Chapter 7
1009 Words
Arden's pov
I did as I was told, taking the closest seat I could find.
Within the room were four people who bore a similar resemblance to Jamie and me; they all had black eyes and hair, with skin as pale as a corpse.
They sat around a meeting table made of Diospyros crassiflora, commonly known as Gaboon ebony, one of the darkest and hardest woods to exist.
The furniture in question seemed like an antique; it felt quite archaic in a sense, which meant that this room, the Moretti estate, must have been old, reconstructed over the years while keeping the important places intact, or they moved all the relics, paintings, and reconstructed or modeled their new residence in the likeness of the old places.
The silence in the air was palpable, the tension was thick.
Though words were left unspoken, I could notice their reactions; they were gauging me, watching me intently to see my reaction.
This went on for a couple of seconds before they noticed...
Their eyes went wide for a brief second, to which Jamie broke into laughter.
"Well, isn't this amusing? Even my dear father was rattled."
One of the members seated snarled viciously.
"Jamie, what the heck did you bring into our house?" She questioned.
Of course, it was understandable, her reaction, I mean, given the fact that I embodied the very definition of a corpse, it was understandable that they'd react that way.
Jamie clicked his tongue dramatically.
"Tsk tsk, sister, whatever do you mean? I brought our youngest, of course?"
At his reply, another chimed in.
"That thing is no different from a corpse; there isn't any reaction, not even a twitch on his brows; it doesn't even feel like he's alive."
"Come now, Vanita, aren't you being a little too worked up over this?" Jamie retorted with a subtle chuckle. "Melissa, Vanessa, vanitas... Father, meet Arden. I assume you're all clueless, seeing as you suddenly gathered here, that'd mean I was the only one who got the Wraith's message."
"That's not the point here, explain why he's like that." Vasses, who had been quietly observing the situation, suddenly countered.
Their gaze all fell in my direction, but I remained silent, observing for now. It wasn't because I wanted to remain elusive; no, it was the fact that the patriarch had yet to speak.
Jamie gazed in my direction and then to his father. The silence returned, but it didn't last this time.
"Well, I'm sure you know the curse that comes with awakening our blood; we all had our price to pay, and it wasn't the least bit civil with us. It took from us what we'd rather not give."
He lingered slightly, but his words, particularly about the curse following the morreti's bloodline awakening, seemed like a sensitive one, and for that reason, the demeanor of the remaining siblings turned grim.
"In Arden's case, his curse and what was taken from him was his humanity; that being said, Arden is incapable of feeling emotions like the rest of us... Well, besides the urge to kill, if his words are to be believed." He finished.
The silence remained. Jamie's words had left the remaining siblings in a stunned reverie, but my focus wasn't on them; my gaze was fixed directly on the patriarch of the Morreti family.
He stared back at me but said nothing for a couple of seconds as if digesting the info Jamie had just dumped on them.
Eventually, he was the one who broke the silence this time; his question was directed at me.
"Do you find it unfair? Your curse, I mean."
I gave his question some thought, thinking about how best to answer it, and in the end, I answered honestly.
"I wouldn't think much of it; rather, I think it was in a way a convenient one. If I had my emotions at this given moment, then certainly I would have been on your throat now."
He stared.
"And why would you do that?"
"Because you left my mother in that state, take it as a child's whim, but I'm sure you had your reasons, yet I swore to make you pay if you were alive, a rather pointless decision, I admit."
He hummed slightly.
"It isn't pointless, you're free to aim for my life if you have the strength to do so."
It was a convincing offer, an open one at that, but I didn't have the leisure to pay attention to it.
"I'll pass, I have a target to direct my ire, I wouldn't want to use up my time pointlessly."
"A target?" Melissa questioned, arching her brows slightly.
Seeing her question as an opportunity to attain some information, I answered.
"Yes, have you perhaps heard of the name Camille?"
"Camille? You mean Camille Rosette?" Jamie chimed, his expression taking on a darker look.
"Those Rosette bastards." Melissa cursed.
Vanitas exhaled a tired sigh, his gaze narrowing to a glare.
"I assume you're asking means Camille was the one who did you in, made you awake perhaps, and since we can't awaken without dying, it seems like she did a thorough process to get rid of you."
His words were correct; I never truly realized it, but thinking back to it, our first meeting was strange and too good to be true; it could only mean she came for me with the intention of killing me from the start.
'Camille Rosette... I'll remember that name, since killing her alone would be a waste of revenge, I should kill her family along too.'
"Hah... How did you even manage to meet that sadistic b***h? Do you have shitty luck or something?"
I studied her for a second, although Melissa questioned with a lot of curses added, she seemed genuinely concerned.
While I was contemplating whether to answer her or not, the system's family notification screen popped up, and judging from the reactions of the others, I would assume I wasn't the only one who got it.
-----------------[Acquired quest]---------------------
KILL THE INTRUDERS.
- Writer
