Chapter 5 Rosee AKA Aiden
ROSEE POV
The sea called me. Again.
I step out onto the balcony of my penthouse overlooking the sea, the city lights reflecting off the water like stars drowning in ink. My veins burn; the dragon within me stirs.
For centuries, I’ve hidden among men. Building empires, collecting wealth, pretending to be one of them.
They see charm, wealth and power but they don’t see the dragon beneath the skin.
I leaned back in my leather chair, all these humans are fragile and temporary. They had no idea the man who owned half their world was a dying dragon, cursed by the gods and haunted by his bloodline.
The gala lights still flickered in my mind, that girl haunted me. The way her palm brushed my skin, how my heart refused to rebel against her touch. It should’ve sent me spiraling into pain, into convulsions. It didn’t.
The disease was Dernir syndrome — a name doctors coined centuries after I’d first felt it crawling under my skin. They said it was “a severe tactile-reactive disorder.” They didn’t know it was the residue of ancient fire.
The moment anyone touched me, the dragon in me awakened, scorching everything from the inside out.
I learned to live with it.
But that girl… she touched me, and nothing happened.
“She touched me,” I murmured to myself.
That shouldn’t be possible and that alone made her dangerous.
I turned toward the wall of screens where every major network replayed the same headline:
“Billionaire Rosee Knight kissed a girl at the Moonlight Gala.”
Slow-motion footage showed her falling against me, our lips brushing then flames edit erupting behind us like a scene from a myth.
I swiped my hand, and the screen blinked off.
A knock came through.
“Sir?” It was Aaron, my secretary. Loyal, efficient and disposable, if needed.
“Come in,” I said.
He entered, nervous as always, clutching a tablet, always careful not to look me directly in the eyes for too long. His heartbeat thundered and I could hear it, smell it. Fear made humans smell like ash.
“I just came to give the reports about the Foundation’s...”
“Put it there,” I interrupted, pointing to the desk. My gaze lingered on his exposed hand. I wanted to test something.
“Sir?” he said, confused as I stood.
Slowly, I reached for him, gloveless.
His eyes widened. “Mr. Knight, you shouldn’t...”
My fingers brushed his wrist.
The reaction was instant.
Pain ripped through my veins. I stumbled back, vision blurring, my breath shortened. Rashes appeared on my skin. I felt my scales trying to tear through the human flesh.
“S-sir, your eyes.” Aaron gasped.
My eyes slit, reptilian and glowing.
With a growl, I snatched the silver syringe from my drawer and plunged it into my neck.
The effect was immediate. My heartbeat slowed, the flames under my skin dying down.
“Get out!” I snarled, my voice was deeper, and distorted.
Aaron stumbled out, nearly tripping as he fled.
I leaned against the desk, panting. The needle still embedded in my neck.
The drug always left a bitter aftertaste, a chemical leash strong enough to tame a dragon.
I thought of her again. The way she’d looked at me, not as a billionaire or a monster, but with raw confusion.
I'd spent lifetimes avoiding human touch, and yet hers had healed me.
Or cursed me differently.
The elevator dinged softly behind me. Tiny footsteps followed.
I turned as my twins peeked through the doorway.
“Dad?” one of them whispered.
“Lia,” I acknowledged quietly. The other stepped out beside her, clutching a stuffed dragon with one broken wing. “And you, Noah.”
The twins were six, same dark curls, same eyes as mine, though softer, untainted by centuries. They were all I had left that were remotely pure. My only reason to act human.
“Uncle Aaron said you were sick again,” Noah said, approaching cautiously.
“I’m fine.” I knelt down, brushing a curl off his forehead with gloved fingers. “It’s nothing.”
“You’re lying.” Noah frowned, always the observant one. “You took the shot again, didn’t you?”
I didn’t answer. Instead, I motioned toward the couch. They climbed up together, whispering between themselves, holding each other’s hands like they always did when they were scared.
“You’re on TV again,” Lia giggled.
“They said you lipsed a princess,” Noah added.
I managed a faint smile. “They say too much. Besides, stick to cartoons and stop watching news”
“Was she pretty?” Lia asked, eyes wide with curiosity.
I hesitated, then murmured, “She was… unusual.”
"Unusual?!" Lia giggled.
My twins didn’t know what I was. They didn’t know why I never hugged them without gloves. Also they never asked.
I knelt down, fixing Noah’s rumpled shirt. “You two should be asleep.”
“We couldn’t,” Noah said quietly. “She was here again.”
My veins went cold immediately.
“Who?” I asked, though I already knew. The red-haired phantom that haunted their nights.
Their mother’s shadow still clung to them.
They never spoke of her. But the fear was still there.
“The lady,” Noah said in a whisper so small it barely carried. “She stood at the door again. She was smiling like every other time.”
Lia nodded rapidly. “Her teeth were red. Like blood.”
I clenched my jaw, standing straight. “Where was your guard?”
“She didn’t see her,” Lia said. “Only us.”
“She said…” Noah hesitated, voice trembling. “She said she’ll take us soon.”
Their little voices cracked on that last word.
"Dad, is it true? Will you allow her to take us?" Tears streamed down Lia tiny face.
I took a slow breath. “You’re safe here. I won’t let anyone take you.”
They didn’t seem convinced. Lia’s lower lip quivered. “She always finds us.”
The fire in me rumbled faintly. The dragon didn’t like threats. Especially not against what was his.
I knelt before them, placing my gloved hands on their small shoulders. “Look at me.”
Two pairs of golden eyes, trembling but trusting, lifted to mine.
“No one touches you,” I said, voice low, controlled. “Not even in dreams. Understand?”
They nodded, but fear still lingered. Noah’s tiny fingers clutched the dragon toy until the stitches tore.
“She had blood on her mouth,” he whispered suddenly, voice hollow. “And she said your name.”
That caught me off guard.
“My name?”
“She said, 'Tell Rosee I’m coming.’”
The room froze. My breath hitched.
Outside, a gust of wind howled against the glass, sharp and sudden.
“She’s not real,” I said automatically, even though I didn’t believe it. The scent of her, blood and roses had haunted my dreams for years. The red-haired vampire who’d once shared my fire before turning it into poison.
Lia sniffled. “Can we sleep here tonight?”
“You know you can't,” I said quietly.
I led them toward their room, the large hallway echoing with their hesitant footsteps. My mansion was built like a fortress. Marble, steel, wards hidden in the walls.
They climbed onto their bed, curling together under the blankets. I turned off the lamp, but Noah’s voice trembled from the dark.
“Dad?”
“Yes?”
“Why does she have blood on her lips? She said it’s yours.”
"I don't know. I thought she was gone,” I murmured, more to myself than them.
“Dad?” Lia whispered again, but I didn’t answer.
My mind replayed the last words that vampire had said before I sealed her away.
‘You’ll burn for betraying me, Aiden. When our children are old enough, they’ll know who they belong to.’
I turned toward the window, the moon glaring coldly through the glass.
Something dark pressed against the edges of my consciousness. The wards flickered. The scent of blood, faint but unmistakable, drifted through the air.
A child’s soft sob broke the silence. Lia was crying silently into her brother’s shoulder.
I closed the window firmly, locking it.
“Go to sleep,” I said softly.
