Ominous and dark dreams plagued my head and filled it with dreams of another world. And it was nothing compared to the one I was living in. This world was null of magic and power, filled with strange technology and it followed the life of a young man until his untimely end.

My eyes flashed open and soon I found myself in a state of utter void and blankness.

A state of dull arrest.

“...I’ve forgotten that I chose to go through Eternal Sleep.” I muttered to myself. “Well, it doesn’t matter.”

Without another moment’s hesitation, all it took was a snap of my fingers and the chasm once sealing me broke, wood splintering and breaking off until I was freed at last.

When I slowly rose from the coffin, there turned out to be some voyeurs. I found myself meeting the gaze of two frightened and unfamiliar women.

Ah, now that reaction of fear was familiar.

Something I enjoyed, even.

Belatedly, I took note of the golden and holy chains that fell down alongside of my coffin which was something that I didn’t place there prior. Someone must have put them there in an attempt to keep me trapped. Pathetic attempts.

Were they the ones that tried to keep me sealed? Unlikely.

Now, it was rude not to pay attention to my unexpected guests. My gaze swept over towards them.

One of them was holding a lantern in her hand with widened eyes, choosing to bravely protect the weaker young woman behind her who seemed to be stuck in a daze.

The first woman looked shocked to see me awake and yet I could see distinctive features that reminded me of my old servants. Or perhaps I was only being too nostalgic.

It was clear that they weren’t my people, but it would be nice to gauge their reaction.

“House Reinhart and House Hawthorne?” I mused aloud as my gaze flickered from one woman to another. The two of them were a bit interesting for the common blood bag, but that was all.

Both of the women seemed startled to hear me speak, but the one in front, the brunette, eventually nodded her head slowly and warily. Her eyes kept darting around as if trying to find an escape but she gave me an answer.

“Yes… yes, we are descendants of that house,” she said. “Those houses.”

A chuckle escaped my throat. Nice try. But as I glanced around the abandoned manor, it was obvious that this place had been unkempt and unattended for centuries, deserted by my own servants. So very clear that these women were lying.

Moonlight filtered in the broken window as ominous thunder clouds rained heavily behind us. Rain and age had already made the carpet beneath me decay and give way to rot, it was impossible for anyone to have chosen to live here.

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I could take a guess or two on what actually had happened when I saw the rusted gates of my domain. A sigh escaped from me before I looked at the trespassers. There was much work to be done, and these people seemed good enough to do mindless tasks.

“My name is Lord Cassius Blackwell and you must remember it well if you wish to take shelter here and serve me.”

“What?!” The brunette immediately placed herself in between me and the other lady. She held up the lantern threateningly and bared her teeth. “Who do you think you are? You cannot do that to us. Do you know who she is? You cannot—”

“Unfortunately for you, there is no choice in this matter.” I snickered. The double doors behind them snapped shut as the light in the woman’s lantern died. Which perfectly set a fearsome scene. Only my dark silhouette and glowing red eyes filled the room and I bared my fangs. “It seems like I’ve already succeeded, haven’t I?”

“Rose.” The light haired woman behind the brunette squeezed her hand. Her pale blue and milky eyes were blinking oddly and I finally realized that she was blind. “Please listen to him. We have no other choice but to serve if we are to survive.”

“I can take him—”

Take me? Did she think that her sacrifice would let the other woman escape? A much darker chuckle escaped from me as I found myself a tad offended.

“You dare trespass into my abode and then seek to disturb me? As usual, the arrogance of humans knows no bounds. Listen to your mistress while you still can, Rose.”

“Do not call me by my name!” Rose shouted as a strong gust started to form inside of the abandoned hall. It started to blow all of the accumulated dust into the air. A great magic was created in an instant as she uttered the spell. “[Gale of Everwind!]”

The wind treacherously cut towards me and I exploded into a coughing fit, until I idly waved a hand and dispersed the wind and dust. I narrowed my eyes at Rose and said, “To your credit, I can see you as vaguely annoying.”

“You’ll eat your words, you fiend!”

Before Rose tried to summon another terrible and obnoxious wind that gave me a hacking fit, I simply reversed the direction of the wind magic she cast and threw her towards the walls.

The walls were unfortunately destroyed and needed repairing, but it filled me with satisfaction to put her in place.

Nonetheless, to give her credit, I had to admit that for a human, her magic was formidable enough.

I once rendered everyone incapable of using their powers in my domain, so the fact that she could still cast magic was remarkable… but our differences were obvious. Talent cowed in the face of golden-age experience.

“My friend doesn’t know who we’re up against so I beg of you to please stop.” The light-haired woman finally spoke up and looked directly at me. “In the honor of the Averon Kingdom, I swear that Rose and I will serve you.”

“And why should I stop?” I tilted my head and looked in amusement at the woman. I didn’t even know if the woman only formed a random name to make up a kingdom. It had been that long and I never actually heard of that place or knew the ancestry whatsoever.

Has it really been that long?

The woman blinked at a loss for words.

Was she as confused as me?

How… cute.

She was the type who’d probably bring in another group of pathetic humans if I killed her friend. I smiled faintly and gestured to the woman I had thrown. “I’ve become thirsty after sleeping for such a long time that I wouldn’t mind draining her empty. Perhaps I’ll let you go if you leave this Rose behind. What do you think?”

Honestly, I didn’t expect that this Rose would have slumped immediately as she destroyed six walls with her body, but humans could be unimaginably frail and mages tended to not care for their body.

“Never!” She looked horrified at the suggestion and backed away uncertainly. “I… this isn’t supposed… you are supposed to have a heart.”

“Me?” I raised a brow.