EnCoffin Me Chapter 22
Translated by Q the Panda (ko-fi)
Chapter 22
Alexio himself didn't remember when he first started paying attention to the lunatic.
Before he was dragged into the coffin, he had lived for about two thousand years, two-thirds of which was spent without the lunatic. He remembered many things: fellow vampires and Holy Temple hunters, some long dead, some still remained. Yet, he always felt that for more than a thousand years before meeting the lunatic, he had lived as if he were drifting.
Whenever he was unhappy or bored, he could simply close the coffin lid at any time and lie down in that confined space he somewhat disliked. By the time he opened his eyes again, the world would surely have changed. It had been the same after his dragon friend died. He grieved deeply, took his revenge, then slept in the coffin. By the time he woke, the princess his friend had loved had become a lich, and new allies had entered his endless life.
Using slumber to resist boredom, using slumber to face parting with the dead… before meeting the lunatic.
After meeting the lunatic, he felt as if he were a kite finally connected to its string. He knew human life was short, and the Holy Temple's way to fight that brevity was by freezing. He didn't want that noble and beautiful saint to become one of those who were frozen to death, so each time he lay in his coffin, he would think it over, grit his teeth, and manage to stay awake again.
As long as he was awake, the other person remained precious to the Holy Temple.
He was forced to receive one piece of news after another related to the saint during those long waking hours. Without exception, each piece of news shone brightly. The saint's path was heroic and radiant, just like the dream Alexio had when he was still human.
But by then, he no longer had the right to dream.
“I remember everything you participated in, so my memory's pretty good,” Alexio said, pulling his thoughts back and not forgetting to brag a little about his memory.
The saint looked at him with a strange gaze. Something flickered briefly in his sky-blue eyes, then was quickly concealed.
“Hmm, me too,” he said slowly.
Alexio nodded along. Suddenly, he remembered that the one before him had once been a lunatic. He recalled that the lunatic had been involved in many things, because everything the lunatic went through had once been Alexio's dream when he was still human. And the lunatic said he remembered everything related to him…
Alexio shivered with horror. His own ‘remember everything’ was definitely not the same as the lunatic's ‘remember everything.’ Given how twisted the lunatic had become by the end, that ‘remember everything’ was the kind that recalled every single detail! The kind he'd write down in a notebook and flip through in the dead of night! The kind where he could replay every single one of Alexio's past expressions right in front of him!
He was too careless! Was the lunatic starting to show symptoms again?!
Alexio sprang to his feet, his eyes warily fixed on the saint before him.
“Is it starting now?”
Lucius was slightly taken aback, then looked at him with a puzzled expression, as if he didn't understand what Alexio was saying at all.
“As a hunter whose ultimate goal was to hunt you down… once,” Lucius added, “I naturally had to know about those big events you were part of. It's one of my homework, actually.”
Alexio did not lower his guard. The psychological shadow the former lunatic had cast over him was far too deep.
“Then tell me what you remember… about the Delvie incident.”
That memory had indeed returned to him. The saint thought for a moment and then spoke slowly, “Bloodthorn Queen Delvie…”
His voice was truly suited for narrating history. Even when describing events where the vampires gained the upper hand, there was no extraneous emotion in his tone. He spoke of the queen's purge plan, how the manticores requested Alexio's intervention, how Alexio sent a fourth-generation vampire to kill the queen, and how Alexio himself broke the silver cross, bringing disgrace to the Holy Temple.
Although Alexio hadn't expected the Holy Temple to know the full sequence of events, including how the manticores had contacted him, he gradually relaxed listening to the lunatic's narration.
“Is that all?”
He sat back down in his chair. The saint across from him frowned slightly, sitting upright, looking very well-behaved.
“Is there something missing?”
“No, it's quite comprehensive.” Alexio felt completely at ease. The lunatic was still quite normal now. They could still get along well.
The saint quietly lowered his lashes. Alexio, on the other hand, felt a little guilty. He shouldn't have held prejudice against the currently amnesiac lunatic just because of some of his past extreme actions. It wasn't fair.
But he found it hard to say the words “I'm sorry.”
“You… are you going to sleep? To the room with the coffin? Can you actually fall asleep now?” Alexio had to abruptly change the subject. He saw the saint nod slightly, so he decisively stood up and left.
Maybe he could get up early tomorrow and bring breakfast to the lunatic as an apology? Alexio thought about it back in his room, but then realized there was no way he'd wake up earlier than the lunatic, so he gave up. He tossed and turned for a long time, then suddenly pressed his ear to the door and heard the saint leave. He hesitated for a moment. Without fully understanding why, he suppressed his presence and silently followed.
The conservation center wasn't particularly quiet at night. On the contrary, many nocturnal creatures stirred, and many caretakers were busy. The center was brightly lit. Alexio followed Lucius from a distance, intentionally hiding. The saint didn't notice him, and Alexio even had leisure to glance out the window.
They passed a floor-to-ceiling window. The sea serpents breathed into the night, and vibrant flames floated on the inner sea's surface. The firelight reflected their silhouettes, but this fire wasn't the battle flames of the past. It was strangely gentle.
The coffin was kept one floor below, in a room specially cleared out to store this precious item from ten thousand years ago. With permission, the center had taken some roses for research, but most remained inside the coffin, frozen by mysterious magic, blooming eternally without wilting.
The saint approached the coffin but didn't rush to lie down and rest. Instead, he sat on its edge and pulled out a notebook. Only then did Alexio notice the saint had brought many other things, as if planning to do something before sleep.
The curtains in the room weren't fully drawn. Pale silver light slipped through the cracks, casting a grid of windowpane shadows on the floor. Backlit, the saint leaned against the heavy coffin, a half-cape of silvery white draped down. The moist, moonlit scent of roses filled the space. The saint seemed immersed in this pale silver ocean, reminding Alexio of the first time they met.
Of course, it wasn't the day the silver cross was broken. That had been the lunatic's later revision, forcibly insisting Alexio treat that as their first meeting. But in Alexio's own memory, the first time he saw Lucius was on a similarly dark, unclear night, with no light around, and just as the saint appeared before him—
The moon suddenly rose.
It was the hunting ground of the kingdom's nobility, a joint hunt where the Holy Temple and nobles exchanged glances. The shadow of the broken silver cross loomed over the Holy Temple, driving them to desperate revenge. The Holy Temple planned to launch an early strike against the werewolves, with the kingdom's army aiding in pushing back those dark-worshipping border dwellers of the snowfield.
Hunters trained by the Holy Temple were forbidden from using magic or martial arts as they searched for prey. Suddenly, a golden stag leapt from the trees, its antlers gleaming in the moonlight. It was the most prized catch of the day. It fled wildly from the hunters, who shouted and pursued it through the deep forest, wading through knee-deep shallow water, until an arrow etched with a name precisely struck the deer down just before the dense woods.
Yet, no cheers erupted from the hunters, only a deathly silence.
Before the thicket stood a figure cloaked in black. An excessively pale hand reached out from the wide sleeve of the cloak, grasped the arrow, and pulled it out with seemingly little effort. The owner of the hand meticulously read the name on it and smiled.
“Lucius… which one is he?”
Facing the third-generation vampire who had just broken the silver cross not long ago, only one stepped forward among the trembling, hesitant hunters. That was the scene Alexio remembered as their first meeting.
The saint waded through the water, as if treading upon an ageless myth woven from stars and moon. He shone even brighter than the fallen golden stag, his lowered lashes framing sky-blue eyes. Alexio thought to himself, how could there be such a beautiful human?
“That is my prey,” the human said. It was the hunter whose lifelong mission was to kill him.
Actually, he probably just wanted the stag, right? Its golden fur and antlers were really beautiful. Alexio's head stung as he thought back. He should’ve just skipped the theatrics back then. He should have just carried off the stag, turned its hide into a rug and its antlers into a trophy. That would’ve pissed off the lunatic.
He glanced at his watch. It was already the time when night owls revel. The lunatic still wasn't planning to sleep. That wasn't normal. Alexio knew the lunatic's precise routine, unless…
He wasn't thinking of sleeping at all, or maybe he simply couldn't sleep.
So his sleep quality hadn't improved one bit? Counting today, the lunatic had stayed up six nights in a row.
Alexio grew restless, about to go in, when his ear twitched slightly. Silently, he retreated back to his original spot and quietly watched as a visitor knocked on the door left ajar.
It was Zhu Heng.
Alexio's judgment was precise. He quickly slipped inside the room before Zhu Heng and pressed against the wall. As expected, Zhu Heng closed the door behind him and pulled a box of medicine from the pocket of his white lab coat.
“I'm on the late shift tonight, so I brought the extra dose myself.” He handed the medicine to Lucius, frowning with concern. “Relying on drugs to sleep isn't a long-term solution. If possible, you might want to try hypnosis.”
Lucius refused the suggestion.
“Well, if you need anything, don't hesitate to ask. You really do look…”
“Not so good, right?” Lucius continued, lowering his eyelids. “I'm really not doing well. The day after tomorrow… no, it's already tomorrow now. I'm about to live under the same roof as the vampire.”
“…That may be the source of your stress,” Zhu Heng suggested.
“…Deep-seated beliefs are hard to change,” Lucius said at last.
Zhu Heng left the medicine and left the room. Lucius held the medicine box up to the light, reading the instructions, then suddenly glanced to the side and noticed Alexio.
“What I said just now, don't take it to heart…”
“You suspect Zhu Heng.”
Lucius' hand froze for a moment. Then, a faint smile appeared on his otherwise emotionless face.
“Yes, I suspect him.”