Golden

The carriage ride back to Carleone was quiet. A steady rain blurred the passing landscape into a beautiful watercolor of green and brown.

Inside, the three of us were full of exhaustion. Roman started blankly outside. Eden continued reading her book.

I just watched the world go by.

Lord Varnhame had insisted we travel in his own carriage. Then he had also insisted that we be his guests until things had calmed down. We didn't refuse since he was right.

I looked out the window and saw it. Varnhame's mansion was nothing like the Winfield one. It was not a fortress but a sprawling villa nestled in the hills overlooking Carleone.

We were met at the door not by guards, but by a woman with silver hair and warm blue eyes.

Then, as we stepped down from the carriages, Varnhame went and hugged that lady. She seemed to be Lady Varnhame, and she moved around with a smile.

"Oh, you poor dears," she said, looking at our ragged clothes. "Varnhame, stop hovering around and get them inside. They look like they were in a fight."

Lord Varnhame smiled and moved out of her way.

All three of us looked at him, not saying a word.

Then for a few days, the world was calm. Lady Varnhame treated us like we were her own children. She had clean clothes laid out for us, rooms with balconies that overlooked the city, and an endless supply of food and blood.

It was surreal. Days ago, we were on the brink of death. Now, we were watching a powerful vampire lord being gently scolded by his wife, and he was just smiling at her.

Roman took the opportunity and enjoyed all the food. Taking his time, by his own words. An important mission.

"This," he declared, his mouth full of pastry. "Is the life I could get used to if I weren't a knight."

Eden, sitting opposite him, looked at him with a dead expression. She couldn't believe that this was the person she feared when they first met.

She was wearing a simple, elegant blue dress that made her look less like a vampire and more like a noblewoman on a holiday. "You were on the ground, gasping like a fish. Taro and I did all the work."

"Huh?" Roman waved his hand dismissively. "I provided the crucial moral support. And the distraction. It was a tactical battle that only geniuses would understand. Besides." He grinned, pointing at the food. "I am the one paying for all of this!"

He wasn't.

The Varnhames would never have accepted his money. But he'd insisted on covering the expenses for our meals, a 'gesture' that involved him ordering the most expensive thing on the family's menu. Then dramatically handed over a few copper coins to the confused servants.

I watched them argue, a smile written all over my face. I didn't join in much; I mostly listened.

I watched the light reflect on the lemon tree that was in the middle of the hallway. I feel the weight of the chair beneath me. I was here. So why can I still hear my heart beating?

I would find myself staring at my hand again, flexing my fingers. I got rid of the gloves, revealing the scar to everyone. There was no point in hiding it anymore.

I flexed my fingers again, expecting to see them covered in blood and black goo. But it wasn't. Even in these peaceful days. I felt like I was running out of time.

On a new morning, a messenger from the Froste family arrived. Roman met him in the garden, wearing his knight clothes and appearing as serious as ever.

When he returned to see us, his expression was focused. He looked at us as we sat at the breakfast table.

"I got my orders." He said, "Lord Solfrid accepted my report. The part about Conall, the truth about the assassination. The part about Gilbert. However, I didn't tell him about you." He looked at me, then at Eden. "The official story will be that Conall, a vampire lord driven to madness, killed his father and then took his own life after a failed maneuver. The Reverse Death curse is going to no one, and your name, Taro, is cleared. You're no longer being hunted. And thankfully, Gilbert didn't recognize me." He let out a laugh.

I felt light; this all worked out in the end.

"My mission here is over," Roman continued, looking at us. "They want me back at the capital. There's still a lot to deal with. The other families are in chaos."

He looked at us with genuine sadness in his eyes. Then he bowed. "Thank you."

His words were simple, stripped of all his usual bravado. "I wouldn't have made it without you two."

Eden took a sip of the blood glass in front of her. Then laughed.

Roman looked up in surprise. "Huh?"

She looked at him. "Why all the sadness? You did your part. Don't become a different person just because it's all over."

Roman blinked, with a slow smile across his face. "Yeah, I guess I did. I won't try to be genuine again." He joked. "What about you two? What will you do now?"

Huh? What will I do now?

I froze when I heard that. Wasn't that what I was asking myself in all of my previous lives?

Where would I go? What was there for me? The bakery is gone. The tavern was a temporary place. I had no home.

But then, to my surprise, Eden was the one who answered. She turned to me, her expression soft. "I want you to come with me, back to the mansion. It's your home now, if you want it."

I looked at her. I didn't know what to say; my throat felt weak. "Sure," I said, just one word.

We said our goodbye to both Roman and the Varnhame family. And went on a carriage to go to the hidden Winfield mansion.

Again, the days that followed were a gentle dream. Eden, now the official head of the house, was surprisingly good at it. She handled the papers with efficiency. Even Lord Varnhame came by sometimes to help her with things she didn't understand.

Her primary concern was to keep the other families at arm's length. For the most part, though, we were left alone.

We fell into a comfortable routine. We'd spend mornings in the library; Eden loved to read, so I took up that habit with her. Sometimes she would read passages aloud, criticizing them or making fun of them.

She told me about stories of vampire politics; sometimes she even vents about how she hates Morvai and how he's too stupid to be a lord.

She also taught me how to play chess. I was surprised it existed in this world, though I learned it was more of a night-creature game. Made by an ancient vampire. Yet she kept beating me in it mercilessly for a week until I finally managed to get a stalemate.

When that happened, I looked up at her face only to see a smile.

Lilith was still there in the mansion in the shadows.

One afternoon, Eden and I were attempting to bake bread in the kitchen. It was disastrous as I tried to copy Dorothea, but all I ended up with was flour all over us.

"This is hopeless," Eden said, wiping her face, only to get more flour on her. "How did Dorothea do this? You said she was blind, didn't you?"

"With practice, I guess," I replied, trying to find a cloth around the kitchen.

Lilith entered the kitchen, took one look at us, and simply said, "My lady. Sir Taro. Please don't go into the kitchen again." She picked up a broom and began sweeping around. Her expression is still the same.

Eden and I looked at each other with a smile, holding back laughter.

One day, I was trying to use magic without the ring in the training ground where I and Conall used to battle. It was hard.

Then someone walked up to me with eyes full of surprise. It was Mars, who looked older than before. "Taro," he said, his voice rough. "I am glad you are okay. I am sorry for everything that happened."

I was surprised, but I looked at the ground. I realize that the resentment I had for him was pointless; I was angry at him for wanting the best for me and warning me. "It's okay," I replied.

He nodded, then his eyes went past me. To Eden, who was watching me train from far away.

His entire demeanor changed in an instant. "Eden!" He shouted, running towards her, "Can you help me with some ritualistic magic? My blood is becoming colder, and I might go mad. You are the only one who can help me!"

Eden simply sighed and turned, walking away. Mars kept pleading, promising to make any magical item he could.

Life was good. It was peaceful. It was everything I wanted.

However, there was a single problem that kept persisting in my heart.

I couldn't laugh.

I could smile. I could feel happy; I could feel warmth.

Every time I came close, the image of Conall flashed in my mind. His body on the cold stone, his face frozen in a joyful grin. And then at my hands, which held his blood.

Laugh for us. "We're" were his last words.

Eden noticed this about me. She never said anything, but I knew she realized it from the concern in her eyes.

One evening, we were sitting in the garden. Watching the beautiful sunset.

"Taro," she said softly. "We need to get away."

I looked at her, confused. "Away from what?"

She gestured at the mansion. "From this. Of course, it will be only for a day. We'll go to the city by the sea. We'll walk on the beach, eat food, and just have fun."

It was simple: "Okay." I said, "Let's do that."

The next day, we left. Eden had arranged for a carriage, and I found a suit in one of the wardrobes, a dark grey one that fit me well. When I came downstairs, Eden was waiting by the door.

She was wearing a simple white sundress and a wide-brimmed hat. She looked beautiful.

"You look well." She said, a smile forming on her face as she saw me.

"So do you," I replied, feeling butterflies.

Over those few days, I also noticed something else. My own scent, which Mars described as 'a new book,' was gone.

The undead smell that was on me had vanished. This made Lilith avoid me more, but I think she grew used to it.

The day was perfect.

We went to a small coastal town, a place full of life. That had no knowledge of vampires or mages.

We walked through a crowded market, Eden looking at the colorful dresses, hats, and other accessories.

Her eyes were wide with a childlike wonder. It reminded me of the first time we met.

We ate lunch at a small cafe overlooking the water, and she ordered a dozen different kinds of pastries. We both ate the same ones, and as we were eating, I described the flavors that she couldn't experience.

Later, we were on a golden field of wheat at the edge of the city, where nobody was.

The sea breeze was whipping through our hair. The sun was beginning to set slowly. Turning the sea far away into gold.

We didn't talk much; we didn't really need to. Today was a perfect memory that we both hoped to remember.

We stopped, looking at the sun as it was setting. Eden walked forward from me. Everything felt like it was watercolored, like a dream. A long, beautiful dream that would never end.

The wind caught her white dress, making it billow around her, which made her look angelic. She held her hat, trying to stop it from flying away, her long bronze hair moving freely in the wind.

She turned to face me, and the setting sun obscured her face. She had one single, breathtakingly beautiful smile.

In that moment, she was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. There was an ache in my chest. Every pain seemed to melt away, for the first time in a while. I felt it; a laugh was building up in me.

One that came deeply from me, not anything else.

But I stopped.

I saw the line, the lie that I was trying to cover this whole time.

I saw the warm gold of the setting sun. The blue of the sea. and the yellow of the golden field.

And I saw her, a single crimson thread of her soul. Was brighter than ever, full of joy.

But the yellow was a sickness. It had grown, spreading like a blight through her soul. Her own crimson light was weaker now, already consumed by half.

Wonder was replacing her.

The laughter in my chest died, replaced by a feeling I could never describe.

I remembered the ring. The tool that had allowed me to see, touch, and cut the lines.

It was gone now.

And even if it wasn't, what would I do? The yellow wasn't a separate entity wrapped around her like Conall. To cut the yellow would be to cut her.

To save her, I would have to destroy her.

The thought was on my mind like a taboo. I tried to forget it, destroy it, but it was the only thing that lasted. because in the end, it was the undeniable truth.

Laugh for us.

Eden was still smiling at me; the golden light of the setting sun reflected on her hair. She was sharing the beauty of the moment with me.

And all I could think about was the one thing I had fought to avoid since the moment I was ripped from my first life. The one thing I had struggled for, lied for, and died for, over and over again. A choice.

To save this world, to stop the entity that used Conall and was now consuming the person I cared about the most in this world.

I had to kill her.