The Heart Of A Vampire

chapter 19: cool title idk

"You care about your 'experiments'?"

"Why wouldn't I?"

Evangeline faltered. "You don't.. seem like the type to care about anything. Let alone a failure."

"We grow from our mistakes. We learn and advance. I have studied my failures extensively and they have provided me with a new outlook to have on future experiments. Each failure draws me closer to my success."

Evangeline paused for a moment before responding. "That's certainly a way to look at it. Though I feel that after a few failures you'd feel quite demoralized, yes? Id give up, honestly, and forget about success."

"Have you given up yet?"

She blinked. "What do you mean?"

Vlad raised a questioning eyebrow at her words. "Living here. Im the countryside. Im sure it's not easy."

"True," she agreed "But I suppose I'm getting used to it. It's definitely not as bad as I thought it would be."

He smiled, softly. "I'm glad to hear that. Are you still missing your family?"

"Perhaps my mother, yes. She was always good to me."

"Nobody else?" He questioned in a slightly surprised tone. "Not a sibling? A cousin, perhaps? Maybe your aunts and uncles?"

"Not really," she responded bluntly with a shrug. "I don't have siblings. And I've never been close with any of my extended family. We all grew up very far apart, so we didn't know each other well."

"Where were you?"

"I attended a school abroad in Italy until I was 16, when I returned to France. That was three years ago, and I left the kingdom when I was 5, thus I spent 11 years away- so it's only natural that I don't consider myself to be very close with any of my family in France."

"Do you ever wish you could have grown up in your home, or are you glad you lived in Italy?" Vlad asked curiously.

"I suppose both would have had their pros and cons, however I think I'm quite grateful for the fact that I lived abroad. It was interesting- I met many new people, learned a new language, and got away from my dad."

"Ah," Vlad responded "You mentioned your father once, I believe. Back during our first meeting. You said he was the one who had you sent here, correct?"

Evangeline nodded. "Mhm. He says it's 'not personal' but it definitely is. He's always hated me for not being a boy. He wanted sons, not a daughter. I think this is just his way of getting rid of me."

Vlad grimaced slightly, leaning backwards in his seat as he did so. "I shall never understand our society," he responded with a sigh. "Sons, daughters, they're all the same to me," he continued with a dismissive wave of his hand. "I don't see why your father cared so much."

"He needed an heir," Evangeline said with a shrug "Someone for his possessions and titles to go to when he passes."

"Caring more about something that's going to happen when you aren't even on this earth than your own child is absolutely disgusting," Vlad said sharply.

Evangeline opened her mouth to respond when she suddenly noticed the books on the table. "Wait- are those for our session? My gosh, I completely forgot why I came here in the first place."

Vlad blinked, a bit surprised by how abruptly she changed the subject of the conversation, though he quickly went along with it. "Ah, yes, they are. I've looked through my library to find books appropriate for your skill level."

Evangeline picked up the one on the top of the stack, setting it down in front of her. "Witchcraft Through the Ages: A Historical Journey," she read, raising an eyebrow.

"So I'm presuming that this book isn't going to teach me about magic, but instead tell me about its history, yes?"

"Indeed, that is correct," Vlad said with a nod.