NAPE - 111

Side Story 22

“You...”

Doyoon finally managed to speak, but Bibi turned her head at a groan from one side. Lau Yuan was lying on the floor, whimpering. Realization dawned on her belatedly. This was not the time for reunion joy.

“Doyoon, this isn’t the time! Please save that child!”

“Child?”

“It’s Lau Yuan. He got hurt helping me here. He was shot. I gave him some blood, but... I don’t know if he’ll live.”

Doyoon’s eyebrow twitched at her last words.

“You gave him your blood?”

“Yes! Please save him, you have to save him! And don’t kill the hounds!”

Doyoon stared intently at Bibi. She was desperate, but she didn’t know why he was just standing there, so she grabbed his arm and shook it, pleading.

With a complex expression, he lifted Lau Yuan, who was sprawled on the floor. The boy, small to begin with, looked like a doll in Doyoon’s arms. Doyoon casually scanned the boy with indifferent eyes.

“He sustained a critical injury, unfortunately, in the organ area, but if he drank your blood, he won’t die. His bones are broken. It’s best to set them now. We don’t want them to heal incorrectly.”

He whistled and handed the boy over to a Volpithon member.

“Take him and treat him. Don’t kill the hounds downstairs.”

At his command, the vampire bowed and withdrew. Bibi wondered who these vampires Doyoon was commanding were, but there was something else more important.

“Doyoon, it’s not Lord Schauer.”

“Hm?”

“The man Doyoon was stepping on is the general manager here. The trainer seems to have hired him. But a few days ago, he said he saw another person’s face during a video call. It must be the factory owner. It’s not Lord Schauer, right?”

That was the crucial clue confirming Doyoon’s suspicion. Bibi was quite surprised at how accurately she had found out, when her phone rang with a loud noise. It was an alarm bell for an emergency. It had to be important business. Doyoon closed his eyes tightly, like someone with a throbbing headache, and answered the phone.

“Yes, Isabella.”

- You’re one step too late.

A soft yet cold voice came from the other end of the line.

“...Yes?”

- I’m talking about Lord Schauer.

“......”

- The Elder Council found him first. And they immediately indicted him. The charge is causing a societal crisis due to leaking secrets. There’s a witness. It’s clearly a grave crime that warrants immediate execution without trial.

While Doyoon had been searching for Bibi, putting everything else aside, the advantage had shifted to the other side.

________________________________________

After being in the hot and humid jungles of Southeast Asia, coming to a luxurious hotel in central London was unbelievably comfortable.

Bibi filled a large bathtub with cold water and floated like an otter. She ate her fill of various fruits and desserts placed on the bathtub rim and swallowed blood packs and iron supplements to her heart’s content.

The wound on her shoulder had healed long ago, as if it had been washed away. The stark contrast between her current environment and the hound factory made it feel unreal. She finally understood why “staycations” were popular among humans.

Doyoon must be resting well too, right...?

Thinking of him, a thirst arose, and a heaviness settled in her chest. Bibi submerged herself in the water, recalling the argument they had on the plane. The reason why they were now staying in separate rooms.

“There’s no choice. We have to discard him.”

Inside the private jet heading to London, Bibi, without even having time to drink Doyoon’s blood, first asked about Lord Schauer’s well-being. Doyoon shook his head, looking dejected.

“What are you talking about?”

“When Lord Schauer was in our hands, we could have covered it up by destroying the evidence, but if he’s gone to the Elder Council... it’s already a visible issue. If we mess up, it could look like we’re protecting our own. If that happens, they’ll question your qualifications.”

“My qualifications?”

“Yes. If the worst-case scenario happens and vampires reject you... if you lose your authority as an enforcer because of that, they’ll emphasize your rebellious family background and try to eliminate you.”

Bibi gulped. Her fate was teetering on a target board. One wrong move, and she would lose the family name and legacy she had barely reclaimed.

“Bibi, let’s give up on Lord Schauer. That’s all we can do.”

Doyoon patted her shoulder. Bibi looked up at his face, which was like that of a mathematician who had quickly finished a calculation. Lord Schauer was... part of her legacy. He was a vampire who remembered her parents.

“No, we know, don’t we? That Lord Schauer was kidnapped, that the factory owner there is someone else. The one who secretly cultivated the seeds and processed them into drugs was someone else too, right? What’s the problem?”

Namwon, unable to watch any longer, asked, spitting.

“What the Elder Council is taking issue with right now isn’t the hound factory or the person who processed it. It’s the leakage of the Corpse Flower seeds and cultivation method. That’s what they’re making an issue of. They’re demanding accountability for betraying the master and carelessly leaking secrets. The excuse of being threatened won’t work.”

“......”

“According to what I hear, they plan to investigate the detailed circumstances through the Court of Interrogation (a place for interrogating criminals)... That’s not a good sign. There’s a possibility that Bibi could be implicated depending on Lord Schauer’s answers.”

“Isn’t there a good solution?”

“It’s not a good solution, but there’s one that’s not bad.”

“What is it?”

“What is it?”

Bibi and Namwon looked at Doyoon with desperate hope.

“Bibi, attending the Court of Interrogation and personally executing Lord Schauer as an enforcer.”

“...What did you say?”

“It would be a very good example.”

“An example?”

Bibi doubted her ears.

“It’s an opportunity to engrave the image that the enforcer is a cold, heartless individual. For us, it’s not a loss. On the contrary, it looks clean, like the enforcer has returned and is tidying up the situation.”

Doyoon, smiling with sparkling eyes, seemed unfamiliar for the first time. His attitude of taking what was needed and ruthlessly discarding anything that was in the way was strange. Bibi unconsciously stiffened.

“Why are you scared?”

His finger gently touched her cheek.

“Don’t worry. I’ll protect you to the very end. Even if you betray me.”

His whispered voice was incredibly sweet. Bibi stared blankly at the smooth nape of his neck before managing to lift her gaze and look directly into his dark eyes.

“Doyoon, I don’t just want to live well for myself. Let’s save Lord Schauer.”

“I have no reason to place that vampire in your hands. No matter how I think about it.”

“Please. That person means to me...”

“Bibi. The vampire world runs on politics. More intensely than humans.”

He stopped smiling and coldly stood up. He took a wine glass from a flight attendant and lightly cut his wrist with a knife. Red blood, like sansu fruit, seductively filled the glass. Bibi’s red eyes gleamed involuntarily, smelling the sweet blood.

“You must eliminate him yourself.”

Doyoon held out the glass. Bibi shook her head.

“No. I can’t do that.”

“You have to, even if you don’t want to. Be ruthless.”

“How can you say something like that?”

“Of course, I regret it. But no matter how I think about it, that’s the best option. If necessary, I can even kill that little brat you brought.”

Doyoon said, glancing at Lau Yuan, who was sleeping in the corner. Namwon clicked his tongue disapprovingly.

“He’s...”

“...If you become strong, if you stand in a slightly stronger position in this dirty world, it’s fine if you resent me.”

For the first time in a while, Bibi felt a strong sense of defiance towards Doyoon. She looked directly into the eyes of the executioner who cut and eliminated everything cleanly. He had no mercy for the innocent. It’s strange, he wasn’t like this when I met him as a hunter...

He was kind in his own way, and... wasn’t he warm? Bibi was confused. She had no idea what kind of person the man in front of her truly was now. One thing was clear, however: in vampire society, he was terrifyingly ruthless. He was a person who ruthlessly removed obstacles and acted solely based on benefit.

“I’m different from Doyoon. I won’t... do it that way. I’ll protect what needs to be protected. Even if I’m alone.”

For the first time, Bibi took a different stance from him. She hadn’t protected anything before, but she wanted to do her best now.

Doyoon’s eyes widened in surprise, and he raised an eyebrow.

“You’ll see that I’m right, Bibi.”

His tone exuded confidence that she would eventually follow his words. Bibi was incredibly confused and couldn’t understand Doyoon’s methods. She was sure there had to be a way to save Lord Schauer, but he wanted him dead for the sake of benefit.

Upon disembarking from the plane, Bibi chose a different path from Doyoon for the first time. She refused his suggestion to go to Hyde Park and simply came to the hotel. It was a good thing she had gotten a card made in Korea. She never thought she’d have to spend money alone. Namwon making a card in her name, supposedly to teach her about finances, was a stroke of genius.

After finishing her bath, Bibi sighed heavily and wandered around the hotel. No matter how much she thought, a suitable way to save Lord Schauer didn’t come to mind. All she could think of was infiltrating the place where he was detained and secretly extracting him.

However... Bibi didn’t know Lord Schauer’s location, and she doubted if she could infiltrate a heavily guarded place alone. She heard the guards there were on a completely different level from the weak ones at the hound factory.