Chapter 13: 1.12
"Is it true that you helped people in order to confuse me?"
[Sigh, Michael will never let go of his suspicion, right?]
[Pupa: I don't think he will ever let go of his suspicion. Partly because you are careless enough to reveal your true identity, after thinking about a roasted turkey.]
[It was a one time thing! One time!]
Yunyu gritted his teeth, he pulled his hand from Michael's grip, but Michael persistently gripped his palms. Michael was persistent, like a drowning man desperately clutching on a piece of log, he stared at Yunyu's eyes deeply, searching for his intention.
Yunyu coldly snorted, he turned his head to the left, "I don't have enough patience to deal with you right now. Your Highness, please leave."
"I will not leave until you answer me!" Michael persisted.
"… why do you want to know so much? I don't have any obligation to answer it," Yunyu asked calmly. But inside his head, his mind was in chaos, he tried to find a way to reply to this without being too suspicious.
[Pupa: he casted a spell on himself.]
[I know! There is definitely something in his eyes. I think he will find out if I lied now. I don't want to fail right now, we are so close to the end!]
This time, the system was silent. Because what Yunyu said made sense. Michael was already suspicious, if Yunyu replied it lightly, his suspicion would never cease, and his breakmeter might not increase at all after this.
Michael observed the Duke's face attentively. Because he wanted the truthful answer from the Duke, he chanted a holy spell in himself, his eyes could read lies from someone for a short period of time, he was sure that the Duke couldn't lie to him now. Because if the Duke did everything to confuse him, then he could only let go. He would not kill the Duke, but he would let go of him and returned back with the Head Priest as an obedient young priest, like before.
Michael saw how the Duke seemed to be in dilemma in his heart. His eyes had a trace of panic and sadness. It seemed that the Duke was unsure how to reply to the question head on. The Duke finally opened his mouth and only said one thing, "If I tell you about my life before my death, will you stop pestering me?"
Michael's eyes widened when the Duke asked him, "Why?"
"Because you'll find your answer there. And I do not want you to meet me again after this," the Duke said solemnly.
Michael gulped. The Duke gave him a choice, discovering the past life of the Vampire Duke and never saw him again, or ignored the duke's true intention and stayed beside the Duke.
Michael wanted the best out of both, he wanted to discover the Duke's true intention, and stayed with the Duke, "Why are you giving me choice? I just… want to know your intention."
"Because I don't want you to discover my ugly past life. Once you know it, I beg you to leave me alone," Yunyu said. He was calm and collected, he didn't blink and stared at Michael's eyes. Their eyes met each other, but it was not a pretty sight, both of them were trying to find the intention of each other.
Michael took a deep breath, "I want to know about your past life, if that will answer my question… I will leave you alone after this. But…" Michael took a step to close the gap between them and suddenly hugged the Duke, "If I have to leave now, then let me hug you… at least once."
The Duke paused and let Michael hug him tightly without struggle. But his mind suddenly flashed with countless stars, and Pupa suddenly appeared behind Michael.
[Pupa: Ding! A hidden plot has been triggered! Duke Damien's past life!]
[What hidden plot?] Yunyu was actually bluffing the whole time. Because his mind blanked out trying to find a solution, He gambled on Michael's Fatemeter. Michael had 60% Fatemeter, when Yunyu said that he would never meet Michael after Michael discovered his past, Yunyu wished that Michael would reject the offer and let it slide.
But he lost the gamble, Michael accepted the term and suddenly hugged him. There was a jolt in his body and Pupa suddenly appeared.
[Pupa: You've triggered the hidden plot of the story. When the host encounters an item that will trigger a hidden plot, the host will be given the hidden plot.]
[Wait, there is a hidden plot in the first place? Why didn't you tell me sooner!?]
[Pupa: it is called a hidden plot for a reason.]
[… before I whack you, please tell me that there is a reward for triggering the hidden plot.]
[Pupa: Indeed, guaranteed 20% Fatemeter increase.]
…
Yunyu wanted to protest, he wanted the Breakmeter increase rather than the useless Fatemeter, but he had come to realize that the Pupa System was useless most of the time, so he just agreed defeatedly.
The system transferred the hidden plot in Yunyu's head. Yunyu got all the information about the hidden plot and he felt that the system was not so useless anymore, because this hidden plot was his lifesaver!
Michael hugged the Duke tightly, because the Duke didn't struggle at all, he thought that the Duke was too stunned to react, 'At least, let me enjoy this feeling before I know everything and leave.' Michael thought.
But when he let go of the Duke, he was stunned when he saw tears fall from the Duke's eyes, "Duke?"
Yunyu let tears fall from his eyes freely, he pointed at Michael's chest pocket, "I didn't know that you own my rosary."
"Your rosary?" Michael reached his chest pocket and fished out a rosary from his pocket. This rosary was given to him by the Saintess years ago. When he first met Saintess, she gave him this white rosary, when he asked about the origin of the rosary, she said that it was only a keepsake.
Yunyu reached out the rosary on Michael's hand, but when his finger touched the rosary, his finger got burned immediately. Yunyu stopped and smiled bitterly, "Since you want to know about my origin, then you should follow me to the garden."
Michael followed the Duke to the garden and in the garden, the Duke stood silently in the garden. He turned his back and faced Michael head on, he said, "That rosary of yours… was mine when I was alive."
Michael could still see and notice any lies due to his holy magic, and he still didn't find any lies in the Duke's eyes. So far, the Duke told him the truth, "But… you are a vampire, you're cursed when you died, how could you own this rosary."
Yunyu's bitter smile got deeper, "That rosary was given to you by the Saintess, right?"
Michael nodded, "It is originally owned by the Saintess."
Yunyu shook his head, "It was mine before. That rosary was given to the next saint or saintess by the previous saint. The Saintess already knows that you are the next Saint, so she gave you that white rosary."
"I was a saint three hundred years ago," Yunyu said it lightly, but there was a deep emotion in his heart. Deep emotion of longing and grief. He stared at the white rosary, and then Michael subsequently.
"I was a corrupted saint. I killed many people in the name of god, I thought that I was doing the right thing, because I was a saint, I thought that I would be immune from punishment from god. I was the messiah for a period of time."
"Until my death, countless corpses piled up under my rule and I was the definition of evil saint. When I wanted to rise back to heaven, god didn't let me because of my sins, but he didn't want to send me to hell because I was the chosen saint. Thus, he resurrected me back on earth, but as a vampire."
"As a punishment, I was degraded as a vampire. I can kill anyone of course, but god gave me an ultimatum, that he will not let me return back to heaven unless I can help as many people as possible in my life as a Vampire. It has been three hundred years since my resurrection, and I haven't returned."
"When I saw how cruel you were to the faithless, you reminded me of my past self," Yunyu explained everything to Michael. Michael didn't see any lies from all the Duke's statements. As baffling as it could be, Michael had to admit that the Duke told him the truth.
[Now I get why Duke Damien hasn't returned back to heaven, that's because he never actually repent. He spent the three hundred years of his life being a regular vampire, killing people without mercy as his food, even though he knew exactly what he should do to repent. It is tragic.]
[Pupa: Why do you think it's tragic?]
[Because if I don't come in this world and interfere with Michael's fate, he will be just like Duke Damien, a cursed saint that will live his life in agony in immortality. Maybe Duke Damien was originally evil, but Michael is actually a good person, just misled. I don't want him to suffer.]
Yunyu rubbed Michael's head, "Maybe, if I got killed by another saint, god will finally forgive for all I had done in my past life. You can leave now and never meet me again, or just kill me. Your choice."