Chapter 225: So It Begins. 2
"Ohhh! This is the first time I've seen the King's sons all together…" Someone from the audience spoke in a low voice.
A few younger vampires blatantly stared at Elizabeth and Lilith.
They were stunning!
'No wonder the king's daughters don't leave the castle much, as they are, they'd get in trouble wherever they go…' A younger vampire thought as he looked at Lilith.
The younger vampires were expectant and had dark desires...
But it only took one look from the king and for his face to go dark, causing them to look away quickly.
"Where is Ophis?" Vlad asked quietly.
Elizabeth looked around and noticed that Ophis was gone again!
"…Eh?"
"We don't know. She was following us, but... She probably used her power again."
"... Hmm." Vlad's eyes gleamed slightly, and he looked in one direction.
"She's in Count Alucard's cabin."
"...This girl..." Elizabeth was speechless, "I'll go get her."
"It is not necessary." Vlad suddenly spoke up.
"Huh? Why?" Elizabeth quickly put her hand over her mouth, and she looked at Vlad in fear. She didn't want to question him! She spoke unintentionally.
Vlad pretended not to notice Elizabeth's fear and said:
"Leave her there." Vlad's motive was simple, he'd seen the vampires' reaction to looking at his daughters, and he didn't like it at all.
He believed that with Ophis' unearthly beauty, the effect would be much worse, and he didn't want to have to commit mass genocide amongst his own people.
"Father... Why did you call us...?" The third prince, Saulo Tepes, asked carefully since he was really curious about it.
"...don't you like being here?" Instead of answering the question, Vlad answered with one of his own.
"...It's not that, I was just curious..."
"..." Vlad showed a small smile as he liked Saulo's honesty.
"Don't think too much, you'll understand in time."
"... Okay..." Saulo said in a sulky tone.
A masked man entered the arena and walked to the middle of the stage. He looked at Vlad and made a gesture of respect, then he turned and looked at the audience:
"Ladies and gentlemen, the game is about to begin!" The moment he said that, the giant image of Natashia and Niklaus appeared in the sky, and in that image, it contained all the information about the two candidates.
"Two counts fighting..." Lucas Tepes spoke with curiosity shining in his eyes.
"You seem interested, big brother." The fourth prince, Adam Tepes, spoke.
"Yes, I want to know how strong they are compared to the current me. After all, we are almost the same age." Despite being so old, Lucas rarely saw counts fight and wanted to know the level of current counts compared to him, someone who had the blood of the king.
"Come to think of it, you're older than Jesus, huh." Adam only realized now how old his older brothers were… old.
"...If you're talking about age, Theo is 3000 years old, you know?" Lucas laughed.
"... Damn, he's old." Adam couldn't help but say.
"Our father is over 5000 years old." Lilith suddenly spoke with a smile on her face.
"..."
"Strange family..." Adam couldn't help but splutter.
"Indeed." Lucas laughed.
"Come to think of it, where are our mothers?" Lucas asked curiously.
"They're in the castle." Saulo spoke.
"Oh, they didn't come, huh?" Lucas continued.
"They're not interested." Saulo replied.
"I see..." Lucas spoke as he looked out of the corners of his eyes at Theo, and, seeing the man unresponsive, he stopped talking and looked at the arena.
Every question from Lucas had a hidden meaning that few realized. Only the most experienced could understand what was going on. Of course, Vlad, Theo, and Alexios were amongst those that did.
...
In a private room, two women with long blond hair were present.
"Mother, you can't lose. If you dare to lose my grandmother's artifact, she will come back from hell to kill you." Sasha said as she helped her mother put on her golden armor that made her look quite 'heroic', a bit too 'heroic' of an armor that was strange for a vampire to wear.
"Hahaha~, I do not doubt it." She laughed as she tied her hair in a ponytail.
"I'm serious!" Sasha pinched her mother's ass.
"Ugh...Stop!" Natashia turned and looked at her daughter.
"Don't lose" Sasha spoke in an extremely serious tone.
"..." Natashia displayed a small smile and said, "I won't."
"Good." Sasha smiled kindly, then said, "Now turn around. I will continue."
"Yes, Yes~," Natashia spoke with a gentle smile.
...
"So this is my dad's rival, huh..." Anderson said as he looked at him with his blue eyes shining.
"A monster." Liza spoke with a little sweat falling from her head.
"..." Julian and Juan nodded in agreement with Liza's words.
Anderson's other subordinate was silent.
"You think?" Anderson spoke, then he looked at his subordinates, who were silent, and he asked:
"What do you think, Yuran?"
Yuran was a dark man with hair as black as night and equally black eyes:
"To me, your father is scarier." He spoke in a neutral tone.
"...That's because you're a werewolf." Anderson spoke and then looked at Vlad again.
"Perhaps."
"For us, my father is scary, and for vampires, that man is a scary being. I think that despite being far apart, the two men share the same quirk, huh?"
"What quirk?" Liza asked curiously.
"The people fear their king." Anderson spoke in a dry tone.
"..." Anderson's subordinates fell silent, they thought a little about what Anderson said, and they couldn't help but agree with the man.
Although they held great respect for the werewolf king, who was Anderson's father, they also greatly feared that man.
'Fear is sometimes a useful tool, but it should be used sparingly.' Anderson thought as he looked at his subordinates.
He had no idea what it was like to rule atop thousands of supernatural beings, so he couldn't say whether the method the two used was correct or not, but there was one thing he was sure of.
The two kings are strong...
And vampire counts were considered on the same level as werewolf generals, so he wanted to see what kind of strength these kinds of beings have.
He couldn't help but flash a small smile that bared his teeth when he thought of the fight ahead.
...
Jessica was leaning against the wall as she looked at her father, who was wearing all black armor. Looking into the man's cold eyes that never changed, she couldn't help but ask with a little curiosity.
"Father, can you beat her?"
Finished with securing the last straps of his armor, the man took out a completely black western sword and looked at the blade.
Looking at his daughter's reflection through the blade, he said:
"What a silly question..."
"..." Jessica looked at her father's back with a neutral face.
"Of course, I can beat her." His voice held a confidence in himself, a confidence that made Jessica a little more comfortable.
"I see... I'm glad for that..." Jessica said with a small smile on her face that disappeared the moment it appeared.
The man placed the sword on his waist and looked at his daughter.
His neutral eyes flashed for a few seconds, he seemed to want to say something, but then he was silent and walked towards the exit.
He touched the handle, but before opening the door, he said:
"Just in case, prepare our family's evacuation… I'll tell you." As he spoke those words, he opened the door and walked out.
"!!!?" Jessica walked out of the room and looked at her father in shock. She had never heard those 'kind' words from her father before.
'Something's wrong...' She couldn't help but think about it when she saw her father's back.
Remembering the words her father had spoken, she nodded and thought, 'I'll do it.'
Soon she turned and walked in the opposite direction of the hallway.
...
The game was about to start, the two participants were already waiting at the entrance of their respective sides.
The referee raised his hand in a gesture to call the attention of the vampires who were talking to each other, and soon the entire arena was silent:
"Ladies and gentlemen..." The referee's voice seemed to echo throughout the arena, "the game begins!"
"OHHHHHHHH!" The crowd screamed in excitement.
And, just as he said that, two giant doors opened on opposite sides of the arena.
It was pretty obvious that the administrator put more effort into the event to make it look grander.
"On one side, we have the newly appointed Count who defeated the last countess in a game in the past, Niklaus Horseman!"
He pointed to a man dressed in full-length black knight armor. Nothing could be seen of the man, only the red eyes that shone eerily through the slit in his helmet.
The man walked with confident steps towards the middle of the arena.
"On the other side, coming from a great family of noble vampires who have been aiding the king since the creation of this city, a woman who had once lost but bounced back and is here for a rematch, Annasthashia Fulger!"
She was wearing full golden armor, her hair was tied back in a ponytail, and a golden western sword was strapped to her waist.
She looked absolutely stunning. She was the perfect image of a god-sent knight, which was ironic, considering what she was.
"OHHHHHH!"
"She is so beautiful!"
"...I never thought that crazy woman could be so stunning..." Someone who has suffered from Natashia's irrationalities spoke up.
It was quite brazen that the audience was more on the woman's side.
'What's this about losing? I did not lose!...Actually, I lost! But that wasn't me, it was the other me! Ugh...' As she walked towards the arena, these thoughts couldn't help but manifest themselves within the woman's mind, she looked at the audience and flashed a gentle smile, and then she made a gesture that drove all men crazy.
... She waved at them.
"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" And that seemed to make them much more excited!
'Disgusting creatures, don't look at me with those eyes. I feel contaminated, should I blow you to the moon?' She couldn't help but think internally, yet despite thinking that, she didn't do anything after all, as her sister said several times:
'Image is important! Everyone knows you're crazy, but you must show a side that no one else knows about you! And with that, our Clan will have more support!' She heard it straight from her sister, but she never took it seriously, considering it was not like she needed these lesser beings, but...
For the sake of becoming a 'good clan leader', she was making this 'great' sacrifice!
Yes! It's all for her and her husband's happiness!
The women glared at the men and couldn't help but think:
'These bunch of Simps!' Their irritation against the men's actions caused them to direct their anger towards Natashia!
Thus they looked at Niklaus and started shouting:
"Count Niklaus! Don't you dare lose to this woman!"
"Show her what you're made of!"
The women completely forgot that they were talking to a count…
"..." The man didn't show any reaction and just stood in the middle of the arena while looking at the woman who was approaching him.
...
Chapter 226: Ruby And Victor.
In a room reserved only for Victor and his companions.
"I don't understand something..." Sasha, who had come back after helping her mother, spoke up.
"What is it?" Violet asked curiously.
"Why is my mother using a western sword?"
"As I recall, our martial arts are more focused on using daggers." She didn't know if her mother trained in anything else, but...
From a young age, Sasha was trained to use two daggers combined with lightning speed, a sharp blade with a very high speed could cause quite a bit of damage.
"Tradition, I think?" Siena spoke.
"Yes, I think that's it too." Lacus agreed with her sister.
"Fumu, Fumu, Fumu." Pepper had nothing to comment, and she was just making weird sounds while eating something resembling blood popcorn.
The sisters had just returned from their outing, and needless to say, they had a great time. The feeling of doing whatever you wanted without being watched by your mom was amazing!
For the first time, they felt that they had become adults!
Although Pepper was still a child...
"Tradition?" Sasha didn't understand.
"...Think about it, in fights like this, you're both expected to wear western armor and use a sword, right?" Violet spoke as she looked at Ophis, who was sitting in a chair made for children.
'Why didn't she leave? She was curious, and somehow she might respect Ophis a little for ignoring Vlad's order.
"...Hmm, but when Darling fought, he didn't use a western sword or flashy armor."
"Back then, Victor's status was different than it is today." Scathach, who was being served by Luna, suddenly spoke up.
"Hmm?" Sasha looked at the older woman.
"He was just some noble vampire who was fighting the heirs of a great vampire family."
I wouldn't call a vampire who has relations with three vampire counts and is Scathach's disciple any random noble vampire... The maids present, like Natalia and Luna, wanted to comment on this but decided to keep quiet.
"There's a big difference between being a Vampire Count and being a vampire noble." Suddenly the door was opened, and soon the appearance of Agnes and Adonis was seen.
"Geh... Mother..."
"What was that 'Geh'? Can't you show me some respect, stupid daughter?" Agnes' face distorted a little.
"Why are you here, Mother? And don't you know it's unsightly behavior to stalk people? Why are you doing this?"
"....." Suddenly the entire room was silent, and all the women looked at Violet with dry eyes.
"...What?"
"She really didn't realize what she just said, huh?" Pepper commented.
"As expected of Violet, I think..." Lacus felt confused.
"Cough"
Adonis pretended to cough to lighten the mood and continued what Agnes was saying:
"There is a big difference between a normal vampire and a vampire count." The two entered the room and casually sat on two chairs nearby and looked out over the arena.
"Vampire Counts are beings that represent Nightingale, and because of that status, they must follow strange traditions and have an attitude that earns respect from all supernatural beings... But..."
"..." The entire group looked at Agnes, then at Scathach, and they repeated this process a few times.
"...?" Scathach and Agnes didn't understand why people were looking at them strangely.
"These rules are not always followed..."
"Hardly ever, I can tell…" Sasha whispered in a low voice, but everyone could hear her.
"Cough." Adonis coughed again to change the subject and said:
"In large-scale events like this, certain traditions must be followed to present a certain 'image' to our 'enemies' that the vampires are strong and completely organized." Then, realizing that he had gained the girls' attention again, he continued:
"Because of that, both opponents are wearing full body armor and a western sword. After all, in the past, this type of event was organized by knights... and that was adapted to our society through the king, but as he didn't bother to update the rules over time, this way of dressing became a 'tradition'."
"... In the end, it's all Evil father's fault..." Ophis's eyes glowed a little blood red.
"..." A cold sweat broke out on Adonis' forehead as he heard what the little girl said.
"Indeed, indeed. It's all that old man's fault." In some strange way, Scathach was liking the little girl a bit more.
"Old man..." Ophis repeated Scathach's words as if learning something new.
"..." Scathach's smile grew eerily, and she said, "Hey, Ophis. Don't you want to watch the fight from here?"
Shit, she's planning something, isn't she? Everyone thought at the same time.
"...?" Ophis looked at the woman, and seeing the place she was pointing, Ophis spoke:
"I can not..."
"Oh... I had forgotten about your condition."
Scathach snapped her fingers, and soon an ice chair appeared beside her, the tallest chair she had made in the room, so Ophis could clearly see the entire arena.
"How about now?"
"..." The girl stared at the ice chair for a few seconds, and then she disappeared in black clouds and appeared on the chair.
"Good..." She whispered.
"Hahaha~. That is good." She laughed a little.
"Tell me, Ophis. What do you think of that 'Old man'?" She really specified the word.
"Old man...?"
"That man." She pointed at Vlad.
"What do you think of that Old man?"
"Old man…Evil Father?"
"Indeed, Indeed."
"....." Everyone looked at Scathach with a lifeless gaze.
Just what is this woman teaching this innocent girl?
"Mother... Even for you, that's..." Pepper wanted to say something, but she was silent.
"Master..." Eleanor didn't know how to feel when she saw this 'new' Scathach...
"...She's learning to be like Violet..." Sasha sighed.
"Huh?" Violet looked shocked at Sasha.
"I'm not like that! I am not like my mother!"
"Why was my name put in the middle!?"
"In the end, this is all Agnes' fault, isn't it?" Eleanor sighed.
Nod, Nod.
Everyone couldn't help but agree with Eleanor's words.
"WHY!?" Agnes felt frustrated, she didn't do anything! Literally nothing! Why are people, including her husband, looking at her with that judgmental look?
And that's literally the problem. It is because of her doing nothing that Violet grew up this way and was influencing the strongest female vampire!
"...Sorry, my daughter didn't get a good education..." Adonis sighed.
"Father!?" Why was she hit now!?
"Listen, Ophis..." Scathach seemed to be teaching Ophis something.
Is she still doing this!? They were speechless again.
"..." Natalia just fell silent as she looked at this chaos, and somehow, she couldn't help but display a smile:
'It's always fun when everyone is together...'
She looked at the arena and said, "Oh, the game is starting."
"..." Everyone fell silent and faced the arena.
...
Victor was sitting in a bathtub.
"Darling... This is embarrassing..." Ruby, who was sitting in front of Victor as she was hugged by him, spoke up.
"..." Victor couldn't help but display a gentle little smile, Ruby's sense of shame was completely strange, she could sleep peacefully with him and the girls naked, but when they were alone like this, she acted all bashful...
Looking at Ruby's expression through the water's reflection, he couldn't help but say, "So cute!"
Victor hugged Ruby tighter.
"Eh?" She was surprised by this sudden movement.
After that kiss they had when Victor woke up, in some way, Ruby didn't understand, she was quite embarrassed with Victor.
She felt that kiss was quite different from normal, but she wasn't sure how that kiss was different.
But... She knew something... She felt much, much, much, much closer to Victor than before!
And it left her with a warm feeling in her belly!
"Turn to me." Victor spoke in a gentle tone.
"..." Victor's gentle tone sent shivers down Ruby's spine as she looked away a little.
Seeing the slightly red face and Ruby's expression.
Victor's heart started beating like crazy.
Slowly, the girl looked at Victor.
Victor showed a small smile and opened his mouth, "Honestly...-" He was about to say something but seemed to hesitate at the end.
"...?" Ruby didn't understand why Victor stopped talking, but she sensed that he was going to say something important, and because of that, she kept watching him.
Victor bit his lip a little, he seemed to be hesitating, but suddenly a person's voice echoed through his mind.
"Remember, my Son, no matter the occasion, honesty is always important! Don't become a false person to yourself!"
"..." Remembering his mother's words that she used to tell him when he was younger. Victor couldn't help but flash a small smile.
He gently touched Ruby's cheek, "I brought you to a secluded spot like this so we could be alone."
"I know-." Ruby was about to say something, but suddenly Victor made a move.
"Shh…" He gently touched her lips and spoke with a loving smile, "Let me finish, okay?"
She nodded her head, indicating that she understood, as her face turned redder than before, but she held on!
"I wanted to be isolated from everyone, so you, my dear ice woman," He caressed her cheek again:
"Could open that heart to me."
"..." Ruby was silent, as her face had several visible changes, she looked like she wanted to say something, but Victor didn't allow it.
Then he continued:
"I wanted to get closer to you. I wanted you to show more of your cute side, a side I've only had the opportunity to see twice."
"..." Her face turned completely red now.
"I like the serious and cold Ruby… But I also like the side of her that is free as the wind, like a teenager who had just entered high school."
Ruby's eyes opened wide, and she looked at Victor with a shocked look.
"I want to get closer to you. I want to see those sides of you that you don't show anyone so casually. I want to help you and discover every little thing about you so I can love you even more."
"D-Darling, do you like how I act like a…" Her face turned a little red, but she continued, "Teen?"
"Of course..." Victor fixed Ruby's hair behind her ear:
"Each time I find out more about you, I love you even more than before."
"...Oh-..." The cat seemed to have caught Ruby's tongue because she didn't know what to say now. She had never been confronted by such direct feelings before.
"A kind Ruby that cares about everyone around her. A smart Ruby that always seems to be thinking about what to do in the future. A homely Ruby who likes to lie down while watching anime."
'Ugh… forget that last part!' She wanted to say it now, but she was too embarrassed.
"Each time I discover something new about you, I love you even more..." Victor's eyes took on a lifeless red hue and seemed to be glowing with something dangerous, "Much more..."
"!!!" Ruby felt her whole body tremble, his love was heavy!
She couldn't help but lower her face a little.
Ruby was embarrassed, and she didn't know what to do. Her brain was spinning to find the best words while her heart was pounding like crazy.
She couldn't control her emotions. In front of her was everything she wanted! She'd been dreaming about this moment ever since she'd heard about Violet's date.
But despite being in front of her, she didn't know how to react.
"Tell me, Ruby... My sweet, cold, beloved Ruby..." Victor gently lifted Ruby's face and made her meet his eyes.
"..." As she stared into Victor's eyes, Ruby felt like she was being sucked into that endless abyss... And the moment she stopped trying to use her head, she was flooded by a tsunami of such heavy feelings, like the planet itself, but at the same time as sweet as the sweetest cake in the world.
"Will you become mine?"
"..." Ruby's smile grew lovingly as her eyes seemed to become like Victor's, and she gently wrapped her arms around Victor's neck:
"Darling... You fool... I'm already yours." This time, she took the initiative and kissed Victor!
"I-..." He didn't even have time to say anything. Words were no longer necessary!
She had a lot of things she wanted to talk about, a lot of things she wanted to correct about Victor's thoughts about her, but...
She could leave that for later...
First, she must give her love to this 'lost lamb'.
'Ah... It's like my mother said, I should stop thinking so much...' She hugged Victor tighter!
She decided to stop thinking about useless subjects, and now, she was going to act!
Feeling something hard and robust hitting an important spot, she stopped kissing Victor while she held both his cheeks and spoke with an intensity in her gaze that took Victor by surprise:
"Fuck me, now."
Victor felt his whole body being flooded with a desire he had never felt before. For the first time, he was seeing what Ruby was without hiding behind that 'ice mask' of hers.
"No need to ask twice."
His smile grew as he grabbed the woman's waist and lifted her up, then the two beings disappeared from the bath and appeared in the bedroom.
He looked at the woman beneath him, the difference between her red hair and the ice beneath giving her a seductive feeling, not to mention that those two big mounds were standing like they were begging Victor to explore.
"... Be kind... In the beginning." Her smile grew as she spoke the last words.
Soon groaning sounds echoed throughout the castle. It was like a song that was composed by a musical artist of the highest level...
Unfortunately…. or luckily, no living soul was around to enjoy this music...