21.3
“Vampire son… Ex’car, you told me you have no need for an heir.”
“How can you bestow such a sacred title to a non-vampire. There was no possible way you knew young Palter here would turn out as exceptional as he is now,” Nulvith took a step backwards.
“Tsk, you Termezts always have to cause me trouble,” Taruin turned away from Ex’car disapprovingly. “Why, old friend? Why would you go through such lengths and risk yourself?”
Thud!
“Forgive me, Lady Trifellar, Lord Marcedoni, Lord Vulshker.”
Palter got down to one knee, his voice was loud but calm.
“I was the one who begged Lord Termezt to give me this new life. If not for my master, I would have never exacted my revenge, I would not have been given purpose that my old life was devoid of. If you wish to punish someone, let me bear the full brunt.”
There was no shameful remorse, but a cordial beseeching from a vampire as powerful as he was. Every word he spoke, every action was done in a pristine manner that conveyed this was not only a vampire befitting of Huza rank, but a Termezt Huza Vampire at that.
A grim silence fell upon the table.
In Vampiric customs, coming to one’s knees is the highest form of respect. Each vampire in the Sovereign understood this ritual, for when they were first accepted into the six families, getting down to their knees were a mandatory ritual, to pledge their loyalty.
Taruin pinched his nose bridge and shook his head.
“With the authority invested in me, I declare no punishment to be imposed upon Palter Harvest. Any vampire who wish to oppose may do so this moment.”
…
…
…
Each of the Ged vampires looked at one another, shifting in their seats but having feasted on Ex’car Termezt’s Seeds of Blood, they were compelled into reluctant agreement. Whatever reasons they had for wanting to oppose Palter Termezt’s conversion into a vampire, the exquisite taste of the Seeds of Blood had left them wanting for more.
What was more, they would be making the Termezts their enemy. If Palter Termezt could incapacitate their security personnel under their nose, who knows how many more Termezt of the same caliber was under Ex’car Termezt’s belt.
“I humbly thank all of you,” Ex’car placed a hand to his heart.
“Sigh… Ex’car, can you at the very least, inform me privately before this? If word gets out of Palter, that he was a non-vampire before this…”
“That is why I am now revealing him to you all. His conversion is thorough and complete. It matters not if anyone learns of it now.”
“That’s not what Taruin meant, Termezt. Revealing Palter after he fully become full vampire, one decade after his initial conversion is not exactly a good symbol of trust isn’t it?” Ledriz shook his head.
If any of you learned of him earlier, you would have killed him yourself, Hangrabo!
“Do not misunderstand my words, we are honored to welcome such a powerful vampire among our ranks, even more so that he was able to produce such high quality blood for us.” Taruin Marcedoni spoke, giving Dakern Domernig a cold glance before turning his gaze back to Ex’car. “But I am speaking on behalf as your friend, Ex’car.”
“…”
“Setting aside your religious fanatism with his Evergrace, we are still your allies, Ex’car Termezt. Though our methods greatly differ, our goals to improve the Sovereign remain the same, we belong to the same vampiric bloodline from the ancients.”
“…”
“Bah! Don’t bother yourself with him, Taruin. Termezt is just a fool pretending to be charitable. Why else would he place his trust in a non-vampire than his own people?!” Dakern spat. “If you ask me, the Termezts are a disgrace to us as a race!”
Clack!
Ex’car’s fists made a distinct crack.
“Watch it, Termezt,” Ledriz Hangrabo pointed a finger at Ex’car. “You may have a powerful Huza as your most trusted. Try anything funny with Domernig and I’ll send my army against...”
Taruin pushed Hangrabo’s arm away from pointing at Ex’car, “Dakern is right in his way. For the past millennia, the public’s perception of Termezts have waned, especially ever since your Vampire Father’s plans of reviving His Evergrace was hatched, your family is deemed no more than cultists who—”
“He, was right.” Ex’car spoke softly, his voice contained an ounce of bitterness. “We vampires have lost our way. Instead of pushing past our potentials, were have resigned to petty feuds as this.”
“Why you—” Dakern rose to his feet but the white aura of Marcedoni quickly appeared to restrain him to his seat. “Let me go, Taruin!!!”
“You have said enough. I have overlooked your assault against the Termezts once, a crime punishable by death but the next will not be the same.”
Lord Marcedoni’s words caused Dakern to slunk back into his seat, whatever fire that was in his eyes had all disappeared when he realized, he committed just as great of a crime as Ex’car.
“There was once a time where we vampires were a part of the greater world. The world outside of the Sovereign, a time where we had power, untainted by fear or hatred of the outside world. We were once a proud race, almost as highly regarded as Higher Races themselves.
“We have lowered ourselves so low that we share our cities with creatures that defile the natural order… All we are now, are creatures of the night, the harvester of blood, agents of chaos, we are no better than—”
Pang!
A flash of red struck his face, leaving a mark on Ex’car as he stood before the five Ged vampires silently.
“Wake up, Termezt! The Demon War changed all of that!!!” Hangrabo shouted. “This isn’t the ancient times anymore! We, are, monsters! There is no changing that, whatever the ancient vampires had planned for will never come to fruition. The people of the outside world have made that clear.
“Even the Dezarith Empire is now led by a Demon! We are the only ones that preserved, we are untainted by the influence of demons! You can either help us prepare against the Immortal Witch of the Empire, or you can stay out of our way!!!”
Ex’car drew his lips into a straight line.
Once again, the others have failed to see his point of view, dismissing his efforts as idiotic and nonsensical. No matter how much he tried reasoning with them it always ended up the same.
If the Empire ruled by the Immortal Witch wanted to bring ruin to his people, then they needed to fight the Demon Lord of Ruin by reviving His Evergrace, adapting to his ways before the vampires were driven to extinction once more.
But it doesn’t matter. For he had already achieved what he sought to do.
Amidst the Ged vampire’s disapproval of Palter Termezt and his family’s dedication to the ancient ways of the vampire, Ex’car had brought enough time for Kelgrim and Sozak.
And with the Seeds of Blood that all the five Ged vampires had consumed, none of the five had the slightess clue that Ex’car laced his own magic in his ‘generous gift’ to them.
Originally the plan was to have each of the Ged vampires—including himself—to each consume a single Seed of Blood to give them a demonstration of His Evergrace’s powers, to convince them of His Evergrace’s return.
With Palter’s mistake, instead of using the remaining 5 Seeds of Blood as samples to the others, Ex’car had modified them with his own control magic.
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A control magic that spanned through all the royal families. Once the family head consumed it, Ex’car would theoretically have control over every single vampire of a family if he wished to—for all of them were bound to their family head.
Such was the flaw he found in the vampire hierarchy.
Their dependance on the hierarchy and blood arts magic system, allowed Ex’car to exploit it with the magic that he developed with his late Vampire Father.
If the others ever dare to delay His Evergrace’s awakening, this magic shall be his fail safe.
“Let us go, Palter. Until our next meeting, everyone.”
Woosh!
“Arghhhh!” Taruin had a handful of hair by his fists, his face scrunched into a plethora of agonizing wrinkles.
“Lord Marcedoni, if Lord Termezt wishes to worship His Evergrace, I do not see any harm in that. As long he keeps his interests to himself, there is no harm done—”
“Youngster!” Ledriz Hangrabo spat. “You don’t know Ex’car Termezt as well as Taruin! I have seen first hand how crafty that vampire can be. That man believes in nothing, he lives for no one else but his selfish reasons. For the sake of his goals, Ex’car Termezt would betray anyone. Even that vampire son of his!”
“That’s not possible, how can a vampire turn on his people?” Nulvith Vulshker spoke. “It is true he is determined, but the way he spoke about the past. I can’t help but sense he wants nothing but the best for us.”
“Best for us? Or best for him?” Domernig spat. “Open your eyes, Vulshker! The Termezts are trying to undermine us! He is trying to break up the Sovereign with his obsession of the past!”
“Taruin, I have suggestion.”
A voice as clear as a whistle brought the all the vampires into attention.
“Speak, Moriel,” the vampire released his grasp of his own scalp.
“If possible, I would like to give Ex’car the benefit of the doubt. Though it may have been years ever since the three of us ever agreed on something, I still believe that Ex’car Termezt is innocent.”
“Trifellar, you dare side with Termezt than—”
Before Hangrabo could speak, Moriel interrupted, “I volunteer to do reconnaissance on him. Whatever I discover of Ex’car, I shall report back to you personally, Taruin. Not to the Marcdeoni family, but to you.”
“You Trifellars had failed to gain intel from the Termezts. Why would this be any different from the previous attempts,” Domernig mocked.
“It is true my family failed to gain anything from the Termezts. But at the same time, I am the only one here who has ever gained Ex’car’s trust. Can you say that for yourself, Dakern? Have you once gained Ex’car Termezt’s trust?”
“…”
“Suppose I permit you to do this, Moriel. What do you base your success on? How would I know you aren’t doing this to ally yourself with the Termezts.”
“If the Trifellar family wishes the Sovereign to fall, we would have done so by turning you all against the other. Besides, I have a leverage that no one else the Sovereign have against Ex’car Termezt.”
“Tell us, Trifellar,” Ledriz interlocked his fingers. “What is it that a Trifellar like you can do that none of us could do.”
“Ex’car and I were once lovers.”
Moriel’s statement caused all the other Ged vampires’ eyes pop, including Taruin Marcedoni who seemed to knew Moriel and Ex’car from long ago.
Bang!
Hangrabo jumped to his feet, his red eyes glowed in anger, “Preposterous! Just because you are a woman, spouting blatant lies will not—”
“Permitted.”
“Thank you.”
Moriel lowered placed a hand against her shoulder, lowering her head before she disappeared in a smoke of yellow mist as she parted.
“What!?” it was Dakern who jumped from his seat this time, “You allowed her just because she said that!?”
“Like it or not Domernig, her words have merit.”
“And if she was lying, Taruin?”
“No. I had suspicions about Moriel and Ex’car when the three of us were younger. She admitted it after so many years, Trifellar is as serious as she could be.”
Shaaaaa…
The growing angst in the great city of Pardlorn continued to build as the intense downpour grew. What had been trickle of water droplets from the sky are now unending streams of rain that came to wash the stony pavements of the Sovereign.
Ex’car in his white suit leaned against the entrance of the capitol building as he brought a pipe to his lips, igniting the end of the pipe with fire magic before he proceeded to smoke the dry tobacco that he had placed in it.
After Palter had went to fetch the carriage, Ex’car had used [Message] to contact Kelgrim and Sozak, only for his magic to fail.
It had been hours since the two Itex vampires had embarked on their journey to His Evergrace’s tomb. By his estimation, they should have reached their destination, yet, Ex’car could not make contact with the two Itex vampires.
Though Palter was his vampire son, the thought of losing two capable vampires of the Termezt family was enough to bring Ex’car to fall back on the smoke pipe that his Vampire Father had given him.
Between the growing tension from the other royal families and the uncertainty of the future, Ex’car could barely taste usual sweet aroma that could calm his nerves.
There was just far too many things to do and far too little time for him.
While he had secured a failsafe on all the royal families with his Seeds of Blood magic, the fact that Hangrabo and Marcedoni are working closely required him to be more discreet in his actions.
Introducing Palter to the other Ged vampires today brought the attention on the Termezt family to Palter. In many ways, Palter’s existence as his vampire son also robbed the prying eyes of the Trifellar family from Kelgrim and Sozak’s covert operations.
It was a brilliant plan of diversion.
Pertaining Kelgrim and Sozak succeeded in undoing the seal on His Evergrace, Ex’car still needed to maintain the Termezts standing among the royal families, they’ve once got the better of his Vampire Father, and once was all that was needed to end the man who made Ex’car was today.
Time was a precious commodity that he had to juggle with.
Yet, he could not place a finger on it, something felt amiss from his grand plan of reawakening His Evergrace.
“Brought out the old pipe again? It’s been a long while since I saw it.”
Not even needing to turn his head, Ex’car recognized Moriel’s ‘tender’ voice, a voice that she only reserved to use on him.
Instead of answering Trifellar, Ex’car brought his pipe to his lips, took a deep breath before slowly exhaling, allowing for the smoke to be dispersed by the heavy rain surrounding them.
“Smoking won’t kill us like it would the mortals, but don’t you think the lung complications would—”
Fed up of her presence, Ex’car turned and faced the unwanted presence behinf him, “What do you want, Trifellar?”
For just a moment, a pained wince flashed on the beautiful woman’s face. Such an expression would have made the most hardened vampire to fall to their knees and apologize. But Ex’car knew this woman’s tricks well.
“W-won’t you c-call me Mori like you used to, dear Ex’car?”
Ex’car’s fists clenched at her words.
Mori is dead, Trifellar… She died with my Vampire Father.
…
…
…
“Remember back when we were orphans that had no one else but each other to rely on?”
“…”
“Now I am here to honor those times, Ex’car. I am here to bring you news.”
Without waiting for Ex’car’s approval, Moriel Trifellar used her arms and drew a circular arc around her body, infusing the pattern with her orange mana. No sooner, a transparent film appeared around the two of them, encasing the two Ged vampires under the rain.
This was the Trifellar family’s iteration of [Sphere of Confidentiality], a mana light spell that required no chanting.
It some ways, one could say that this was the perfected version that intercepted all prying magic or even recording magic that would take place inside or outside of its intended range.
Making only those affected by the spell to have an absolute private conversation.
“Under Taruin’s approval, I have been given the task of uncovering your schemes. Hangrabo and Domernig have intentions of removing you, so I offered to spy on you to quell their growing aggression.”
“If you presume telling me this beforehand would mean anything, you cannot be more wrong, Trifellar. I could care less—”
“I have no intentions of reporting anything to them. I understand you don’t trust me after what I have done, but if all of Hangrabo and Domernig decides to descend upon you, I fear not just the Termezts will be eradicated. But the others might even come up with a plan to eliminate His Evergrace. Mercedoni can only prevent them from going into the extremes.”
“Don’t jest. Those who dare think to eliminate His Evergrace do not know the full extent of his true power! If they dare…”
“Like the Immortal Witch of the Empire, the Demon Lord of Stagnation’s powers stem from those who submit to their presence. Their fears, their respect, their hatred, their reliance…
“The Sovereign of today does not care nor promote the Vampire Prince’s existence. With the amount of people under Ledriz Hangrabo’s wing and his recent dabbles into the ancient vampire’s magic, Ledriz would become a potential Demon Lord in making.”
While the conditions of becoming a Demon Lord were not fully uncovered. Based on the Ancient Vampires’ understanding of the Vampire Prince, what Moriel said was not completely false. But to Ex’car who was a scholar in His Evergrace and the Great Demon War from the ancient times, Trifellar was just grasping at straws to appeal to him.
“With that much power, no doubt he would destroy—”
Ex’car raised a hand, halting Moriel before she could go on.
“What do you propose?”
“We work together, like old times. Just the two of us, Ex’car. I feed them whatever lies you them to believe, the whole Trifellar family will be working for you. In exchange… I’ll stay by your side pretending to have charmed you, all I ask is that you give me a chance to redeem myself, for you to call me Mori like you…”
Clack, clack, clack.
While Moriel was explaining herself, Palter arrived with the carriage, prompting Ex’car to dispel [Sphere of Confidentiality] before moving towards his carriage without another word.
“Ex’car, please! Just this once, I promise I will make things right!”
Thud!
Trifellar’s voice echoed in the heavy rain as Ex’car shut the doors, his face unflinching as the creaseless white suit that was adorned on him.
Crack, went the whips, it took not even a second for the phantom horses that Palter held the reigns to gallop, pulling the carriage into motion.
“I just want your love, Ex’car… If I knew what I lost when I…”
“Until then, Mori.”
With that, the carriage left the premises in a gust of wind, with Moriel disappearing from the rear-view mirror as Palter brought him away into the rain.
“…”
Rumble.
“…”
Splash!
“…”
Thonk!
Amidst the violent rocking of the ride, Ex’car spoke.
“Speak, Palter.”
“I-It’s nothing, Lord Termezt.”
“If that is so, I suggest you learn to hide your emotions as I have taught you. You may be in my presence now, the other Ged Vampires we meet today would not be so kind to let your morbid curiosity slide.”
Palter lowered his head, “My a-apologies Lord Termezt. It is about Lady Trifellar. Moments ago, I clearly heard you called her, Mori. I was just, startled.”
“Your ears do not deceive you, Palter. I did call her that.”
“Does that mean Lady Trifellar was the woman who you used to love?”
“…”
Sensing Ex’car’s silence, Palter followed up, “My apologies, master. I do not mean to anger you. It is my understanding that Mori, the woman you consider as your true love is dead, I thought if it was Lady Trifellar then you would…” Palter silenced himself before he could continue.
He had spoken enough already, the more the explained himself, the worse it was.
“You are not wrong to be confused, my son. My heart belongs to a woman named Mori. It is also no coincidence that I called Moriel Trifellar, with a name that resembled the woman whom I love with all my heart.”
“I don’t understand, my lord.”
“The woman I loved, Mori, was my everything. From back before my Vampire Father had taken me as his son, Mori had always been by my side. To me, she is as important as the Termezt family, as important as you, as important as my Vampire Father. She was a significant part of my world, she is why I never sought another woman, she is the reason I opened my eyes to the truth of this world, of a world that came before the Sovereign. An intelligent female who inspired me to be more than just a selfish vampire, someone who gave me purpose as I granted you.”
“What happened to her?”
“Mori was murdered in cold blood, her body was desecrated by a monster far evil than any demon, far more vicious than anyone could have imagined.
“It happen before very my eyes, Palter…
“Mori, my only love, murdered by Moriel Trifellar, a woman who bears the same face as to mock her passing.”
Palter became quiet as the identity of Lady Trifellar was made clear to him. He had seen paintings of Mori—Lord Termezt’s love—along the halls of the Termezt Residence, aside from the passing remarks his Vampire Father spoke of the woman, he never gave it too much thought.
Having witness the Vampire Gathering earlier and overhearing Moriel Trifellar’s words, he had a vague understanding. Between the paintings and the woman whom Lord Termezt spoke to earlier, their faces were one and the same.
Lord Termezt never spoke of a doppelganger of his beloved, he never mentioned where she was buried, and he never mentioned how did Lady Trifellar murdered her.
In fact, in Lord Termezt’s eyes, Mori and Lady Trifellar were two different people.
Yet, Palter undoubtedly heard his Vampire Father called Lady Trifellar, Mori. Undoubtedly they were the same person.
With that notion, Palter spoke.
“What’s her true name, Lord Termezt? Lady Mori’s full name.”
“Moriel Termezt.”
“But why did you call Lady Trifellar—”
“Moriel Termezt was murdered by Moriel Trifellar. If calling Trifellar an empty name is what I need to secure His Evergrace’s return, then so be it. My heart belongs to Mori Termezt who is no longer with us, I promised her that I will not weep when she is gone. For in my heart, she still lives.”