The Duke's Passion

'The hell?' Claude dove deeper into the depths of the ocean. The deeper he goes, the darker it was. Diving wasn't easy, especially if there was this gigantic monster in it. The Kraken's tentacles would sometimes get in his way. If Claude was not swift enough, he would've been knocked out. Not that the Kraken knew Claude was underwater. It was just that each tentacle had a width that was wider than his size.

'Just how much deeper should I dive in to see what that cursed uncle is saying?' Claude let out a little bit of oxygen. 'If this keeps up, I have no choice but to go back to the surface.'

Claude might be a reliable earl and a powerful vampire. However, he was not a siren. Holding his breath longer than an average person was a skill he learned during his training with his army. Klaus had an intense training method; one of the tasks the soldiers needed to complete was to dip themselves underwater in the middle of the coldest time in winter. Even though Claude was an earl, he still had to do it. If his soldiers could survive such harsh training, Claude should also survive it like a don. In that case, he wouldn't lose his soldier's confidence. Klaus would train with him as well. 'He said strings on top of the Kraken's head…' Claude recalled Alphonse's words about his task. 'Strings, strings… damn it. I can't even see its head…'

Claude's train of thought trailed off, narrowing his eyes as he caught little aquatic plants fluttering underwater. It was dark. Even for a vampire like him who could see clearly in the dark, being underwater made it challenging to see things clearly. Following his instincts, Claude did a stroke, diving deeper and faster to see it closer. When it was within his reach, he halted upon seeing a small red light as if the Kraken's eyes opened. Claude floated, not moving a muscle. The Kraken's eye was big, and it was shining in red. It was looking sideways, so Claude could only see its one eye. Its eye moved around as if looking for something or someone that entered its vicinity. Claude held his breath and relaxed his body. He didn't know why he froze, but he felt like that was just the right thing to do. As he watched that big eye that was almost half of his stature, Claude realized not moving helped. 'It seems he wasn't seeing me when I'm right in front of his eye.' Claude heaved a sigh of relief, watching what the Kraken would do. 'Was it because it had poor eyesight?' Claude would be lying if he said he didn't feel nervous. No matter how arrogant he was, he knew he was at the disadvantage underwater. A faint growl caressed Claude's clogged ears before bubbles of water ascended before him. The Kraken closed its eye ever so carefully.

'Was it hibernating all this time?' Claude was confused. 'Right now, this Kraken is fighting Uncle — I mean, it is fighting Stefan fiercely. It was also screaming so loud it could shatter a person's ears.' freeωebnovēl.c૦m

'Damn it, Claude!' he shook his head, eyes shut. 'This is not the right time for riddles. I need to cut wherever strings my cursed uncle is saying.'

When Claude reopened his eyes, determination shone in them. He got no time to idle, knowing he would soon lose his breath. His eyes searched the Kraken's head. It was huge, but that made it easier to see the aquatic-like plants on top of its head. Claude gazed up, moving his feet to propel himself up. He was careful not to wake up the Kraken. Who knew what it would do if it figured out Claude was there? Claude couldn't risk that. Floating over the Kraken's gigantic head, Claude furrowed his brows. He wasn't wrong when he thought that the ones he saw earlier were akin to an aquatic plant. They, in fact, looked like some sort of plants or algae.

'He said I will know if I see them, but I don't see anything amiss…' he mentally trailed off, narrowing his eyes to see clearly. For some reason, he held his breath even longer, as if that would help him discern the problem. 'Ahh…' His pupils went wide ever so slowly, seeing everything much clearer this time.

There, among the algae stuck on the Kraken's head, were some dark red strings. It was camouflaged in the algae. If one wouldn't look properly, it wouldn't be spotted.

'So that's what he was saying,' thought Claude, observing the dark strings. 'They were like parasites, huh?'

The side of his mouth curled up into a smirk while his eyes shone a sense of pride. Claude didn't idle, flexing his right hand. His fingernails instantly turned sharp and a little long. Before jumping into the water, Claude removed anything that could add more weight to him. Alphonse said he simply needed to cut something. That was easy. 'What a dumb uncle,' he mocked internally, sneering. 'Why cut it when, obviously, you need to remove the root? Though I don't blame him.'

Claude carefully approached it, glancing at the small tentacle nearby. From a different perspective, these odd strings looked like it was connected to something. However, since Claude was on the other side of the Kraken. Thus, he could see the problem clearly. The Kraken was being devoured by these parasites. What were these? He didn't know. However, his gut feeling told him to help Stefan, Claude had to remove these parasites. So carefully, Claude reached for the first string. It was small, like a person's vein. He pinched it and froze, gazing down to see the Kraken's open eyes. The Kraken's eyes were shaking, searching for something. Claude swallowed the nervousness that jumped to his throat, clenching his teeth while he mustered his courage. His brows then rose when he felt an underwater wave approaching, and going along with its force, Claude pulled out the string without a second hesitation. ROARR!!!