile.
Jay: “Then you paint with me. I’ll do it if you will.”
OO: “Is that alright? I’ll try.”
Jay: “Alright then, I’ll get everything ready.”
OO: “I…”
Jay: “It’ll be fine. Besides, if I’m painting, you’ll just be sitting there, right?”
I kind of enjoyed watching Jay’s back as he got the painting supplies ready.
Ch. 4: Moonlit Canvas
Bathed in the gentle light of the moon, Jay and I sat opposite each other as our brushes moved across our canvases.
However my brush hadn’t moved in some time.
(I’m kind of…nervous…)
(It’s like he can see straight into my soul…)
Jay’s deeply colored eyes were staring straight at me…
My heart was beating rapidly and I unconsciously shifted to hide behind my canvas.
Jay: “Come on now, show me that cute face. I can’t paint it if you hide like that.”
Jay let out a sigh mixed with a laugh, and my cheeks warmed. I peeked out from the shadow of the canvas.
Jay: “Good. Now I want you to smile.”
Jay’s tone was light-hearted, and I felt my face relax into a smile. A few minutes later…
I looked up from my painting, and Jay looked up from his.
OO: “…promise you won’t laugh?”
Jay: “I won’t laugh. After all, it’s something you painted seriously.”
We exchanged paintings.
(Compared to Jay who wanted to be an artist, my painting is…)
Resolving myself, I looked at Jay’s piece…
(…is this…fine art…?)
The composition was like the Mona Lisa, and the background was layered with blues and whites. There was a wide neck and a long face covering the canvas…
I didn’t know where the eyes were looking, but the mouth looked as if it were smiling.
(This is…supposed to be…me?)
I felt a smile tugging at my lips, and my hand went to my mouth.
Jay: “Weren’t you the one who said not to laugh?”
OO: “I’m sorry…but…!”
Jay: “You young people just don’t understand art.”
Jay shrugged and smiled.
Jay: “In my country, it’s best to paint something that everyone can see. But when we look at a piece, what we see and what we feel are different. It’s fun, to draw things as you see them, right?”
Jay set my painting by the window.
Jay: “A painter can express their feelings, their heart, through their work. Like in this one. It feels kind and warm…”
(He’s saying it’s good…)
Jay’s fingers slid across the Jay in the painting.
He had an earnest look on his handsome face, set in profile in the moonlight.
Jay: “So…this is what I look like when I’m with you.”
(I wonder what he means. Is there something strange about my painting…?)
Jay: “Now, I believe it’s about time for you to go to bed.”
OO: “Eh…?”
Jay: “This is the afternoon for me, but it’s still the middle of the night for you, isn’t it?”
(I want to talk with him more…)
Jay: “Giving that look while in a man’s room…are you trying to seduce me?”
OO: “! …no…that’s not…”
Jay gave a teasing smile.
OO: “I’m still alright to stay up.”
Jay: “Haha! …do you really want to be that friendly with a half breed?”
OO: “That’s not what I…”
Jay: “Listen to what your elders say.”
Jay gave a smile that seemed lonely, and I found myself unable to speak.
Jay: “Let’s meet again tomorrow night.”
I was overcome with reluctance to leave him.
Seeing Jay off in the moonlight, I left.
I entered the room that had been prepared for me, and stood up the painting he had done.
Lying in bed, I stared at the painting.
(I don’t really get art…but the me in the painting looks like she’s really enjoying herself…)
Thinking of meeting Jay the next evening, I fell asleep with a warm feeling in my chest.