Chapter Forty-Three: Youth Without Regrets

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Betty contacted me, and I organized the materials before handing them over to her.
She exclaimed, “Wow!”
Then she said, “This stuff is so sensitive; I don’t know if writing it down will get me hunted.”
I thought that if Tiphon believed Betty was a gun-for-hire I had employed, he probably wouldn’t dare harm her.
She laughed, “With such hot material, I need to carefully consider how to use it. Maybe I should change all the character backgrounds and names? Anyway, thanks a lot.”
She gave me a share of the income from that last book; compared to what I invested in building the town, it was just a drop in the bucket, but something was better than nothing.
When I arrived at the elevator entrance, the guards of the Elders’ Council said, “Marquis! Marquis Fishbone! The Regent requests your presence.”
I sensed urgency in their tone and asked, “What’s going on?”
The guard replied, “The Regent said it’s about Sosa.”
I was shocked. I remembered Sosa was fine when I left the palace two days ago. Did they suspect I had done something to him? Ridiculous. Didn’t they know how much effort I had put in to resist the vile heart that Piel had left in my soul?
Perhaps, indeed, I had pinched Sosa’s chin twice and kissed his… forehead, but that was out of elder affection, not for my own secret pleasure...
Suddenly, I felt more tragic than Xiao Feng and more wronged than Di Yun.
The guard said, “You’d better hurry; otherwise, this situation will be very unfavorable for Master Sosa.”
I realized they might not be trying to set me up and hurried to the Elders’ Council. In a spacious office, I saw Michael, Le Gang, and the other elders, along with Sosa and Nalray. The two knelt on the floor like a young couple caught eloping.
The metaphor was imperfect, but that was the situation.
Michael maintained his decorum and dignity; Le Gang was still calm and composed, but it was clear this matter displeased them greatly—it was a troublesome calamity. The other four elders looked somewhat gleeful; among the vampire clans, intrigue was common, even between the closest of kin.
Michael said, “Fishbone, since you are Sosa’s godfather, you must be present during his handling.”
I asked, “Handling? Why handle him? The kid is still young; what mistake could he have made? He’s just a child.”
Le Gang sighed, “Nalray, you tell the Marquis.”
Nalray looked up at me with no respect, almost as if he saw through my facade of strength.
He said, “Last night, I turned Sosa into a vampire. He resisted fiercely but couldn’t withstand my power.”
I was shocked because I recalled the strictest law of the Elders’ Council: inside the Black Coffin, no member of the vampire clan may create another vampire without the council’s selection; violators must be executed—including both creator and created.
Sosa shook his head tremblingly, “No, I begged Nalray to do it.”
I asked, “Why? The next selection is only a few years away; why the rush?”
Nalray raised his voice, “Don’t listen to his nonsense. I forced him; I insisted on turning him into my offspring, my kin, my brother. I’m willing to bear all consequences; this has nothing to do with Sosa.”
Sosa said, “Nalray, don’t confuse the facts!”
They were trying to exonerate each other, attempting to save one another—how touching, though the sentiment might raise eyebrows, it was still admirable.
Bochi sighed, “I don’t know which of you is lying, but it doesn’t matter. According to the law, Regent, how shall we deal with them?”
Michael even managed a smile—not just bitter, but a mask to cover his inner anger and shock.
He said, “According to the law, it is death penalty.”

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I said, “Forget it, let’s just leave it at that. Take them back, each get a good beating as a lesson. Why take it so seriously?” As I spoke, I patted Sosa on the shoulder and said, “Apologize to everyone, drink some hot blood to feel better. What kind of big deal is this?”
Tiphon sighed, “Fishbone, you’re not a vampire; you don’t understand that this iron law has lasted for centuries.”
I retorted angrily, “How many vampires did the previous Regent Missouri secretly create?”
Maxwell replied, “But Missouri is dead, Marquis.” That left me speechless for a moment. After a while, I said, “Those weak-bloods don’t live well, do they? There are exceptions to everything.”
Bochi sneered, “Weak-bloods are lowly lab rats, insignificant. Whenever we want, we can execute them.”
I said, “What do you mean? Don’t you show respect to the Regent? Don’t you respect Duke Le Gang?”
Bochi said, “I only need one word from the Regent—be it ‘execute’ or ‘release’—and I will obey. But we will remember, remember this execution by the Regent today.”
I understood that if Michael freed Sosa and Nalray, his prestige would plummet drastically, and other nobles would gain the right to create offspring at will.
If everything remained secret, there would be room to maneuver, but now that it was public, handling it was extremely difficult.
They had to be punished, but I could not allow them to be killed.
I said, “Wait, they’re both under sixteen this year, right?”
Bochi said, “So what? Sosa and Nalray have undergone the strictest noble training. Any slight flaw is unacceptable, let alone such a grave error.”
I said, “Don’t use vampire rules to intimidate me. By human standards, they’re just clueless kids! Their sentences should be reduced, or even waived.”
Bochi said, “Nonsense. According to you, we could incite children to go out killing without legal consequences?”
I said, “Of course, if you have the guts to incite them.”
Bochi glared at me, grinding his teeth, but when I lowered my right hand, his expression changed drastically, as if someone had a gun to his head.
I remembered that I was actually a nuclear-level bluff, and they all believed me.
I said, “I don’t know, but this child is my godson. If anything happens to him, I don’t know what I’ll do—especially to those... cough cough... annoying flies.”
It seemed Bochi’s faith betrayed him at that moment. He sat back and said, “Boring. Damn boring.”
I didn’t mind the curse, as long as the god Bochi believed in didn’t mind.
Le Gang said, “I firmly believe Sosa is innocent. Fishbone, take him outside to wait; we will make a decision soon.”
Knowing Sosa was safe, I quickly took him to the mansion balcony. Sosa was already pale; now his face was shaded with a deathly bluish hue.
I scratched his hair and said, “It’s not your fault; it’s that Nalray. That kid looks serious but is even more impatient than me...”
What am I saying? That sounded suspicious. If you can’t joke, don’t joke, Fishbone! It must be Piel making me lose control of my tongue.
Sosa looked down at the scenery, at the lawn bathed in bright lights, tears like blood flowing from his eyes.
He said, “Godfather, when Nalray and I met last night, he was jealous of you.”
Jealous of me?
Sosa said, “I respect you deeply; my admiration borders on fanaticism. So, I spoke highly of you and told him all the brave deeds you shared with me. That made him angry. He said, ‘Your closeness with him is abnormal! You’re practically insane.’”
I felt like a scapegoat, but I couldn’t deny it.
I asked, “Did he misunderstand something?”

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Sosa said, “He’s competitive. He thinks I can only have one close friend—him. I shouldn’t blindly admire others.”
I said, “What nonsense! Can’t you admire Michael? Admire Le Gang?”
Sosa shook his head, “He doesn’t care about my feelings for my foster fathers, only about my passion for you. I don’t know why; it’s complicated.”
These childish kids, at their age, cannot distinguish many things. They vent their frustrations anywhere and confuse all feelings.
Perhaps after Nalray became a vampire, he believed he should be worshipped by Sosa, even seeing Sosa as his possession, forbidding Sosa’s disloyalty or sharing his affection with others.
And Sosa becoming my godson was a heavy blow to Nalray. He saw me as the one who took away his friend, his precious possession, the child under his guardianship.
Even his childhood sweetheart, his innocent playmate, his brother, his... lover.
Ah, youth—so chaotic and obscure, beyond words. The more I analyze rationally, the more lost and ignorant I feel.
I asked, “So he turned you?”
Sosa said, “We started arguing. He said harsh words; I struck back without mercy. In the end, I apologized. He said, ‘If you truly apologize, then give yourself to me. We face the consequences together.’”
Why do I feel like a minotaur here?
I asked, “And you agreed?”
Sosa said softly, “I... I’m sorry. My mind was blank. I just thought, ‘Okay, you’re not afraid to die, and neither am I. Let’s see who’s braver.’”
I patted his shoulder gently and said, “It’ll be fine. Who didn’t make mistakes when young?”
The guards called us back.
In the reception room, Michael said, “Fishbone, after discussion, we have reached the following decision:
First, strip Nalray of all noble titles and property, assign him to the Valkyrie Battalion for five years of wilderness pioneering. No mercy, no reduction.
Second, strip Sosa of all noble titles and property, place him under house arrest for reflection. Only his godfather may visit; no outings, no mercy, no reduction.
The other elders have no objections. What do you think?”
I nodded, “So be it.”
The vampires all stood and left expressionless, only Michael and Le Gang remained seated on the sofa.
After a while, Le Gang said, “Sorry, brother.”
Michael replied, “It’s alright. Everything is alright, brother.”
Le Gang and I shook hands with Michael in turn, then walked out the door.
At that moment, I felt Michael’s loneliness.
But in this damned age, who doesn’t have a few troubles, right?
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End of this volume (8)
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