That embarrassment seemed to be contagious, as Leon’s face began to turn red as well. They hadn’t fought today, but Hana still felt if she looked away, she’d lose this round, so she kept her eyes on his.
“Agh, there’s dirt on your cheek! Sorry, my hands are filthy,” Leon exclaimed, yanking his hand away. But even as he did, the scent of the soil lingered. Her face was a canvas of soil and tears.
“…It’ll come off when I wash up. I like the smell of soil.”
Leon always smelled like soil.
Things were awkward between them the whole time they worked in the garden that day. This time, it wasn’t because of some fight they’d had. They both remained redder than the flowers they tended—for quite some time. And even thereafter, the air between them was different.
It wasn’t until Walt came to tell Hana that breakfast was ready that she started to feel normal again.
✦ ✦ ✦
❦❦❦
HANA was sixteen.
She and Leon were growing further apart with each passing day. He had become very conscious of the difference in their social status, and though Hana insisted it didn’t matter to her, he only spoke to her when necessary, being sure to speak formally when he did.
He had stopped teasing her altogether. And he never tried to make her laugh the way he once had. It was only then Hana realized just how much she loved him.
She had been stuck inside for several days. But even though she awoke struggling to breathe, Hana popped out of bed and threw open her curtains so she could look out at the garden.
The cotton roses were in bloom again this year. And standing right next to them was Leon.
“Leon!”
“Yes? What is it, m’lady?”
“The cotton roses are in bloom! I’d like to put some in my room.”
“Very well. Please give me a moment,” Leon said and looked away immediately after.
Hana’s heart thundered in her chest. She was the one still acting like a child, not Leon. Her chest was in excruciating pain. And she was so thirsty.
No! Not Leon…
Her father had told her how the blood of vampires coursed through the veins of the Watoh family. And of how they were destined to burden the one they loved most with their secret as they partook of their blood.
Hana was forbidden from marrying the one person she truly loved, so at sixteen, she still had no fiancé.
Leon would not be able to marry Hana. As she had no siblings, it was her responsibility to marry someone with strong business acumen who might become the heir to the Watoh Company. Leon was working-class and could only read and write enough to get by. He certainly didn’t speak any foreign languages.
No matter how hard he worked, he would not be able to succeed the Watoh name.
Hana, clever as she was, had long since figured out why her father had brought Walt to train under him. He had hoped that, over time, Hana would fall for Walt on her own. And she wanted nothing more than to please her father.
The truth was, she did love Walt. But it was in the platonic way a sister would love a brother.
Leon was the one she had romantic feelings for.
She loved everything about him, from his rugged hands to his suntanned skin to the earthy scent that followed him everywhere.
But if they were all bonded to their first love or forced to face death, vampires would’ve gone extinct by now. Hearts can change. She didn’t need to drink blood just yet. She still had time.
In which case, it was probably better for her not to see him, but the harder she tried to come up with a reason to avoid him, the more she wanted to see Leon. Love was a wretched disease.
Hana sat down on a bench to watch Leon, who had grown into a young man in his own right. She felt like she only ever saw him from the back nowadays, and the thought made her chest hurt.
“Ouch…”
Leon let out a soft groan. He had either pricked himself on a thorn or cut himself with the clippers.
In an instant, Hana’s vision went red. She could no longer control her body and was quickly losing the ability to form a rational thought.
The sound of her parasol hitting the ground seemed so far away.
“Are you all right, Miss?”
“Miss Hana! Miss Hana!”
Please stay away—! She wanted to scream those words, but found she couldn’t speak. The last thing she remembered was Leon, and then Walt, charging in from afar, calling out to her. Then, the scent of the earth, and the grass. And then the scent of blood, strong enough to overpower both.
✦ ✦ ✦
❦❦❦
HANA awoke in her bed.
“Did I…pass out?”
It had been because of Leon. She had smelled his blood and collapsed. She remembered it clearly now.
“That was close. I almost…”
If she drank his blood, she could never turn back. If she hadn’t lost consciousness, she would have reached the point of no return.
Oddly enough, she wasn’t thirsty anymore. Her head felt so much clearer now that she thought hours must’ve passed since she collapsed. She patted her chest, proud that she had overcome her urges.
She rang the bell on her bedside table and a servant appeared. The servant called for her parents.
Saizoh asked her if she was still thirsty and she responded, “No, not at all.”
This was the truth. Her thirst was completely gone. However, Hana was avoiding what her father was really asking: “have you fallen so in love with someone, you crave their blood?” In other words, was she maturing into an adult vampire?
Hana understood that it was serious, a matter of life and death even, but she couldn’t tell her father the truth. She knew that, no matter how much she loved Leon, her parents would never approve.
After her parents left the room, Hana allowed her mind to wander. A servant entered with a bouquet of flowers.
“Miss, did you ask the gardener to prepare this bouquet for you?”
The flowers were scarcely worthy of being called a bouquet. They were wrapped in simple white paper and bound with a hemp cord.
Before she had collapsed, Hana had asked Leon to set aside some cotton roses for her. And so he had.
“Where shall I put them?”
“Just get me a vase, please. These flowers are special, so I’d like to arrange them myself.”
“That sounds like a lovely idea, Miss.”
The servant brought Hana the vase, some water, and scissors before leaving her. Hana reached for the hemp cord, intending to set right to work on arranging the flowers.
“Huh…?”
As she removed the paper wrapped around the flowers, another piece of paper slipped out. Hana set the flowers down and picked up the paper.
I’ve ben woryed.
If u’re feeling beter, open the windou and let me see that u’re doing ok.
The writing on the crumpled page was sloppy. The sentences were brief, with multiple misspelled words. It was definitely from Leon.
After Hana diligently arranged each cotton rose Leon gave her, she took out a pen and sheet of paper and replied to his note.
I’m going to come see you before bed tonight. Wait for me by the herb garden.
She opened the window of her second-floor bedroom and looked for Leon. His white shirt swept in and out view beyond the branches of a large maple tree. He had been worried about Hana, and spotted her immediately. She gave a wave and Leon made his way back to the house. He moved his lips without using his voice:
Are you okay?
Hana read his exaggerated lip movements and gave a big nod in return. The midday summer sun was far too bright. As she gazed down on Leon through half-lidded eyes, the world around him appeared to be twinkling. She wanted to be with him, day or night, without being afraid of reproach.
What she was doing was wrong.
Nothing would come of it. But still, she folded her reply and tossed it out the window. The wind carried it along and dropped it near Leon, where he picked it up. Hana strained to see the look on his face. Her heart was a sea of fear and anxiety, dotted with specks of hope.
Idiot.
She could see his lips whispering those words. She expected nothing less.