The Royal Revenge
Chapter 182: The Vial’s Origin

Chapter 182: The Vial’s Origin

Henry led the vampire into the drawing room of the rundown manor. Rui whistled as the two of them walked down the hallways, noticing every nook and cranny that was left unattended for the longest of times.

"How long have you neglected this place, old man?" the vampire asked Henry. "It seems to me that this place wasn’t even lived at ever. Look at all the damages!"

Henry opened the door of the drawing room and let the vampire inside.

"Aside from errands into the shadiest parts of the kingdom, I was mostly the only one who did all the chores in the manor," the old attendant explained. "One man isn’t enough to repair everything, especially when they just don’t stop getting damaged."

"You mean especially because your master is a cursed bastard?" Rui sneered.

Henry’s eyes turned into angry slits, and he stared at the vampire like he could actually kill Rui. The vampire raised his hands in mock defeat.

"Whoa, don’t look at me like that," Rui said, "I am still going to help you with that thing you needed identification, of course with a price, ok?"

The old man raised a brow and then folded his arms together.

Rui groaned in exasperation and then added, "Fine, I apologize for ridiculing your beloved master. That was just a joke, alright? Nothing too serious."

"The man you have mocked is now the Western Kingdom’s king," Henry reminded the vampire. "You better watch your mouth or else have your tongue cut off of it."

Rui knew Henry’s threat was not a cause for alarm, knowing that he was stronger compared to the human. Even with an affinity that was closely tied to tinkering and potions making, Rui was still stronger than the average human – which was inherent even in magicless vampires.

"Fine, I won’t be doing it again," Rui promised.

"I don’t hear sincerity in that tone of yours," Henry replied, "But anyways, I know I couldn’t ask any sincerity from someone who knows a lot since he is established and has connections in the black market."

Rui let out a thunderous laugh, and although he hated being loud for it could get him traced, he just couldn’t help it at all.

"Haa... that was a good laugh, it surely was," he said as he wiped an imaginary tear from the corners of his eyes. "Now then, what was that thing you wanted me to take a look at?"

Henry was reminded of the reason why Rui was in the manor in the first place. The old man produced a tiny box where he had stored the item, and then handed it over to Rui.

The vampire gingerly accepted the box. He sniffed it at first, thinking that it could be something he could work out just by the smell. Unfortunately, his nose wouldn’t be enough to decide what it was.

With a light hand, Rui reached for the box’s cover and gently lifted it up. The box opened as the cover was removed, and Rui witnessed what looked like a pretty cheap looking glass.

"This doesn’t look like much," he hummed.

"The Queen Elysianne believes it is connected to the fire," Henry reminded him. "Perhaps we are missing something about it if you think that it is just nothing."

"I never said it was nothing, Henry," the vampire clicked his tongue, "Don’t you believe in me that I can find out what this is and where it came from?"

Henry paused for a moment to think of his answer and then replied after a few seconds, "Knowing your cunning persona, I have my reservations, but you are the one of the few I know who could do just about anything. I will give you the benefit of the doubt."

Rui scoffed and then turned towards the half destroyed couch in the drawing room.

There was a table in the middle and the vampire blew dust off of the surface. He placed the glass vial down with meticulous hands, and then proceeded to rummage with the small satchel he brought with him.

One by one the vampire laid out his paraphernalia. A few dried leaves and some stones. Candles and matchsticks, a vial containing equally questionable liquid substances.

Henry had never seen Rui work with his tools before, since he only met the vampire only after his requests were finished. Henry stared at the display in front of him and hummed in contemplation.

"Well don’t just stand there, silly old man," Rui said as he pat the adjacent couch’s armrest, "Sit down, front row, and witness magic transpire right in front of your eyes."

"I am no child for you to speak to me like that, Rui," the old man reminded.

Rui was arranging his things and then raised his head to gaze at Henry’s expression. He thought of something to rebut the old man, but then settled for the obvious reason.

"I can talk to you like a child since I am about forty seven years old - but that was already a hundred years ago," Rui said, his voice a bit sarcastic. "If I see you as a child, blame it on vampire genetics, Henry."

The old man rolled his eyes and turned towards the table. Rui had placed a lot of unrecognizable things around the broken glass vial. He even drew some ancient symbols over the accumulated dust that he couldn’t blow off.

"If you can stand a bit of magical light, you can look directly, but if you can’t then I suggest you look away," Rui cautioned the old man.

Henry crossed his arms and said, "I am well acquainted with magic, Rui. I am getting tired of you telling me things like this when you know I can handle it."

"Ha ha ha," the vampire laughed, "I am just messing with you, old but young man."

Right then, Rui put his hands together, meshing his fingers and cracking them as he pushed them forward. When he was done, the vampire started to concentrate on the object in front of him.

Henry watched as the vampire did his magic. He knew Rui was powerful in his own way, but he had never seen the vampire work before. What was his real magic anyways? What is he capable of doing with the mana inside of him?

The old man could only guess.

But at least this time around, he was going to witness it first hand.

Rui hovered his hands over the broken vial, and then started to hum in a tune Henry couldn’t really understand. It wasn’t actually a song or something.

The old man held his breath for a long while, before he realized he wasn’t even taking in air. His eyes were fixated at the vampire’s magic slowly transpiring in front of him.

The dust on the table started to swirl, but what perplexed Henry was the fact that the other lighter materials Rui had arranged on the table did not even budge. Clearly there was air that circulated around the broken vial.

It was fascinating.

"Show me the vial’s origins," Rui whispered underneath his breath as he poured a shimmering liquid over the broken vial.

The vampire’s voice had been too low that even Henry who was just an arm’s length away wasn’t able to hear him say a word. The old man could only see his mouth twitch, close and open and such. His eyes were tightly closed too, but then they suddenly burst open.

A flash of purplish light expanded from the table, engulfing the entire room. It’s force was so strong that even the old furniture and fixtures in the room were toppled down. The heavy curtains became ruffled, and a slight ray of sunshine entered the room.

It was a good thing that Rui’s eyes were closed, since that would potentially be a problem. They didn’t mind flashing lights from magic, but the sun was a whole other thing.

"What was that?" Henry whispered.

"Don’t be distracted, Henry," Rui called out to him, "Look at this."

The old attendant turned back towards Rui’s direction. He saw the vampire point out to the table - the symbols he drew had already vanished! The items Rui arranged had moved to the corners of the table as well, but what astonished Henry was the fact that there was something else on the table too.

"What are those new symbols supposed to mean?" Henry asked as he pointed out to the new drawings that he didn’t see Rui trace on the table a while ago.

The vampire’s face turned grim and he leaned back on the tattered sofa, rubbing his temples at what he just discovered.

"What is that, Rui? Don’t do that, its making me nervous already," Henry said.

His eyes darted back and forth from the vampire and the table, waiting for Rui to explain what came out of his magic spell. The vampire opened his mouth and Henry heard something that spelled danger.

"The vial came from the East, carried by a traitor to bring down the Western Kingdom," Rui said.