A Game Of Chess With A Vampire
Chapter 376: You Seem...Different

Chapter 376: You Seem...Different

Valentine threw his head back and laughed. "I just need to eat properly and drink lots of blood. I will be perfectly fine in no time."

Draven turned his head to stare at him. A bit hesitant, he lifted his hand and gently ruffled Valentine’s hair, half smiling in the process. "That will be...nice."

Valentine blinked, raising his eyes to stare at him. Never before had Draven sat so close to him, talk of even patting his head on nor ruffling his hair. Was something the issue? He can’t tell what it was, but he’d smelt some kind of change in him—something quite unfamiliar.

"Draven...you seem...different?"

Draven was silent, Just gazing at him. "Different?"

"Mhm hm." Valentine nodded. "You seem a bit more...expressive and less emotionless, I’m not sure."

Draven retracted his head and crossed his legs, resting his back against the sofa. "I suppose so. I can feel the change too."

"What is it about? Why have you suddenly changed?" Valentine was genuinely curious. "Also." He gasped. "I know I wasn’t hallucinating when I saw you cry. What happened?"

Draven shrugged. "I...don’t really know. I can’t seem to do it again."

"Huh?" Valentine’s expression fell into confusion. "What do you mean you can’t do it again?"

Draven began to stroke his jaw, his face crumpled in deep thinking. "Honestly, I don’t understand what is going on with me. I started to cry all of a sudden and now when I tried it again to know if that curse was finally broken, I couldn’t. I even thought of my mother, absolutely nothing happened."

Valentine chuckled softly. "You call it a curse?"

"Yes." Draven nodded. "That is what it feels like. When something out of the ordinary happens to you with no way to break it no matter how hard you try, it’s definitely a curse."

Valentine grabbed his chin and rocked from his left to his right as though in thought. He nodded, concurring with him. "You do have a point."

Draven folded his arms. "I can feel love..."

"Huh?" Valentine quickly whipped his head to glance at him. "You can do what? Love? You can—"

"Yes." Draven nodded. "I love my wife, I really do love her. It’s a great feeling, but it sort of hurts sometimes."

With a dropped jaw, Valentine stared, at a loss for words. He blinked and slowly averted his gaze, a smile evident on his face. "So it did work out in the end. Olive was right after all."

"You turned sister-in law, right?" He asked.

Draven gave a nod. "I did. I had no 9thee choice."

Valentine further inquired, "Is she okay with it?"

"She is." Draven’s lips curled into a smile.

"What about father?" Valentine inquired, his voice suddenly sounding very serious. "What will you do about him? What will happen when he finds out that you’ve turned into a human?"

"I don’t really know." Draven’s smile vanished.

"I am not sure what he will do to me, but until then, I won’t worry about it. When it does occur, I will figure something out. Worse, I’ll take my wife and leave." He shrugged, a bit bothered.

"Oh...?" Valentine nodded with an awkward smile and averted his gaze. If such were to happen and Draven was to leave, it would be just him...all alone. No one he could call a brother or someone who would care for him as Draven does.

He doesn’t really trust Lumian, nor has he forgiven him. There was still Olive, so that was something he could hold on to.

"Valentine, are you...okay?" Draven was surprisingly able to detect the change in his expression.

Valentine frantically nodded his head, forcing a smile. "Yes, of course. I’m perfectly fine."

"What’s wrong?" Draven asked, tilting his head.

"Nothing." Valentine cackled, not wanting to turn the atmosphere into some kind of cynical scene.

Draven sat gazing at him. He let out a soft breath and averted his gaze.

"You know, when I leave, if you ever desire to go with me and Avelina, you can always tag along, I suppose. I don’t mind at all."

"Huh?" Valentine was a bit taken aback. "R...really?"

Draven responded, "Yes. You wouldn’t be safe here anyway. Father might actually kill you someday. I heard you got into trouble again? What happened this time around? Did you get too—"

"It’s nothing." Valentine frowned, averting his gaze. "Lumian just won’t shut up!"

Draven sighed, throwing his head back.

"You should learn to control your emotions a little bit, Val. It will do you good. The time will come when you can pay father back for everything he’s done to you. You will get closure and the need to live your life much better and happier."

Valentine stared at his fingers and began to fidget with them.

"Listen," Draven began. "You asked me last time if I cared for you and if I would be alright if you ever died... Well, no I won’t." He shook his head. "I care a lot for you, you’re my little brother after all and supposedly the only one that came for me during those times, so yes, I do. I would never want to see you die."

"I will be very sad if you ever did. But I would make whoever hurts you pay...even if it’s father. I will protect you as much as I can, but I’d like you to help yourself too and not rely completely on me. I’m not sure if I will always be there. However, if you ever need my help with anything, you can always come to me."

He turned to face Valentine, raising his pinky, "I promise not to be as cold as I used to be, at least, not to you."

Valentine lowered his eyes to his pinky and shifted his gaze back to his serious expression.

He slowly interlocked his finger with Draven’s, seeming a bit confused and scared. "I’m I...dreaming? I-is this some kind of hallucination and nightmare?"

Draven raised his brow at him. "What do you mean? That I can’t change?"