Codename Vestia

Chapter 48: Joonie

Tora.

Someone whispered.

Tora.

“Tora!”

Jain shouted. The distant voice suddenly zoomed in, becoming unbearably close. Tora barely managed to regain his senses.

Jain’s chest, right in front of his eyes, was glistening with sweat. His hypersensitive vision made the sight of sweat droplets rolling down the skin appear as if in slow motion.

He wanted to pass out, but losing consciousness would only make things worse. He would completely lose control over his body.

Suddenly, Jain grabbed Tora’s arm tightly.

“Tora, drink my blood.”

“What…?”

For once, even Tora was too dumbfounded to do anything but ask.

***

Gamal barely regained consciousness. Her eyes stung. The room was dark, and the texture of the blanket covering her felt different.

The sudden memory of the cold, stinging sensation of spray hitting her face resurfaced. Gamal flinched and sat up abruptly. Then, she realized someone was sitting in the darkness.

A faint silhouette emerged, seated in a single-person sofa. The moment she recognized it, a shock like being pierced through her entire body seized her.

Gamal gasped and retreated to the edge of the bed. She couldn’t breathe.

「Ku…nis.」

Kunis didn’t move. Only his eyes shifted as he carefully observed Gamal.

「You’ve grown. Because of the flower.」

He had thought he would never see her again. Yet here she was—her twenties, dazzling beyond words.

Far more beautiful than anything Kunis had imagined—no, she was so stunning that he realized just how impoverished his imagination had been.

Her once-innocent black eyes had turned red, yet instead of losing their charm, they now held a depth she had never possessed in her youth.

Creak.

Kunis pushed back the chair and stood up.

Gamal frantically searched for a way to escape. But suddenly, Kunis knelt on one knee beside the bed. Then, with an expression so sorrowful it could shake anyone’s heart, he spoke.

「I’m sorry. I want to apologize.」

「You killed Rantu and Adawi.」

Gamal spat out the words that had been lodged in her heart for three thousand years.

「And Daniel too…!」

Daniel had been nothing more than her friend. Yet Kunis had ruthlessly cut him down.

「Back then, it was natural for vampires to kill humans. It’s not like I felt at ease about it, but…」

「Kunis.」

Gamal called his name with a face on the verge of tears. The sheer fact that she had spoken his name sent a surge of exhilaration through Kunis. He straightened from his kneeling position and took a step closer.

But Gamal, looking as if the very monster from her childhood nightmares was approaching, scrambled to retreat.

「Don’t come any closer.」

Even so, Kunis didn’t stop. He climbed onto the bed, placing one knee down. Then, cupping Gamal’s face in his hands, he whispered.

「Gamal. I missed you.」

With an aching heart, Kunis pulled Gamal into a desperate embrace.

"Forgive me, Siji."

Gamal's body began to tremble. Siji—the name Kunis had always used to call her.

"It was an accident, what I did to you. I was blinded by rage. I'm sorry. I was too young back then, I didn’t know how to control my emotions."

Kunis sincerely begged for Gamal’s forgiveness.

In his arms, Gamal merely quivered faintly. Kunis regretted what he had done to his delicate twin.

"Then what about the people?"

But Gamal suddenly asked. Kunis hesitated. When he slowly pulled away, he saw her eyes gleaming fiercely—not with tears, but something that looked just like them.

"Why did you kill them? I heard about what you did."

Kunis's eyes twitched slightly.

"Gamal, we are vampires. That’s the kind of species we are."

"Not all vampires are like that."

"Face it. Flos is convenient. We don’t have to worry about what to eat the next day. But it’s just a snack. Vampires must drink blood. We have to hunt humans."

"No, we—!"

Gamal tried to speak desperately, but Kunis cut her off.

"Look, Gamal. We possess strength and power. If that were all, we would be no different from animals. But we can think like humans. Why do you think that is? Because we are the new ‘humans’—ones who consume all others."

His tone was calm, not prideful.

"Until now, humans believed they were the apex predators, but they were wrong. And this is simply the order of nature. Just as humans eat pigs and cows, vampires eat humans. Why is that so hard for them to accept?"

He genuinely seemed unable to understand.

"Of course, I get it. It’s difficult to accept a change in the order of things. That’s why I want to show them. That this is the new truth they must accept naturally."

"……."

Gamal lowered her head without speaking.

Kunis seemed even more resolute than before. In the past, he had been quick to anger, carrying both fire and fury, for better or worse. But now, he was composed—smooth and unshakable.

His appearance hadn’t changed in three thousand years, but no one would mistake him for Gamal anymore. Even if she had never grown.

Slowly, Gamal lifted her eyes.

"But you already killed people when you were still human."

Kunis looked at her with pity, as if she were a child who understood nothing.

"Gamal, don’t you see? You and I being one—that too is the law of nature. We were born as twins. And we both overcame the infection that is so difficult to survive. We became vampires, both of us. We are eternally one."

Kunis slowly stroked Gamal’s cheek.

"I couldn't stand anything that tried to separate us. But back then, I was too impulsive, too ignorant. I would never do that now. If I could, I would even apologize to Rantu and Adawi."

"Apologize…?"

Gamal asked slowly, unable to believe what she was hearing. But Kunis didn’t even seem to understand why she was reacting that way.

"Yes. Thinking back, they were just mesmerized by your face. No man can refuse a beautiful woman. Sure, they didn’t know their place, but… yeah. That wasn’t a crime worth dying for."

"Kunis!"

Gamal couldn’t take it anymore and shouted. Silence filled the room. Kunis let out a long breath.

"I’m sorry. You just woke up, and I’ve been talking too much."

Gamal couldn’t hide the sadness on her face. She had thought that if she disappeared, things would get better. At the very least, she had believed that Kunis would be able to discern right from wrong.

"You used to be kind. Why did you…?"

"Because you liked me that way."

Kunis spoke clearly, as if he wanted to make sure she heard every word.

"But that wasn’t who I really was."

"Kunis, please…."

Then, in an instant, Kunis’s demeanor shifted so drastically it was hard to follow.

"Is it because of that human?"

His voice turned violent. Gamal shook her head.

"No. I’m talking about us."

At the mention of "us," Kunis’s mood shifted again. As if pleased, he spoke gently and rose from the bed.

"Rest. Get some sleep, and then we’ll talk."

Then Kunis left the room.

He had waited nearly three thousand four hundred years. A little longer wouldn’t make him any older.

Click. Whirrr.

The door closed, followed by the sound of it locking.

Gamal hugged her shoulders.

She had spent her whole life fearing this moment—the moment she would finally recognize that Kunis, her twin, was truly beyond redemption.

Maybe she had been running from this moment all along. And maybe now, she had to stop.

If she had killed Kunis long ago, the countless people he had directly or indirectly murdered would still be alive. At least until time claimed them naturally.

Her grip on her shoulders tightened.

***

"Tora, drink my blood."

"What…?"

For once, even Tora was too stunned to do anything but ask. But Jain spoke with a serious expression.

"Just a reasonable amount."

The moment Tora opened his mouth to protest, Jain quickly added—

"If we stay like this, we’ll both die. Especially me—at your hands."

There was no argument against that, but…

Tora furrowed his brows.

"I won’t be able to stop midway."

"Do it anyway."

"Don’t think of a vampire drinking blood as something as simple as humans eating a meal."

In truth, Jain spoke with confidence, but even she wasn’t sure if this was the right choice. Tora’s pupils had already thinned like a snake’s, his killing intent coiling in thick, suffocating waves.

When those sweat-drenched red eyes locked onto her, a chill surged through Jain’s entire body.

It was a gaze filled with murderous intent, yet paradoxically straining to hold onto reason. And somehow, Jain thought it was beautiful.

Why were humans always drawn to danger? She clicked her tongue at her own foolishness.

"So?"

Yet her tone remained firm.

"What do you think will happen to Gamal if you don’t return? Do you really think you won’t go back to Marti?"

Ironically, at that moment, Tora truly felt hunger. The unwavering gaze fixed on him, showing no fear, stirred something primal inside him.

Jain was right—he had to return to Gamal. That thought propelled him forward.

It was a fact. But the moment he planted his hands on the ground and leaned in, that rational thought separated from his body, like a soul slipping from its vessel.

His lips brushed against sweat-slicked skin.

Tora opened his mouth. At the tips of his fangs, a cold, blue energy shimmered.

Truthfully, he had eaten Flos alongside Gamal ever since becoming a Luas. But this wasn’t his first time drinking blood.

For vampires, drinking blood was instinctual—it was harder to resist curiosity than to indulge it. So, on occasion, he had obtained consent from the women he spent nights with and fed from them. Surprisingly, most of them had agreed without much hesitation.

In the end, it had been a rather addictive act. But ultimately, it had never been truly satisfying. Spending a night with a woman was far more enjoyable.

Now, Tora realized—he had simply never been this hungry before.

"Tora."

Jain called his name, breath coming in ragged gasps. The sound of her own blood being swallowed was painfully vivid. Her head was starting to spin. But Tora showed no signs of stopping.

In desperation, Jain raised her hand to strike him.

But before she could move, Tora seized her wrist.

She hadn't even sensed the motion.

The grip was monstrous. She couldn’t break free. Jain clenched her eyes shut.

Blood continued to drain from her. Dizziness swirled in her mind.

It felt like drowning—like Ophelia, sinking beneath the river’s surface, submerged in cold, endless water.

Her fingertips and toes gradually went numb. Her body kept sinking, deeper and deeper. Her vision darkened, flickering like moonlight scattered across the surface of a deep river.

Haa…

Even the sound of her own breathing echoed strangely close.

Then, suddenly, Tora froze.

And though nothing had happened, as if suddenly regaining his senses, he pulled away and lifted his head.

If red could pale, then his eyes had been utterly drained of color. But as the life returned to them, it looked like… a flower blooming.

Jain felt like she had lived her whole life blind to the existence of such a sight.

At that moment, Tora kissed her.