53

He tilted the glass of blood to his lips, finished it all, and took an iron supplement. Watching him, Isabel took out another of the musty-smelling cigarettes she had smoked earlier from her golden case and offered it to him.

“Smoke. It helps when you’re extremely thirsty.”

“Even though I took an iron supplement….”

“When you have a specific craving, nothing else will satisfy it.”

Doyoon hesitated, then took the cigarette, put it in his mouth, and lit it. His eyelids drooped slightly, languidly. The flickering candlelight painted his face in a dreamy crimson hue. The smoke that escaped his red lips billowed for a moment as if alive before dissipating.

Bibi felt curious. She hadn’t been interested when Isabel smoked, but seeing Doyoon smoke made her want to ask him about it. Without realizing it, she sniffed, bringing her nose closer to the smoke.

“Hmm?”

Doyoon, who had been staring at the hazy air, looked down at Bibi as she leaned towards him.

“Shall we go to bed now?”

He asked with a voice that had become even more sultry. The hand that wasn’t holding the cigarette pulled Bibi’s waist. A slight gasp escaped her lips at the firm touch. Heat bloomed beneath her feet. Bibi was conscious of the others sitting in front of them. She cleared her throat and gently pushed away Doyoon, who was clinging to her.

“It’s late. It’s time for vampires to go into their coffins.”

Richard, smiling at Bibi’s troubled expression, rose from his seat. Isabel also smiled, her lips curving upwards, and drew Doyoon’s gaze, which was fixed on Bibi.

“You’ve both had wine, so it would be best if you stayed here tonight. Doyoon, your room is prepared separately. River will show you.”

“Bibi, there’s something I want to show you. Come this way.”

Leaving the banquet hall, Doyoon and Bibi were naturally separated by River and Isabel and walked in different directions. Just as Doyoon was about to say something, Isabel, with a cheerful gait, grabbed Bibi’s wrist and ascended the stairs. The place she took her to was one of the family rooms on the third floor. She turned the oak doorknob, and the scent of incense wafted out.

“This was Doyoon’s old room. There are childhood photos too. Would you like to see them?”

Bibi nodded and followed Isabel into the room. The spacious room was ordinary, with a slightly old-fashioned bed, frames, and sofa, but nothing particularly unusual. It was just a noble’s room.

“Here are the photos. Take a look.”

Isabel took out an old album from the bookshelf. Bibi quickly flipped through it and was slightly disappointed. Doyoon was in the pictures, but… it was ambiguous. The photos from his youth onwards were in color, but the ones from his childhood were not photos but drawings. Ah, to be precise, they were drawings that had been photographed and preserved.

“There were no cameras back then. So Richard drew them. The drawings are kept in the basement.”

Isabel looked quite regretful. Childhood was a fleeting time even for vampires. Those born before the invention of the camera had few ways to preserve their early years.

“What was Doyoon like as a child?”

“He was a very fickle child. Very moody. And very lazy.”

Isabel’s lips curved into a gentle smile.

“More than anything, he was a picky eater, which gave us quite a hard time. He seems to be the same even now, though. Ah, that cabinet was Doyoon’s treasure chest. He would put his precious things in there, and sometimes hide dead things too. In the summer, it would occasionally smell rotten. It was difficult because there were no refrigerators back then, but the basement was cool, so…”

What were the ‘dead things’? Bibi looked at the large cabinet, big enough for a person to fit inside, and felt tired. She must have tensed up and then relaxed without realizing it. Yawns escaped her one after another.

“I want to go to bed now too.”

“Okay. Let’s sleep together in my room. Don’t see Doyoon anymore tonight.”

Isabel linked her arm with Bibi’s. The two walked towards the far end of the hallway, where there wasn’t a single light. Moonlight streaming through the window decorated the hallway floor in a lattice pattern. Bibi suddenly became curious about something.

“Why are you stopping Doyoon and me from being together?”

She looked up at Isabel and asked innocently.

“I just think it would be better if you slept separately tonight.”

Isabel smiled. The way her eyes crinkled was exactly like Doyoon’s.

“Why?”

“I’m Isabel, but I’m also the woman who gave birth to him. So I can’t let him do something he doesn’t want to do.”

“What doesn’t Doyoon want?”

“To drink your blood.”

Bibi blinked. Frustration and disappointment washed over her chest.

“Only my blood?”

“It seems so.”

“...Doyoon told me… he wanted us to be in a relationship where we drank each other’s blood.”

“That must be right. His eyes were fixed on your neck the entire meal.”

Usually, the thought of someone wanting to eat me would send shivers down my spine, but Bibi felt a small thrill, something akin to joy.

Bibi obediently followed Isabel to her bedroom. Like outside, the unlit bedroom was similar to the dark bottom of the deep sea. Gaunt tree branches, like witches’ hands, added an eerie aura from outside the window.

As Bibi got into bed, she looked around. Richard wasn’t visible. She had heard that Isabel and Richard were a couple. Had she perhaps taken his place? Or maybe he had really gone into a coffin. But there was no coffin visible anywhere in this bedroom.

“Richard is probably drawing in the basement,” Isabel whispered from beside her. Bibi turned to look at Isabel. Her eyes were open. In the darkness, her gray eyes shone clearly.

Vampires were more adept at seeing through darkness than light. Thanks to this characteristic, the two ended up looking more closely at each other in the dark bedroom than they had in the drawing-room or hallway. Even into their inner thoughts.

Come to think of it, a long, long time ago, she had stared at someone like this in the darkness, not Isabel but another woman. At that time, the trainer… wasn’t there, but she could feel him. That he was nearby.

“Isabel. I want to know about Doyoon.”

This restless feeling she had towards Doyoon, this hunger for him, was it truly different from when she served him as her master? Bibi needed to know what kind of person he was. She needed to know Kwon Doyoon himself. She needed to list one by one the differences between the feelings she had when serving him and the feelings she had now.

But since coming to London, she couldn’t figure Doyoon out. There were often times when he felt like a complete stranger, not a hunter. The reason for this… might be because Doyoon was a vampire here. He must be hiding his true identity next to her and trying to act like a human.

“Then you should come to the charity ball too. Of course, Doyoon will dislike you being there.”

“Why would he dislike it?”

“Because you’ll find out about him.”

“…….”

“If you want, I can take you.”

Isabel whispered with a smile. Bibi hesitated, then made a big decision.

“Okay. Take me.”

“We could be good friends.”

“What do friends do?”

“We hang out together. Share secrets and support each other.”

That didn’t sound bad. For her, who had been a hunting dog, having a friend was better than chewing and swallowing a whole human. It was something to see in her long life. Cold fingers touched her cheek. Isabel slowly stroked Bibi’s face.

“Bibi… my dear. You are so weak.”

“Baby? No. I’m good at hunting. I’m strong too.”

“I mean you’re like a young fawn, innocent and knowing nothing.”

Bibi didn’t reply to Isabel’s words. She shook her head slightly, brushed off Isabel’s hand, and lay back down, looking at the ceiling again.

The bedroom was quiet. What were the numerous vampires living in this castle doing right now? Were they perhaps going into Doyoon’s bedroom and trying to seduce him? Bibi widened her eyes and imagined him sucking someone else’s blood. A feeling of displeasure floated around like a dark cloud.

But that was only for a moment; her eyelids grew heavy as if she had taken a sleeping pill. Bibi blinked.

“Be careful if you go into the forest.”

As she slowly lost consciousness to the terrifyingly approaching sleepiness, Isabel whispered softly.

“There are ghosts living there. Very fierce ones.”

Thump, thump.

The branches outside kept tapping against the window like ghosts. Listening to the eerie wind sound, Bibi fell asleep instantly.