A Game Of Chess With A Vampire
Chapter 35: Why Are You Afraid?

Chapter 35: Why Are You Afraid?

Draven furrowed his brows and looked at his belly. At the sight of such uncontrollable bleeding, his pupils dilated and his breath hitched.

What is going on? Why am I still bleeding? His eyes twitched furiously in pain and shock.

Vampires heal when they are wounded, and the royal-blooded ones heal even faster. It should have healed a few seconds ago, but it was still bleeding.

"Don..." Loui whispered in a shocked tone.

Olive and Lucien went speechless, clueless about what was happening.

Avelina, who stood behind Draven, stepped out, and the second she glimpsed his stomach, her heart skipped a beat.

"D-Draven..." she stuttered, instantly panicked.

Draven looked at her and coughed hard the second he felt a lot of blood rush to his throat. He spurted out a mouthful of blood and grabbed his belly at the excruciating pain he was experiencing.

"Young master!" Santino, who had rushed over from his position, took his suit off and covered the wound.

He called for backup, and with their help, he walked Draven out of the arena while Avelina followed beside them.

They proceeded outside and carefully helped him into the car.

"My lady," Santino turned to Avelina. "Please stay in the back with the Young Master."

Avelina nodded without hesitation and entered the car. She sat down beside Draven, whose blood was soaking up his white shirt.

The driver started the engine, and they drove off to return to the royal mansion.

Along the way, Avelina, who was afraid, kept staring at Draven, not exactly sure of what was going on either.

She was very aware that vampires heal when they encounter such a simple attack, so it was quite hard for her to comprehend what was happening to Draven. He should have healed, but instead, he was bleeding nonstop.

Draven, on the other hand, shut his eyes, having never experienced such a bizarre occurrence before. The pain was unbearable due to him having pulled the knife out, and he was feeling as though he could collapse at any time. He had never had to endure such pain for this long, even his vision was starting to become a bit blurry.

When was the last time he had such a feeling?

Breathe in, breathe out... Breathe in, breathe out...

Draven tried to take deep breaths to steady his nerves, but it wasn’t helping. He held onto the bloody cloth that was covering his stomach and slowly rested his head on Avelina’s shoulder.

"I am sorry if I am inconveniencing you. I feel dizzy," he said in a low tone as he shut his eyes.

Avelina looked at him, and the urge to cry overwhelmed her.

He was in that state because of her. He protected her like he promised, even though he could have simply let her die.

She sniveled and looked at the wound on his stomach. She swallowed hard and began to fiddle with her fingers.

"Draven..." she called.

Draven, who was half-conscious, opened his eyes. "Hmm?"

"Could you take your shirt off?" Avelina asked.

Draven looked up, meeting her gaze.

"Why?"

"Let me look at your wound." Avelina was sure that they had alcohol in the car. Perhaps if she used it like she had seen it used on injuries before, she could help with the rapid bleeding.

As she glanced around the car, she found a bottle of alcohol stuffed into the pocket of the car.

"What do you want to do?" Draven inquired, adjusting properly on the seat.

Avelina looked at him with a concerned expression.

"You’re bleeding too much. I want to try and see if I can stop the bleeding, even if it’s just a little bit," she said, ignoring her own injuries.

Draven let out a soft breath. "Shouldn’t you be worried about your injuries first? You are bleeding too."

"It’s fine. It’s not that bad. I will be fine." Avelina shrugged it off.

Draven blinked at her. He did not persuade her any further as he was very sure that she wouldn’t listen to him, so he proceeded to take his suit jacket off.

Avelina knelt in front of him and helped him unbutton his shirt. She kept the bloody clothing aside and flickered her eyes at the sight of his injury.

Draven stared down at her, watching her intently to see what she was going to do.

Avelina raised her head and looked at him with an awkward smile on her lips.

"Um...this is going to hurt a little bit."

Draven glimpsed a strange sense of fear in her hazel eyes.

Was she afraid? Why?

Curious, he couldn’t help but ask, "Why are you afraid?"

Avelina fluttered her lashes.

"What do you mean?"

Draven furrowed his brows. "Your eyes...they hold fear. What are you afraid of? It’s not me, right?" he asked, unable to understand what sort of fear it was.

Avelina was taken aback. "Heh! No, no, no, of course not!"

"Then why?" Draven inquired, a bit confused.

"Haha, I am just worried, that is all. I’m afraid something might happen to you," Avelina chuckled softly as she responded.

She opened the bottle of alcohol and proceeded to tend to his wound.

Draven blinked his eyes at the realization that he still had no grip on emotions. He couldn’t understand them quite well.

After careful consideration, he posed a question.

"Avelina, do you cry when your loved ones die?"

Stunned, Avelina stopped what she was doing to look at him.

What sort of question is this? Isn’t it a common reaction to cry when a loved one dies? She was confused.

"Why do you ask such a thing?" she queried.

"I have never cried for anyone before, not even for my mother. I didn’t cry when my wife and son died, either. I wanted to, but I couldn’t. Everyone found it strange, and for that, they suspected me even more," Draven explained, meeting her gaze. "So, I am wondering if it’s a general thing or perhaps there are some people out there in my sort of predicament."

Avelina stared at him, her mouth slightly agape in dumbstruck. "It is...not weird that they suspected you." She shook her head. "You’re pretty strange in that aspect."

She wrapped his white shirt around the wound and knotted it.

Draven continued, "I have never cried since I was a little boy. I don’t know what it’s like, and I feel very strange when I see people cry. It makes me wonder why I can’t do it. I may feel deeply pained, but I still won’t be able to cry." He let out a soft sigh.

"I don’t know why you can’t, but it’s not a big deal. It’s not like it’s your fault." Avelina got up and sat back on the seat.

Draven gazed at her for a few moments and glanced at his wound. He was impressed to see that it was no longer bleeding as profusely as before.

"Thank you," he showed his gratitude.

Avelina half-smiled at him.

I should be the one saying thank you...She sighed deeply.