Feeling her insecurity and the uncomfortableness, Damien patted her hair, "Don't hide anything from me, Penelope. I won't judge you for anything that has happened in the past or now. No one will ever think of what Grace did once I am done dealing with her."
As much as the happiness it brought Penny, she was worried about what he would do with the young vampiress. Though not directly blood-related, she was his step-sister.
"Tell me, sweet mouse," he urged her for her to finally spill out what happened, her voice coming out much quieter and tired. Once Damien was done taking in a detailed report of what happened during his absence, he patted her head again. Running his hand from the crown of her head to the back, "You did well. Much better than I expected. You are a strong girl," he praised her as if she needed to hear it to calm her anxious heart.
"I don't know about that," she replied back. When she turned to stand up, he helped her, his hands supporting her.
With a slight tilt, he asked, "Why do you say that? For one fact I know, you wouldn't have given the satisfaction that Grace could bask. The woman I fell in love with is strong and fierce in character even though she doesn't show it out. Not to mention, you have quite a character. If you didn't, no matter how interesting you were, you would have joined the party in the lake of bones. So tell me. Why do you feel you aren't a strong girl? Is it the tear," he said, bringing up his hand to catch one of the tears that had caught in her lower lash.
"Tears don't show you are weak. Tears can't amount if the person is strong or weak. That is utterly ridiculous.Let me tell you something," he said, leaning forward, he blew air on her forehead that her closing her eyes with the way he tried to soothe her. The liquid that he had applied a few moments ago was still in the process of drying, with the breath of his her skin felt cold, "When I was a little boy, I cried a lot."
Penny's eyes that were closed snapped open hearing this, looking right into his eyes to see he wasn't making it up, "Why?" she questioned, a small frown coming to fall on her forehead. It was hard for her to believe that for a person like Damien, there was something that could make him cry.
As her eyes searched for an answer looking at his own eyes waiting for him to speak, he smiled looking at her. A small smile that came and went, "My beautiful mother was not like any other vampiress," he started gaining her attention, "She lived by her own rules, some which she bent if the need came. Here, in the mansion and outside the people who have met her and known her, were the only ones who truly knew her. She had the habit of killing people without a blink of mercy. Most of the things were in terms of black and white. Usually, mothers shield their children from the gore but my mother invited and encouraged us to look at it."
"I am sorry to hear that," Penny didn't know that this was how his mother was. All this while with the way Damien cherished the late Lady Quinn, she had thought that his mother was much better than the current lady.
But who knew that she was far worse than what Lady Fleurance was, "Didn't your father say anything about it?" he nodded his head.
"Pureblooded vampires take pride in their kills. It is one of the things that is used to show off the control that they hold in the lands. Father didn't mind it until he caught mother showing us the way she killed a man," answered Damien. A sigh escaped his lips, "Maggie and I had burdens on our shoulder. To be the obeyed and dutiful children who listened to every word our mother had to say. While I was following it and learned the ways from my own kin, Maggie had a hard time following it. I dealt with learning but the deaths were never easy to see. The screams ringing in your ears, the blood splattering all around you and the ground to make it a death ground. It wasn't anything pleasant for us. It doesn't mean I hate my mother," he smiled, one of his eyebrows raised as he said this, "I still love and respect her the same."
It then dawned on Penny, something about him as she stared into his eyes with the hue of black inking his red eyes, "When did you notice your heart was corrupted?" she inquired.
"It was after my mother's death my eyes turned completely black but," he paused, "I remembered mother taking me to Murkh which is why he wants to dissect my body to learn more about my gene and the cause of the mutation when there was no potion injected nor a bite to infect me. If my mother got me checked, it meant she noticed the corruption taking place which in turn meant my heart was already corrupted before her death."
For the very first time, Penny felt sorry for Damien. Her childhood had been lonely, most of which had started to turn white and blank which she hadn't noticed earlier. She wondered how it felt to see bodies being ripped apart one after another at a young age.
"My worried mother didn't realize that she was the reason that my heart had started to corrupt," a dry chuckle escaped through his lips, "Each and every person in the pureblooded vampires vary when it comes to handling emotions of pain, learning to cope. Funnily, the corruption that came out full-fledged didn't peak itself after that.Some can't handle and turn to utter darkness."
Damien who belonged to the second generation of pureblooded vampires, his body had been strong enough to repulse the corruption. Some of them were easily affected which led to death. While there were some who grew out of the indescribable pain of corruption before the core of their heart was seized with darkness. Growing and creating things that were unheard of.