He, Who Lives By The Sword (Hyunlix)

He, who had to fight alone

The thumps of Hyunjin's boots echoed in the enormous but desolate castle. He scrunched his nose in distaste once he took notice of the trail of mud and blood that he was leaving after himself. He'd need to apologise to the maids for the extra work they'll have to do.

Once he reached his bathroom, Hyunjin took off his garments one by one, looking forward to a long relaxing bath. Even if his undead body was incapable of having stiff muscles and he didn't sweat nor produce unpleasant scent like mortals do, Hyunjin didn't dare miss a day without the pleasure of sinking his cold bones into the warm water.

Plus, he hated it when his silky brown hair was dyed red by blood.

Tonight's battle had been successful, his friends lent him a hand and helped him get rid of the coven which tried to take over Hyunjin's land again.

As the only survivor of the Hwang's coven, Hyunjin had become the target of almost all other vampires in the world. They would travel for days, weeks, even months, to find him and challenge him to battles in futile hopes that they'll take him down and rule what rightfully belonged to him.

Admittedly, he used to find it exciting. The thought of facing his opponents with the knowledge that each one would fall down to their knees and their heads would roll down on the soiled ground, used to elate him.

He didn't even need the helping hand of his dear friends back then. It used to be just him and his blade.

Hyunjin closed his eyes before sinking his head under the water, staying like that for what was probably over five minutes. He didn't care to count and it didn't matter anyway. It wasn't like he needed to breathe.

The fingers of his right hand twitched, similarly to the way they would do each day. Especially on the days of battles. Oh, how he missed to feel the rough but pleasant texture of the hilt, the carved on it roaring dragon which intimidated their opponents almost as much as Hyunjin's deadly fangs and blood red eyes did.

Even if many people would say it had been just a weapon. It was more than that. Felix was more than that.

He was his comrade.

His best friend.

His bonded.

The one who chose Hyunjin as his master.

The vampire stepped out of the bath, brushing back his wet locks before he grabbed a soft to the touch towel to dry his dripping with water body. He walked naked towards his bedroom, not bothering to spare a look at the familiar sculptures decorating the hallways in his castle. Upon entering the familiar room, which had been his only safe space for centuries, Hyunjin quickly put on a long black gown decorated with white entangled lines.

For many, it seemed laughable that the Hwang coven's colour has always been white. After all, it was a colour of purity and simplicity. For it to represent a family of vampires had many thinking that it was decided as a joke or a need to taint even the purest of things.

The truth however, was that no matter what creatures they were born as, the Hwangs treasured their human traits, their ability to feel emotions such as anger, sadness, love, even while living as the undead.

White represented their respect to the purity of their human selves.

It showed that unlike many of their kind, they did not look down on what still lived in them, in one way or another.

'Even if they don't have fangs or can't run faster than horses, humans still live by the same sources of love and greed. They still go to battles and draw their swords to protect what's most important. We are no better than them, Hyunjin-ah, never forget that.'