Somewhere in a world with nothing but darkness, the moon, if it was even a moon at all, shone its purple light into a wide room. The French window displayed the jagged black cliffs outside the residence's pointed metal fence. A huge soft circular bed, adorned with black sheets and purple sheers dropping majestically from the ceiling, laid quietly in the center of the room. Aside from it, there was nothing else inside except for dark curtains hanging from the top and onto the walls.

Right at the center of the bed, buried among big and small satin pillows, was a young man, sleeping quietly. If one didn't know better, they would certainly think he was a corpse from the lack of breathing and his pale white skin. His long hair was strewn all over the bed, even reaching the floor.

The calmness of the scene was broken when a sudden bright white light appeared on the floor, shaping a complex rune. The darkroom was enveloped by its blinding intensity. When the light dimmed 10 seconds later, the room was void of the pale young man, leaving the bed all by itself.

A hurried footstep was heard from outside the room before the door flew open. The feet came to a halt.

"Sh*t, I'm screwed."

---

Noel was pulled out from his dream. He felt his back aching from the cold hard floor rather than comfort from his special-made bed. The eternal darkness that enveloped him was ripped apart by the piercing light from the sun. His hand flayed around, but he couldn't feel any of his smooth extra softened pillows.

His eyes slowly fluttered open, revealing a pair of pale blue droopy eyes. Not only was his life partner (bed) was gone, he was also inside an unknown room made out of cold grey stones. The sunlight poured inside through the glass window at the ceiling in line with him, revealing the bright blue sky that was impossible to exist.

Noel was too lazy to move, so he scanned the room by turning his head around. Other than him and the window, there was nothing else in the room. Not even a door.

He rolled his body around briefly.

Then, he sat up and gathered his hair. After piling them up thickly under his head, he twirled some to bandage his face and flumped down. Not long after, his body grew accustomed to the floor and shortly fell asleep again.

Not a few hours later, the window above him suddenly shattered with a loud noise from a man falling down from the sky. As his body was about to smash onto Noel, a black smoke emerged from Noel's body, cushioning the man's fall while rolling him to fall to the side without touching a hair of the young man below. It also shielded him from the raining glass shards before retracting back.

The man who just fell twitched. His fingers moved before he opened his eyes. His body was littered with wounds, deep and shallow, but he exerted his strength to move. Gradually, he pushed up his upper body and leaned on the wall just to be shocked by the 'mummy' in front of him.

He vigilantly watched the pale body that wore dark purple silk pajamas which was obviously too big for it. After confirming it wasn't moving, he assessed the room he was in. The only way out was through the window above him. But he was currently too weak to even stand. He would need to recuperate first before attempting to leave.

At least he was safe there. He still have food in his storage and his healing potions were enough to heal his wound in a day. Fortunately, his storage pouch was attached tightly to his belt.

As he drank a bottle of potion, he looked at the 'corpse' once more. It was really a strange way to die. Did this child kill himself? There wasn't any wound in his body, so maybe from starvation? And his body hasn't rotted yet. He probably died just recently.

Actually, what was this place?

Why would this child be put here?

As his mind wandered, the healing potion's anesthetic effect kicked in and he unknowingly fell asleep.

Once he woke up, the sky has already darkened. It was a full moon tonight, so it wasn't too dark inside since the window was perfectly facing it.

Half of his wounds have closed from the first potion. He ate a simple dinner with bread and water. His hand shredding the bread paused.

The 'corpse' in front of him was slightly tilted so that it was now facing him. Although the corpse's face was covered by its own hair, the man couldn't help but imagine the eyes beneath it were staring at him silently.

Shivers ran down his spine.

He promptly unsheathed his dagger from his ankle and took out a vile of holy water from his pouch. Unfortunately, he lost his sword in his fight earlier. But he was confident in his combat skill even with only a dagger. His body has also felt better although there was still some strain in his movement.

It wouldn't be a problem for him to handle a single ghost, ghoul, or undead.

He carefully reached out and checked the body's vital with his fingers. He didn't expect there was a pulse!

He could still save this child and bring him out from this cold confinement.

The man quickly put down his dagger and vile and propped up the child's upper body. He unwrapped the hair covering the face and froze.

The child has a small face. His eyelashes were long and naturally curled at the edge, casting a shadow on his pale skin. It was so pale that he could see the vein on the child's eyelids. In contrast, his lips were as red as blood. The man couldn't determine the gender of the child, but judging from the torso, he should be a boy.

A vampire?

If the boy really was a vampire, then it could somehow make sense. A long time ago, before humans and humanoids were still in aggression with one another, vampires were one of the creatures being hunted down. This child could've been locked in here for over 300 years. It also explained his impossibly long hair.

He didn't know what village or town once stood in this area, but to lock a child like this, although he was a vampire, in this small space with no way out was too cruel. At his age, he needed the guidance of an adult vampire to learn how to fly, how to transform, and how to hunt for blood. The one window above him would only act as a mocking and increase his desperation for the world outside.

The boy's growth must have stalled because he didn't drink any blood.

His heartbeat and breathing were very weak. He probably went into a deep slumber to preserve his life.

The man looked out above in determination.

---

The second time Noel woke up, he felt his body was rocking. Wondering what was it this time, he opened his eyes only to see several humans looking at him. After a moment of silence, they snapped from their daze and one of them opened the cart's curtain at the front.

"Commander, the boy has awakened!"

The cart stopped shortly. Noel touched the blanket covering him and the one under him. There was some kind of magic imbued in it to generate cool if the air temperature around it was high and heat if it was low.

His room always had the same temperature, so he never thought about this.

A man with a tall body and pearly skin appeared at the rear of the cart. He was wearing a set of formal red military uniforms complete with a black cape on the back. His silver hair was combed back neatly, showing his valiant profile.

Several of the people climbed out, making space for the man.

Was he the Commander that was just called? He looked very young. Probably around his twenties.

Frederic knelt down in front of him, "How are you feeling? Can you move? Can you understand what I'm saying?"

Noel blinked several times before nodding. Seeing he wanted to sit up, Frederic reached out to help him.

When their eyes directly met, Frederic felt his heart thumped. Never in his life has he ever seen such a beautiful pair of eyes. Despite his black hair, his eyes were a surprisingly bright blue that reflected his surroundings as clear as still water. He didn't know if it was from the light, but it felt as if the blue color gradients with different shades.

He threw out his straying thoughts, noticing the boy was watching him.

"Do you remember your name?"

Noel felt the man was strange. However long someone slept, they wouldn't forget their own name, right?

"Noel."