Inside hospital room B3-13, Kai lay motionless on the hospital bed, pale and barely clinging to life. Countless medical devices surrounded him, keeping him alive.
Apparently, nearly every bone in his body had been broken, so he was wrapped in casts from head to toe. His neck was also immobilized with a cervical brace.
The wavy, artist-like hairstyle that had always been Kai's most distinctive feature was gone as well. His head had been completely shaved, revealing rows of stitches marking the places where his horns had once grown.
Kai no longer looked like a monster. Of that, Ethan was certain.
At the moment, Ethan couldn't sense the same hidden danger from Kai that he felt from his former landlord. Yet his instincts had led him here. Which meant Kai was far from returning to normal.
Ignoring both the 'Please Keep Quiet' sign hanging above the patient's bed and the sudden arrival of Ethan and Royce - the man and woman standing beside Kai's bed - continued shouting furiously at one another.
The woman was still young, perhaps just over 30. She would have been very beautiful - a refined beauty - if her hair weren't so disheveled and her makeup smudged.
Ethan guessed that this beautiful woman had to be Kai's mother. The resemblance between them was unmistakable.
Like her son, she had sparkling black eyes framed by long, beautifully curled eyelashes. She also possessed the same petite build and narrow shoulders as the young man lying helplessly in the hospital bed she was desperately trying to shield from the man standing before them.
"Please… I'm begging you. No matter what he's become, he's still our son."
The woman pleaded. She no longer dared raise her voice at the man the way she had only moments before.
"Take a good look at him. That filthy thing… It's no longer human. And it's certainly no longer the son you and I brought into this world."
The moment the middle-aged man - whose fierce appearance resembled that of a temple guardian - spoke, Ethan recognized him immediately.
So, Kai Nguyen's father was none other than Elder Fidelis - the Elder representing the human faction on the Council of the Vampire Community in Harmony Town.
Despite holding such an important position on the Council, the Elder had always seemed to harbor deep prejudice against the Vampires living in Harmony Town.
Ironically, however, Kai - his own son - had fallen hopelessly in love with Ruby, the Vampire girl who already had five backup boyfriends. And because he had desperately wanted to offer his blood to her, the fashion-conscious young man had come dangerously close to becoming the very creature his father hated most.
"Hmph! Move aside. Now!"
The man suddenly roared.
At the same time, he forcefully tried to shove his wife out of the way, but she refused to yield. Instead, the frail woman summoned every ounce of strength she had to push her husband away from the bed where their bedridden son lay.
"Move! You foolish woman. Why can't you understand? Your son is dead. And that thing… that thing lying on the bed is nothing but a monster. One of their kind."
"No! You're the one who refuses to understand. I carried him inside me for nine months and ten days. So what if he's become a monster? He's still my son. And he's your son too - your heir!"
Smack!
A sharp crack echoed through the room after the woman stubbornly refused to let her husband approach their son's bed.
The slap sent her sprawling across the floor, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth. Yet despite the pain, despite the fear, despite her trembling body, she struggled to her feet once more.
Still kneeling on the floor, she lunged forward, wrapped both arms around her husband's leg, and clung to it with all her strength. But the petite woman's strength was nothing compared to the determination of the man before her.
Ignoring his wife's desperate sobs as she clung to his leg, the man calmly reached into his pocket and pulled out a syringe gun. Inside the syringe was a thick, shimmering silver liquid.
"My son… I'm doing this only for the sake of your soul. Please forgive your mother and me… and leave this world in peace."
A single tear rolled down Elder Fidelis's cheek as he slowly raised the syringe gun…
The sight filled Ethan with burning rage. Just as he stepped forward, Royce reached out and stopped him.
"I beg you, Elder Fidelis. Your son, Kai, is still alive. In about two weeks, he'll make a full recovery and return to your embrace… and to Madam's."
Royce spoke with an air of authority and solemn respect - a tone of voice Ethan had never heard from him before.
The voice was gentle and captivating, yet it carried an unmistakable authority that made everyone listening feel like mere subjects before their sovereign - even though Royce was, in fact, pleading with Elder Fidelis.
"Y-You… You monster…"
Elder Fidelis had once argued with Elder Richie - the Elder representing the Vampire faction on the Council of the Vampire Community in Harmony Town - as an equal, refusing to back down and even gaining the upper hand at times. Yet now, standing before Royce, a Vampire no older than his own son, the Elder could only lower his head and stammer.
Seeing Elder Fidelis's fear, Royce narrowed his eyes, now glowing a brilliant gold, and smiled - a smile just wide enough for everyone in the hospital room to catch the gleam of his fangs.
Time itself seemed to stand still. Long enough for Ethan to notice the subtle changes in Elder Fidelis's expression.
At first, the man's face flushed crimson. His jaw clenched tightly, blood vessels bulged in his eyes, and his entire body trembled as though he were about to explode.
Then, little by little, his expression softened…
…. And Ethan's eyes widened in disbelief as Elder Fidelis suddenly dropped to his knees before Royce.
Seizing the opportunity, Kai's mother rushed forward. She snatched the syringe gun from her husband's hand and threw it far across the room.
"Oh no! Elder, please don't do that. I'm still a child. I'm only turning sixteen at the end of this year."
Without taking his eyes off the two adults - one kneeling on the floor, the other awkwardly unsure whether to kneel or stand - Royce slowly extended his arm toward the wall above Kai's bed. There, a large red emergency button was mounted for summoning doctors and nurses.
Only a few seconds after the alarm stopped ringing, Dr. Spring Nguyen and a tall, exceptionally handsome man Ethan had never seen before appeared at the doorway with such incredible speed that it almost seemed as though they had teleported.
"My, my… Even a fierce tiger won't devour its own cub. We Vampires are no different. And yet, Elder Fidelis was actually prepared to…"
The handsome man commented on the scene in the hospital room with a deep, velvety voice so smooth and melodic that it sounded almost like he was singing.
Yet Ethan sensed no compassion whatsoever in the man's delivery. Only coldness and unmistakable sarcasm.
From that mesmerizing voice alone, Ethan immediately recognized the newcomer. This was Elder Richie.
About two weeks earlier, Ethan had secretly overheard the fierce argument between him and Elder Fidelis over the identity of the person responsible for all disasters that had plagued Nhan Hoa Town.
"You! It's all because of Ruby - your spoiled daughter - that my son ended up like this!"
Elder Fidelis sprang to his feet.
He lunged forward, grabbed Elder Richie's collar, and shouted directly into his face, completely ignoring the icy stare resting upon the handsome Elder's features.