The transformation process took several hours. Despite her steely resolve, poor Stella was unable to stifle the screams as her body broke down and healed over and over again. I was unable to watch, and knew just how painful the process was, especially since I had firsthand experience of it myself. It remained to be seen if Stella would survive. She might withstand all the way until the last hour, only to finally succumb.
That was why I remained in the room and watched over her until it was finally over. As per Stella's request, if she failed and transformed into a ghoul, I would kill her with my own hands. That failure would be my responsibility as much as hers.
Gripping my hands so tightly until my fingers turned white, I closed my eyes and waited. I honestly didn't want to witness this, but I didn't have a choice. The moment I decided to give Stella my blood, she had become my responsibility. No, even before that, she was my responsibility. She was my retainer, after all.
After what seemed like an eternity, Stella finally stopped convulsing. My breath caught in my throat and I waited for a few seconds. Did it succeed? Did Stella succumb? Or worse…was she a ghoul instead of a vampire?
Then she opened her eyes and stared at me with those blue pupils of hers. Laying on the floor, exhausted and in pain, she grimaced.
"I feel terrible," she croaked.
"It's a success then," Valerie said, stepping into the room with a towel. I breathed a sigh of relief and helped Stella up before handing her over to the other woman. She nodded at me. "I'll take care of her. She needs rest right now. Then I'll teach her how to use her new abilities."
"I'll be relying on you then."
Valerie placed Stella on the bed after wiping her off. I watched the older lady settle my knight in the bed and waited a few minutes until Stella's breathing stabilized. She looked very pale and continued to perspire no matter how many times Valerie wiped the sweat off, her body trembling ever so slightly. Even so, Stella was determined to stoically weather the pain.
Her will, as a knight, was impressive.
"I'll leave Stella in your care then," I finally spoke up and reached for my backpack, which I had prepared earlier. "Please train her as best as you can."
"I will. You can leave Stella to me." Valerie nodded and cleaned the red-haired knight's forehead. She turned to me with an assuring smile. "I promise I will keep her safe. In fact, I wager that she will be much stronger than before by the time you return."
"That sounds great." I returned the smile. "I look forward to it then."
"Ah, before you go…my husband has something for you. He should be waiting for you in the study."
"Understood. Thanks."
I bowed politely, and then left the room, hanging my haversack over my shoulders. Asking a maid for directions, I then proceeded toward the study. Like Valerie said, Claude was waiting inside for me, reclined at his desk as he reviewed letters and documents.
"My liege." He rose to his feet and bowed. "How goes your lady?"
"She's fine. She needs rest, but your wife will be taking care of her." I inclined my head. "Please extend my gratitude to your wife once again, when you have the chance."
"Sure, sure!" Claude chuckled.
"Your wife also says that you wish to see me."
"That's right." Claude pulled open a drawer and retrieved three pieces of cloth. Resembling long shawls, they were black and ominous. Looking at them, I felt as if I was staring into the void.
"Those…?"
"Since you wish to go incognito and disguise yourself, it is best if you conceal the nature of your weapons." Claude gestured toward the whip and two swords fastened to my belt. "The Nocturne, the Blood Angel and the Night Fang – they are all legendary vampire weapons. Relics from a forgotten age. There might not be many people who will recognize them, but those who do will be the nobles."
In other words, enemies. I nodded in understanding.
"Furthermore, even if they don't recognize the weapons, they will at least sense the incredible power emanating from them. These shawls will conceal their power if you drape them around them."
"Thank you very much." I accepted the night-colored fabric and began wrapping them around my weapons. Almost as if they possessed a life of their own, they curled about and tightened somewhat possessively over my swords and whip. The power they radiated was immediately snuffed out, swallowed by what seemed like a ravenous void.
Whoa…this felt…dreadful somewhat. But it still helped tremendously. With the shawls, I was able to conceal the presence of my legendary vampire weapons. Now that I thought about it, the reason why I picked them was because I had been inexplicably drawn to them. The power that they radiated had caught my attention for some reason, and that was why I chose them from the treasury, above all the other arcane weapons in there.
The same went for the Blood Spear of Longinus, but that was currently piercing Herman and Irene for the sole purpose of granting them a slow, agonizing death. But once their life essences had been completely sucked dry, I planned to reclaim it.
"Thank you very much," I repeated. Claude smiled and waved his hand away.
"I should be the one thanking you. For my liege to personally undertake the mission of sourcing out information and infiltrating noble networks…I don't know why, but I have a feeling that you'll accomplish far more than my agents."
His eyes darted to the crest on my right hand, which was currently concealed by the black gloves he gave me.
"You place too much faith in me." I couldn't help but sigh. However, after everything Stella went through to ensure that she could be of assistance and the support that Claude and his wife had given me, I couldn't let them down now. "I hope to bring back some good news."
Claude smiled, his eyes glittering in anticipation. "I know you will."
And then I left the study and headed for the exit.
*
The vampire city wasn't that much different from a human one. The only difference was that vampires drank blood instead of rum or ale. I mingled with the commoners, the lowborn vampires or those who had survived the conversion without inheriting a place in the nobility. In an alternative world, I would probably belong to their caste because I was one of them. I wasn't a noble, I wasn't a pureblood or born into nobility. I was a converted like them, someone who had miraculously survived the transformation.
I didn't kid myself. The reason why Claude, his wife and father-in-law were helping me wasn't because of some kindness in their hearts. They were supporting me for their own benefit, to reap the rewards when I ascended to power. I wasn't so naïve as to expect them to pledge their loyalty unconditionally. They were trying to get into my good graces so as to secure their own statuses.
After all, as minor nobility, they had nothing to lose. In order to counter the power of the major nobles and formidable warlords, they needed a legitimate heir to the throne to justify their own rise. And in me, they saw that opportunity.
This information, I confirmed through listening to conversations. On the bright side, the vampire commoners had little to say regarding Claude's vices. He was a competent noble who managed his province fairly. He was prone to a bit of greed and ambition, but what noble wasn't? Even so, he had a bottom-line, and the commoners under his rule were mostly satisfied with the way he ran things. There was no tyranny, no outlandish executions or obvious corruption (though no doubt there would be some if we probed deeper below the surface). He did charge taxes on the high side, but nothing too exaggerated to the point where the populace would starve or be driven into poverty.
Another interesting point I heard was that he had tried to enact a conscription edict to increase his military power…only to fail. Under protests from his people, he was force to roll it back and abandon the edict. Even a count knew he couldn't antagonize his people, not with his current strength and the present state of affairs. Being forced to put down a civil war while there were enemies all around his province would be suicidal. However, his citizens were aware of the current predicament, so they managed to come to a compromise.
Essentially, Claude could continue to aggressively recruit more soldiers and more male vampires were willing to join his regiment, but mandatory conscription was out of the question unless war was imminent.
As for the other nobles, the information that Claude, Valerie and Valencia provided me were mostly spot on. The stuff I heard about the five major warlords didn't diverge much from what they told me, and I also listened to news about the other lesser nobles getting together to scheme against the new Demonic Emperor.
"But the new Demonic Emperor is just a rumor, isn't it? Does he really exist?"
"I don't know."
"Of course he does! The Witch of Winter has announced her support for him! Her legion now fights at his command! Didn't you hear, under him, our empire invaded some mountain province of the human kingdom?"
"Yeah, but no one has actually seen him, as they?"
"Even the kobolds, orcs and elves under General Winters said that they haven't seen him. But they swear that she has been privately conferring with him and his closest aides in her command tent."
"The commander of the Grey Hunters is rumored to know him personally…"
"That maverick? Hah! As if I'd believe a word he says!"
Flashes of such conversation came here and there, and over the next few days, I traveled across Tyranvania, visiting several towns and cities. Sometimes I would get useful nuggets of information, but most of the times I received nothing more than recycled rumors or unreliable info that I was forced to discard. It was in one large city that I finally came across a solid lead.
"Ugh…" a vampire knight groaned as he slammed his mug of blood down on his table. "I don't believe this!"
"What is it?" his drinking partner, a vampire blacksmith by the looks of his greasy apron, which carried the logo of a nearby armory, asked grumpily.
"My lord…he says he wants to take part in the assassination of the new Demonic Emperor!"
"Huh?" the blacksmith looked disinterested. For the most part, the commoners had no interest in politics. They didn't care who was in power as long as they had enough food on their plates and a roof over their heads. Of course they were concerned when rumors of war reached them, but to them, one noble was as bad as the other.
"Fucking idiot. He thinks that by killing the new Demonic Emperor, he can get the support from one of the warlords." The vampire smashed his fist against the table, raving drunkenly. Much of the blood served in these taverns was served with alcohol. That was why I frequented them. Those vampires who got drunk would have far looser lips.
"Maybe?"
"No, he wouldn't! None of the warlords care about the Demonic Emperor! They are too busily fighting each other! Do you think they will happily say, 'Oh, goodie, you killed a newbie vampire who happens to have the crest of the emperor, you're one of us now!'? Nah, they'll just cut off his head and go back to fighting each other!"
"You'll be out of a job then," the blacksmith said sarcastically.
"That's the least of our worries!" the knight snapped. "It's shortsighted! Don't you see? The new emperor has the potential to finally unite our legion under a single banner! But no, my lord is afraid that he won't have a place in the new order. Worse, he wants to be the new emperor himself! Deluded, I tell you! Utterly deluded!"
"Yeah." The blacksmith actually chuckled at that. "Your lord sounds like he has a few screws loose."
"And now he wants to attend some conclave! Some shadowy conclave where they all have to hide their identities! Nobles only, they say. He won't even let us personal guard escort him! Insists on going to the abandoned Bournemouth Castle all alone! Says it's noble honor or some nonsense like that. What if it's a trap? Without his guard, he and all the nobles foolish enough to buy that shit will get killed!"
"Uh huh. That sounds stupid."
"Fuck! The meeting is going to take place tomorrow night! And none of us can convince him to pull out of this sheer stupidity!"
The knight howled, throwing his hands up in despair.
Seated at the corner, I took note of this and decided to check out Bournemouth Castle later.
That night, I set camp right outside Bournemouth Castle. Since the meeting wasn't going to take place until tomorrow night, I had plenty of time to scout the area. It was an abandoned castle, having not been in use for decades now. The previous vampire noble who had owned it had been killed in a blood feud, and none of the other nobles had claimed it…yet. Apparently there were rumors that it was haunted.
Looking at the creepy Gothic architecture from the outside, I could believe it. The darkness inside disturbed me, and I felt as if someone was watching me from inside those vast, empty halls.
"It's just my imagination," I muttered to myself.
I had barely set up tent when I heard the movement of hooves. To my complete surprise, a platoon of vampire knights marched by, all of them riding nightmares. The one in the lead was covered completely in a black cloak, his face concealed by a silver, featureless mask. He came to a stop when he saw my tent.
"What's this?" he growled.
Recognizing his tone as belonging to that as a noble (if the fact that he was commanding an entourage of well-equipped and extravagantly armored knights wasn't enough evidence), I emerged and bowed.
"Sorry, my lord," I said humbly. "I'm but a homeless person. I was merely camping here for the night."
The vampire in the black cloak stared at me from behind that dome-shaped silver mask. Then he raised his hand and gestured at his guards.
"Kill him."
"My lord, is that really necessary?" one of the knights asked, perplexed.
The next second, his head rolled off his shoulders and crashed onto the ground, the helm echoing nosily.
"You dare question me?" the noble in black snarled. "The conclave is due to hold its meeting here tomorrow night. No one must know about our scheme of assassination! There can be no witnesses!"
…except that there were already rumors spreading about this conclave all over the city. Well, I guess rumors were one thing, but they couldn't afford to have actual witnesses who could confirm the existence of such a meeting.
None of the remaining knights flinched at the loss of their comrade. They immediately drew their crimson swords and charged at me, their eyes glowing red in the dark.