Borne has been working at White Frost Manor for sixteen years. He knows that he is employed as a guard by the owner of the manor, and most of the noblemen staying here are unlikely to trust an outsider like him. It’s enough for him to honestly and dutifully take care of the stables. He doesn’t have many aspirations, just hopes to make a living, which isn’t too demanding in the vicinity of Ambeser. During his leisure time, he can enjoy a couple of drinks of the special brew from the plantation shrouded in mist under Anseli Mountain—after all, the noblemen’s horses have special caretakers, and it’s not his place to intervene.

Borne’s job is exactly as it sounds—watching the stables, really only watching the stables because, ultimately, the stables are the private property of the merchant who owns this land. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

Soon, he saw the noblemen staying here today—the knight of the Count was heard to ride back from the courtyard under the night. Borne quickly wiped his mouth and put away the leather pouch filled with strong liquor. He was careful not to drink too much and be discovered with the smell of alcohol, losing this job; although jobs are easy to find around Ambeser, few are as leisurely and well-paid as this one. He didn’t dare lift his head to look at the high and mighty Sir Knights, quickly bowing his head in a respectful manner.

The Sir Knights behaved as usual, as if they didn’t see him, walking directly past him into the stables. Borne’s stomach was already cursing them—’These damn knights’ and similar foul words seemed to be instinctive for him, but just then, he heard a woman coldly snort.

He was slightly startled, having worked as a guard for over ten years, he was rather alert, immediately sensing something wasn’t right, but before he could react, a cold, icy sword blade was placed at his neck. Borne was scared stiff, thinking it was over, his body instantly drenched in cold sweat. He trembled and turned around, only to see an exceptionally beautiful face—Borne instinctively thought, if there was a Princess, then this young lady in front of him must be one.

"Who gave you permission to turn around?" But Andreg wore a sullen face as if everyone owed her millions of Thor.

This lady’s temper wasn’t particularly good, Borne thought fearfully.

...

However, Brand quickly stopped the vampire girl’s antics towards this poor, honest person. He couldn’t help but think with some irritation that these vampires were indeed incredibly dull, obviously knowing that the manor’s guards are completely unreliable, threatening them is meaningless. Andreg then looked at him expressionlessly before gesturing at the human guard in front of her, and immediately, the guard’s eyes became dazed.

In fact, many casters among the vampires are masters at beguiling people’s hearts, and Andreg is no exception. She herself is skilled in Black Witchcraft’s curse spells, but she also has some knowledge of spells that confuse minds. Controlling a guard with strength below the Black Iron Rank is no challenge at all.

Yet, this action reinforced Brand’s suspicion that instead of using a spell to solve the problem, she chose to toy with her prey like a cat playing with a rat. He originally thought Andreg was a cold-hearted girl, but as it turns out, she’s equally boring as other vampires. Medphis, on the other hand, didn’t have these bad habits, aside from a somewhat peculiar orientation, in other aspects, he hardly seemed like a vampire and was innocently lovable.

Indeed, still ’adorable’.

The young Lord sighed, "Have him knock on the manor’s door and say, ’Andeke said that Lord’s Bino Warhorse seems to have an issue, they should hurry over and check it out.’" Brand turned back to look at the stables and immediately recognized the most noble purebred warhorse among them. He cursed silently at the damned wealthy, while maintaining a calm facade as he instructed Andreg.

Bino Horses originate from the Sulun Plateau, at the border between Northern Cruz and Greyseus, located ten thousand miles from Erune. In the Ten City Alliance closest to the Greyceus Knight Country, a purebred Bino Warhorse can be worth a fortune, let alone in Erune; although noblemen’s love for horses is common, Brand wasn’t too surprised to see such expensive warhorses in the noble’s stables. The Andeke he mentioned is one of the patrol team members, who should currently be bound and thrown in the forest outside.