CHAPTER 31: DO I NEED TO JUMP?

Sylas didn’t know what surprised him more—how fast Vlad disappeared or the fact that Alvaro had been kidnapped. All he knew was that he stood there frozen.

What should he do?

Sylas felt his heart pounding. Panic rose inside him, but he knew panicking wouldn’t help.

"Calm down..." he told himself, taking deep breaths over and over. Then he turned to look at Kai, who was still kneeling—naked. He shook his head. How could a person accept being treated like an animal?

"Put on your clothes," Sylas ordered. Even for something so basic, Kai had to be told.

Kai quickly crawled to pick up his clothes and put them on. His movements were slow and careful. Sylas wanted to grab the clothes and help him dress, but he stayed patient, standing where he was.

Sometimes, Sylas looked away when Kai’s private parts were accidentally exposed. He had already seen everything, but he wasn’t used to seeing such things out in the open.

He looked back when Kai was fully dressed and kneeling.

"Why did you just let yourself be ordered to strip naked? Don’t you have any self-respect?" Sylas asked.

Kai bowed his head. Sylas’s question clearly confused him. All his life, he had been taught to follow orders—no matter what they were. Hearing Sylas sound angry made him wonder what he had done wrong.

Had he upset Sylas? Kai stayed silent, but he was nervous and afraid.

"Would you jump into a lake if he told you to?" Sylas asked again.

Kai swallowed hard and looked up. He took Sylas’ words seriously. As a slave, he couldn’t disobey. He had to do whatever it took to please his master.

Kai nodded without hesitation, though his eyes showed worry and confusion. "I-I have to do it now?"

"Oh, God." Sylas sighed, unable to believe what he was hearing. He stared at the slave. "You’re not a slave anymore. Didn’t I already free you?"

Free?

Kai went silent. It sounded like a bad thing. He didn’t want to be left behind. He didn’t want to go anywhere else. What did freedom even mean?

"Do you hear me? You’re not a slave. He shouldn’t have treated you like that. Do you understand?" Sylas asked. He tried to keep his voice calm, though the situation disturbed him.

Kai nodded slowly, his head still bowed. He was afraid Sylas would leave him behind. And now he wasn’t sure—should he jump into the lake or not?

Sylas took a deep breath, looked around, then closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead repeatedly to calm himself.

What should he do now? Where would he even begin looking for Alvaro—especially when he was a wanted criminal who could be caught at any moment?

"Do you know where that man lives?" Sylas asked Kai.

There was no answer.

Sylas turned around and found that Kai was no longer in front of him. He quickly looked around. Not far away, he saw Kai limping off in the direction they had come from.

"KAI!" Sylas called, confused by the slave’s behavior.

Kai stopped and turned around. His eyes were full of sadness. Sylas had no idea what the slave was thinking.

Sylas walked up to him. "Where are you going? Don’t get lost!" he warned.

Kai didn’t say anything. Then his eyes widened. "I-I don’t have to jump into the lake now?" he asked softly.

Sylas didn’t know what to say. He opened his mouth to scold Kai but stopped, realizing that the slave was different.

"I never told you to jump. Do you understand metaphors or sarcasm?" Sylas asked gently.

Kai shook his head. So... he didn’t have to jump?

"Why would I tell you to jump into a lake? Am I crazy?" Sylas sighed.

Kai stayed silent. Maybe he should still take a bath. He knew the lake wasn’t too deep—he wouldn’t die. But he had been tortured often, and was used to doing things that didn’t make sense. He never took orders as a joke, not in Omino.

Sylas felt like his head was going to explode. He was panicking, completely alone without Alvaro, and now he had to deal with a slave who couldn’t even tell good orders from bad ones.

He wanted to talk more, to explain things, but then he saw Kai looking down, clutching his hands tightly in front of him. He immediately softened when he saw the slave’s hands trembling.

Did he look scary to him?

Sylas grabbed Kai’s arm and gently pulled him closer. "You don’t need to be afraid of me," he said softly.

Kai swallowed hard, glancing at Sylas before lowering his head again. Then he felt Sylas stroke his hair. It startled him, but he relaxed when he saw Sylas’ small smile. His heart warmed.

"I really don’t know what I’ll do with you. But right now, the most important thing is getting out of this forest. Do you know where that man’s house is?" Sylas asked.

Kai nodded. But he was scared to go back. The memory of Vlad punishing him made his body tremble.

"Who is he?" Sylas asked again.

Kai then told him what he knew: that Vlad wasn’t human, that he was a creature who had lived for hundreds of years and liked to drink blood.

Sylas furrowed his brows, unsure if he could believe what he was hearing. From Kai’s explanation, he guessed that the man was a vampire. From what he knew, there was only one vampire living in the kingdom.

So... he had just faced Lord Vlad? The vampire noble feared by the entire kingdom?

Sylas gaped in disbelief. According to rumors, Vlad controlled many nobles and had power over them. No one dared to speak his name, let alone approach him.

"Is he in Rampesh?" Sylas asked. He remembered that the vampire lived near his old inn, but he never had any interest in going there. Now, it seemed he had no choice.

He couldn’t leave his knight behind. He had to find a way to bring Alvaro back—after meeting Vlad.

More importantly, where could they go now to avoid running into Virouse’s soldiers?