The Duke's Passion

Rufus rushed to the underground dungeon where Samael's coffin was kept. He ran like a madman, ignoring everyone who was asking him what was wrong. There was no doubt that the place and the very hallway he was sprinting through was the duke's mansion. 

But why? Was he inside an illusion? All sorts of negative thoughts hovered over his head until he finally reached the underground dungeon. 

"My lord, are you alright? Why are you suddenly acting strangely?" Fabian, who was following him behind, inquired as soon as Rufus stopped. The latter didn't answer, eyes on the closed coffin in the middle of this empty dungeon. 

"What is going on...?" he wondered. 

This time, Rufus took careful steps as he approached the coffin. His hand trembled as soon as he felt the concrete lid.

"My lord? What are you..."

SCREECH

Rufus ground his teeth as he slid the lid open. His heart sank almost instantly upon laying at Samael's pale face inside the coffin. 

"No..." he staggered back, running his hand through his hair. "This illusion is too vivid."

As someone who had experienced all types of vampire abilities, Rufus could discern an illusion and reality. Hence, those abilities don't work for him. Even so, he couldn't believe he went back in time. It just didn't make sense.

But just when Rufus was racking his brain on what sort of situation this was, he froze. Something suddenly hovered over his head.

Stefan's letter. 

"Find Lena..." he mumbled, recalling the words written in that letter. "Not my enemy... time was... expect for the worst... leave our fate in my hands...?" His heart stopped beating for a second as his eyes dilated. 

Rufus was still unsure about most things, but his gut feeling told him this was it. This was the last game Stefan had in store for them. How did it happen? Rufus didn't know, but that was not important to him right now. 

What was important to him was... Samael wouldn't wake up in the next five years. Then Lilou...

"Fabian, tell all the knights to search for a woman named Lilou in the town of Banse," Rufus ordered with his eyes on the coffin. 

"But my lord, today is the annual gathering for the duke. The nobles will come in here today and..."

Fabian trailed off when Rufus turned around. His expression was wicked, eyes darkening as they glinted. 

"I don't care about them. Find a peasant named Lilou!" Rufus' voice thundered across the dungeon, making Fabian flinch. "I'll join the search."

With that being said, Rufus stormed away in a hurry to find Lilou. If he truly went back in time, Rufus had to find Lilou at all costs. This was five years prior to Samael and Lilou's first meeting. If he remembered correctly, this was also the time when Lilou and Stefan were acquaintances. 

He didn't know if they already knew each other or not yet. But that didn't matter. What alarmed him was that... Stefan might've come back with memories of the future. It would be easier if Stefan was just like Fabian, unaware of what was going on.

But if that wasn't the case, then things truly went from bad to worst. 

'I truly hope that isn't the case,' Rufus prayed deep in his heart, trying to be an optimist about the situation. But to no avail. He couldn't. His gut feeling told him... Stefan had known all along this would happen. 

Because... he had seen the future.

*****

[ At the same time in Monarey ]

Claude was cradling a woman's body in his arms. Kneeling on the grass at the castle's garden, his grip on the woman's body tightened.

"Auntie Lilove," he whispered through his gritted teeth, rocking his body while securing her in his arms. "You will be fine... you will be fine... it's alright. Uncle will be here soon... he should be here."

His eyes welled up, heart constricting. He mustered his courage to look at her to check whether her complexion was better after reversing the time before all this happened. But to his surprise, when he checked the woman in his arms, it wasn't Lilou. 

"Penny...?" he whispered, feeling his heart sink. He raised his trembling hand, touching her cold cheek.

"Penny, why..."

Then it hit him. 

The woman he saw lying in her pool of blood wasn't Lilou. It was Penny. Claude's mind went blank momentarily before the scene flashed before his eyes. 

Last night, Penny told him to meet her in the garden. How she had access to the castle was because she was one of the earl's people. Claude didn't know the reason Penny asked to meet, but that was just how Penny was. So he went. 

What welcomed him as soon as he arrived at their meeting place was a woman lying in her pool of blood. With Claude's increasing headache and hallucinations, when he approached, her hazel hair that was damped in red made him freeze. 

That very second, while staring at the hazel hair, his mind only showed one picture. Lilou. Even when he checked, it was Lilou's face he saw and not Penny's. 

Claude didn't have the luxury to wonder what happened or where was Samael because he was too busy shouting for help. But alas, she was already dying. No, she was already dead. 

Desperate, Claude estimated the time of her death. He had never messed with the time for so long, but he wanted to reverse the time for at least one hour. Because of his determination to bring her back to life, he did.

Unbeknownst to him, while he was reversing the time, the blood of Grimsbanne unlocked in his veins. Hence, reversing it for more than a decade. 

He didn't know that yet, though. All he could think of was that... he probably overdid it and extended it for a day. Aside from that, Claude's mind was blank seeing that Penny was still dead.

"Right..." came out a whisper, lips quivering. "... she isn't affected by my ability."

Suddenly, as Claude was trying to make sense of everything, knights surrounded him. Yet, he didn't look up from Penny's pale face.

"How did you get inside the earl's castle?!" The knights started interrogating him, but their voices sounded distant in Claude's ears. Until... he heard a familiar voice.

"You, what are you doing here with a corpse?" 

Claude looked up, and his breath hitched. Before Claude was the previous earl of Monarey, Alistair La Crox. His uncle was looking down on him, brow arched.

"How... are you... back, Uncle?" he whispered, making Alistair's brows furrow. 

"Uncle? I do not recall having a grown-up man as my nephew." His voice was the same, and he appeared to be truly alive. "However, I can smell something strange from you. Seize him."

The knights instantly executed the order, approaching Claude and dragging him by his shoulders. The confused Claude barely blinked as he tried to process what was going on. When his eyes fell on Penny's corpse, he snapped his eyes.

"No!" he roared, flinging his arms, which tossed the knights away. His actions slightly surprised Alistair, but his eyes instantly darkened.

"Who are you?" Alistair inquired in a brooding voice. 

Claude clenched his teeth as he had one conclusion in his head. He reversed the time more than the time he planned. Instead of answering Alistair, he disappeared from his standpoint, only to reappear to pick up Penny's body. 

"My lord!" a knight yelled at Alistair when Claude picked up some dirt and threw it at him. When the dust subsided, Claude was gone. 

"Search Monarey and look for that intruder. I don't like the aura exuding from him..." Alistair uttered under his breath, eyes on the spot Claude vanished to. ".... I can smell a La Crox. Did he come from the mainland?"