“Karshtein... you said....”

The massive man had been wearing a relaxed smile the entire time.

The instant that smile vanished, I sensed something was off.

‘He looked like he already knew we were from a different bloodline.’

And yet the moment he heard the name Karshtein, his attitude flipped.

There was a high chance the reason for that change wouldn’t be good for us.

“You said your name was Ariella.”

“Y-Yes....”

“Ariella... Ariella....”

The grand ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) duke stared blankly down at Ariella and muttered for a moment.

Then, after a short pause—

“Right. I remember.”

He began walking toward us slowly, and looking down into Ariella’s face, he said,

“You’re the toy Isabella used to bring along wherever she went.”

“......!”

“You attended the banquet the Neferat head held, didn’t you?”

While Ariella broke into cold sweat, he smiled as he reminisced.

“There was quite a commotion over whether it was proper to bring a toy like that to an important gathering or not. There were plenty on that side who loved formality.”

“You... were there?”

“...I’m not the type to care much about what branch of our kind someone comes from, so I didn’t involve myself back then either. It’s not strange you wouldn’t remember. Yes. It was a very long time ago, but... right. That did happen.”

At that, Ariella lowered her head with a dark expression.

Listening to them, I thought,

‘A toy?’

I wanted to know what he meant by that, but—

unfortunately, I couldn’t keep that thought going for long.

“So. Isabella’s toy from back then was still alive...? Where were you all those long years?”

“...I was sealed. It wasn’t until after I crash-landed on this land that... the seal was released.”

“You haven’t been awake long?”

The grand duke looked at her with mild surprise.

“If I remember correctly, back then you were a fairly weak noble... but now it seems the power you’ve accumulated is considerable.”

“...I grew stronger. To survive here, no matter what.”

“Hm. I see.”

Thooom....

At some point, he had already come close to us.

He stopped right in front of Ariella and spoke in a heavy voice.

“For that toy to build up this level of power, even at minimum it would take decades. Yet you arrived on this land not long ago and still raised your power to this point....”

“.......”

“That means...”

And then.

As he said that, I saw him lift his hand over Ariella’s head.

‘...!’

The moment I saw that, I tried to move the power stored inside my body.

[Consumable divine power....]

The power I’d been saving for a moment like this.

The power I’d decided I’d spend—detonate—

Right then.

“Truly.”

Thump.

“It must have been a difficult time.”

“...Pardon?”

The grand duke dropped to one knee in front of Ariella, lightly pulled her into an embrace, and said that.

***

“...Huh?”

When he first heard the name Karshtein, based on his reaction, I’d thought we were about to slide into a bad situation.

“The refugees from the many worlds who appeared on this land couldn’t have been easy. And you, freed from a seal, would’ve been alone—without even a single thrall.”

“That’s....”

“Fighting and struggling fiercely against enemies like that with only your own body wouldn’t have been easy. And yet you survived, and returned to us with strength like this....”

But.

If you live long enough, it’s common for something you’re sure will happen to miss in the most absurd way.

“How could I not find you lovely!”

Whoo—.

The presence that had been pressing down on everything vanished.

“You truly suffered until now, Sir Ariella. And from this point on.”

With that overwhelming presence and pressure gone, what remained in this space was—

“Trust me, and rely on me.”

A grand duke with a gentle smile spread across his face, holding Ariella by the shoulders and helping her up, wearing an almost kindly expression.

“W-What... are you saying....”

Maybe I wasn’t the only one thrown off by that.

Ariella asked with a face like she had no idea what was going on.

“Mm. It may have been a bit of a startling thing to hear.”

Then, he guided both me and Ariella to the desk in the center of the room and said,

“For now, let’s sit and talk.”

And politely offered Ariella a chair.

‘...What is this.’

I was rattled by the situation I couldn’t make sense of, but

I put the power I’d been about to release back away, then stood behind Ariella as she sat.

“Before we get into the details... have you heard what became of your house?”

“Yes. I heard it was destroyed long ago....”

“Mmm. It must have been quite a shock.”

As Ariella sat there stiffly, listening, the grand duke even sighed with a face full of sympathy.

“I know I can’t even imagine how great the grief you must have suffered was. Especially since you were favored by Isabella. It’s truly unfortunate....”

“...I’m fine. More importantly.”

Ariella gauged the grand duke’s gentle attitude, then carefully opened her mouth.

“It’s shocking to me that you... feel sorry about that.”

“Mm?”

“I understood that the heads of the bloodlines aren’t on good terms with one another. Especially Melchiorn—haven’t you treated the Karshtein and Neferat bloodlines like enemies?”

Hearing that, I thought,

‘So even among bloodlines, there are ones that get along and ones that don’t.’

Melchiorn and Harcon were close, and Karshtein and Neferat were close... that kind of thing.

And earlier, when Ariella had asked in surprise, “You were there?”

it must’ve carried the meaning of—

why were you at a banquet the Neferat head hosted?

“Mmm, that was certainly true in the past. But think about it.”

“About what...?”

“Say there was someone you absolutely didn’t get along with a very, very long time ago. Back then you truly hated each other... but so much time passes that remembering it is difficult. Then someone comes and talks about those days. What do you think you’d feel?”

“I don’t know. I might feel bad, thinking about someone I didn’t like....”

“That could be. But I was different.”

He spoke with a smile.

“I was glad.”

“...Ah.”

“Just being able to talk about those old days—those days I missed, that were already fading... that alone made me glad.”

According to what Rashir had said, the Karshtein Bloodline had been destroyed in the distant past.

Even if relations had been bad before that—

after so much time, even the lingering resentment had been worn away by the years.

“And there’s one more reason.”

“And what... is that.”

“Do you know what became of the bloodlines other than Karshtein?”

“I haven’t heard that far.”

The biggest powers among vampires—

there had been four bloodlines in total.

But the only one we’d encountered was the bloodline led by this Valarak.

And that was because—

“They were all exterminated.”

“...What?”

The reason was pretty simple.

“It wasn’t only Karshtein that suffered extermination.”

Because in the first place, only one bloodline was left that could even be met.

***

“It wasn’t only Karshtein.”

“...Y-Yes.”

“Harcon and Neferat were also wiped out, bloodline and all, a very long time ago.” 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

“Uh... ah?”

A strange sound spilled out of Ariella as she sat there with her mouth hanging open.

So unbelievable it robbed her of language.

‘According to Ariella, when nobles met, it was normal to announce even their house name.’

On the other hand, hearing this, I realized one fact.

‘She said they teach ghouls the name of their blood lord and even the house name. To keep them from being used by other bloodlines.’

But.

Unlike Ariella’s memory, the nobles we’d met never bothered to educate the ghouls, and they never revealed their surnames either.

And of course—

‘Because every other bloodline besides theirs is gone!’

There was no reason to reveal a house name out of fear of being used by another bloodline—

and when meeting other nobles, there was no reason to announce a surname when you’d know they were the same bloodline anyway.

“There were many reasons. Internal conflict among ourselves, and cases where we pursued strange research and were hit directly by the backlash of failure, weakening a bloodline’s power rapidly....”

“That’s....”

“But especially in the case of Karshtein—the one you belonged to.”

He looked straight at Ariella and said,

“It was destroyed by our enemies... the lives of the day.”

“...Lives of the day....”

At that, Ariella murmured with a pale face.

“You mean... humans?”

“Yes.”

And then—

the grand duke’s eyes, which had been smiling kindly, began to twist.

“You remember correctly that I didn’t get along with that child Isabella. But even so!”

“.......”

“That child, like me, was one who drank blood directly from the Progenitor.”

His pupils narrowed sharply, like a reptile’s eyes.

The mere aura rising from his body made his clothing flutter, and I could feel that already massive body swelling even larger.

“That she and her clan... were brought down by something as small as insects—humans...!”

It was unmistakable rage.

“...My. It seems I got excited. My apologies.”

“Th-That’s... fine.”

As if he’d realized he’d gotten worked up, he hurriedly reined that presence back in.

‘...Huh?’

But even as he did, I felt one thing that struck me as odd.

‘Just now, why... no taste at all...?’

Before I could work out where that strange feeling came from, he shook his head and said,

“Anyway, that’s how things are. Now the only bloodline remaining is the one I lead—Melchiorn. The night nobles who once enjoyed such brilliant glory... what a truly shabby sight.”

“.......”

“Do you remember what I said earlier? I... even if there were fights between bloodlines... I missed that glorious past, when we struggled to become stronger through that rivalry.”

For a moment he looked lost in nostalgia, as if recalling the past.

Then he opened his eyes and continued.

“Especially among them. To think that a bloodline with a great history like Karshtein could be destroyed by those insect-like humans. I thought again and again that such a thing should never have happened.”

“Is... that so.”

“That’s why I’m truly happy to meet you like this.”

“...Yes?”

“Now we come to the main point.”

He rose from his chair, walked toward Ariella, and said,

“I promise you every support I can give. If you need troops, troops. If you need blood, blood. If you need talent, even talent. Anything.”

“...Why would you offer that support to me?”

“Of course, I have something I want as well.”

And then.

He set his hand on Ariella’s shoulder and said,

“And through that support, I want you to....”

He looked straight into her eyes.

And the words that came from his mouth were shocking.

“I want you to rebuild the Karshtein Bloodline.”

“...What?”

As Ariella sat there with her mouth hanging open, he spoke with a smile spread across his face.

“Rebuild the bloodline, and become the new head. Sir Ariella.”