“Would you like to cut the cord for me Felix?”

His eyebrows furrowed as he shifted his gaze away from the little curled baby to its mother.

Beads of sweats were glistening on Faith’s forehead. Some of them had already traveled down her hairline, giving her raven hair a strangely attractive look. The loss of blood had turned her complexion even paler than before causing the veins branching under her skin to become more prominent. Her trembling lips had acquired a blue tinge yet the smile gracing them never faltered once. With dried scarlet patches surrounding the rims of her half-opened eyes, she resembled a rugged marble sculpture— a damaged yet an alluring piece of art.

“Felix?”

Faith called out his name again as she continued staring at her worn out image getting reflected in his translucent eyes.

“But this action holds a special meaning.”

His frown was still in place.

“I know.”

She didn’t give him any detailed answer. She just continued looking up at him with her half-closed eyes.

Maybe it had been something about her tired expressions that he didn’t ask anything else and silently went on to cut the baby’s umbilical cord.

She could feel him cleaning her legs, picking up the dirtied sheets and tidying up the mess but she didn’t pay much attention to it. Her sole focus of attention was her infant daughter snuggling close to her chest.

Suddenly an unkempt emotion hidden within the deepest, darkest corners of her heart emerged out of her as she saw a pair of large hands inching close to her daughter, causing her to tighten her hold around the little creature as an animalistic snarl escaped from the back of her throat as a sign of warning.

“Relax, princess. I’m just taking her to wrap her in a blanket.”

‘Huh?’

“Relax. I’m not going to harm either of you.”

He repeated the sentence to her slowly, putting emphasis on every word as he raised his hands up to appear as harmless as possible.

Gingerly, her hold on her daughter’s tiny body loosened allowing Felix to take her in his arms.

“Good girl. You did well.”

Cradling the little baby in one of his arms, his free hand crawled down to stroke the top of Faith’s head, giving it a small pat.

“I’m going to wrap her now. Okay?”

As he turned around to grab a small blanket, he made sure to stay in the line of Faith’s vision, in a way to keep an anxious mother’s heart reassured.

“Here,”

Not even a moment had passed before she witnessed Felix sauntering back in her direction while delicately holding a bundle in his arms. Her daughter was so tiny that Faith couldn’t even spot the little vampire inside the black velvet Felix was holding close to his chest.

“I don’t have any clothes for babies but I’ll make sure to get some the next day. For now, this is all I have to offer to the mini-princess.”

His slender finger lightly pressed the baby’s nose as a small hint of smile appeared on his rosy lips capturing Faith in a trance.

He looked much different from the eccentric front he had created for the world to see. Standing here, in this room, holding a little baby in his arms as he smiled down at her lovingly, he looked almost normal.

Dare she say, he looked exactly like a father.

Her chain of thoughts broke suddenly as a small cry started resonating in the room causing Felix to drop all traces of his smile as he hurriedly handed the infant to Faith.

“You need to feed her. She must be hungry.”

This time, her touch didn’t pacify the baby immediately, making the experience all the more nerve wrecking for Faith.

Having no time to lift her dress all the way up, she grabbed the neckline of her dress, tearing it down from one side. The ripping sound must’ve surprised the second prince who wasn’t expecting her to act so ferociously out of nowhere.

“I’ll be outside. Call me if you need my assistance.”

Giving her a nod of the head, the silver haired man turned around. He was just about to walk out of the door as a voice stopped him in his tracks,

“Stay. With her in my arms, I feel more anxious than ever. If someone arrives here like… they did in the basement, I don’t know what I’ll do.”

The baby had stopped crying by now. In its place, suckling sounds were echoing through the room. The little vampire princess seemed to be a fast learner.

Still keeping his back turned towards her, he opened his mouth to utter his next words in a grave voice,

“That will not happen again. Antonio crossed a line and he’ll be punished accordingly.”

‘Antonio? The guy who attacked me in the cells?’

“Who’s he?”

Letting out a frustrated sigh, he dragged his feet towards the nearest sofa and plopped himself on the corner, making sure in the process to keep his head facing away from her.

“Antonio is someone who I turned a long time ago. He’s in a slave contract with me.”

“Why did he attack me?”

“He thought he was helping me by doing a dirty deed I couldn’t bring myself to do— kill a child.”

He couldn’t help himself from snorting as he gave her this reply.

“Why did you kidnap me, Felix?”

He had been wasting no time in answering her questions but this time, there was a small pause before he proceeded to give her a response.

“Because father asked me to.”

“Why would you listen to your father to this extent?”

“He saved me. I owe him my life. Besides him, who else do I have in my life?”

He had curled himself on the sofa, his cheek resting on the armrest whilst his arms dangled down. He was tracing something aimlessly on the floor with his fingers.

“Your father is evil, Felix.”

“Who isn’t?”

“Huh?”

His response had startled her.

“Not everyone’s as bad as you think.”

“Hard to believe in a species you’ve never encountered your whole life.”

“You’ve met your mother.”

“Isn’t she a villain in your husband’s book?”

“You’ve met Ares.”

“Isn’t he a villain in my tale?”

His words were pretty neutral. She couldn’t detect any hidden malic or sarcasm in them.

He was merely answering her questions.

“What are you going to do now? Hand me over to Cyrus?”

There was long moment of silence accompanying her question, making her believe that this was indeed his plan.

Her hold on her newborn who was still suckling on her left breast silently, tightened as she unknowingly moved a bit farther away from the silver-haired man curled on the sofa some distance away from her.

“You do not need to fear me. I have told you that I will not harm you or your daughter,”

Unbeknownst to her, her eyes had started following the movements of his fingers on the marble floor as he traced the same letters again and again on its shiny surface.

“I will not hand you over to father. He does not know that I’ve brought you back and he’s not aware of my whereabouts either.”

“Will he not start searching for you when he gets impatient?”

“He doesn’t have the time right now. He’s busy.”

“Busy with what?”

“Busy dealing with the arrival of the Vampire King. It’s his duty as the member of the Vampire Council.”

She stiffened as she heard his monotonous response.

“Ares is here?”

“Yes.”

Her heart raced as she looked down at tiny baby lying in her lap. She had stopped sucking her nipple and was staring back at her with her eyes wide open,

Emerald.

She had her father’s eyes.

A sob built up in her throat as she slowly leaned her head down to place a chaste kiss on her daughter’s right cheek.

“Mommy loves you.”

“She’s lucky.”

“Hm?”

His response had left her confused.

“Nothing. You should let her feed a bit of your blood though your finger now.”

“My finger?”

She was busy adjusting her torn dress in order to not express herself too much when she heard his voice making her stop midway.

“Vampire babies need a bit of blood every now and then to thrive better.”

“Oh...”

Hearing her shuffle with her clothes, he must have realized that she had made herself decent. He had stood up from his place where he had been resting for the half an hour or so. His long legs were taking him in her direction,

Coming to stand near her, the silver haired man looked in her direction before asking for her permission,

"Allow me to."

"....Okay."

She had expected him to cut her finger to place a drop or too near her daughter's lips but instead, he cut his own finger letting the scarlet trail drip down into the infant's mouth.