The Crown's Obsession (WN)
chapter-561

A few years ago...

In the land of Devon, rain poured down heavily from the sky, and the people who had been out a few minutes ago had disappeared either into their houses or had taken shelter under trees. But the leaves weren't enough to hold back the water, and people were forced to run back to another place. It turned the ground wet and muddy, water slipping down the slope like areas to create puddles on the ground.

And in the rain, a young man walked, not bothered with the speed the rain fell and fell on him. His clothes had turned wet, and his shoes filled themselves with water. His dark hair stuck on his forehead and the sides of his temple. Water dripped down continuously, and his dark red eyes stared ahead of him without blinking his eyes.

The villagers who had taken themselves to their homes and noticed a person walking in the rain couldn't help but gossip with each other.

"Isn't he that whore's son?"

"It's best we don't talk about him or even look at him," said another man.

"I wonder how he even walks in here as if it doesn't happen," came another's words.

The first one who spoke asked, "Do you think she's still available for a-" he stopped talking right away when the young man turned his head in their person's direction. "I am going to close my shop. My wife is waiting for me!" said the person hurriedly before closing the door of his shop.

Calhoun didn't care about the comments that were passed by the idle villagers whom he didn't know and cared to know about. With the heavy rain, the villagers who had spoken ill about him and his mother believed their words had gone on unheard by him, but he heard every word that passed through their mouths. For some reason, compared to the other vampires, he had a better hearing than the rest.

The only reason he wasn't plummeting his fists through the men's faces was because of his mother.

He made his way through the streets that tried to camouflage him as if it was trying to save a life. Not Calhoun's but the villagers so that they wouldn't utter a word towards him. Because even though he looked tamed outside, internally, he was waiting for the right opportunity to drag each and every one of them to their graves.

Reaching the end of the village near the edge of the forest, Calhoun pushed the door of the house that was isolated from the rest of them.

"Mother, I am home," announced Calhoun.

His eyes fell on the bed on which his mother laid as she was sick. It seemed that she was sleeping asleep. The rainy weather was worsening his mother's health. It had been days since she had caught a fever. He had hoped it was just another cold, but this one seemed to persist.

He put his hand in his shirt, pulling out the medicine he had tried to keep safely. He had travelled three villages away from here, speaking to one of the physicians who belonged to the town, who had given him the prescription.

Going to the kitchen, which was right in front of him, Calhoun looked for the logs of woods that seemed to have exhausted. With a few sticks still in the house, he broke them into pieces before putting them in the fire and heating the water. Pouring the water in the glass, he went to the room that his mother occupied. The house they lived in was small with two rooms in it.

Bending down, he placed his hand on his mother's shoulder, gently trying to wake her up.

"Mother?" Calhoun called, and his mother slowly woke up from her sleep.

"Cal," his mother whispered because of the lack of energy in her body. "You are back," she said, trying to get up, and Calhoun helped her sit up.

He had tried to get three physicians so far so that they could take a look at her, but none of them knew what was wrong with her. Though he didn't show it outwardly, he was worried about her. She was the only family he had.

"Of course, I will be back," replied Calhoun with a smile on his face. "I brought you some medicines. The physician said he would come to take a look at you, but for now, this should help in making you feel better."

Calhoun helped her hold the glass, supporting it from the bottom and handing her the white tablet. He waited for her to swallow it, seeing her gulp water and then let out a tired sigh.

Constance stared into her son's eyes that were dark red. It seemed like her son had acquired it from her father and not Calhoun's father. It was because Laurence's eyes weren't dark enough.

When his mother started to cough, Calhoun patted his mother's back to ease the uneasiness she felt. "I will make something hot for you to eat. You feel much better after it."

His mother later ate porridge and got back to rest. She shivered as if she couldn't handle the cold, and Calhoun pulled another blanket that was his. He spread it on her while sitting next to her until she fell asleep.

The next day, Calhoun had stepped out of the house as he needed to find a better job, but most importantly, something that was close by the house so that he could check on his mother. But with the nearby villagers who were not willing to offer him work, it was hard.

While he was passing by one of the streets, Calhoun could hear someone getting thrashed. Following the sound, he came to stand in an alley to notice a person around his age being beaten by an older man.

"How dare you?!" the man shouted before punching the younger man's face, who didn't bother to defend. "I will fucking kill you for sleeping with her!" threatened the man.

Calhoun noticed it was one of the men who in the past had commented on his mother. He had been noticing something for a few years, that there was something more than humans, vampires and weres in this world. It was because some of them had different appearances, like the two people who were in the alley right now.

The older man continued to beat, and when the young man noticed someone standing in the alley watching them, the older man turned his head to see it was the whore's son, Calhoun.

"What do you think you are doing here? Trying to find customers?" asked the older man, but Calhoun didn't react. Instead, he walked forward, and the older man glared.

"Are you?" Calhoun questioned back, stopping his feet from walking further.

The man looked enraged, and he said, "I heard the whore has fallen sick. It would be good riddance to have her de-" before more words could come out from the man, Calhoun had raised his hand and punched the man squarely at his jaw to have the older man fall on the ground.

Calhoun looked at the man with cold eyes while the older man groaned in pain, not understanding how a person who was younger than him had been able to punch him hard. When he turned back, ready to walk, he heard the person who was being beaten tell,

"You are strong," said the other person, who hadn't stood up from where he had been sitting. He had pulled out his glasses from his pocket that had broken. "I can tell you are like me. Thank you for your help."

Calhoun stared at the person, "I didn't do it for you."

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Welcome to volume 2 where will be going to the past, to unravel the story of Calhoun, along with Theodore and Lucy's love story ^.^