Monster

Carleone, 1873. The Froste family's mansion.

Solfrid Bradforde Froste stood by his chair, looking out over the city from the window ledge. As the father of the Froste family, he had to keep an image. Not only to others, but also to himself. However, the situation at hand didn't help him one bit.

Today, he was meeting his son, nicknamed the monster of the Froste family—a prodigy that was born out of nowhere. He had a sickness—or a gift—that granted him seemingly infinite mana.

Solfrid walked through the mansion he was in, seeing the different maids and servants, and while they feared him, he also saw pity in their eyes. Even a father like him was scared of his own son.

He still remembered that cold winter's day. He had just returned from a hard-fought battle, eager to see his wife. But when he opened the door to her chambers, he found an infant—his son—laughing happily on the floor, surrounded by the guts and viscera of his mother and her servants.

The white-bearded man opened the door to see his son, Gilbert.

Gilbert's eyes slowly turned to his father, and he didn't wait before speaking. "Solfrid. You dare to make me wait? You know I have more important matters to attend to."

Solfrid let out a sigh and gestured to the table and chairs the servants had set up. "Let's sit down first."

Gilbert stood there and then moved closer to him, looking up at his father's face. "Why don't you sit down?"

Solfrid closed his eyes. Without a word, he sat down and started pouring tea into both cups. Gilbert stood there, looking at the city from above, then walked slowly and sat in his seat. Then he looked at the cup, and it started floating to him with such precision that nothing dropped.

The cup settled into his left hand as if it had always been there, and he took a delicate sip.

Solfrid's throat was full, but he let out a sigh and said, "Why did you kill the Duke of Nerton?"

Gilbert took his time. No one had dared to ask that, but at the meeting with the duke, he didn't wait a second before cutting his head off clean.

Putting the cup down, Gilbert smiled. "He was trying to become a vampire; isn't that enough of a reason? A man who's in conspiracies with the undead tries to trick me? That would've been a joke if it were on someone else."

A blanket of grey clouds smothered the sky, casting a somber light on the city below. I sat with Eden at a table in the corner of the tavern and looked at her.

"He took over Father's powers in that way." She continued explaining.

I listened closely; the more I listened, the more I understood Conall. He had lived his entire life as a prisoner, blind to the world just beyond his cage. However, I was still conflicted. There had to be another way.

Eden noticed my look, then she said, her tone low, "Taro, I know that you want to go away from all this trouble; however..." She looked around, gathering her thoughts. "I am alone; nobody will help me. I want you to work with me for one last thing."

"What is it?"

"I need to kill Conall." Eden answered.

I stood there for a minute; I didn't expect this from her. "Why? Isn't he your brother?"

Eden took a sigh, then started to explain, "Have you ever wondered why a family as powerful as ours had only one maid and one magical researcher? They were the only ones Father couldn't easily dispose of. Those are the only ones who had any power to go against Father at the time."

Thinking about it now, it's weird. So I let Eden continue.

"I was born first; however, since I was a girl, Father couldn't use the ritual on me. So he kept me, and then the moment Conall was born, I saw Father killing Mother in an instant..." Eden stopped speaking, memories coming back to her.

She remembered walking in the night, hearing a scream. Slowly got up from her bed and moved towards her mother's room.

And she opened it slowly to find her father's laughter echoing throughout the whole room as he held Conall. Her mother was bleeding everywhere.

"Conall was born in the blood of our mother," she continued.

I looked at her, wanting to say something to comfort her, but I just stayed silent. She already fought this battle with herself; I am not in a position to force myself to help.

Eden then looked at me again. "While yes, Father was not a good person. He was rational with power, knowing how to hide it from the other families. I am afraid of Conall because he isn't like our father. He doesn't know how to live in the outside world. He is a monster who will destroy anything that opposes him, sacrificing anyone to win.

"Father didn't keep anyone in the mansion because all 5 families were fighting each other in secret; they wanted to make one family rule the whole night creature nation. And with Conall like this, I think he will start a war in those circles, and if he does, there will be millions of innocent night creatures suffering. I know that you can't trust my speculation, but I know my brother; he's not ready to go into society. I knew it from the moment I saw him sitting on Father's throne..."

I took my time to digest the information Eden gave me. I guess she might be right; she cares about the night creatures' well-being. However, even if her father were still here, wouldn't a war come by anyway?

She's just trying to stop the inevitable; I am not sure what to say. Eden means a lot to me, but I don't want to say no. That's selfish, yes, but also. She believes in herself; she helped me so many times.

The world around us slowed; I heard people around the other tables talk. I coughed and then replied, "Yeah, I will help you. However, how can we do it? The two of us can't go against Conall just like this."

A bright, genuine smile flashed across her face before she caught herself, quickly turning her head away. "Ahem. Okay, it might be dangerous, but..." She turned her head to me. "What if we make anonymous reports to the Froste family? They have Gilbert, one of the strongest sages in the whole kingdom; we might be in danger if they were to investigate us. But it's worth a try."

I nodded. "The Froste family..."

I jumped a bit as I felt a hand go over my shoulder. I looked around instantly to see Roman, who had a big smile on his face. "Hello there, Taro! I thought you went off? Anyway, who's this lady here?"

To not be suspicious, I replied instantly, "She's a friend."

Eden took the initiative and introduced herself: "It's a pleasure; my name is Eden."

Roman looked at Eden for a bit, with a smile on his face. "Eden, that's a beautiful name you have. Call me Roman."

Eden gave a friendly nod, then stood up. "Taro, we can continue later. It's too late now; it was good to see you again."

"Yeah." I smiled back.

However, Roman didn't wait. "Why the rush? You can stay for dinner today."

"No need to; I already ate before coming here." She said, her tone becoming more annoyed.

"Oh, if that's true, then you're right. I guess our dinner won't satisfy you anyway, since we don't serve blood." Roman said, laughing a bit.

My heart skipped a beat. Eden tensed, but Roman stayed relaxed, looking at her and asking, "But I am sure we won't disappoint you. So I am asking again, will you stay for dinner tonight?"

Eden opened her hand, ready to attack; however, she knew that with people around, a mage or a knight wouldn't dare to pick a fight.

Then, she realized. The hazy, dreamlike feeling she'd had while talking to Taro... it wasn't just emotion. She was trapped inside an illusion—a powerful one. Roman hadn't attacked her yet, which meant he wasn't completely sure. He suspected, but he didn't know.

Eden relaxed and looked at me, then back at Roman. "Sure, why not?"