"Oh, what a lovely tale! It was really marvelous!" a girl said as Theo finished talking about all the eventful occurrences they had on the way to the Imperial Capital. Of course he flowered it up and used various flowery language to the best of his ability, but it was quite taxing mentally.

At the moment, there was a great deal of noble socializing going on. It was mostly just small talk, nothing too major, but Theo was working hard to gain a favorable impression with everyone. After all, this would likely have a big impact on their future.

Naturally, a big question that came up was the battle with the Delzar Archive. Most of the details were ommitted of course, but some of them were mentioned, such as its ability to produce a Realm, and also its power to utilize the corpses of its victims that it had somehow swallowed. It was a bit ghastly, but that seemed to make them more curious and interested.

There was also some talk about the twins however, about the rumors behind them and their abilities. That didn't surprise Theo much either, they were the protagonists after all. Rumors swirled around them like crazy.

As they were talking though, Theo ended up moving on to another group, only to get ambushed by a group he was not expecting.

Valyr Dezorin, and Cynthia Velmont. However they were not the only ones. Sola ended up joining them as well, as well as the most shocking one of all, the Second Prince. At first, Theo had thought he had black hair, but upon closer inspection, it was dark blue. In the game it had always appeared black, but looking at it more clearly, he had been wrong. Unless he had dyed it or something.

Following Theo into the group was Rowyn of course.

"Dezorin, Velmont, Sola, Your Highness, pleasure to meet with you all".

The second prince didn't look quite so cocky at the moment, and just let out a sigh instead.

"Its fine, you dont have to worry about being overly formal here. We are all younger siblings to actual heirs right now, after all".

Although an "right now" was slipped in there, everyone did relax a bit. Firstborns tended to have the most stress and strictness upon them, but this was a group of children, and none of them were a firstborn. This gave them a bit more flexibility.

"Its impressive the turnout today. Not everyone always makes it to the Summer Hall" Cynthia mentioned.

"Its probably because of Sola's singing. Everyone got really motivated".

"Ah, thanks".

Sola's smile was healing to everyone regardless of who they were. He was the very definition of "boyish charm", the catchphrase used in several songs and also on many posters and other merchandise. It often went with a pose of a sideways V made from his index and middle finger, with his eye inbetween.

"Still, I must say Valyr, that is quite the nice wand you have there" the second prince, Zalrus, mentioned.

"Ah, thanks...its a special custom design" Valyr said, with a wand similar to Theo's.

He made a second one already?! Damn!

"I am a bit surprised you have your sword with you though Cynthia. A wand is one thing, but despite wearing such a nice dress, you have a sword under there, right?"

It seemed the second prince had been able to tell there was a weapon in there. Theo was a bit shocked, he had no idea Cynthia was armed right now. He had been totally fooled.

"Honestly, I didn't want to wear such a thing, but my parents forcefully insisted. It really doesn't suit me".

"...no, it suits you quite well" Theo said bluntly.

"It really does".

"You shouldn't be so modest".

"No, it doesn't! A sword and armor suits me way better!"

Cynthia actually seemed annoyed at our praises, it seemed she was a true tomboy at heart. Then we had a magic tool obsessed boy, a second prince who seemed unprredictable in his emotions, an idol, a Guard Knight who was a Guardian Knight and a Guardian Spirit, and a reincarnated woman into the body of a young boy of a Duke Household. Granted, those last two were completely unknown from everyone else, but it was clear the rest of them were known to the group, at least by some extent.

"I heard you and Sola not only met before, but even escaped trouble from Vampires. Is that right?"

"...I am a bit curious how you heard that".

"The Imperial Capital has a lot of eyes, and they love gossip".

"...of course they do. Well, it was quite terrifying".

"Yes, in the future, we really need to avoid accidentally walking into a Vampire Nest" Rowyn mentioned, despite the one who wandered in first chasing a bad feeling.

"Its quite strange to hear how Vampires have been so active lately. I hope they are not planning something".

Valyr expressed some concern.

"You could try using sensory magic of some kind if you are worried they might sneak in".

"No can do" Theo said. "There are various protective barriers and charms to prevent people from using such magic here, focused on protecting against unwanted information gathering magic that might be used, as well as other possibilities. You have to brute force even minor spells of those nature here".

"Eh, you can brute force them?"

Ah, I said something unnecessary...

"Anything can be brute forced right? The issue is itts a pain, and dangerous, and there might be some sort of defensive magic in place to immediately incinerate you".

Valyr suddenly broke out in a cold sweat.

"...Valyr, by any chance, were you about to try out of curiosity?"

"S-so what if I was?!"

The caused the group to laugh at that reaction.

"Valyr is a very reliable mage and magic tool expert after all".

"Truly, he knows what he is doing".

"I am amazed you started casting a spell without any of us realizing in such a short amount of time".

"Was he really about to try and brute force a spell out of pure curiosity?"

"G-guys..."

Oddly enough, Theo felt very relaxed witth this group. However, the second prince suddenly bent over and whispered something into Theo's ear.

"By the way, I still dont consider you good enough for my older sister, so she is off limits, okay?"

THAT WAS WHAT THAT LOOK WAS ABOUT?!?!?!?!

The second prince just said something that never, ever, was hinted at in the games. Not only that, but he was not sure if his personality and character were making more sense or less sense. Either way, that was all he said and he stopped leaning into Theo's ear, but Theo had no idea how to react to this. It was all quite confusing.

Theo meanwhile passed something to Rowyn and Rowyn nodded and put it in his pocket, before passing some juice.

"So, considering the skill levels and intelligence of everyone here, and since at least some of us are involved, I wanted to ask you all...what do you serioously think about the vampire situation?"

This tone was different from before, and the second prince has a different expression now.

"The vampires are planning something" Theo statted outright. "I dont have a clear idea what it is, because I dont know any of the files or materials at any of their locations. But since they were behind an attempt to kidnap Sola, its possible it might be related to sound, or even mind control. Or perhaps...information gathering on some extreme level".

Valyr and Cynthia were surprised to hear about the kindnapping attempt, but followed the rest clearly...until that last part was mentioned.

"Intelligence gathering?"

"If the vampires have these numbers and are organizing, then that likely means that they have plans. However, to utilize such a large amount effectively, they would need an equally large amount of information if they plan on staying covert, and they are vampires, so naturally they will. Acquiring floorplans, scouting areas, stealingg messages. If they got enough people into the guard, its possible to even access the castle".

"The vampires seemed to avoid most of our searches, but I was able to detect them. Of course, this was parttly due to my skill, but also it might be possible they got surprised since the plans to mobilize against them came from me, who they dont have a reliable monitoring network up for yet. And I organized the knights very quickly so they had very little time to possibly piece it together".

Valyr looked around.

"If that is true, and our unexpected actions caused this, then wont they see us as the biggest risk?"

"Oh yeah. And as a result, they especially wont like we are all here together now, in one room, talking to each other as we work hard".

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"I feel like we should be more worried about that".

"The guards reported no issue, anti-infiltration charms and magic devices are up and at full power, andd we have some of the strongest knights and mages in the room. Rahter then tip any assassins we are onto them, we just need to be careful".

Theo said that, and the second prince nodded.

"As the second prince, I live with the concept of an assassin coming for me at any time. If I let that stop me from doing anything or living my life, I would suffocate".

"Yeah. Don't worry Sola, the strongest people in the kingdom are gathered here. At least most of them".

With such reassurance, Sola calmed down a bit.

"Still though, if their goal was just to take over the Kingdom, something doesn't add up. Their plan wouldn't be so flimsy as to easily become threatened by Sola poking his nose around. Whatever Obsidian Night is, its clearly dangerous".

The moment he heard that, Valyr went wide eyed.

"Did you say...Obsidian Night? You know what that is?!"

"Wait, you know that name?!"

Theo was shocked by this, and so was the prince for that matter.

"I have been investigating my mother's death, and I recently discovered something odd. Some correspondence, and the name Obsidian Night came up. Someone contacted her, claiming it would help provide benefits. It was in code and kind of cryptic, but it seems they might know something about my mother's death".

No! No! They will use that to turn you into a Vampire!

"Well, they seem to be an evil lot who manipulates things from the shadows and use treachery and lies a lot. So they might lie and deceive you...perhaps they even helped cause it, considering everything else".

"N-no way...I guess its a lead, but...to think it was like that?"

Yes, that should help keep Valyr off of the Obsidian Night route!

While reveling in his small timeline victory, Sola brought up something else.

"Speaking of weird threats, I am curious...is it true you fought off the Delzar Archive?"

"Yeah...that thing was annoying, honestly".

"We barely survived it" Rowyn chimed in.

"You defeated it though".

"Well, it ran away and escaped, but I suppose that does count. It was not easy though. Leaving aside its Realm and ability to revive dead victims as undead, its true danger was in temptation. It has the power to grant wishes, but will distort them and turn them into nightmares. And it can peer into one's mind and learn details to use against them that way. It knows how to tempt you, and its good at tempting. That alone made it dangerous, and this was just at a time when it was weaker cause it hadn't actively enticed someone and caused chaos yet".

"Its still impressive, whatever the circumstances. You should feel proud of yourself".

Even if it was only natural for the story to spread, Theo was fairly sure it was indeed being artificially boosted. The plan really was to make Theo a far more attracttive choice for heir.

Well, if it stops my no good sister, I suppose its a good thing.

While thinking that, Rowyn then noticed something and picked it up.

"Looks like you dropped this".

It was the ring from earlier. The chain seemed to have become undone, although if vaguely looked like the gem had less shine then before.

"Hmm...nah, it might be the lightning. Anyways, its nice to know that even if it escaped, we got some damage on it. It wont be able to harm anyone for quite awhile".

"Yeah. I swear, it feels like there have been a lot of odd and violent events lately. Just recently, we had reports of Werewolves in a port town, and rumors off someone who calls himself a Demon Broker, who offers contracts with Demons".

"That is really concerning..."

As Theo said that, an armored knight walked by a knocked into him. Theo looked back at the knight, and noticed they were walking a bit strangely.

"...are the knights drinking?"

"Uhg, they shouldn't be. It looks like there are more knights here then before, and some in full armor, so its possible someone called in some reserves. Perhaps wary due to the recent vampire issue".

"Yeah...maybe..."

Theo quickly made contact with the lesser spirits he had summoned, and proceeded to have them scout around. The armor of those knights were enchanted and the spells were preventing peeking, but at least he could do a decent job with looking around as they continued to chat. This group was getting along surprisingly well with each other.

However, perhaps it was inevitable that trouble would befall them, when suddenly a noble seemed to trip by Rowyn and his wine spilled over Rowyn.

"Oh my, this dirty animal tripped me!" the noble declared. Theo nearly drew his wand on the spot, Valyr quickly grabbed his arm, and the prince quickly stopped Cynthia from drawing her sword subtly.

It was obviously a set up, but Theo recognized the noble. It was Duke Velcarik, one of the major noble houses, and a major power of the Traditionalist factions that discriminated against Beastkin.

Rowyn however looked back and simply smiled.

"I think you must be mistaken, good sir. I cant trip you when I wasn't even moving".

"You dare talk back to me?"

"Stop making a fuss" The second prince commanded. "You are disrupting my conversation".

The Duke paused for a moment, and stepped back.

"My apologies my prince. But these filthy beasts really do need to learn their place".

"Hey Rowyn, you okay?"

"Yeah, thanks for asking".

"And I think you need to remember your place. You are ruining this for everyone else".

"Hmm. Then perhaps my knights should take him outside and beat some sense into him".

At those words, two knights flanked Rowyn. Theo looked around for his father, but he was already gone.

I don't see her either. Is it possible they decided to start it right here and now?!

Theo was a bit surprised, but it made sense. The fake would probably get noticed before they left, so if they got rid of the gem and released him, then they wouldn't get caught with it. Of course, they would somehow need to get Elias out instead, but with everyone that arrived, it would probably make sense that one boy would get overlooked.

But right now, they had a standoff with a no good noble who wanted to promote more human superiority and take Beastkin down a notch, and probably harm and embarass Rowyn. Theo heard the rumors of what he had done, and it was pretty terrible. Without a doubt, he had plans to flaunt his power and promote his own faction here. It might also be a test to see which of the Royal Family might have similar views to them, by watching their reactions.

From what I remember, the First Prince is supported by them in secret. Hard to know if they just decided to use him as a pawn, or if he actually agrees with their ideals though. And the king is...I think he supports us, but...its hard to know for certain.

That said, given the way the second prince came to support Rowyn, and had zero averse reactions to Rowyn so far, it was obvious he didn't discriminate against Beastkin.

Theo was pretty sure this was about to turn bad. Even if Rowyn defended himself, it would probably get phrased some way to cause even more trouble.

However, the Prince got in the way of them.

"You are being disruptive. Calm down, or leave. But this is not proper behavior in the Summer Hall".

The prince warned him again, and this time he decided to back off instead of pushing the issue. That said, Theo felt like this might not be the last they saw of him. But at least the drama of the confrontation seemed to settle down now, and everyone returned to their socializing. However, something sttill felt like it was lingering...something didn't feel right.

And that was when he realized it.

Pochi, Tama, report in now!

His lesser spirits had not responded at all, this entire time. He commanded them to report, but there was no response. It appeared they had been dispelled, or his connection interrupted.

Theo's guard immediately went up.

"Something is going on".

As he said that, his father, as well as Annabell, seemed to come out of a back room. Annabell spotted them immediately, and the two came over.

"Father, there is something wrong".

"I know, my magical sensor detected a barrier being errected around the Summer Hall, and not a normal one".

"We should let my father know".

His father then handed something to Rowyn, and then Rowyn nodded in response.

"Well?"

"The process was started. I put the gem in my pocket for now. They have some spare supplies in a bag nearby just in case. However, there were some concerns over what the gem actually was...it seems there might be..."

Before Rowyn could finish, suddenly a shout was heard. They looked around, and the armored knights suddenly attacked a boy. But it was more then just that...all of the adults had disappeared! Everyone over thirteen was missing, with the exception of Rowyn, who as a Guardian Spirit was soul-linked to Theo so probably counted as seven years old in some way.

"Where did all the adults go?!"

"The armors are attacking!"

Theo looked to the others.

"Sola, we need buffs! Esre, Zak, Zoa, Cynthia, Rowyn, fight them off! Valyr, help me with support! Zuuki, cover and flank! Star Blaster!"

Theo drew his wand and attacked with full power. The knights advanced, and came forward with extreme prejudice. They tried to strike down anyone, and Theo felt like some sort of fog had come over the Summer Hall.

And among the knights, one of them said in a cold, robotic voice.

"The Night of Tears has begun!"

"...ooohhhh, so this is tthe Night of Tears...fuck".

Well, thats kinda...terrible.

Before the knights could advance anymore however, several fists of energy came out and knocked them back. One of them had their helmets blasted off, revealing just an empty and open armor.

"Are they actually golems?!"

As Theo exclaimed that, everyone else had taken out their weapons...and that was when a glow emerged from Rowyn's pocket, shootingg out to the ground nearby, and a boy appeared, totally naked.

"Of all the...Rowyn!"

"Right!"

Rowyn raced into the back, grabbed a bag, and threw it to Elias.

"Yo, Elias, nice to have you back".

"Rowyn...how are you...wait so it was you...uhg!"

"Seems like you have a rough idea. Get dressed, we are under attack".

The second prince moved next to Theo.

"Do I even want to know?"

"Breaking a hundred year old curse".

"...right, I will ask about it later" he said, as he took out a sword. However, Theo noticed the magic crystals embedded into the hilt.

"Wait, is that...a sword and a wand?"

"Yeah, pretty cool right?"

"Very useful right now, that is for sure!"

The two unleashed their magic, with Zalrus unleashinggg his solar magic to try and incinerate the armors, but it didn't seem to do much aside from slowing them down.

At that point, Pochi and Tama returned finally.

"You two! Where were you!"

The two hummed and made other cute noises, that no one could understand.

"...haaaaa, what the hell do you mean, there is an army of Vampires heading towards the balcony doors that overlook the Garden?! Are you serious?!"

One of hte knights suddenly moved faster then the others, and while Theo was dealing with hhis spirits, it tried to take his head. Rowyn easily parried it, while Elias, now dressed, got to his feet.

"So just to be clear, did you uncurse me during a damn vampire attack?! Isn't that too much?!"

"It sort of happened after we started the process! Wait...Theo!"

"Yeah I have them...but this wont be the battleground. Everyone, protect those who cant fight here. Rowyn, thin the heard a bit before joining me. I am heading outside".

Zalrus stopped him.

"Are you insane?"

"No, I am a Celestial Mage. So I am going outside" Theo said, the night sky behind the glass doors serving as the perfect backdrop for his eyes, which were already glowing with mana.

The moment he saw that, the second prince immediately understood what the plan was.

"Very well. My magic seems ineffective against these things, so I will join you".

"We will join you as well once the knights are thinned a bit more...we wont get beaten by empty tin cans!"

Theo reacted for a moment to Valyr's words, but let it go as he and the Prince stepped outside. Truly, they saw many, many vampires swarming into the Gardens.

"It seems they intend to cause a great tragedy here...you are quite brave for a seven year old".

"I live with someone trying to kill me constantly for so long...so I might be a tad bit numb".

Theo was not sure how true those words were, but it would keep the prince off him for now at least

Theo initiated a switch, and suddenly a part of the hilt spun around as several crystals began to glow brightly.

"You want to know something, Zal?"

"Zal...eeh, I like the nickname. Sure, what?"

Theo turned back towards the prince.

"Celestial Magic was actually supposedly created to be the perfect weapon against Vampires. The power of the stars, which are like the sun they are weak too, but also gaining benefits from being used at night, and under an open night sky....its a magic that gets stronger at their strongest time, and is their ultimate weakness".

Theo then cast his spell.

"Starfall!"

A star glistened in the sky, before seemingly falling at incredible speeds into the ground and completely destroying the vampires tthat it hit.

"...what the hell is with that wand?"

"Ah, I spent quite a bit on it, using quite a large bit of money".

"...how much?"

"I got my dad to supply fifteen platinum coins, and then another twenty came from....alternative sources. Unfortunately, it was a one time thing".

The vampires started to swarm into the gardens, hissing and snarling. Theo then waved his wand again.

"Starfall...times five".

Five glowing stars appeared in the sky, and began to fall upon the Vampires. Countless vampires were destroyed, but more came into the garden. Among them, one stepped forward in particular and looked up to the balcony.

"Vale".

"So you are hte bratt that is supposed to be prime materials...no guardian to help you this time".

"Shut up, Vale" a man said as he hit Vale in the back of the head. "You are useless anyways, I will just do this myself".

Vale noticable had quite the black eye, but despite the rage in his eyes, he didn't act against the older vampire.

"Its time you learn how an Elder Vampire fights".

And so, the battle of Summer Hall began.