Your Blood is Mine (Vampire’s Revenge) - Chapter 158

“Fake Rose King?”

The three of them then overheard multiple voices of people, singing a little ditty, not making any sense for people even if they are fluent in Crescentian. They dance around and around in frantic steps, clapping and passing a rose to each other. It was fascinating even from afar, to see so many people dancing merrily under the unbearable heat that could burn the soles of your feet if you don’t wear any shoes or sandals….

“When you gave me that rose one day

I said “No!”, I said “No!”

So I pass it around to someone else

Hoping it’ll come back to me oh!

Then I learned it was a fake rose

Made of clay or steel or paper

And I learned I was a fool

But at least fake roses last forever!”

They repeated it again and again. It also seemed that this is going in rounds, and there is a cue of people waiting for their batch’s turn. A woman with short hair was wearing the flower crown of the next batch. When the current batch was finished, they cheered for some unknown reasons s the flower crown was passed to a quiet-looking fellow with pink hair and glasses. He proclaimed something in Crescentian but he is far too timid and it was very soft.

They laughed and told him to be braver, and lighten up from it. The woman with short hair’s batch followed, singing the same song.

“When you gave me that rose one day

I said “No!”, I said “No!”

So I pass it around to someone else

Hoping it’ll come back to me oh!

Then I learned it was a fake rose

Made of clay or steel or paper

And I learned I was a fool

But at least fake roses last forever!”

Maelle only then explained. “This is the allegratius. It is based from an old folklore. Its literal meaning is ‘fast and fleeting’, and the dance reflects that.”

“Fast and fleeting….” Xendros repeated. “What does the folklore say from the song? I cannot understand it, and what must a Fake Rose King do?”

“The allegratius was a way to mock people who seek admiration from someone else even though they were already loved. The Fake Rose King is the one who loved truly, and the rose symbolizes his love. His Lover could be anyone in the dance floor, because they pass his love to someone else, hoping that they’ll get love from that person in return. But they soon realized that when they passed the rose to someone else, it turned into a fake one. The last person who gets the fake rose becomes the Fool.”

It was not Maelle who explained that, but Prince Faestien.

“I have read about it once.” he grinned when they turned to him like he had just grown horns. “This is the definition from the book, I memorized it word for word.”

“But your book must not have told you the exact Tale of the Fake Rose King, huh?” Maelle said with a bit of excited, mischievous glint in his eyes and tone of voice.

Faestien tilted his head in curiosity. “I’m afraid not. Shall you recount it for us?”

The little girl who offered the flower crown also looked up at them in curiosity, but didn’t say anything as she is quite timid. Maelle chuckled at this and ruffled her hair.

“Brother shall tell you, little one and Brother Xendros.” Maelle said. “It is actually a very simple tale.”

The people stopped dancing, ad they realized who was the man who said he has a tale to share. Just from his clothing alone, they know of him and disrupted their activities for a while to listen.

“A priest has something to say, everyone stop frolicking about!” Someone yelled.

And soon, not even the merchants and customers made any noise. They continued their activities, but was mindful of the presence of a Crescentian priest and did not make any noise.

The Ilvedia visitors were both confused and fascinated by the effect this priest have on his fellow civilians. The people had sat down at a certain position, legs crossed, in the middle of the street. And so, they had the inclination to do the same, despite the heat of the pavement on their bums.

Maelle took out his hourglass, and began telling the tale. He prepared once more his colored powders, and the flame had risen in his hand.

“There was once a man who looked for love all his life.”

He blew red powder, and in red smoke, came the image of a man from his bizarre and quick movements.

“That man was always holding a rose. Wanting to give that rose to someone else his whole life. He had known this rose his whole life, he had always been with it. It was a shame that he had no one to give it to.”

He then made the image of a crying face, along with a rose from the smoke.

“He was named by the people who knew him a the Rose King. For the rose was his legacy, his greatest power, strength, and beauty.”

Maelle then reached out to his blue powder. As he blew, a new person appeared from smoke.  “One day, he had met a beautiful person. Even more beautiful, powerful, and admirable than the rose. And so, he called out to make this person his Lover. Giving away the rose he had all his life.”

He then blew purple smoke to make a new rose, dissipating the red one. “His rose had changed form once he gave it to this person, to this Lover. It is no longer the same as before.”

“This new rose last longer, with an intoxicating fragrance that no one can resist. The Lover enjoyed the rose very much. But then…….”

He blew a person made from purple smoke, and the person in blue smoke handed the purple rose to him.

“He gave this rose away. The Rose King was distraught. Soon, everyone was giving away that rose. What they have, the lost. What they received, they gave. No one kept the rose for themselves, for they are so hungry for that beautiful outburst and fragrance that came out everytime they gave it to someone.”

“And soon… people realized that such outburst was temporary. Once the outburst is over, the rose turns into a fake one. Made of man-made objects. Some as soft and malleable as clay, notwithstanding any strong pinch or prodding. Some as strong as steel, but sharp and deadly. And some as fragile as paper, that could easily be torn but patched again, until it becomes a complete mess of tearing and patching.”

The people watch in amazement as Maelle blow a large fan of powder into the flame and raise it to the sky, producing outbursts and sparkles. They clapped at it.

“That, my dear friends, is exactly the same amazement the people had over the Fake Rose. It’s outburst is more grand and spectacular compared to the simple and serene beauty of the Real Rose. Everyone was bewitched by it. Everyone became fools.”

“It was said that no one knows where the beautiful Fake Rose is now. The person who has it will only be referred to as the Fool. The Fool lives among us, and we celebrate his suffering through the allegratius. But as you can see, everyone who held the rose was a Fool too. The Lovers are always Fools in the end.”

The time in the hourglass has ended, all the sand had dropped. Maelle fanned away the smoke with his bandana.

“However, I have an ending I prefer to this tale.”

Xendros was completely entranced by the story. There’s just something about it that resonates with him, something that calls to his soul. He asked as if his life depended on it. “What is it?”

“The Fool in the end….. Is not other than The Fake Rose King, His Lover, and His Lover’s Lover. It could only be either of the three.”

“What make you think of that? Why include the Lover and the Other Lover too? Is it not more reasonable and tragic that the First Lover is the only Fool in the end?” The prince of Ilvedia countered. “After all, the song goes like this…..”

He had memorized the song upon hearing it:

“When you gave me that rose one day

I said “No!”, I said “No!”

So I pass it around to someone else

Hoping it’ll come back to me oh!

Then I learned it was a fake rose

Made of clay or steel or paper

And I learned I was a fool

But at least fake roses last forever!”

“When you gave me that rose that day… That’s referring to the Rose King giving the flower to the First Lover. So it was his perspective that was singing the long. He was the fool in the end.” Faestien had presented such a solid argument that everyone could agree, nodding their head and treating him like a genius.

Maelle sighed. “That truly is the most logical option, and the one most people believe. But……”

“For me, to love and to be loved makes you a Fool.”