As Drac stared into the eyes of the innocent Jamie, he thought about all the movies, TV serials, and books that he had read so far. If something like this were to happen in front of the main protagonist, they would surely fly into a rage. They would surely start planning how they would dismember the bodies of the people who did this.

But there he stood, devoid of any emotion. The only thing he could feel at the moment was frustration, as now he had to spend a sleepless night burying the body. Burning it could catch the attention of the people of the place. And it was going to be a drag.

“Is the boy going to be a problem?” the figure asked.

He turned around, “No. It is a good thing that the boy’s neck is snapped. And he is not dismembered,”

This made the figure chuckle, and he started laughing manically, “I really like you, boy. You.. You are one of a kind. I thought that you would be enraged or something. But you seem, calm. The boy’s death.. It didnt faze you,”

He did not know what to say or do, so he simply bowed, “I am just happy to serve,”

“I am looking forward to meeting you,” the man said and turned towards Mikaila,

Seeing this as an opportunity, Drac added, “Sire.” The figure turned once again, “If our relationship has to work. I think it would be wise to know a thing or two about each other. And compensate each other, for our services,”

“Oh yeah,” the figure said, “You wanted knowledge, yes? Granted. How would you like your knowledge,”

“For starters, I would love to read the books that Mistress has about Mana wielding and Mana Arts. And, 15 min tea break in every seven days with Mistress, to ask questions that I couldnt understand,”

“Granted,” the man said.

“Master!” Mikaila exclaimed, but the eyes of the man were enough to make her shut up.

“Now with that out of the way, I need to understand what is my role in your operation?”

“Operation?” the man asked.

“Yes. I want to understand what would be my responsibilities. What causes the mistress to go on a rampage like that? Whether she would control herself when her family members come here. They would surely notice in an instant the difference in her behavior.”

Mikaila stood up, and glared at him, “Look at this… A dog, trying to care for its owner. I need to teach you some manners, it seems,”

She was about to go to him, when the figure said, “Stop Mikaila. There is no need for violence, he is right. Killing the boy was a mistake, and if his body were to be found there would be trouble for us. Plus, it would help our cause if we had a normal man like him, work for us,”

She controlled her anger and nodded, “Understood master,”

Then the figure turned towards him, “There are things, that couldnt be told to you unless you prove your loyalty,”

But he cut the man’s words, “Sire, I dont know what dark mages like you are doing here,” the term made them stare at him, “Nor I am gonna stay in your way. My loyalty is with you, till you provide me with something for my services. I dont need to know what you are trying to achieve in this kingdom. I just want to know, what kind of jobs would I need to do, when under your service,”

“Very well,” the figure said. “But to know more about us, you would need a seal be placed on you,”

“A Seal?”

“A mana seal.” The figure said, “This would ensure, that you are not going to betray us,”

“Very well,” he said. “What do I need to do?”

“Strip. The seal would be put on your heart,” the man said.

He unbuttoned his shirt and came to Mikaila. The woman waved her fingers in the air, creating an intricate circle with various symbols etched all around the circle. He had never seen anything like that before, nor did he know that one could use mana to write in the air. It took her a minute or two to complete the circle. What surprised him was the symbol, at the center of the circle. It had a Rose, just like the one that was etched in the ballroom in the destroyed part of the castle.

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Mikailathen flicked her finger and the circle went straight to his heart. Drac could sense that circle around his heart and knew that if he were to betray them the circle would crush his heart, killing him on the spot.

“Welcome to the service of the Ulaspas Family, Drac,” the figure said.

“Master,” he said to the figure.

Then the figure went on and told him that the Ulaspas Family was a Mage family with Blood Magic running through their veins. From what he told him, blood magic was a type of Mana Art that could be performed only by people who share the same blood. Which essentially meant that this type of family could only be passed down to heirs of the family.

But the Ulaspas Family's blood magic was different. According to him, his family's magic could be passed down to anyone with whom they share their blood.

It sounded as if these guys were the cheaper version of vampires.

Mikaila was the new member of their family, and she was not able to control her temper and blood lust due to the side effects of the Blood Magic. As far as the motive of coming to this kingdom was concerned, he didnt say much about it. But Drac had some idea what it might be. As far as his job description was concerned, he needed to assist Mikaila in her missions. If he does a good job, then there might be a chance that the figure might give him a big reward when he comes to the kingdom…

***

That night, Drac sat down on his desk in his room with a paper in his hand. In English, a language unknown to this world, he wrote down everything that he has found out till now. And to say that it was interesting would be an understatement.

He had a long conversation with Figure and Mikaila that day. Although Mikaila was strong, she was not well-versed in politics, which is where he came in. Their first objective is, they need to establish themselves in this kingdom, for which Mikaila was planning to throw a ball, where she would announce that she is a Mage with two circles.

The information told him two things, the number one being that his estimation of her strength was way off. He was thinking that she might be on par with Daniel, but through their conversation realized that Mages have a lot of mana in them. So it is not wise to judge someone’s strength via the mana they possess. The second thing that he realized was they were here for a long-term operation.

These guys were looking for Rose, like the albino woman, he was sure of it. He always wondered whether they were after some sort of treasure or something similar. If that was what they were truly after, they dont have any need to establish themselves in the kingdom. That seems like a waste of time. Unless they are planning something that would take them a very long time to accomplish.

He had no idea what might they were trying to do. But it was definitely related to the Rose.

Another interesting that he understood was the fact this Ulaspas Family was a very old family, and they might be very distant relatives of the current Sumor Family. The rose insignia, on the magic circle, cannot be a coincidence. The rose was not a symbol like one etched all around the circle. Which meant that it was most probably the insignia of the Ulaspas Family. It was just a theory, but he would know it soon enough.

If his theory was right, then he felt the body of the beast that might be in the Sumor Sanctuary might be related to them. There might be a case, that these guys were here for the body of the beast in the first place.

Another thing was very clear to him as well, the ballroom was surely hiding something as well. This castle was one of the oldest buildings of the kingdom and probably existed during the Era of Ice. There is a chance that the ballroom might be some sort of vault or something. He just needs to investigate the matter thoroughly…

The knock on the door distracted him. He stood up and opened the door to Jina and the guards standing outside. Snot flowing down her nose, with a disheveled face, Jina looked as if she had been crying for hours.

“What happened?” he asked.

“Drac…” she said, with her voice tearing up. One of the soldiers clarified, “Jamie, sir.”

He buried the little guy, a little far away from the hill they were on. He then went to the side of his room, picked up his hatched and the cane nodded to everyone. “Let's go,”

***

“JAMIE!” Jina yelled at the top of her lungs while shedding waterways from her eyes. The soldiers were also yelling, but they were not loud. All of them were in fear because their voice might attract the sound magical beast roaming in the area.

“JAMIE! WHERE ARE YOU!” he also yelled.

But no answer came. They walked around the whole hill, they also looked around at every knock and cranny of the castle, but didnt find any clue about the boy. Eventually, they all returned and vowed to search for him tomorrow as well. It took him some time, but eventually, he was able to make Jina sleep in her room. Only then did he start walking towards his room.

While walking in the quiet hallways of the castle, Drac had the wooden cane in his hands and was playing with it. It is truly a wonder, how a fucking wooden cane like this could survive the time. From what he was told, this cane was at least 500 years old, which was truly amazing.

Wood, usually dont survive that long.. Unless He came to a halt, and closed at the cane, Unless, someone had been taking care of them.

In the case of this cane, no one had been paying attention to it for the past 100-200 years. So he wondered, what made this cane so special, that it survived this long. Under the moonlight, he stared at the white eagle-shaped handle of the cane. Upon looking closed, he spotted it. In one of the small feathers of the eagle, there was a small Rose. It was small enough to stay hidden until someone was deliberately looking at it…