Volume 4, The Lost Files of the Ancient Castle 4: Melody, the Symphony Woven from Joy and Sorrow (1/2)

Volume 4, The Lost Files of the Ancient Castle Chapter 4: Melody, the Symphony Woven from Joy and Sorrow

Translator: clrfction (proofread by Arcedemius & Lala Su; C/E edited by Amgine & lucathia)

Melody-jiě is going around telling everyone about An Xiang Ye and Charles’s special relationship.

But I don’t believe any of it, and it doesn’t look the others do either, because all An Xiang Ye does is snuggle with Briar all day. He acts like a complete pedophile!

I warned Briar to stay away from An Xiang Ye, but she just laughed and said An Xiang Ye just likes to snuggle in general. Then, she actually dragged me to his room… his bed was covered with plush toys! The bookshelves were stocked with fairy tales! There were also rubber duckies in the bathroom! Even the soap was shaped like a little turtle!

Can’t you at least play with robots and use monster-shaped soap?

An Xiang Ye. What are you, a twelve-year-old girl?

Late at night, while Dark Sun was out pursuing bank robbers, I took the time to call Sadina, mostly to tell her about the traitor, though I also mentioned meeting Gong Feng Xiang and receiving the video.

“There’s a traitor in the family?”

“Yes,” I replied, “that is what the deceased family member from the plane said.”

The other end was silent for a while. Sadina sighed faintly and said, “Cousin, don’t come home anymore. I’ll send someone to protect you.”

I paused for a second, and asked, “What about you?”

“I will stay with the family to find the traitor, or find the entire Endelis clan and take care of them once and for all!”

I will not be seeing Sadina. I sighed in relief, but then, I thought of how I might never see Sadina with her eyes open again… It stung a little in my heart. I tried to convince her, “Sadina, there is no need to start a war between the two families because of me…”

She yelled at me, “Shut up! If you want to give me orders, return and take back your role as the family head! Besides, this doesn’t count as a war between two families. The Endelis clan aren’t even worthy of being called a rival of the Elysees family!”

True, which is why I do not want to witness a massacre. I could only make another attempt to persuade her. “Either way, it is too much to annihilate an entire clan.”

The Endelis clan is not a small clan. It includes dozens of vampires and many other non-humans. If Sadina were to take care of them once and for all, that would mean one to two hundred lives lost. Considering how the Elysees family could not avoid having any casualties either… A few hundred lives would be lost, all because of me. Is it worth it?

She responded coldly, “They tied you to a cross and tried to burn you alive under the sun. Now they’ve even sent you that video. Aren’t those actions crossing the line?”

I fell silent, thinking of that video. I really could not defend the Endelis clan any longer. They forced me to recall the most unbearable memory from my past. I even lost composure because of it, and said so many rude words to the young master… Even though the young master never mentioned the incident in the following days, I still felt terribly remorseful. The young master was still young. He should not have to think about matters such as death.

“Cousin,” Sadina began in an imploring tone, “can you let me do what needs to be done? I am old, and I don’t have much time left to protect you. I cannot peacefully leave this world if I don’t annihilate the Endelis clan.”

Don’t mention leaving… I clutched the receiver tightly, and managed to squeeze out with difficulty, “I have been causing you trouble all this time.”

After an extended silence, she finally said, “Sorry, I shouldn’t have mentioned…”

“Do not worry about it.” I interrupted and continued with a smile, “Do whatever you want! Either way, you have been disobedient ever since you were a little girl. Who am I to tell you what to do?”

Sadina chuckled softly for a while before speaking again. “Has Curtis’s performance thus far been acceptable? I did not teach the child myself, so I am honestly quite worried. Even though his teachers all gave him very high scores, numbers can only tell you so much. They can’t compare to real situations, especially since that child has always been very stoic. He has barely even smiled after his parents died in a car crash.”

I rushed to reassure her, “Do not worry. He has been very good, even though he is inexperienced, and indeed does not smile… However, many employers prefer stoic butlers, so in the future, Curtis will surely become a wonderful butler, too.”

Sadina smiled as if she had a heavy load lifted off her shoulders and sighed. “Thank goodness, because I don’t really have any other candidates for the next steward.”

Hearing the term “steward” once again, I could not help but ask, “Why not give the position of official family head to Curtis? Sadina, I sincerely wanted to give the official position to you back then, not for you to become the substitute. Even now, I have no intention of reclaiming the position.”

“And I hold the same opinion as back then. Unless it’s as a substitute, I refuse to manage the family for you,” Sadina stated resolutely. She then continued in a low voice, “Curtis is my grandchild, so he isn’t a true Elysees either. How could I leave the official position of family head to him?”

To think Sadina still cared about such matters…

The Elysees were never a large family, probably because the generations all practiced being butlers, and a truly responsible butler does not have much time to also attend to his or her own family.

By my father’s generation, those in the family who truly had Elysees blood only included him and his sister, who was my aunt and also Sadina’s mother. But my aunt had poor health ever since she was young, so she could not bear children. Moreover, she was over forty years old by the time she married my uncle, so she was unsuited to have children anyway. In short, she actually was not Sadina’s biological mother. Sadina was my uncle’s child with his ex-wife.

Even so, my aunt had always treated Sadina like her own child. She would not even let anyone mention in front of her that Sadina was not her biological child.

“Speaking of that, when are you going to change your name? You are Charles Elysees, not Charles Endelis!”

I began to explain out of habit, “Father promised Madam Avexila back when….”

Sadina’s temper flared noticeably as she said, “Who cares about keeping promises for the likes of Avexila?!”

I replied wryly, “Moreover, I have become accustomed to using this name, so why must you force me to change it?”

“Cousin, you are the sole remaining member of the family who still carries the Elysees bloodline, the last of the Elysees! Yet your family name is not Elysees. How ironic is that?”

That is exactly why I do not want to change my name. If I truly wanted to leave the position of family head to Sadina, I could not be going around using the name “Elysees” to remind everyone that I still carry the bloodline.

It is pretty much settled that Sadina would not accept the official title, but Curtis is the next in line, and surely he would not be satisfied with only being a substitute forever. When everyone forgets that I am the last Elysees, and when no one else in the family carries the bloodline, then Curtis can accept the official title without contention.

Perhaps in the near future, the Elysees family will be replaced by the Christopher family. It would not be too late to change my name then.

“Cousin!”

Bang!

I turned around to look, and the door was shoved open. Melody leaned on the door frame. That was not surprising, since she was the only one in this apartment who opened doors like that. However, her situation seemed a bit strange. She wore a considerably elegant purple and black gown that was extremely old fashioned. No one wore dresses like that anymore.

Even though the gown was very elegant, the owner was drunk as a skunk. Nothing that relates to the word “elegant” whatsoever.

“Sadina, I will call you back later.” I rushed through the sentence and hung up quickly.

Melody walked in, wobbling as if she would fall over at any time, but she somehow made it in front of me in one piece and asked, “Butler, who were you calling?”

“My cousin.” I looked down at Melody. She really was acting weirdly today. Aside from the old-fashioned gown, she had also put her hair up in a bun, also in a style so outdated that no woman would ever use it these days. She had only put on minimal makeup, which was a large departure from her usual appearance with bright red lips.

“Oh…the one who likes you?” Melody choked out a laugh, poked me in the chest, and then accused, “Say, why don’t you get together with her? Is she too old for you? Men are all like this…”

“I am a vampire. She is a human,” I explained simply. She should have understood that. Instead, Melody began to laugh uncontrollably. I sighed and said, “Melody, you are drunk. I will take you back to your metal cabin!”

“I don’t want to sleep!” Melody insisted stubbornly. After saying that, she even clung onto me, making sure to grab my arms, so I could not carry her back.

Being so close to her, I could clearly smell the scent of alcohol on her, so strong that she smelled like she was a bottle of vodka herself. If she were human instead of a vampire, she would probably have gotten alcohol poisoning already.

“Melody… please let go.” I looked at her helplessly. “I must go prepare the young master’s midnight snack. He might return any moment now.”

It was hard to tell whether she had heard me or not, as she did not reply. She did, however, loosen her hold slightly and place her hands on my waist instead. Then, she pressed her face into my chest. This made me even more uncomfortable, not because of the hugging, but because the Melody I knew was not someone who cuddled meekly with men.

Even if she does cuddle occasionally, should it not be with the master or First Wind? Why is she suddenly embracing me?

“Butler, let me ask you: do you believe in reincarnation?”

Reincarnation? I shook my head. “I do not have a religion.”

“Religion… hahaha! Me neither! What vampire would believe in religion? Hahaha… haha… ha!”

She laughed. She would not stop laughing, even when tears began to fall, even when the laughing turned into howling, even when she began to cry… crying with her faced buried in my chest, sobbing uncontrollably.

If I was uncomfortable moments earlier, then now I was terrified. Melody is actually crying?

In my terror, I finally remembered to offer a handkerchief. She snatched it and wiped her face roughly, then promptly tossed it to the ground. She went back to hugging me and muttered to herself, “But still, I must still believe there is such a thing, because if there is, maybe someday I can still meet him.”

Him?

Melody looked at me suddenly and asked bluntly, “Butler, you left your cousin because she’s human and will die soon, correct? Why not turn her into a vampire? Do you not have the courage to love her forever?”

Melody looked at me intently, determined to receive an answer. I did not expect her to ask this question and did not know how to answer, so I could only say, “There are many reasons…”

“Ah! Of course, there are always many reasons. When is that not the case?” She let out a humph and pushed me away, turning to look at the French windows, and began in a sweet-sounding tone. “He never had this many reasons. He just did what he wanted to, without any consideration for others’ feelings. Always the dictator!”

I sighed and said, “Melody, you really are drunk. Could you return to your metal cabin and get some sleep?”

She completely ignored what I said, turned around, and fired off another question. “Butler, if you hadn’t left your cousin back then, how long would you have had with her in total?”

I turned silent for a bit, but Melody kept glaring at me, as if she would not stop without receiving an answer, so I could only reply honestly. “Not long. Perhaps eighty to a hundred years.”

“Not long? Heh. Butler, did you know?” She advanced and continued overbearingly, “My lover was an immortal vampire. He gave me my First Kiss and turned me into a vampire so I could be with him forever… Take a guess. How long do you think I had with him?”

I smiled bitterly. “I do not know, two or three hundred years?”

“A year and a half.”

Melody announced the answer. I stared blankly. Tears fell out of her eyes, but she did not seem to notice. She simply continued expressionlessly, “Then, he died. The village where he hunted quite often asked the Church for help, and they sent in the Sin Elimination team. He was weak from giving me my First Kiss not long before, which used up too much of his blood ability, so he had no strength to defend himself. The Sin Elimination team didn’t even leave behind a speck of his dust.”

So that was it. I was not too surprised, though. Vampires being killed by the Church was nothing new. This was also the main reason vampires usually banded together in clans instead of wandering alone. No matter how strong a single vampire was, he or she was always weaker during the day. If a Sin Elimination team caught any hint of their movements, being turned into ashes and dust would be the only possible outcome.

“During that time, I hid in the closet. I couldn’t see, but I could hear. I covered my mouth desperately, because I couldn’t cry out. I listened to him die… the Church didn’t know of my existence, so they left after killing him.”

Hearing this, I could completely sympathize with how she felt at the time. When my father lay on his bed during his final days, I could only watch as his vitality slipped away, hearing the doctor say he only had a few months left… During those months, I wanted to cry every day, but I could only chat with my father with a smile on my face, because he said he was proud, that the son he raised had the best smile.

If I had the choice, I would rather be tied on the cross and die from overexposure to the sun than watch another loved one weaken day by day, and finally see them close their eyes forever, never to wake up again.

At this moment, Melody suddenly grabbed me by the collar, pulled me over, and growled at me. “Even though he and I were both immortal vampires, what does it matter? You’re such an idiot for leaving your cousin just because she can only live for a hundred years! Is a hundred years too short? I only had a year and a half to love him! In exchange for this year and a half, I’ve missed him for more than three hundred years… but I’ve never regretted meeting him, never regretted loving him!”

A year and a half… I have never regretted going home with father either, but at least I got to spend ninety years with him. Yet, Melody only had a year and a half, and she had to endure pain for more than three hundred years. If it were me, I probably would not have had the courage to choose that year and a half! I complimented her sincerely, “You are very brave.”

“Brave?” Melody laughed. “I’m not brave. When he died, I literally went insane. My only thought was revenge.”

I shook my head and said, “There is nothing to avenge. Humans just want to live. They did nothing wrong.”

“Wrong? This has nothing to do with right or wrong!” Melody gave me a look of disgust. This is not an expression she would normally make.

“Imagine a hunter in the mountains who ended up being killed by the boar he was hunting. Would the hunter’s wife or son say, ‘It’s not the boar’s fault. The boar was just trying to live’? No! They would gather the villagers, pick up all their weapons, and annihilate that boar! That’s exactly what I did. All those who killed him deserved to die!”

She let out an inhuman growl. “I slaughtered the entire village! Because to me, they were all boars who killed the man I loved! They called for the Church to come!”

“Perhaps your lover also killed someone else’s lover,” I tried to phrase it tactfully.

Upon hearing this, Melody laughed again, to the point of crying. She said as she laughed, “Charles Endelis, you really shouldn’t use the name Endelis. Go become an Elysees! You are not a vampire. Not because your father is human, or because you lived with a human family for more than fifty years. You aren’t a non-human because you’ve never slaughtered humans like pigs! Even if you go crazy, even if you turn to darkness, you still wouldn’t do it, right?”

I could not deny it. Even though I had killed humans before, and even though the number was not small, I had always had a reason. Actual reasons, more than simply to feed on humans.

In this age during which even murder among humans hardly required a reason, I really was an abnormal vampire. But father was very happy about this. Whenever someone told him his son was a dangerous vampire, he had always replied thusly, “My son is a vampire, but trust me, even a ten-year-old girl with a letter opener is more dangerous than him.”

Father said this for a reason. When ten-year-old Sadina first came to the family, other children used my being a vampire to scare her, so she ended up carrying a letter opener made of silver with her all the time.

The first time we met by chance in the hallway, she looked very scared. I tried to comfort her with a smile and squatted down to her level. Just as I went to stroke her head, she unexpectedly stabbed me right in the carotid artery with great accuracy. Silver making contact with blood combined with loss of a lot of blood caused me to faint almost immediately.

If other family members had not passed by and stopped her, she actually would have tried to stab me a few more times. Sadina admitted that to me later.

Father was very worried and angry at first, but after I recovered, he had Sadina bring a bouquet of flowers to express her apology. The card on the bouquet said, “To the vampire who nearly died at the hands of a ten–year-old girl.”

From then on out, Sadina was never scared of me again. The rest of the family seemed to also fear and avoid me less often.

“You treat humans as your own kind, so you can’t do it!”

My attention shifted back to Melody. She let go of my collar, took a few steps back, collapsed onto the sofa, and muttered. “Ever since I slaughtered people, I began to understand. The First Kiss itself did not change me into a vampire. It was the massacre that truly turned me into a non-human. You can only understand the difference between humans and non-humans after you have personally done so.”

If that is the case, I would rather never understand the difference between humans and non-humans.

“Speaking of which… When our young master flies into a rage, he can really kill humans as if they’re pigs.” She reclined on the sofa, covered her face, and laughed. “You and the young master, you two are so… hahaha!”

The laughter died down slowly, until finally, Melody fell silent and stopped moving, seemingly asleep. Suddenly, her hand slid off the sofa, and a necklace fell from the palm of her hand.

I bent down and picked up the necklace. It was a very classical-looking necklace with an oval pendant and an orchid design carved on the surface. Usually, these kinds of necklaces can be opened, since one can put pictures inside.

I opened it. Inside the locket was not a picture, but a drawing. The blond man wore a proud expression, and his face and aura were surprisingly similar to those of the master. There was also a line of text: Calanthe, my eternal love.

Looks like Melody is not her actual name. I closed the necklace and put it back around Melody’s neck. Then, I picked her up and walked toward her room.

As I closed the lid of the metal cabin, I remembered that I should be making the young master’s midnight snack… Then, I glanced over and saw an orchid flower on the lid of the metal cabin. Melody had always liked roses instead. Perhaps Melody is not Melody tonight, but Calanthe?

I could find no argument against what Calanthe had said. I claimed to be a vampire but have always lived with a human’s mindset and a human’s lifestyle.

She is right. I am not an Endelis… but she does not know that I am not an Elysees either.

I leaned on the metal cabin. Metal cabins isolate noise well, so Melody would not hear any outside disturbances. I whispered, “So what if I feel human? Humans treat me as a vampire, but non-humans think of me as half-human, or not a true non-human… I am affiliated with two families, but the Elysees family cannot recognize me openly, and I cannot agree with the Endelis clan.”

Humans and non-humans, separated into two sides with the use of the prefix “non,” yet I am standing right on the line, not on one side or the other, unable to go to either side.

Ring ring… ring… ring ring…

I pulled out the phone and took the call. “Charles Endelis speaking, who might this be?”

“It’s me! What took you so long to pick up?”

“Yue Gang?” I was a little surprised. Usually, I am the one who calls him, while he physically goes straight to the market to find me. “What is the matter? Are you already out of money for food, because you spent the ten thousand yuan I gave you on weapons?”

“What do you see me as? Some kind of weapons maniac?”

I replied with a faint smile, “Are you not?”

“Tsk! If I keep buying more weapons, I wouldn’t be able to pay you back even if I get my paycheck! Nope, didn’t buy anything! But… I really don’t have money for food. If you don’t save me with thirty thousand yuan, the shop owner is gonna harvest my liver to cover the debt!”

“…What did you eat?”

“Two cocktails, two side dishes, and a baguette.”

“You could take the shop owner to the police and sue him for extortion,” I suggested.

“If I could walk out of the shop, I would’ve done so already!” Yue Gang hurried to continue. “The shop owner won’t let me talk for much longer! Come save me quickly! Bring thirty thousand yuan to a bar called N/H on South Sunset Road.”

N/H? “What did you go to N/H… What did you go to a bar for?” I blurted out.

The other end hung up. I do not think Yue Gang did that voluntarily.

After thinking it through for a moment, I returned to my room and changed into my heavy traditional suit. However, I did not withdraw thirty thousand yuan. Instead, I leaped straight out of the French window in the living room and ran toward South Sunset Road along the walls of the building.

N/H is a members-only club, and Yue Gang could not possibly be a member, so he should not have even been able to get inside. But he had made it in today, and the shop owner swindled him. Add in the fact that he had called me… I suspect that this entire ordeal has nothing to do with Yue Gang. The true target is me.

But what would the owner of N/H want to do with me? Even though I had been to N/H quite a few times, I had never met its owner.

After running for about twenty minutes, I jumped from the walls to the street. There were not many people on the road, and the streets were only dimly lit. South Sunset Road was situated in the southern district of Sunset City. It was considered to be a rather unprosperous district, and the security was notoriously corrupt. Not many people lingered on the streets after sunset.