Chapter 317 - Burying The Truth-I

Early afternoon Seoyeon took a seat on her bed as Jung Hwa had left. She took a pen with her and a book opened which were borrowed from Lee Young. More than she thought, the book of magic in the witches' book that Lee Young possessed hold many types of Magics which were very useful for her future.

A knock came on her room. Seoyeon left the place to open the door, seeing it was the old butler of the house, "Miss Seoyeon I am here to rely message on the Master's behalf," Master? Lee Young? "He wishes to have a small talk with you if you are available."

Seoyeon had interacted with the oldest pureblood in the past, but never to the point where she would describe them to be close. She recalled the man's conversation within Che Hara's house. What does he want to talk with her? "I am available now."

"I will show you the way," the butler offered and when the man turned around, Seoyeon noticed the scar on the man's face that was wide across his cheeks. It was only now that she realized as she passed by the corridors and came across the paths with other servants that most of them had similar scars on different places of their bodies.

When they arrived, the butler knocked and opened the door. Seoyeon saw the older pureblood who sat on his couch with one hand rested over the armrest and another lazily pick up a knight piece from the chessboard. His deep red eyes rolled to look at her and a smile appeared which Seoyeon could tell was very far from being both hospitable or kind.

"So you decided to come," Lee Young waved his hands to dismiss the butler when Seoyeon had entered the room. 

Did he think she would turn down his offer?

"Yes," came the voice from the man that startled Seoyeon. Lee Young looked at her face and chuckled, "I thought that you might be up on your guard now that you know how your life is in danger. Maybe you don't?" The man looked at her with a smile that inclined more to intimidation. 

"My life is in danger?" Seoyeon asked. She knew nothing of what happened the rest few days between hunters, Associates, and the witches. 

"Jung Hwa hasn't told you yet. Not a problem, I will help you to brief what had been happening in our world. Take a seat," Lee Young tapped the other end of the circular table.

Seoyeon couldn't help but feel his intimidation and it causes her to tiptoe around him but that didn't deter her courage to take a seat in front of him and to learn what she doesn't know. Taking a seat, her eyes fell on the chessboard across her. At first, she had thought of it as a normal chessboard but looking closer upon it, she realized there was something different about the chessboard.

Instead of the color of the white and black checkered board, the boxes started with red color and black. The pieces of the chess were divided into the same two colors with vine wreathing around the chess piece. 

"Is this strange?" Lee Young asked, breaking her gaze from the chessboard to look at the man. "Is the chessboard strange to you?" The man asked again, placing the knight piece he had been holding to the board. He wasn't playing with anyone but the two sides of the chessboard had been moved which was strange.

"I wouldn't say strange, it's a unique design," Seoyeon answered, she stared at the chessboard, "Is this how chessboard is played amongst vampires?"

"No," the man answered, moving another piece which was the rook, "It was I who had it designed this way. I don't like the color white."

"You don't?" asked Seoyeon, finding it strange. Was this because he is a vampire?

"Not necessarily vampires hate the color of white. I just prefer it that way. I don't like the color white, they always symbolize the pure, the clean, and the innocent. Which color do you think you are? Is it white?" The man questioned, it sounded as if he asked her which color she preferred, but Seoyeon knew it wasn't the content of the question.

He had asked her a double-meaning question. Are you innocent? was what he had asked her. 

"I would say I am black," answered Seoyeon. She saw more chess pieces moved.

Lee Young chuckled, "Well for me I am the red one. But you are wrong to think that you are a sinful person just because you have killed someone. Who could claim that the bad ones are the ones who kill? I have seen many people who never took other's life but I can assure you that they are Devil on the mortal world."

Seoyeon thought about the man's words and fell to silence. He was somewhere correct with his words. In this world no one can judge another; even the whitest color in the palate could also be seen as black by others. 

"It all goes back to the people who see them," Lee Young spoke again, reading her mind.

Seoyeon was first startled by how the man could read her mind, but she had swallowed the idea easily because she had seen Jung Hwa's power to command blood. She then realizes that other vampires would also have power that varied between them. "Is this the ability of yours?"

"One of it," Lee Young answered lazily.

"One of it?" Seoyeon repeated. He had more?

"I am a first-generation pureblood vampire. The strongest one and at the same time, the dirtiest one," said Lee Young while looking into Seoyeon's eyes, and a sudden threat loomed around her neck that caused Seoyeon to feel uncomfortable upon meeting his eyes. "You must have heard about the three-generation vampires. Do you know what vampires are and how they appear?"

Seoyeon slowly shook her head. She had read books about vampires but never the reason for their being. 

"We are that," Lee Young pointed his finger across the room and Seoyeon's eyes followed the spot where the man had pointed. Her eyes stopped at the painting which was placed across the wall, the large rectangular portrait of small creatures with bat wings, horns, and sharp fangs protruding from their mouths. The skin of the creatures was burning red, like a flesh that was wet and mushy as if the skin of their body had been peeled. 

What stood out the most to Seoyeon and the one that created the vicious air was the smile painted across the creatures' faces; one smile which was very malicious and filled with sinister and it only glowered brighter with the wide eyes of the creatures that were colored in red. 

"We are called the devils," Lee Young put a smile, "A handsome and beautiful devils unlike the portrayal on the painting but we are the same as them, not too different."

"But you don't live in hell, you don't have horns or wings," said Seoyeon. She couldn't see how similar vampires and devils are when she disregards the fact that they both showed the same fiendish image. 

"That's the difference. No one knew when vampires begin to appear or when we were born. The oldest vampires had died, leaving only a few first-generation purebloods. But since a child, our parents have sung us night tales about our birth," Lee Young said, pushing his hair over his shoulders, letting it fall over his chest. "Once upon a time, there was a Devil who left Hell. Upon living in the human world, he found how humans live was fascinating and decided to lay down and built a family. So far a good story until the Devil left and offspring. The other devils are not happy with this. Therefore they put a curse on the offspring."

"To live as a vampire?" asked Seoyeon, giving her guess and the man nodded wistfully. 

"More correctly to live as a blood-sucking monster. I heard there is another generation before the first generation and they are far worse than me. They are no less than a monster. You wondered earlier why I called myself the dirtiest?" Seoyeon nodded her head slowly, "Because the first generation is the closest to their ancestors. Our ancestors are them, devils."

She wondered why Lee Young would explain to her about the vampires up until this point. 

"You... don't you wonder what you are, Miss Seoyeon? You are not a witch. No doubt the blood that runs in you is a human's blood. You can bleed, you can be wounded, you can even lose your limbs. Yet you also know that despite all the dangers I have said, you will be alright because you are not a human. You are a catalyst and as long as your heart is beating, you are not scared of anything," Lee Young moved the Queen of his side and took the King of the opposite side, "Like what this Queen could do on this board, you can do anything as long as you know how to utilize your power. No one would be a match for you. Not even me."

Dryness came over Seoyeon's throat, "How much do you know about the catalyst, Mr. Lee?"

"Very little actually. I only know how much power you hold that could destroy a single country on your will. Also... I only know how most catalysts die. There is a hidden family in the Hunters who specializes to kill the catalyst. Although the Hunters pretend they do not know anything about the catalyst now. In fact, they knew about them since a long time ago. One of these Hunters must be hunting for you all this time. You can say it's lucky for you to meet Jung Hwa because if you don't, you'll be under the ground by now."

People were hunting for her all this time without her own notice? "Were all the catalyst killed by that family of Hunters?"

"No. They all die in one method," Lee Young pulled his gaze to look at her, "They all kill themselves.. It's suicide."