Beast, Blue Blood - Chapter 77

Chapter 77

When Ha-yeon came out onto the terrace, Eugene acknowledged her with a glance. Eugene watched as Ha-yeon took out a lighter from the back pocket of her jeans and lit a cigarette before asking.

“Why the CEO of all people? There are perfectly fine men in the world.”

Ha-yeon, not surprised that Eugene had noticed their relationship, exhaled a long puff of smoke calmly.

“Did you see something that’s not right?”

“Considering a normal man goes around like that for hundreds of years, something must be off. Besides, our young lady might be more inclined toward…”

Eugene touched her chin, choosing her words carefully, and spoke again.

“I think a solid, dependable guy would suit her better.”

Ha-yeon looked at her as if she was talking nonsense and changed the subject.

“Just be careful not to let others notice.”

Without answering, Eugene pulled out the piece of paper from the earlier drawing.

“How did the CEO manage to draw his own name?”

“I saw it in a book.”

Ha-yeon answered indifferently and flicked the cigarette butt away. The sparks flew in all directions, making Ha-yeon look like a demon rising from the flames of hell.

Eugene was exasperated. Did she really think someone would believe that?

* * *

‘So, she must have manipulated things so that I drew my own name on purpose.’

Sitting on the sofa, Si-woo thought as he looked at the paper with his name on it. Occasionally, Ha-yeon seemed to know skills that were beyond understanding. Although she often claimed to have learned them from books, if it were true, it might be because the distribution is large, and she manages to follow it without much tension, thus generally succeeding.

At that moment, Ha-yeon returned to the living room and naturally sat down next to Si-woo. But before Si-woo could even stand up to avoid her, Emily handed him a plate with dessert.

“Here you go, CEO.”

Si-woo accepted it with a smile.

“Thank you.”

Then Emily handed a plate to Ha-yeon, who was sitting next to Si-woo.

“Miss, here you go.”

“Thank you.”

Ha-yeon reached out her hand to receive the plate from Si-woo. As she did, she leaned in so that their thighs were fully touching. Ha-yeon even seemed to naturally place her hand on Si-woo’s thigh, as if it was completely unintentional.

After returning to her seat, she noticed the fork was missing and muttered.

“There’s no fork.”

Then Ha-yeon leaned over Si-woo’s lap again. Si-woo reflexively lifted the plate to create space for her to pass. Ha-yeon picked up a fork from the table beside the sofa and returned to her seat.

For some reason, Si-woo felt like he was in a corner, almost as if he were prey. It was the first time he felt this way living as a vampire. And with Ha-yeon being the one, he hoped this was just a joke.

A little distance away, Hisha was in the middle of speaking.

“So, I…”

But Eugene was looking somewhere else and, following that gaze, asked.

“What are you looking at?”

Only then did Eugene turn back to Hisha.

“No, I was just thinking it’s pretty impressive.”

“What do you mean?”

Hisha glanced back at Si-woo and Ha-yeon sitting side by side but didn’t seem to find anything unusual about it. It was a usual sight, and Si-woo was in his Selena form.

Eugene smiled a little and spoke.

“Hisha, you’re really cute.”

Hisha looked puzzled, but he seemed okay with it when Eugene kissed his lips.

At that moment, Emily, carrying the empty dishes, passed by, looking content as she saw the harmonious couple. Eugene suddenly stopped her gaze and briefly looked at Emily’s back.

* * *

“Good night, Director.”

Emily greeted Eugene in the hallway before heading to bed.

“Good night.”

Eugene replied and went into her room. Inside, Hisha was already ready for bed, sitting on the bed and reading a book.

“By the way.”

Eugene pulled back the covers and got into bed, starting a conversation.

“How did Emily end up joining the Ivanov family?”

Although Emily was officially a Luax, she seemed so unremarkable that even Eugene had never questioned it. Given her red eyes, she must have been around for some time, but she appeared overly satisfied with her position as a maid.

Hisha looked at Eugene and tilted his head.

“Did I not mention it? Emily is the one who infected Selena.”

Eugene turned to Hisha in surprise at this unexpected revelation.

“Emily?”

“Yes.”

Hisha nodded. Eugene unconsciously furrowed her brows.

Even though they were both vampires, finding common ground between Selena, who ran the ISLE Group as a member of the Ivanov Clan, and Emily, who seemed like an ordinary maid if not for her red eyes, was difficult.

No, there was one commonality.

“Selena, Emily… I see.”

An unlikely English pseudonym.

Eugene muttered and looked back at Hisha.

“If Emily is a Patroness…”

“No.”

Hisha shook his head firmly.

“Selena became a Luax due to Emily’s blood, but it’s different. A Patroness provides all information about being a new species and takes care of the person like a sponsor—like a second father. It seems they weren’t in that kind of relationship from the start.”

Hisha continued.

“One day, Emily’s village was attacked by barbarians and everyone was slaughtered. When she woke up, she found herself infected. The identity of the vampire who infected her is still unknown.”

“Unknown?”

“Given that the vampire left Emily behind, it must have been an accident from their perspective as well.”

While now there are basic lectures for newly turned vampires, in the past, there were probably more cases like Emily’s. Wandering around vaguely, not knowing what they had become.

“So Emily, who woke up alone, didn’t understand what she had become, why she craved blood, or why she didn’t age and healed quickly from wounds. She must have continued to hide her identity and wandered around, eventually accidentally infecting Selena.”

“By chance?”

Eugene asked. Despite knowing how little he believed in ‘chance,’ Hisha nodded.

“I think she worked as a maid in Selena’s household. Despite appearances, I heard that Selena’s family was of high social standing.”

“Chu Si-woo, right?”

“Hmm?”

Hisha looked at Eugene and then had a realization.

“Oh, his real name? That’s right. But it feels strange to say Chu Si-woo. It feels unfamiliar. Even though that’s his real name. It suddenly feels like a man’s name. Well, technically he is a man, but…”

As he spoke, Hisha’s face showed sudden confusion. Eugene asked again.

“So how did the CEO get infected by Emily?”

“Didn’t I just say that Emily infected Selena?”

“I mean, specifically, what was the situation?”

“Well…”

Hisha looked up, trying to recall, and then seemed to come up empty.

“I don’t know the details. I’ve never heard about it.”

He then looked at Eugene with surprise.

“Why are you asking about Selena all of a sudden?”

“Just… I realized how little I know about that person.”

Hisha smiled.

“Selena is Selena, after all.”

* * *

“Emily.”

Ha-yeon called out, and Emily, who was standing in the kitchen, turned around.

“You’re not asleep yet?”

“I was going to help with the cleaning.”

Although the meal was over and everyone had helped with the cleanup, there was a lot of dishwashing to be done because there were so many people. Even loading the dishwasher was a job in itself.

“It’s okay. Go get some rest.”

“Who’s going to finish all this?”

“Thank you.”

Emily smiled as she spoke and began putting the dishes into the dishwasher. Ha-yeon helped for a moment and then suddenly asked.

“By any chance, how did you infect Si-woo?”

As she bent over to place dishes, Emily looked at Ha-yeon with surprise.

“Did you just say Si-woo?”

Ha-yeon pretended to be indifferent.

“That’s his real name, isn’t it?”

“But when did…”

“A while ago. It seemed odd to me that everyone always called him Selena when his real name was just sitting there.”

Emily seemed to search for words, then smiled slightly and asked.

“By the way, why are you asking about old stories all of a sudden?”

Ha-yeon shrugged.

“Just… I don’t think I’ve ever heard it before.”

“I mentioned it once. I said that after an accident, I infected him while working at that household.”

“What kind of accident?”

“He slipped while hiking.”

Ha-yeon looked at Emily and then turned her head.

“I see.”

Just like Si-woo, Emily was hiding the truth behind her smiling face. No matter how much she was questioned, she didn’t seem likely to reveal more.

‘Clearly, something happened.’

Even after six hundred years, both were still reluctant to talk about it, indicating that the matter was still unresolved.

Although she had told Myung-jin that she didn’t know earlier, Ha-yeon realized that the historical figure Chu Si-woo from the Annals was indeed Si-woo. This was not only because the timeline matched but also because she knew who had infected Si-woo.

“Ah-eun.”

Ha-yeon spoke and looked at Emily.

“Was your real name Chun Ah-eun?”

Emily looked at Ha-yeon and smiled, her eyes narrowing.

“Yes. It’s been a while since I heard that name.”

Changwon-gun Lee Seong, Gap-sa Chu Si-woo, and the vampire Chun Ah-eun who infected Si-woo who is not recorded in history…

Most importantly, there was such a record in the Annals.

<Changwon-gun Lee Seong stated, ‘The gods are not familiar with a woman called Go Eop-ji, and there has been no incident of killing a woman before or after. There are only two swords, the Sam-in and Sam-jin, and no hwandos (a type of curved sword) in the house.’ Despite repeated questioning, he did not admit to anything.> Annals of King Seongjong, Volume 90, March 11, 9th Year of Seongjong, 2nd Entry

At the time of the incident, Changwon-gun insisted that he did not know who Go Eop-ji was, and all evidence had vanished. Documents proving Go Eop-ji was a servant of the household, and the hwandos used to kill her—everything had disappeared.

The Annals did not record what the hwandos looked like. But as soon as Ha-yeon read the record, she remembered the old hwando she had seen in Si-woo’s house.

That was the ‘disappeared murder weapon.’

Although it was unclear how that murder weapon came into Si-woo’s possession, Si-woo had kept it all these years.