“I once served, however briefly, as captain of my lord’s guard. To me, my lord was like a father, and my bloodline was like family. And yet... how could I not hate the one who drove that bloodline to ruin?”

At those words, my eyes widened in shock.

“You’re saying it was the Grand Duke who destroyed your bloodline?”

As I stood there staring,

he looked at my face and said,

“If I were hostile to all vampires, I would not be speaking with you like this.”

Only then did I realize it.

It was true that I had made him more favorable toward me through cooking.

But the ingredients I had used this time were far too ill-suited to him.

The effect, too, had been minimal on him.

And yet the reason he had still been able to treat me with at least some restraint was not because the effect of the dish had been overwhelmingly powerful, nor because he had been hypnotized into thinking I was not a vampire.

“At the very least, you do not seem to be one of that Valarak’s bloodline.”

After eating my cooking, he had observed me in a slightly more favorable frame of mind.

And as a result, he had realized that I was not a vampire of that Melchiorn Bloodline.

“So you still think I’m a vampire?”

“To be precise... half. Since half of you is human, that must be how you can walk beneath that sun. The faint scent of blood coming from you... if I had to classify it, it is different from the disgusting, rancid stench of Melchiorn. It carries a more refined, elegant fragrance.”

That was true.

I was half human, and while the Karshtein Bloodline was inferior to his in that regard, it could still wield the power of mistform.

So it wasn’t that he had lost his senses from my cooking and simply come to trust me.

Only after making a fairly accurate assessment had he changed his attitude toward me.

But.

If that was the case—

“...Then this gets strange.”

There was one part that no longer made sense.

“You’re right. I’m not from Grand Duke Valarak’s bloodline. There is vampire blood running through my body, but I have no connection to that side.”

“Yes. I understand that now.”

“But I’ve met Grand Duke Valarak.”

And then.

Back then, the Grand Duke had said it clearly.

“The glory of the bloodlines was in those days when many bloodlines competed against one another.”

He regarded the age when multiple bloodlines existed as a golden age.

And—

“To think mere insect-like humans could do such a thing... to her and her bloodline....”

When speaking of the fall of the Karshtein Bloodline, he had even shown anger over its destruction.

“I want you to rebuild the Karshtein Bloodline.”

And.

He had even—

“He was trying to revive other bloodlines.”

“...He was?”

He had been willing to spare no effort in supporting the revival of another bloodline.

The forces he had lent were so strong that I wouldn’t even have been able to attempt an escape without dragging that death squad into it.

“And yet you’re saying someone like that was the one who destroyed the other bloodlines.”

I just couldn’t believe it.

“Are you saying you do not believe me?”

“No, it’s not exactly that. It’s just... I don’t understand.”

“Hmm. I suppose that is rather unfair to me... but it is true that I, too, viewed you with suspicion. It cannot be helped.”

At my words, he seemed to think for a moment, then opened his mouth.

“The truth of what I am saying is... not actually difficult to prove.”

“Hm?”

“Showing you evidence is easy enough.”

After saying that, he extended his hand forward.

Then—

Srrr.

That hand blurred, then turned into red blood mist and spread outward around it.

“...What are you doing?”

I said that with a frown, my hand going to my weapon.

He smiled gently and said,

“Do not be so wary. This is the authority of the Neferat Bloodline, passed down from the great Progenitor himself... mist.”

“I’ve already seen plenty of it. It caught me pretty off guard earlier, too.”

“As things stand, I have lost much of my original power for certain reasons. It may sound like an excuse to you... but had I been able to wield this power in proper condition, I would not have been defeated by you so easily.”

At that, I nodded without much objection.

‘That’s true.’

That wasn’t an excuse.

It was simply the plain truth.

[Freshness - Low]

His freshness was low.

For a human, it would be comparable to lying in bed on the verge of death, barely drawing breath.

It wasn’t easy to see [Low] freshness on something still alive.

‘If anything, the fact that I had to struggle this much against him even in that state...’

If I had been up against him at the height of his power, it wouldn’t just have been a matter of him not going down easily. Me struggling—or losing outright—would have been the normal result.

“So? I doubt you’re just trying to show off.”

“Of course not.”

At my words, he looked at that mist with eyes tinged with subtle emotion.

“This power was passed down from the great Progenitor to my lord. And from my lord... Grand Duke Kirchhoff, to me.”

Grand Duke Kirchhoff.

The head of the Neferat Bloodline Ariella had mentioned before.

‘...And if what he’s saying is true.’

Then that would be the very one he claimed had been killed by Grand Duke Valarak.

***

“My lord, the master of my soul... Grand Duke Kirchhoff was a truly wise and sagacious being. Not only compared to Valarak of the stupid, dimwitted, idiotic Melchiorn, or Harosh of the Harcon, who trusted only beastlike instinct and rampaged about. Even Isabella of Karshtein, who was the wisest among them, could not surpass my lord’s wisdom.”

“...Uh, sure.”

“And yet... there was one curse that bound him throughout his life.”

A curse.

I had wondered what kind of curse could be laid upon someone on the level of a vampire Grand Duke.

“It was fear and terror.”

That curse was one I was quite familiar with.

“My lord always feared death.”

“......”

At those words, I quietly nodded.

I had never even seen the face of the one he was talking about, but at least when it came to that fear, I couldn’t help but sympathize.

“My lord feared death so greatly that he distrusted all who might one day betray him and drive him into it. Fearing betrayal, he was forever devising plans to betray others first.”

At those words, I remembered Ariella’s assessment of the Neferat Grand Duke.

‘...She said he was an extremely sly figure, always plagued by paranoia.’

Ariella had also said she had disliked that Grand Duke intensely.

Coming from Ariella, I could understand why the description skewed negative, but—

“...That’s not exactly a flattering picture. Is it really okay for you to describe your own Grand Duke that way?”

It was a little strange to hear him evaluate his Grand Duke like that.

“If anything, my lord was the one who judged his own nature more harshly than anyone.”

“Really?”

“Yes. One who suspects others and cannot offer them trust will also find it difficult to receive trust in return. To be consumed by distrust is an even more dangerous state... he would always say as much, and yet even knowing that, he deeply lamented the fact that he could not easily trust others.”

At that, another part of what Ariella had said came back to me.

He had been a sly, paranoia-ridden figure.

But at the same time—

‘She also said he was immensely powerful and exceptionally intelligent.’

If even Ariella, who clearly didn’t like him very much, ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) had said that, then his power and wisdom really must have been extraordinary.

“My lord feared death... and so from the moment the bloodline first received its first blood from the Progenitor onward, he greatly feared and hated the bloodline’s weakness: the sun.”

The sun.

Hearing that, I brought up the question that had already been bothering me.

“Even Grand Dukes fear the sun all the same?”

From what I had seen, Grand Duke Valarak’s power was immense.

If the other Grand Dukes were on a similar level, I couldn’t understand why even beings with that kind of power would fear the sun.

But—

“If anything, that fear is even greater for the Grand Dukes.”

According to him, the opposite was true.

“One cannot resist that sun simply by being strong. Rather, the stronger and denser the power in the blood, the more fiercely that blood burns beneath the sun.”

The stronger and denser the blood’s power, the more fiercely it burned beneath the sun.

In the past, Ariella’s retainers had been hit by the light of Luca’s Sunbug and had been rendered unable to fight.

That alone had been pretty deadly.

‘But the bloodline members who ran into the death squad not long ago had touched sunlight and burned to ash on the spot.’

The stronger the vampire, the deadlier that sunlight became.

The stronger they became as members of the bloodline, the greater their fear of the sun became in turn.

It was a pretty ironic situation.

“And yet... my great lord did not hide because he was afraid.”

But.

What mattered was what choice one made in the face of that fear.

“My lord chose to fight against that fear instead.”

And then—

“Anyone can refrain from fear. But... to know fear and still stand against it is not something even the greatest can do so easily.”

At those words, I thought to myself.

According to Ariella, he sounded like a pretty unpleasant figure.

But—

“Is that not what deserves to be called true courage?”

Maybe that Grand Duke Kirchhoff had actually been someone truly remarkable.

“Rather than hide from the fear of the sun, my lord devoted himself to research, seeking a way to overcome it.”

“...That is remarkable.”

“Yes. The intensity of his research was something no one else in the bloodline could ever imitate. And among all his efforts....”

He rose from where he stood and spread his body wide as he spoke.

“My lord believed that in this very power—”

His entire body turned into red mist, spreading throughout the room.

“—this power of mist bestowed by the Progenitor—there must be a way to overcome the sun.”

Paaaak!

His body, transformed into mist, swept brilliantly through the room.

“In the end—”

When I had fought him as an enemy, all I’d thought was that it was an irritating and troublesome ability, but the sight of that jewel-like red light moving freely around the room felt strangely beautiful.

And then—

“My lord succeeded in fulfilling that will.”

“...What?”

“He succeeded in reaching a miracle that no other Grand Duke had ever accomplished!”

The words coming from the mist spread all around me were shocking.

“By controlling the density, mana, movement, and composition of the mist to near perfection, he perfected a secret art that allowed nothing to pass through it—not even... light.”

As if filled with ecstasy, he shone red as he beautifully embroidered the room.

“That hateful foe, the weakness of all bloodlines, the inescapable fate of all our kind save only the great Progenitor himself—” 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

“No way.”

“He succeeded in overcoming the sun!”

But.

That ecstasy did not last long.

“...The problem was—”

The mist that had been circling the room so brilliantly suddenly sank downward, then headed for the door below.

“When that great undertaking was nearly complete, my lord believed he no longer needed to fear death... and so he decided, little by little, to set aside even the suspicion he had harbored all his life.”

The hand that materialized from the mist at the doorknob

slowly—

creeeak—

opened the door.

“Having succeeded in overcoming the hateful enemy that was the sun... he expected that from then on, he would be able to live without doubting others, exchanging trust with them instead.”

As the mist pushed at my back from behind, I followed its guidance and stepped out of the room without really understanding why.

“But there was one thing even that great being did not know.”

“......”

“That not everyone... was as great as he was.”

Once I stepped out of the room and stood outside the building, I heard the voice of the blood mist from inside, where it remained hidden from the light.

“Raise your head and look at the sky.”

At those words, I lifted my head.

I saw the radiant sun floating directly above the building.

“You will see it then.”

No.

That wasn’t it.

I understood it instantly.

What he wanted me to see was not that sun.

‘Higher than that.’

Something floating even higher than that [Artificial Sun].

...The very reason that [Artificial Sun] had needed to be raised in the first place.

“The proof that what I’m saying is true.”

Blocking the [real sun]

and preventing even a single ray of sunlight from reaching this vast Chinese continent....

A gigantic crimson cloud.

No.

“The remains of Kirchhoff... master of my soul.”

A massive blood mist filled my vision.