Volume 1, Prologue (2/2)

It seems that unless I say it frankly, An Xiang Ye will not give up his ridiculous notions.

I said in a toneless voice, “My annual salary is ten million. Apart from that, depending on the living standards of my master, I would also require another sum of money, which would be spent on taking care of the daily necessities of my master’s life.”

In reality, this price wasn’t the highest salary within the butler profession. Rather, it was just in the mid to high range. I was very confident that I could do an even better job than those top butlers, but I could not ask for the highest salary, which saddened me a bit, truthfully. I felt I could not ask for too much since I am a vampire.

However, although I have lowered the pay I ask for, not many people want to hire me as an actual butler. They are more interested in using me as a fighter in battles, or worse, a killer.

I could not bear it. I am a butler, not a fighter. Nor am I a killer. Therefore, I am always unemployed.

Unexpectedly, An Xiang Ye was not shocked by the pay I had asked for. Furthermore, he tilted his head and guessed, “Charles, you don’t sound like you are happy with the pay.”

I could not help but admit, “Yes, I am slightly unhappy with it.”

He laughed and said, “You didn’t hear my question properly. I’m asking, what is the salary you want?”

I was silent for a moment and then said in a despairing manner, “Twenty million. The contract would be for two years at minimum, and the money to be used on the master would depend on how much the master would want to pay.”

An Xiang Ye said not a word. He just smiled as he watched me. After that, he gave me an address and asked to meet me tomorrow.

The next day, I was still in the midst of unemployment. Since I had nothing else to do, I brought along a packet of blood with a bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken, thinking that I should have a late night snack with my rare human friend.

An Xiang Ye lived in an apartment building that was neither old nor new. The location of the building was not bad, so I suppose he was not as poor as I had first thought.

I knocked on the door, and true enough, he was the one who opened it. He took the bucket of KFC from my hand happily, and I felt happy that he enjoyed that kind of food.

“Please come in,” he said as he led me into the apartment.

We sat casually on the sofa. The table was already piled with junk food, and An Xiang Ye quickly started to eat the KFC after he placed it on the table.

He is really a courageous young man. Even when he saw me pour the blood from the packet into a wine glass and start drinking, his expression did not flicker at all… If I had not been completely sure An Xiang Ye was not a vampire, I really would have thought that he was a member of my race.

However, his various actions put me quite at ease. We chatted randomly as we ate. An Xiang Ye did not actually ask many questions about my identity as a vampire, but he did ask many questions about my profession as a butler instead. This relieved me. There were too many things about vampires that should not be told to a person whom I had only met twice, no matter how much I liked him.

“How many times have you been employed as a butler?” he asked.

“Five times.” After I answered, I thought for a moment and said in a defeated tone, “Actually, not even once.”

An Xiang Ye did not open his mouth to ask further questions. However, he widened his eyes slightly, looking at me with an expression full of curiosity.

Ever since my father passed away, there was close to no one who would listen to me talk about these matters. My vampire kin would only laugh at my job as a butler, while humans could not accept my identity as a vampire at all.

Moreover, An Xiang Ye’s expression was so curious, even a cold blooded killer would probably want to answer his questions.

I could not help but start narrating, “I was born into a family of butlers. Since youth, I received training on how to be a good butler, and my childhood dream was to be a butler in an ancient castle.”

I continued, “When I completed my education to be a butler, I would go out to look for a job every night. I found five masters before, and each of them had their own castles, and I originally thought I had finally accomplished my dream, but…”

I smiled bitterly as I said, “But under those masters, I spent more time on blackmailing, stealing, and killing than on household chores. Later on, I could not take the fact that I was being used as a killer, so I left my job again and again.”

What I did not speak of was how one of the masters had even wanted to kill me because of it. He thought that I knew too many of his secrets, so he needed to exterminate me, but he never knew that what he considered secrets were trivial matters to me. Furthermore, the estate I had inherited from my parents was probably worth more than all of his properties combined, so I never needed to sell his “secrets” to his enemies.

“Your masters ordered you to kill people?” An Xiang Ye’s eyes were wide when he asked.

I said truthfully, “It is because they were mafia bosses.”

An Xiang Ye thought for a moment, then instead of feeling sorry for me, he started to laugh, almost to the point of tearing up. While he laughed, he said, “Charles, I’m not trying to be mean, but if you look in the middle of the night for someone who owns a castle, who are you expecting to find apart from mafia bosses?”

I actually felt relieved because he did not feel sorry for me. I even said in a grumbling tone, “I do not like sunlight though.”

“You don’t like it?” An Xiang Ye tilted his head and asked curiously, “I thought you could not come out in the sun? Isn’t it like in the movies, that vampires turn into dust once sunlight shines on them?”

I smiled with humor and explained, “A tiny amount of sunlight does not matter. As long I wear my dark clothes, a hat, and sunglasses, I could walk on the street during daylight too. However, I do not like daylight. In fact, there is no a vampire who would like the day, especially summer days. If the temperature is 30 degrees Celsius, to me, it would be the same as walking in a place at 60 degrees Celsius would be for you. Do you understand? It is really very hot and uncomfortable.”

An Xiang Ye was confused for a moment and said hesitantly, “I think I mostly understand.”

He did not ask any further about my background. Instead, he started talking about interesting events that happened at his university. He even ran back to his room to retrieve a love letter from a girl. He showed it to me with a helpless expression.

This time, it was my turn to laugh. I teased him, “Isn’t that good? You do have good looks, so it is normal to be popular among the girls.”

“But, I’m not good at handling this kind of matter.” An Xiang Ye looked like he was really troubled by it, but then he looked at me and teased me, “I bet Charles is popular among female vampires too, right? You don’t seem to be good at handling this kind of matter either.”

My smile froze on my face. That is true indeed.

Both of us continued to chat about interesting topics in this way until we almost forgot about the passage of time. Then, I glanced at the clock by chance and realized that it was already two o’clock in the morning. I asked An Xiang Ye if he had classes the next day and he nodded. Finally, I bid farewell to him.

“Can you come by again tomorrow night?” An Xiang Ye requested as he accompanied me to the door.

I thought about it. I shouldn’t have other affairs tomorrow because a jobless vampire was always particularly free. I nodded my head in confirmation and said, “I can.”

The next day, when I went to his house again, I brought a bucket of KFC with me again.

I handed the KFC bucket to him, and he handed a small book to me.

Curiously, I took the book before realizing it was a savings checkbook… One that had my name on it. When I opened it, the amount in the savings account was forty million plus an unlimited credit card approved by the Sun Bank wedged between the pages.

I raised my head to look at him. He was biting into a piece of KFC as he asked me smilingly, “Charles, are you interested in being my butler?”

So, it turned out that An Xiang Ye was not as poor as I had imagined him to be. People said the truly wealthy people usually kept a lower profile. I guess I had finally seen the truth for myself today.

I looked at the apartment room that was neither large nor new, and then I looked at An Xiang Ye’s shirt and jeans… This is too low-key!

This was the first time I was paid the salary I had asked for. Naturally, I was happy, but I also had my apprehensions at the same time. I tried to say, “Before you hire me, I must ask for your understanding. I am a butler. Therefore, I can take care of all my master’s affairs, but I am definitely not a fighter, nor am I a killer. If there is someone who threatens the safety of my master, I may possibly lend a hand, but…but…”

I am worried that such a high pay is not meant for a ‘butler.’

An Xiang Ye laughed and said in a matter-of-fact tone, “I know the job description for butlers! My home has a butler too.”

“Your home?” I asked as I surveyed the apartment and realized another important problem. To be honest, a small place like this did not require a butler.

When he saw me surveying the surroundings, An Xiang Ye explained, “Oh, this is a place rented by me. It’s close to my university, and the transportation is convenient.”

“But, this place does not really require a butler.” I smiled quietly. I will not stay at a place that does not need me. What I truly wanted was the job satisfaction from being a butler, not the pay. The pay only serves to confirm the capability of my work.

An Xiang Ye did not reply. Instead, he bent down to pick up the TV remote from the table. It was a remote with touch control. After he placed his thumb on the Sun logo on the remote for three seconds, the display totally changed.

An Xiang Ye pressed on the “workshop” option.

The wall behind the TV opened without the slightest noise, revealing an area larger than the whole apartment. The decoration in the room was very futuristic. The walls were all metallic in color, and both sides of the room were lined with glass-fronted displays. The displays were filled with various kinds of weapons, and the middle of the room held a few big tables with various parts piled on it. There were even different kinds of machines that I could not name next to the tables.

I even saw two heavy motorcycles and a target practice range…

I turned toward An Xiang Ye.

He bit his lip and said guiltily, “It’s messy, right?”

No, the real problem does not lie in the messiness.

He was bothered as he spread his hands and said helplessly, “To be honest, I can’t be bothered to tidy up, and every time I need something, I have to call Kyle-gē. It is very annoying, so it would be nice if someone could take care of it.”

“Kyle-gē?” I asked.

“He is my brother’s secretary.” He thought for a moment and added, “Secretary-slash-butler.”

It sounds like a hard job.

“I have many matters that would require your help.” He said in a decisive tone, “But, I would never ask you to be a fighter or a killer. Moreover, to tell the truth, Charles, if I wanted a fighter or a killer, I wouldn’t need to hire you specifically, I… my home has many of them.”

I believed him. A person who could line his walls with various alarming weapons would definitely have many fighters and killers at his home.

“Are you from a mafia family?” I asked. I sure have a deep connection with the mafia.

An Xiang Ye looked at me. Then, he started to smile. He really likes to smile. He said while he was smiling, “Charles, you are really interesting.”

But, I felt that the interesting person wasn’t me.

“No, I’m not from the mafia,” An Xiang Ye answered as he gently patted my shoulder, his expression telling me not to worry.

I did not hesitate for too long before I agreed to it.

As I said before, a vampire cannot ask for too much.

And so, I finally found a job.