CHAPTER 389: FROM VINTANOTTER

They started strong with the first tribute to be interviewed being from Heshuk, a southwestern village located at the far edge of the Tikinawan region, right by the border that neighbored the wasteland.

The man’s name was Harum who in his late twenties had already earned the reputation of a cruel and cold-blooded murderer back home.

Harum did not smile. In fact, he barely showed any emotion if nothing at all.

Facing Arabella at that table, his features returned perpetual heedlessness and quietude so much so that her first thought upon laying eyes on him was that he fit the stereotype of his village right up.

"According to your chart, you were sentenced to never again see the sun after being convicted for five of the most violent and gruesome murders the region has ever witnessed," the young woman kept her eyes on the sheet of paper between her fingers.

"Yes, it is quite ironic if you think about it,"

That was the other thing about him. Aside from his dispiriting indifference, his tone too reflected composure.

His voice steady, Harum could have fooled anybody to believe that he was the one with the upper hand in that room and not the other way around.

"Ironic how?" Arabella’s brows furrowed.

"I, a resident of Heshuk, was sentenced to never again see the sun. Now, don’t you think that is ironic?" the only thing that moved in him was his chest as he breathed in and out.

"Indeed," she sighed.

Anyone who knew the first thing about Heshuk had to be aware that despite the high temperature, sunlight rarely ever graced its bounds.

That place was nothing but a forsaken hole engulfed by those foul clouds dumped there by the northern currents.

"Did you do it? Did you kill those people?" she swallowed her own saliva at those words.

"I did not kill anyone, my Lady," his demeanor shifted not even by a bit, "I murdered them," he corrected, his eyes boring into hers.

Silas’s urge to intervene was stomped when Arabella immediately fired back with another question, "What did it feel like to take those lives, Harum?"

The vampire sat back and watched as the meeting unfolded from his chair. Not in a million years would he have expected Arabella to keep her cool in such a conversation.

"Not much can get your blood pumping in Heshuk," after a short pause that sent chills down Arabella’s spine, he added, "It made me feel alive, my Lady,"

She did her very best, but failed to contain her heart from running wild, drumming the inner walls of its cage from every side.

Even to a human, the way every hair on her body stood was more than visible.

"I see," was all she murmured at first, breaking eye contact with Harum, "Thank you for your time. You may go,"

If Arabella could have tossed his chart to the side, she would have, but that would have been impolite and that wasn’t like her, even in front of an unscrupulous individual such as that man.

As Harum was being escorted out, Silas stood by his wife and placed a hand on her shoulder, "Would you like to take a break?"

"No. I’d like to proceed with the next one, please," she spared him not a glance, fiddling with the sheets of papers posted in front of her instead.

Thankfully, the next tributes’ moods were a lot less heavy to shoulder than the first. None of them were pleasant or even stood out per se, but at the very least, the petty crimes listed in their charts allowed for an atmosphere a few notches lighter than before.

Some still carried fear they desperately tried to conceal, but much like Arabella did at first, they failed to keep a lid on their emotions.

Others reflected acceptance with every muscle in their bodies, looking overall down but calm.

There were, of course, those that stared her down with that same look of disapproval that Vali offered her that day in the forest, as though she did not belong or that she was answering a calling that was never for her to pick up.

Still, none left an impression on her as much as the sixth man on the list. Well, to call him a man was exaggerating it.

His chart said he was nineteen years old, but his face and body sang an entirely different tune.

If his appearance already gave him up as the youngest in the bunch the previous day, once bathed and properly clothed, the poor thing looked not a day older than sixteen.

Arabella was ready to wager all she possessed that the boy was not of age. Not even close.

Nevertheless, she bit her tongue on it for that time being and proceeded with the standard questionnaire, "And so, Erik! Your chart says you hail from none other than Vintanotter. There is no mistake, is there?" she smiled.

"No mistakes, my Lady!" he practically chirped.

Behind her, Silas was left to wonder whether she emulated the boy’s spirit or if it was the other way around.

"It also says that you were caught thieving from the government food supply carts that were in the duke’s honor," her eye turned a little stern.

As though caught in the act again, Erik’s gaze fell to his lap, "I did swipe some, yes," he grumbled.

"Would you tell me why?" Arabella’s voice turned sweet.

"My sister fell ill and...," his voice, on the other hand, broke, "My mother already struggled to provide, and no one would hire me,"

Arabella sat there, took every word in and slowly nodded along. Behind her eyes, however, a different conversation was being held.

That about the history of vintanotter and all of the neighboring villages to it.

Indeed, around ten years prior to their day, a rebellion sparked by the youth of the region had its echoes ripple through some parts of the kingdom which led to a new decree from the king of Lustris himself.

To serve as an example and diminish the chances of such an act ever rising again, it was decided that starting from that year onwards, all young men were to be drafted and spread across the kingdom territory to serve as king’s men upon reaching the age of seventeen.

In other words, there was, in fact, no way Erik could have been over the age of sixteen.