Chapter 11: The Gorgeous Duke of Jasmine Dynasty 1
Under the guidance of Jean, I followed Mr. Akashi and the others to the legendary kingdom of the gorgeous blood clan. Along the way, we tried our best to avoid the attention of the blood clan and successfully found the Duke's Mansion of the Jasmine Dynasty.
After Akashi and the others took me into the Duke's Mansion, they pointed out the room where Lagude was and let me go in alone.
I pushed open the European-style wooden door and found that this was a room that combined the humanistic atmosphere of the Middle Ages with the elegant temperament of European aristocrats. Facing the wooden door, there was a luxurious rosewood long table. At the other end of the long table was a rectangular high-backed bench. The high back was nearly two meters high and was carved with gilded flower patterns. Because the distance was too far, I couldn't see it clearly, but I remembered the jasmine mark mentioned by Mr. Akashi. The pattern was very similar to jasmine.
Under the pattern, quietly, sat a young man with long silver-white hair. His blood-red eyes seemed to be filled with endless helplessness and sadness. But after seeing me, a glimmer of light suddenly flashed across his eyes, as if my appearance had lit up his world...
But soon, he suppressed his emotions again, his eyes drooped slightly, I could no longer see the emotions in his eyes, and my heart lifted slightly.
Silver hair, red eyes, exquisite and perfect, just like a work of art carefully sculpted by God.
I have seen him like this in my dreams.
Even though it was hard for me to accept it at first when I heard Mr. Akashi talk about his true identity, but now, at this moment, looking at him sitting weakly on the chair, I suddenly realized that no matter what the person in front of me becomes, I will not have the slightest difficulty in accepting it.
No matter whether he is a human, a vampire, or that duke, in my heart, no matter who he is, as long as he is the Lagud I am looking for, that is enough.
But what about him? Will he think this is enough?
I approached him and heard my footsteps echoing in the empty hall, "pa pa pa".
That sound is like my heartbeat at this moment.
“Bang, bang, bang…”
Not nervous.
It's just - well, I'm nervous.
I slowly reached out my hand, wanting to touch his long silver hair, but my hand suddenly stopped all movements in mid-air.
"Why are you here?" Lagude saw all my reactions and when he saw me stop moving, he spoke helplessly, "Did they bring you here?"
I knew who he was referring to by "they", so I nodded silently.
"You - have nothing to say to me?" Seeing my silence, Lagoud sighed helplessly. This completely unexpected meeting made him also not know how to face it.
"Why?" I finally followed his words and spoke honestly, as obediently as a child, "Lagude, why did you do this?"
I asked the question, but I didn't even know which why I was asking. Was it why he suddenly disappeared, or why I had such a dream, or why the Jasmine mark appeared on my back , why I suddenly became a real vampire, why he concealed his identity, or why... why did he not keep his promise when we agreed to be together?
Or, let's go back to the beginning and ask him why he approached me in the first place?
Suddenly, I felt empty and desolate inside.
Lagude's identity was so obvious to me that I had to admit it even if I didn't want to believe it. But if I admitted his identity, how could I believe what he had said to me?
How could I believe that a vampire noble would secretly have a crush on an ordinary human girl, saying that he liked her and wanted to marry her... Lagude told me to never doubt that he liked me, but when the facts were laid out in front of me, when I began to think in a mess, I had to doubt.
From the first sentence he said when we first met to our conversation now, which of his words should I believe?
"Qiqi, I'm sorry." Lagude's pale face was finally stained with sadness. "I thought I could handle everything well, but I didn't expect... it would end up being so bad, and you even found out about it."
"If possible, I really don't want to expose the truth to you. I hope you will live in that beautiful lie forever. As time goes by, you forget me, and I disappear from this world, then the lie will become the truth."
"Why?" I felt my heart and felt so clearly the pain and regret that Lagood was feeling at that moment. It felt as if my heart was growing inside his body and was experiencing all the emotions he was experiencing at that moment.
"Is my heart really yours? Did you transplant your heart to me?" I already had the answer in my heart, but I still couldn't help wanting to confirm it again. It was like I had guessed his purpose for approaching me in the first place, but I was still unwilling to give up those sweet confessions when we were together.
"Yes, but at the beginning, it was just a mistake." Lagude smiled bitterly.
"What's the misunderstanding?" Since I'm already standing in front of him, I must get to the bottom of it.
"In the beginning, I came to the human world because I wanted to escape from my marriage or something..." Lagude paused here and looked at me guiltily.
Well--
This guy's inexplicably humble expression made my originally heavy heart twitch: Is he running away from his marriage? Could it be that the ring this guy carried with him was originally intended to be given to someone else?
I felt unhappy, but I held it in.
"After coming to the human world, I was very surprised and curious about many things, because I didn't expect that the human world would change so much after hundreds of years! When I came, I happened to see someone promoting body donation on the street. A propagandist stopped me and told me how supporting body donation would benefit society. I was curious for a moment, so I responded to the propagandist's call and signed the "Body Donation Form"..."
Uh, wait - what do you mean by signing a body donation form out of curiosity?
I heard that many enthusiastic people signed the donation letter, but I have never heard of anyone signing it out of curiosity. What the hell is this?
"What happened next?" I asked him, raising my eyebrows.
"Later, I went to a human bar to have fun, and accidentally drank a little... Well, I swear, I didn't know that liquid called whiskey was so potent. I fell down after just one glass. Because I fell down suddenly, my body automatically entered a state of suspended animation, which is a state of self-repair. In fact, I estimated that it would only take an hour or two for me to wake up after forcing the alcohol out of my body, but who knew that the accident would happen at this time."
The corners of my mouth twitched uncontrollably.
This guy, this guy, this guy... is he really the powerful and gorgeous duke of the Jasmine Dynasty? He actually falls down when he drinks?
"The doctor diagnosed me with sudden death, and my heart is still fresh. They also found out that I was a volunteer for body donation... that's the agreement I signed out of curiosity before, so I became a volunteer for the body donation registry! So they immediately decided to perform a transplant for someone in need, and you just happened to be the unfortunate person."
Small cross-shaped bumps appeared on my forehead: Good, at least this guy has some self-awareness and knows how much trouble and pain his series of blunders have brought me.
Unfortunate person, this title really suits me!
"No wonder the teacher in the medical office said that your heart was very weak and you could hardly hear your heartbeat. That's because you don't have a heart at all." I nodded. Some of my previous doubts were now answered. "But without a heart, how can you move freely?"
Any normal creature would die after losing its heart, right?
"Because I own the Heart Stone." Lagude said. When he mentioned those three words, a hint of pride flashed in his eyes. However, because this guy was too weak, that hint of pride disappeared very quickly.
I rolled my eyes at him: How could someone who could even lose his own heart be proud of anything?
"Uh..." Lagude pulled the corner of his mouth with difficulty and smiled embarrassedly. "The Heart Stone is a gem It is born by absorbing our hearts and has similar functions to the heart. At the same time, it can assist us and bring our own strength to the extreme. If you are strong enough, you can also separate your own power from your body, attach it to the Heart Stone, and then transform into an ordinary human."
I continued to ridicule him: "I've only ever heard of people deliberately trying to absorb other people's strength to make themselves stronger, but I've never heard of anyone trying to strip away their own strength. Only idiots would do that."
Uh - Lagood's originally boastful expression froze, and he leaned back in his chair and began to breathe heavily. I don't know if it was because he was tired after saying such a long speech, or because he was angry with me.
I felt so sorry for this guy who looked so weak that it seemed like he had spent all his energy to even breathe. I was about to stop him from continuing, but he seemed to see through my thoughts and shook his head at me.
"I know you have a lot to ask, and I don't have much time left. Now that you're here, it would be too unfair if I didn't explain it to you, right?" He said, forcing a faint smile at me. It was a smile that was barely noticeable, but why, for a moment, I seemed to see a hint of pampering in it.
is it possible?
impossible.
"After you lost your heart, did you rely on the Heartstone to survive? Can it be used as well as your heart?" I clenched my fists. I hated myself at this moment. But with just a small smile, I was moved by this guy again. "If not, then have you never thought about taking your heart back?"
"Yes, after that, I relied on the Heart Stone to sustain my life, but my body became very weak. Although the Heart Stone has the function of a heart, it cannot replace the heart. Because of the heart transplant, I lost most of my strength. The Heart Stone barely preserved a small part, but because of my weak body, I couldn't use it at all. So, I look almost like an ordinary human. In fact, if I don't get my heart back in time, I will soon become a human."
"So..." I gritted my teeth, and the topic finally came to the heavy part, the part that none of us wanted to face but had to face.
"So I approached you, deceived you, and plotted against you, hoping that you would fall in love with me, and then swear an oath to successfully take back my heart, and then I could become the powerful vampire duke again." La Gude said, "Since I was born, I have had higher talents and stronger powers than others. In the gorgeous vampire race, I have never met an opponent for thousands of years. So, when I found myself becoming as weak as a human, I simply couldn't accept it."
"At that time, I tried everything I could to get my heart back. I would do anything."
"Why didn't you just take your heart back at the beginning? Even though you became weaker, it shouldn't be a problem for you to deal with me, who didn't know how to use the superpowers you left behind at that time?" I asked.
"Because - a heart that is forcibly taken back will be damaged. As its second owner, if I want to take it back intact, I must get your oath to give it willingly. Do you remember the ring I always carry with me? It is the contract of the oath. Once you swear and then put it on, the oath will be officially established and can never be changed unless you die." La Gude said. After a long string of words, his face became paler and he looked as if he would leave this world in the next second.
Contract device? Great, should I be happy now? At least it is not used by others, but - it is used to take my life!
I looked at Lagoud. On the one hand, I felt distressed because of his weak appearance at the moment, but on the other hand, I was also heartbroken by the truth he spoke.
Must he get my vow of devotion in order to win back his heart intact? Because of this, he would deliberately approach me, think of ways to pursue me, confess to me, and make me like him, and even took me to the church that day and gave me a wreath and ring he made himself...
Wait, that's not right, the ring...
"You put on me a wreath ring that you made yourself instead of that ring. Why?" Why did you change your mind at the last minute when you were finally getting everything after all your efforts? My heart suddenly started beating violently again.
Why?
I looked at Lagoud excitedly: "You can obviously take back your heart, why didn't you give me the ring?"
why?
I couldn't control my excitement and looked at Lagoud expectantly. Lagoud looked back at me and stretched out his hand as if he wanted to touch my face, but his hand was only halfway in the air because his body, which had been exhausted of strength, could no longer support his actions and had to drop down weakly.
He leaned all his weight against the back of the chair and spoke in a muttering voice.
"Because at that time, your smile was so cute. Even the cold and gorgeous vampires could not do such a cruel and bloody thing under such a pure and lovely smile. You trusted me so much, looked at me with such happy eyes, and smiled in such a pure and beautiful way, so my rare conscience suddenly revived."
Lagoud wanted to continue smiling at me, but he was so tired that his eyes could hardly open, so he had to give up.
"Qiqi, I'm very happy that I can see you for the last time before I die. In fact, I am really - happy in my heart." Lagood opened his mouth, and the voice was already so weak that one had to listen hard to hear it clearly.
"No, it's impossible." Death? How is that possible?
I reached out and grabbed Lagud's shoulders, trying to stop him from slowly closing his eyes, but I didn't expect that the guy had no strength left. I shook him and he fell heavily into my arms.
"Don't be sad. Today is the day I die." He put his mouth close to my ear, "It's almost the time when the midday sun is the strongest."
"Lagud, you can't die. You still owe me so many explanations. You can't leave." I cried. I don't know if it was because the truth was too painful or because he was so pitiful at the moment, but my tears couldn't stop falling. I half-knelt beside the high-backed chair, holding Lagud tightly with both hands.
"Qiqi, you cried. I felt bad, but I was more happy because it means you...you care about me a lot..."
