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Vlad decided to follow up on Alitheus words so as not to make things more awkward. Nodding and saying that he agreed with what he said.

“Yeah, mother, we discussed this beforehand, and with Alitheus’ healing magic and his various other powers, he would be of great help,” he said. “I can assure you of his loyalty to our family and his utmost help. His healing magic could also take care of me and other people. There are still many people in hospitals, right? With his help, we could quickly heal them. After all, healing magic of his caliber is very rare in here, isn’t it?”

Healing magic is often derived from the Holy and Life Elements, all of which are attributes that almost no being in the entirety of the Realm of Obscuritas wields. Therefore, it was extremely rare.

And even if there was someone with it, this healing magic would usually hurt the inhabitants of this realm as it carried deadly holy and light elements, which most races were weak against.

However, Chris’ avatar, Alitheus, was different. His healing magic is derived from ancient spiritual martial techniques that the Heavenly Emperor wielded, which he can conjure by using his own Ki combined with Arcana.

It carried no harmful elements, and although it was bright as light, it didn’t damage vampires when it healed them, though if he wished, he could turn it into a damaging spell.

Teressa sighed, nodding, and then crossed her arms with a slight smile.

“I know, he’s very useful. Did you think I was going to kick him away, my son? When you find such a useful subject as him, you do everything you can to keep him chained with you,” she smiled. “You’ve done good; seducing him has made him want to stay. Well done. You are slowly learning the cunning ways of vampires. There is nothing to be ashamed of when using our beauty to charm other lesser beings.”

“What is she even talking about?” Chris muttered.

“A-Ah! Yeah! That’s right, mother!” Vlad wanted to just play along with his vampire mother for now. “He is… very loyal indeed, and that’s exactly the reason. We have to keep him around and on a tight leash.”

Vlad patted Chris' head as the incubus glared at him with disbelief.

“What is this idiot even talking about?” he thought.

“Right, Alitheus? You will remain here as you suggested…” Vlad smiled back at him.

“Yeah, sure, haha! I am so charmed with you, Lord Vlad!” Alitheus said. “I shall remain here and serve you and your family until my last days!”

Chris decided to play around after he decided to just let Paul pay for it later.

“Well said!” Teressa nodded. “So first of all, because of your relationship with my son... I can’t simply accept you as a mere servant, either. I suppose you will become his future concubine, yes. At least one of his brides. Male vampires usually have many mistresses and brides, you see.”

“Uh-huh…” Chris nodded without being able to process what was being talked about. “Wait! Bride?!”

“Mother, there’s no need to go so far…” said Vlad. “Leave it at just being a doctor… or nurse if you want to treat him as a female.”

“He does look very feminine… It isn’t as if he would be the first male to become a bride in this country,” she smiled. “There are a few cases… Your father, for example, does have two male concubines.”

“Wait, Father does?!” Vlad gasped.

Paul and Chris were still processing what was being said right now.

Apparently the Vampires were more open-minded than they thought, but at the same time, they were still quite insane.

That the Emperor himself had two male “concubines” already spoke great lengths about things.

“Yes, sometimes males are taken by others as trophies and prizes,” smiled Teressa. “To strip the manhood of a feminine and beautiful man is a great showcase of masculinity! So I am quite proud of my son right now.”

“What is she even talking about?! And why does that sound so hot?!” Chris thought, getting horny out of Teressa’s remarks about having his masculinity stripped by a manly stud.

“Um, what are these two male concubines my father has?” Vlad had grown interested in his father’s bisexuality.

“They’re both princes of two small nations; one is from the Moon Elves and the other from the Silver Gargoyles; they’re more beautiful than most of his other brides, though they cannot compare with your mother’s beauty,” Teressa stated. “Oh, anyways, that shouldn’t matter right now, and…!”

“No, mother… Ah, this has been confusing, but I want to clarify that my relationship with Alitheus is still developing,” said Vlad. “And I do not intend to have any more brides or concubines; if anything, we are just dating right now. And whatever happens later, we’ll see.”

He was surprised he had more courage with Teressa, a terrifyingly strong vampire, than with his real-life mother.

The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

Well, it was a videogame, so it was easier in his head.

“What! But such things…” she muttered. “Do you not intend to follow any of our family’s traditions, my son?”

“Mama, let big brother alone already; he wants to be with his friend, and that’s about it!” said Camilla. “He’ll help the city and us, and he’s a healer... There is no need to force them into anything! Don’t be a meanie!”

“M-Meanie?!” Teressa gasped. “I… Well, I should perhaps rethink the words I used. Okay fine. Let’s move away from this for now. There are indeed more important things.”

Vlad could have gone with his life without knowing that his father had two femboy brides, but now that he knew, he didn’t really know what to think about the man.

“Thanks,” said Chris, sighing. “I am also a Player, so I’ve become a friend of your son through this connection. We’ve been entering dungeons and also growing stronger together. What happened between the two… We don’t really regret that, but we’ll take our time.”

“Hmm… It seems there’s little I can do in this situation,” Teressa nodded as she started serving plates with blood sausage stew. “My son is already an adult, and as a mother, I’ve failed him many times... I suppose what my son does or not no longer depends on me. He is free to do as he pleases, as long as he doesn’t sully the honor of our prideful family.”

“I won’t,” Vlad nodded. “I am a prideful vampire, and with this identity I have as one, I shall carry it pridefully anywhere I go. Fear not, mother.”

“Well said,” his mother nodded, caressing his face, kissing his cheek, and then hugging him. “Now, let’s eat a meal together. I owe you this much after being away from you for so long. There’s a lot we need to discuss as well.”

The family of four sat down around the table as they happily started digging in. The blood sausage stew, which at first seemed slightly gross to Chris and Paul, ended up being surprisingly delicious.

The blood flavor wasn’t strong, and the sausages were meaty and juicy. There were also purple-colored potatoes and red-colored carrots named Moonlight Roots and Scarlet Fingers, both endemic plants of Obscuritas that were farmed all year.

They possessed a large quantity of Blood Essence and Moonlight Essence, which was very healthy for vampires, most demons, and werewolves to eat. Usually, normal vegetables wouldn’t be palatable, but these roots were good enough and supplemented their diets, which often consisted of pure meat or blood.

For lower classes that couldn’t afford too much blood or meat, they were essential for their survival; eating a plate of this stew a week was enough for Teressa’s family to be filled with energy for a whole week.

“So how is it?” wondered Teressa with a smile, having already finished her plate. Vlad noticed his vampire mother ate very fast and had a lot of manners.

“It’s delicious…” Vlad smiled. “The soup is creamy, the sausages are meaty, and these roots I had never tasted before; they’re both slightly sweet and spicy, and they complement well with everything else.”

“I want seconds, mama!” Camilla had already emptied her plate as well.

“I’m so happy you liked it!” Teressa seemed to be in bliss as she quickly served seconds to everyone. “This is a meal from my family that has passed through many generations. Blood Sausage Stew is not needed anymore; our wealth allows us to easily sustain ourselves with blood alone. But I’ve grown bored of just drinking blood. Food is fine too, sometimes.”

“So mom is a foodie, noted,” Vlad nodded. “I’ll try to bring you new ingredients to cook new dishes with you then, mother.”

“F-Foodie?! I would never!”

Teressa felt slightly embarrassed about having been caught.

“Hmm, I never thought the food here would feel so realistic!” said Chris, eating his fill. “Do you have any bread, though? I think these sausages could make a really good sandwich…”

Chris words made Teressa rather interested.

“Bread, you say? Isn’t that something only the people of other Realms consume?” she wondered. “Last time I heard about you people, succubus and incubus are demons that can live off the life force they drain from their victims. Or from eating their dreams and draining their souls. So where did you learn about such a thing? And what do you mean by realistic?”

“A-Ah, I mean… That’s right! I haven’t really had a proper meal in a while, so it feels… Realistically amazing!” Chris was improvising. “And about bread, they used to have it in the brothel. Demons also eat it; it’s easy to make with grains.”

“I see,” said Teressa. "Grains, you say… I don’t know if it could be healthy for vampires to eat that, but perhaps if we add some roots to it to make it edible, it could work. Now, let’s go to more important topics while you finish your meals.”

Teressa then proceeded to talk about what has happened so far in Elderbridge. She was blunt and direct, saying that roughly eighty people lost their lives. Thirty houses were completely burned to the ground, and five streets had been destroyed and required proper repairs.

The lost people will be mourned in a special “Festival of the Dead” to let the souls pass by with the blessing of the three moon goddesses, a special festivity of the people of Obscuritas, who were very spiritual and connected with souls and the concepts of the afterlife.

However, the people arose from the lost houses and markets, and also from the streets themselves.

“I’ve calculated, and we’ll need roughly ten million credit coins to buy everything necessary for proper reparations,” she said. “Our small city is also being overdriven by thugs, and most citizens have not been paying taxes either... Now that I am awake, I thought I should ask for taxes and also punish those who have skipped them.”

“Wait, are you sure?” Vlad wondered. “Wouldn’t that only make things worse? The citizens already went through a lot themselves, and most people are in terrible poverty; nobody in Elderbridge had money. If you ask them for taxes and they have not a single penny, what are you going to do? Throw them away? You’ll only hurt yourself in the long run.”

“What? You dare speak to me in such a tone, my son? You…!” Teressa’s pride as a vampire kicked off, but then she calmed down when she noticed Camilla was looking. “Ahem… Well, I suppose… No, you’re not wrong…”

She quickly realized the truth. Although she was incapable of applying empathy to other people other than her two children due to her ruthless nature, after her son opened her eyes regarding the situation of the citizens, she realized that her plans were foolish.

“But without the funds, our city will only grow poorer and look even worse,” she sighed. “If my husband learns I’ve left things like this, he’ll surely take away my title as Duchess and…”

“I think I have a plan,” said Vlad.

“Oh? What is it?” Teressa wondered.

“I’ve heard that there are several organizations that deal with magic drugs, illegal trafficking of potions, elixirs, magic artifacts, and so on. As long as we take care of them and confiscate what they had, we could gain enough money to restore the city to its former state,” he said. “Once that is over, we should reorganize the Guilds and directly recruit men below our wing to conquer the dungeons and bring us their resources. Later, once the economy has finally stabilized, we will ask for taxes once most people have already found a new job.”

“Vlad… Is this really the same sickly son I once had?”

Teressa couldn’t believe it was her sickly son who was giving her a lecture about how to manage a territory.

But as the son of a duchess, Vlad was not going to waste this opportunity.

Territory management was never something he imagined he would be doing in a game like this.

But he was slightly excited about it.

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