The Vampire Baron's Love

12th Century France "Hurry! Hurry!" Giscard, anxious and distressed, urged his horse onward, galloping along the river valley towards the city of Toulouse. "Marquis, wait for us!" Cherie, following closely behind, spurred her horse with a small whip, casting an angry glance at Ethan, the steward riding behind her. "Why did you tell the Marquis where she is?" "You know he’s been looking for her for twenty years," replied Ethan, his gray hair and eyes focused on Giscard racing ahead. "So what if it’s been twenty years? Didn’t you say she’s dying?" "That’s why the Marquis must see her one last time." "No, it’s not the last time. She’ll die, be reincarnated, and he’ll continue searching for her. He’s been chasing her for hundreds of years!" Cherie, with her golden hair and blue eyes, looked only eleven, but her blue eyes shone with the bitterness of jealousy. "The Marquis loves her." "Shut up!" She glared back at him, hating to hear those words. Ethan’s elderly face showed a hint of helplessness. Seeing Giscard quickly dismount in front of the Romanesque basilica of Saint-Sernin, he quickly stopped his horse, set Cherie down, and the two followed Giscard inside. Giscard rushed to a small room inside the basilica. Seeing Catherine lying on a white bed, seemingly asleep, he approached the bed emotionally. He sat on the edge, gazing at the sixty-year-old woman before him with an expression full of love and sorrow. She had aged, unlike him who remained forever young. She had fled from him to avoid him seeing her old and decrepit. His eyes reddened, and tears shone in his deep blue eyes as he trembled and held her wrinkled hand. Catherine stirred, opening her once bright eyes that were now dimmed and mostly covered by drooping eyelids, and turned slowly towards him. Her vision blurred with old age, she struggled to see the familiar handsome face before her. Recognizing him, her voice, hoarse with age, cried out in shock, "Giscard?!" Giscard’s throat tightened, his voice choked with emotion, "Yes, it’s me. I finally found you!" Catherine’s tears fell like rain as she looked at the man she had loved all her life. When she was twelve, he had looked just as young and handsome. Now, at sixty, his appearance was unchanged. She gazed lovingly at his features, wondering if she should deeply imprint his face in her memory as she faced death. Would they meet again in the next life? Her eyes closed, blurred with tears. "Catherine, talk to me. Don’t leave me so soon. I’ve been searching for you for twenty years…" Giscard’s voice trembled as he held her cold hands tightly. She shook her head, pulling her hand away with all her strength. He was taken aback, noticing the anger in her blue eyes as she opened them again, "Catherine?" She took a deep breath, her voice tense, "I hate you!" "Catherine…" His face turned pale. She glared at him, "I hate you! If you had made me a vampire twenty years ago, I wouldn’t have had to leave you or fear growing old and decrepit!" Giscard’s face filled with sorrow, "I couldn’t. If you became a vampire, you’d hate me. You’d understand the fear and helplessness of wanting to die but being unable to." Tears flowed again from Catherine’s eyes, "I’m about to die now because I’ve grown old. My heart beats slower and slower. Isn’t that fear and helplessness?" "You’ll be reincarnated and grow again." "Experience the hardships of life, aging, sickness, and death again?" Her vision blurred, she could barely see him now. "If that’s true, can I ask you not to find me again? Don’t tell a little girl about her past lives and how she loved you, making her fall in love with you hopelessly?" Giscard’s jaw tightened, "I can’t. I can’t control myself." Catherine laughed bitterly, "You’re so selfish. Have you ever considered my feelings?" He was speechless. "When that little girl grows up and becomes your lover and wife, then realizes she’s aging while you remain the same as when she first met you at twelve… She’s scared and terrified." "Catherine…" He sorrowfully tried to embrace her. Her body stiffened immediately, "Don’t touch me! I hate you! I hate you!" "Don’t hate me. I beg you. I love you, Catherine." He looked at her, tears rolling down his face. He couldn’t bear her hating him… She could feel her heartbeat slowing, her vision growing dimmer. "If there is a next life, I never want to meet you or fall in love with you again because I don’t want to endure the pain of this life. I’d rather… I’d rather love a… normal person…" Catherine’s voice faded as she lost consciousness. "No, no!" Giscard watched as her eyes closed, feeling as though he was plunged into an icy abyss, his whole body pierced by cold. Cherie and Ethan stood by, silently witnessing the scene of their parting. Cherie pursed her lips, walked to Giscard, who was sobbing softly, and looked at Catherine, who was about to take her last breath. She sneered and suddenly bit her wrist, letting the blood flow into Catherine’s slightly open mouth. "What are you doing, Cherie!" Giscard’s expression changed suddenly, quickly standing up and roughly pushing her away. "Cherie, you’re too reckless!" Ethan hurried over, sweating in fear. Cherie’s childish face showed an unusual malice, "Since she wants to be a vampire, I’ll grant her wish." "Cherie!" Giscard’s expression was cold, his jaw tightening, "You’ve turned her into a vampire now. She’ll remain this old woman for hundreds, thousands of years!" "Do you think I don’t know that?" Cherie glared at Giscard, who had turned her into a vampire centuries ago. A flash of guilt crossed his handsome face. "Look at me!" She angrily tore off her velvet cloak, standing naked before him. "I’ve had the body of an eleven-year-old for hundreds of years. But how old am I? Three hundred? A thousand?" "Cherie," he looked into her angry eyes, "do you think I love Catherine but refused to make her a vampire because I wanted to endure the pain of parting, then search the world for her reincarnation?" "I…" She was speechless. "Because of you. When you were eleven, you begged to be made a vampire. I did it, and for fifty years, you regretted it, wanting to grow old and die, but you couldn’t." "Yes, it was my choice. But Catherine? She asked you the same thing. Why didn’t you do it, let her have eternal life like me, so that I and Ethan wouldn’t have to search the world for her reincarnation every time she dies!" "She’s dead. Don’t say more." Ethan’s voice came from behind, and she turned to see Catherine’s hands falling limply from the bed. Giscard’s loving gaze remained fixed on the lifeless Catherine, unable to bear the pain, he held her in his arms, tears falling down. "My love, I will find you…" Cherie snorted angrily, put on her cloak, stopped her bleeding wrist, and left. Ethan stood silently, thinking about where to find Catherine’s reincarnation next.