A Game Of Chess With A Vampire
Chapter 351: Aren’t I Generous?

Chapter 351: Aren’t I Generous?

Draven stepped forward to leave the room, but he came to a stop once his leg was grabbed by a pair of arms. He lowered his head, glancing at Annette, who was firmly holding him.

Annette lifted her head to look at him. "Y-you’re the one, right? The man who saved my daughter?"

Drops of tears fell from her eyes, dropping onto the floor. "She told me about you, and I wanted to help her...to help her come back to you, but I couldn’t. I had no chance to do so."

She let go of him, cupping her hands to her chest in a pleading manner. "Please save my daughter, don’t let her die. I can’t lose her again. Save her from her father, or else he could possibly kill her. I beg of you."

Valentine shifted his attention to Draven, wondering what he would do and how he might possibly react.

Draven gazed at her, and a soft breath fled his nose. He turned around, squatting down to be the same height as Annette. He gently took her hands, covering them with his own.

"I would burn the whole world for her," was all he said to Annette before standing up.

He left the house with Valentine, Olive, and Lucy. And Annette could only stare with no words to utter.

"Draven." Valentine stopped him before he could fly off.

Draven looked at him. "What is it?"

"Can you hold my hand?" Valentine asked, suddenly breathing heavily. He was out of breath.

Draven was perplexed. "Why?"

Valentine shook his head. "Nothing really, just please do."

Draven furrowed his brows, looking at his suddenly pale-white face. He could not understand what had suddenly gone wrong with Valentine. He looked very alright a few minutes ago, but now he looked all discolored and sickly, as though he were ill.

But having no time to ponder or ask questions, Draven grabbed hold of his hand and flew up into midair with a powerful beat of his wings.

"Direction?" He glanced at Lucy, who was in Olive’s arms.

"T-that way." Lucy pointed to their left.

Without hesitation, Draven flew off, heading off in that direction while tightly securing Valentine’s hand. It appeared that the more they flew, the sicker Valentine looked. His flapping was weak, making it seem like he was losing his strength.

Draven didn’t notice due to his focus being ahead of them, but Olive, who was flying beside them, could tell. His face crumpled in worry.

He wished he could help, but considering that Lucy was in his arms, he had no way to do so.

——

Avelina knelt on the floor, her fearful gaze fixed on the round tub filled with cold water. Her heart was pounding within her, and she felt like she could faint anytime soon from how nauseous she was feeling.

Her arms were tied firmly to her back, giving her no chance to free herself or run.

From a dark corner of the small local church, Mr. Hamilton walked out, wearing white gloves. He began to approach Avelina, a soft smile that she’d never seen on him before evident on his face.

"F-father..." Avelina moved, wanting to crawl away from him. "Please don’t do this to me. I beg of you."

Mr. Hamilton stood next to her in front of the wooden tub. He looked at her and squatted down.

"You are begging me?" He gripped her chin, tilting her head to have her look at him. "Why? Didn’t you know what the consequences would be when you ran away?"

Avelina swallowed hard, her eyes flickering in fear. "I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. I won’t make such a mistake again, please forgive me this one time. I won’t make the same mistake twice," she begged with utmost sincerity.

Mr. Hamilton stared into her hazel eyes and sadly shook his head, as though pitying her. He said, "It’s a bit too late for that now, dear."

"And really, your words are untrue. If you were given a chance, I know you would run back to that creature, the one who scent-marked you. You are in love, it is as clear as day in your eyes."

He clicked his tongue, annoyed. "What an abomination! As rebellious as you were, I dared not think you would go as far as loving such a vile creature and even allowing him to mark you. Do you know what you’ve done? To your family and yourself?"

Avelina could not utter a word. She knew her father would be furious, but she never thought it would be to this extent. Didn’t this man love her a bit? She was his daughter, so why was he treating her in such a cruel way?

A tear slipped from her eyes.

Mr. Hamilton pulled a sharp knife out of the pocket of his pants. He glanced at Avelina, asking, "Do you know what I’m going to do with this?"

Avelina shook her head at him, genuinely clueless. Was he going to kill her? He wouldn’t go that far, right?

Mr. Hamilton chuckled coldly. "I’m going to use this and rid you of that mark on your neck."

"What?!" Avelina exclaimed, stunned and confused. "W-what do you mean?"

"You heard me." Mr. Hamilton glanced at her, smirking. "I’m going to scrape that mark off your neck and rid you of it. That will be the first step to purifying you again."

"But..." he tested the sharpness of the knife, accidentally slitting his own finger. "It will be as painful as you can ever imagine. You would feel like you are in hell." He stepped towards the table in the room and dipped the knife into a bowl full of water—holy water, to be specific.

"I’ve done this before, my dear daughter, so don’t worry. It may hurt, but you’ll be just fine. At least, you would be sure to make it to heaven rather than hell. Aren’t I generous?" He spared her a glance. "I am looking out for you. I don’t want you to burn."