the culprit

The carriage traveled all night, and finally returned to the manor the next morning.The sky is still cloudy, the sky is crowded with thick lead-colored clouds, and it is unknown when it will snow again.The frail Hucken stayed in the cold carriage overnight, and as expected fell ill again.Dr. Douglas no longer has the same beard as he did ten years ago, and the hair on the temples is gradually turning from chestnut to white.He left the medicine for Heken, and told him to rest more before leaving, and bumped into Cyril when he went out.

After seeing each other for many years, Douglas almost forgot the existence of the boy, but now seeing him again, he was surprised by his pretty face again.He found that the boy's complexion was not quite right. He put his palm on his forehead and found that he was a little hot. He gave him some medicine and told him to take it on time.The boy took the medicine with a look of hesitation. He adjusted his glasses and waited patiently.After a while, the boy finally asked if he could see the cook at home by the way.

"He coughed badly."

Hucken was ill, and he was alone for breakfast.The fat cook has lost a lot of weight recently, and his cheeks have collapsed, making him look even older. His eyesight has deteriorated severely, and he often misplaces ingredients recently. What's worse, he has been suffering from some kind of illness for the past two months, and has been coughing continuously.The young man noticed his strangeness, and it happened that Doctor Douglas came to visit him, so he couldn't help asking the doctor to take a look at the servants at home.

After some questioning and palpation, the doctor didn't say anything, and left the medicine for the old man to take on time.When he left, he turned his head to look at the young man standing at the door, and couldn't help frowning and sighing in pity.

The most intractable thing in the world is old age.

After the doctor left, the manor returned to its old silence.Cyril took the medicine back to the room and added another piece of clothing for herself.There was still nothing in the fireplace except the thin ashes. He wondered if he should ask old Jack to bring some firewood, but for some reason, he suddenly remembered the vampire who lived at the end of the corridor.

He had actually slept in Felix's room during the days when everyone was suspicious, and like everyone else, he thought vampires were up to something.Fearing and resisting, he found the old pair of scissors from the room, the blade was rusted, and he couldn't care less about it.Although forced to take off his shirt, Felix just let him sleep next to him, otherwise he didn't even touch his hair.The vampire didn't seem to be afraid of the cold at all. He was uncovered at night and covered himself tightly with a blanket.

He vaguely guessed that maybe Felix knew what he wanted, but on those cold nights he was so focused on fear that he had no time to think about other issues.

Now he's back, with a completely dead heart.There is no need to go to Felix's room tonight. Maybe the vampire doesn't care, but out of courtesy, he should also go to thank him. If the vampire suddenly becomes interested in his story on a whim, he is willing to explain patiently.

Thinking of this, the boy left the room and walked towards the end of the corridor.

Felix's room was as cold and dead as ever, but the vampire wasn't in the bed.The boy walked in and saw that the blanket was still spread on the bed. He was a little confused for a moment, and turned to look to the other side of the room, only to find that Felix was sitting on a chair with a book in his hand.

He wondered if it was the one Felix had read a few days ago.

Hearing the sound of the door, Felix just raised his eyelids, and seeing that it was Cyril, he turned his gaze back to the page.No hello, no pleasantries, no questions asked.

Clearly showing no interest in human beings, Cyril didn't know why he believed that he would be interested in children like himself.He closed the door gently, and walked towards Felix, but until he stood in front of him, the boy couldn't figure out how to start.He stared at Felix anxiously and awkwardly. The room was too dark, and he twisted his fingers around the hem of the clothes twice. In the end, he could only stammer and ask if he needed to light a candle.

Felix laughed as soon as the words left his mouth.The boy complained to himself a hundred words in his heart, and shyly shifted his gaze away, his fingertips entangled in the cloth turned red.

"Did you get what you wanted?" Felix didn't answer the boy's question, closed the book, looked up at the boy, and asked about him for the first time.

Cyril himself was taken aback, and subconsciously turned his head to look back.But the surprise passed in a flash, followed by the long-overdue sadness of a silent night.When he walked out of that room, he didn't feel any discomfort, he didn't feel sad, and he didn't want to cry. Later, when he was waiting for his uncle in the snow, he was very calm, and he even had time to reflect on his own naivety and stupidity.

The night in the carriage was dark and cold. He thought a lot about the future, and thought about what kind of life he could still live and what kind of life he could live if he could really escape his fate.It was a night full of confusion and longing. He was ambitious, because he had already fallen into the worst fate, and no matter which way he fled in the future, it would be better and better.

He hadn't been able to think of his father for such a long time, and he hadn't felt sad for such a long time, but now he was easily aroused by a simple and complicated question from Felix.

The sour pain spread from his chest, and the young man couldn't help but raise his hand to press his chest, but the pain spread along his bones and flesh to his limbs, and not only his chest, but also his shoulders, neck and arms could be felt That sour pain.He tried to take a deep breath to suppress this untimely sadness, but his eyes began to heat up and sore. He couldn't figure out why he couldn't help crying in front of Felix, and he didn't want to look into Felix's eyes, so he turned his gaze elsewhere again.

"You know everything, don't you?" He said awkwardly, without answering Felix's question. "You know what I want, why I use you, and you must have known the result."

He must know all about it.Just don't say it.

This manor is too lonely, even a vampire needs a little adjustment in life.

The boy guessed that Felix was cooperating with him because he was too bored, and even if he knew the answer a long time ago, it would not prevent him from admiring the process of the other person looking for the answer, or the reaction and performance of that person after he got the answer.

"Am I your plaything?"

The teenager felt a pang of anger.He finally dared to look back at Felix, finally dared to let his gaze meet Felix's eyes, and he looked into those unpredictable green eyes, searching desperately, hoping to find enough in them for him to fight back. clues.

"You know everything, but don't say anything. In addition to dedicating blood for you, should I dedicate my feelings to amuse you?"

He couldn't help it.

He always cried in embarrassment in front of Felix, and he also felt that it was too shameful for him to be like this, so he raised his sleeve and wiped his eyes indiscriminately.But thinking that my deliberation and ardent hope are just a joke to pass the time in the eyes of the other party, the tears can't be stopped no matter what.

"You are only 13 years old, even if you steal a pair of shoes and a piece of bread, you should be forgiven." Felix said something that Cyril couldn't understand, and put the book on the table, "You are only 13 years old, talking about devotion is the most important thing." Funny—I can guess everything, what you want to do, what you want, and the final result. If I told you the result from the beginning, would you give up?"

If he knew from the beginning that all his expectations were delusional, would he continue?Will he still approach Felix with fear and disgust?Would he still make up stories to his uncle on the carriage to the earl's mansion?

Cyril knew the answer.

Even if he knew everything in advance, he would still try desperately, he would not let go of any opportunity, and he would exhaust all his hopes until his father ended his unrealistic dream with his own hands.

He also knew.

Like Felix, he already knew the outcome.His father sent him here is the answer, his father broke his leg with his own hands is the answer, the iron door that has never been opened in the snowy night is the answer... He is unwilling to face it, he refuses to admit it, he does not want to face it The fact that I was hated, and the delusion to replace reality with dreams.

Never before had Cyril felt so embarrassed, so miserable.At this moment, he stood in front of Felix and cried loudly, but it was not the vampire that made him so heartbroken, but himself who finally recognized the reality and was finally defeated by the reality.

"Because I killed my mother, that's why he hates me so much." He cried tremblingly, almost out of breath when speaking.He has said this reason to himself thousands of times, he wants to convince himself with this, he wants to prove that he deserves what he deserves, but he is still jealous, still in pain, he doesn't have the courage to go to the guillotine and the stake, and he doesn't dare to put it in his heart. Make a complete conclusion about his father's feelings for him.

"What do you know when you were just born?"

Cyril, who was crying, heard Felix speak again.A hand grabbed his wrist, and he struggled a few times unwillingly and awkwardly.Felix pulled him over, and he heard the vampire's sigh again, very softly, which gave him the illusion that the vampire was very gentle.

Felix got up, grabbing the cloak and putting it on before going out.He took the boy who was so crying that he couldn't open his eyes downstairs, and pushed him into the snow and ice outside the house.

"When you were born, you closed your eyes, you couldn't cry, and someone carried you out of your mother's lap. The world is empty to you. How do you kill people in an empty world?" Felix Hiding his body under the black cloak, let the shadow cover his face, "The original sin of your birth came from your parents, and the guilt of killing your mother also came from your father."

It was the first time someone had told him so bluntly and clearly that his mother's death wasn't his fault.

Cyril sobbed and looked up at Felix, who was surrounded by black beside him, and murmured in confusion, "But if I wasn't born..."

"Don't forget, it was your father who conceived your mother. He himself put the danger on your mother, and your mother risked it to give birth to you—the original sin belongs to them, murder Your father should also be responsible for your sins, and you," Felix stretched out a hand from the cloak to wipe away the boy's tears, "it was your birth that allowed you to inherit your mother's body and soul. love. Your father knew this fact, and that is why he hated you. Your birth itself vindicated you, and you were innocent."

Cyril is 13 years old.No one ever told him that he was born because of his mother's love.

He is 13 years old.Everyone said that he killed his mother, and everyone said that he was a born sinner.

He is now being told that because he was born and because he is alive, he is innocent.

For some reason, the pain in his chest was even more severe than before, and the cries that he could barely hold back sounded again.Cold fingers rubbed back and forth under the eye sockets, and he couldn't restrain his urge to cry at all.He raised his head and looked at the vampire seriously for the first time, even though that pale face was shadowed, even though he couldn't see those eyes clearly, even—even though he was still afraid of him.

His life was acquitted by monsters.

This is ridiculous.

But after Felix uttered the word "innocent", the shoulders that had been weighed down by mountains for so many years suddenly became lighter. He was still crying, and he still felt heartbroken, and he was still worried about his father's hatred for him. Sentimental, but finally there was a moment when he felt that he was no longer humble, he felt that he could straighten his back forcefully, and he felt that he could face anyone with confidence.

He stared at Felix.

Until the thin blue smoke rose, he smelled a burnt stench.The white back of the hand exposed to the sky was like cracks on the dry land, and the flesh was peeling off while bleeding.He gasped in horror, before he had time to think about it, he subconsciously put the vampire's hand in his arms.

Exactly the same as he did when he was five years old.